Journeys and Death

In the middle of the summer retreat, the master went up to see Huangbo, and found him reading a sūtra. The master said: "And here I thought you were somebody — turns out you're just an old monk counting black beans." He stayed a few days and then took his leave. Huangbo said: "You broke the retreat to come here — are you leaving without even finishing it?" The master said: "I only came briefly to pay my respects." Huangbo then struck him and drove him out. The master walked several miles, began to doubt his own decision, and turned back to finish out the retreat.

One day the master took his leave of Huangbo. Huangbo asked: "Where are you going?" The master said: "If not to Henan, then back to Hebei." Huangbo struck him. The master caught hold of him and gave him a slap in return. Huangbo laughed heartily, and called to his attendant: "Bring the meditation board and armrest that belonged to my late teacher Baizhang." The master said: "Attendant, bring fire instead." Huangbo said: "Even so, take them with you anyway — one day you will sit and silence the tongues of everyone under heaven." Later Guishan asked Yangshan: "Did Linji fail to repay Huangbo properly, or not?" Yangshan said: "Not at all." Guishan said: "Then how do you see it?" Yangshan said: "Only by knowing kindness can one know how to repay it." Guishan said: "Has there been anyone like this among the ancients?" Yangshan said: "There has been — but it happened so long ago that I would rather not mention it to you, teacher." Guishan said: "Even so, I want to know — go ahead and tell me." Yangshan said: "In the assembly of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Ānanda praised the Buddha, saying: 'I will offer this profound mind to lands as numerous as dust motes — this alone is called repaying the Buddha's kindness.' Is this not exactly a matter of repaying kindness?" Guishan said: "So it is, so it is. To see only as one's teacher sees is to fall short of him by half his virtue; only to see beyond one's teacher is one fit to receive what he transmits."

The master arrived at Bodhidharma's memorial pagoda. The keeper of the pagoda said: "Elder, will you bow to the Buddha first, or to the Patriarch first?" The master said: "I bow to neither Buddha nor Patriarch." The keeper said: "What quarrel do you have with the Buddha and the Patriarch, elder?" The master simply shook out his sleeves and walked out.

While on pilgrimage, the master arrived at Longguang's monastery. Longguang ascended the hall, and the master came forward and asked: "Without unsheathing a blade, how can one win?" Longguang simply sat there on his seat. The master said: "Could a great teacher truly have no skillful means at all?" Longguang glared and said: "Hah!" The master pointed at him and said: "This old fellow has been defeated today."

He arrived at Sanfeng. Reverend Ping asked: "Where have you come from?" The master said: "From Huangbo's place." Ping said: "What did Huangbo have to say?" The master said: "The golden ox met with disaster last night, and no trace of it has been seen since." Ping said: "The autumn wind blows through the jade flute — who understands its music?" The master said: "It passes straight through ten thousand layers of barrier, never lingering in the clear sky above." Ping said: "That question of yours aims much too high." The master said: "A dragon gives birth to a golden phoenix chick, that bursts straight through the blue-green glaze of heaven." Ping said: "Sit, please — have some tea." He then asked: "Where have you come from most recently?" The master said: "Longguang's place." Ping said: "How has Longguang been lately?" The master simply walked out.

He arrived at Dazi's monastery. Dazi was sitting in his own quarters. The master asked: "How is it when sitting properly in one's own quarters?" Dazi said: "The cold pine keeps one color, distinct through a thousand years; the old rustic in the field plucks a flower, and spring comes to ten thousand lands." The master said: "The perfect substance of wisdom forever surpasses past and present; the three mountains lock shut ten thousand layers of barrier." Dazi shouted. The master also shouted. Dazi said: "Well, then?" The master shook out his sleeves and walked out.

He arrived at Xiangzhou, at Huayan's monastery. Huayan leaned on his staff, feigning sleep. The master said: "Old teacher, what are you doing dozing off?" Huayan said: "A true master and a mere Chan student are simply different, plain as that." The master said: "Attendant, bring tea for the teacher to drink." Huayan then called to the verger: "Give this elder a seat in the third position."

He arrived at Cuifeng's monastery. Cuifeng asked: "Where have you come from?" The master said: "From Huangbo's place." Cuifeng said: "What did Huangbo have to say, to point the way for people?" The master said: "Huangbo has no such sayings." Cuifeng said: "Why not?" The master said: "Even if he did, there would be nowhere to bring them up." Cuifeng said: "Go on, bring one up anyway." The master said: "A single arrow passes clean through the western sky."

He arrived at Xiangtian's monastery. The master asked: "Neither ordinary, nor sagely — speak quickly, teacher." Xiangtian said: "This old monk is simply like this." The master shouted and said: "What are all these shave-pated fellows doing here, looking for a rice bowl?"

He arrived at Minghua's monastery. Minghua asked: "What are you doing, coming and going like this?" The master said: "Only wearing through pair after pair of straw sandals for nothing." Minghua said: "What is it really about, in the end?" The master said: "This old fellow doesn't even recognize the point of his own question."

On his way to Fenglin's monastery, the master met an old woman on the road. She asked: "Where are you going?" The master said: "To Fenglin's place." She said: "As it happens, Fenglin isn't there right now." The master said: "Where has he gone, then?" The old woman simply walked on. The master called out to her. She turned her head. The master struck her.

He arrived at Fenglin's monastery. Fenglin said: "May I trouble you with a question?" The master said: "Why gouge healthy flesh to make a wound?" Fenglin said: "The moon on the sea shines clear, casting no shadow; the fish swimming there are lost in confusion all on their own." The master said: "If the moon on the sea casts no shadow at all, how could the swimming fish be confused?" Fenglin said: "Watch the wind, and you know the waves are rising; play upon the water, and the wild sail drifts." The master said: "A solitary wheel shines alone, and the rivers and mountains fall still; laughing to myself once, heaven and earth are startled." Fenglin said: "Even granting your three-inch tongue lights up heaven and earth, try speaking a single phrase that meets the actual moment." The master said: "Meeting a swordsman on the road, you must show your sword; unless you are a poet yourself, do not offer up a poem." Fenglin simply stopped there. The master then spoke this verse: "The great way admits no sameness — let it run east or west as it will; the spark from flint cannot catch it, the flash of lightning cannot reach it." Later Guishan asked Yangshan: "'The spark from flint cannot catch it, the flash of lightning cannot reach it' — what did all the sages since ancient times use to teach people, then?" Yangshan said: "What do you think, teacher?" Guishan said: "Wherever there is speech at all, there is no real meaning in it whatsoever." Yangshan said: "Not so." Guishan said: "Then how do you see it?" Yangshan said: "The government office admits not even a needle — yet in private, carts and horses pass through freely."

He arrived at Jinniu's monastery. Seeing the master approach, Jinniu laid his staff crosswise and sat squarely in the doorway. The master struck the staff three times with his hand, then went and sat down in the first seat inside the hall. Jinniu came down and, seeing this, said: "When guest and host meet, each should observe proper conduct — elder, where have you come from, behaving so rudely?" The master said: "What is the old teacher saying?" Jinniu started to open his mouth. The master struck him. Jinniu made as if to fall over. The master struck him again. Jinniu said: "I didn't get the better of that today." Later Guishan asked Yangshan: "Between these two venerable ones, was there a winner and a loser, or not?" Yangshan said: "If one won, both won completely; if one lost, both lost completely."

As the master's own passing drew near, he sat upright in his seat and said: "After I am gone, do not let my true dharma-eye treasury be extinguished." Sansheng came forward and said: "How would we dare let the teacher's true dharma-eye treasury be extinguished?" The master said: "Afterward, if someone asks you about it, what will you tell them?" Sansheng shouted. The master said: "Who would have known that my true dharma-eye treasury would be extinguished, right here, at this blind donkey's side." With these words, he sat perfectly composed, and passed away in silence.

The master's personal name was Yixuan. He was a native of Nanhua in Caozhou, of the lay surname Xing. From childhood he was exceptionally gifted, and as he grew he became known for his filial devotion. After he shaved his head and received full ordination, he lived among the lecture halls, studying the vinaya in fine detail and delving broadly into the sūtras and treatises. Before long he sighed and said: "These are only medicine for healing the world — not the purport of the special transmission outside the teachings." He then changed his robes and went traveling, first seeking out Huangbo, then paying his respects to Dayu — the words and circumstances of these meetings are recorded in the biographical account above. Having received Huangbo's seal of confirmation, he eventually arrived at the southeastern corner of Zhenzhou city in Hebei, and took up residence at a small monastery on the bank of the Hutuo River — it is from this location by the ford (臨) that his name Linji derives. At the time Puhua was already living there, feigning madness and mingling with the ordinary crowd, so that no one could tell whether he was sage or ordinary man. When the master arrived, Puhua assisted him. Just as the master's teaching was flourishing, Puhua vanished bodily — fulfilling exactly what Yangshan, "the little Śākyamuni," had long ago foretold. It happened that the region fell into military turmoil, and the master left the place; the commander Mo Junhe donated his own residence within the city to serve as a monastery, and likewise gave it the name Linji, inviting the master to reside there. Later he shook out his robes and traveled south, arriving at Hefu, where the prefect Wang Changshi received him with the courtesy due a teacher. He had not been there long before he went on to Xinghua Monastery in Daming Prefecture, and took up residence in its eastern hall. The master showed no sign of illness; then, one day, he suddenly gathered his robes, sat upright in his seat, and after finishing his exchange with Sansheng, passed away in perfect stillness. This was on the tenth day of the first month of the year dinghai, the eighth year of the Xiantong era of the Tang dynasty. His disciples built a stūpa for his whole body at the northwestern corner of Daming Prefecture. He was posthumously granted the title Chan Master Huizhao, and his stūpa was named Chengling. With hands joined and head bowed, I have recorded the essentials of the master's life. Respectfully written by his dharma-heir Yanzhao, of Baoshou Monastery in Zhenzhou.