The Recorded Sayings of Master Linji

Part 1

As students of Buddhism in Poland, you have good karma because many meditation masters come here to teach; on the other hand your karma isn’t that good because few of them stay. That has its good as well as bad points. It is good because having exposure to different teachers, different styles, you have a better chance of finding something suitable. But it can also be confusing if these teachers teach different things. You may feel that each teacher has good points, but there are so many that you may not learn much from any one of them.

Likewise, whether a teacher stays for a long or short time has good and bad points. In Ch’an history there have been many disciples who became enlightened after just one night with a master. There are also cases where a disciple, even a future patriarch, practiced with one master for ten, twenty, thirty years without getting enlightened but, after going to another master, experienced enlightenment. He would then return to his original master, who would say something like, “After all I have it available here also.” So, teachers staying for a long time or a short time – in either case it could be good or bad. Everything depends on one’s karmic roots.

My own Shifu, Master Ling Yuan, had many disciples, but of all of them only two are Ch’an teachers with disciples – myself and a younger Dharma brother. And yet, I studied with Ling Yuan only one night, and my Dharma brother stayed with him no more than a few months. It all depends on causes and conditions and your karmic roots. Therefore, with all these teachers coming here to teach meditation, you are very fortunate. Unlike myself, who had only one night with my teacher, you have me for seven days. In fact, Ling Yuan did not teach me any method of practice that night. I just asked him a lot of questions, none of which he answered. At the end he scolded me, and that was it. But if I had not been ripe, so to speak, his scolding would not have worked.

My purpose for coming to Poland is to be of some help, and I believe the previous teachers have all been correct in their ideas and views. You may not feel that we are saying the same thing, but this is because teachers express themselves in different ways. How you receive teachings depends on your situation, so at times you may feel that our teachings are contradictory. This is not necessarily the case. In any case, you don’t have to accept everything, just what you are receptive to and feel you can use in your practice.

There are many levels of practice in Buddhism. On first learning a basic idea or method, some people can receive and use it quite well, but when they hear about an obscure teaching or a more advanced practice, they cannot use it. Still others are more receptive to advanced ideas and methods than they are to basic ones. This does not mean that those who can use deeper approaches are closer to enlightenment. Nor is it true that those who find basic approaches more suitable cannot learn something advanced. People enter the door of practice according to their personal disposition and causes and conditions. If you are using basic methods and concepts, it does not mean you are fixed at that level, so don’t be discouraged. Those who are using more advanced methods should not feel proud or arrogant. What matters is that you use a method that is appropriate for you.

In Ch’an there is no standard way of gaining entry through a door, whether through a basic teaching or a more profound one. This differs from other traditions, for example the Tibetan. Both Ch’an and Tibetan Buddhism have levels of practice, but in the Tibetan tradition the higher the level, the higher the practice – you move step by step upwards. Though there are levels of practice in Ch’an, realization does not come from progressing from one stage to another. You can enter from any level.

However, the common foundation between the different traditions is collecting the scattered mind. In general, you learn how to collect the mind first, then concentrate the mind, and then unify the mind, to attain no-mind. But these stages are not necessarily fixed. There are practitioners who do not enter through unified mind; from concentrated mind, it is possible to directly experience no-mind, or to go directly from ordinary to unified mind. But this is very rare. Usually one trains the mind to be collected, concentrated, unified, eventually passing on to no-mind.

As I indicated earlier, collecting the mind precedes concentrating the mind. “Collecting” connotes pulling the mind back from your external activity or attention, and beginning to fix it on your practice method.

You should at all times collect the mind, because this is quite useful. To collect the mind you can practice sitting, but more importantly, you can also use the methods in daily life. For example, you can work with the breath, you can bring forth the Mu koan, you can practice mindfulness – paying attention to the bodily sensations, your mental reactions, the direction and intention of your mind. If you can practice well any of these methods of collecting the mind, vexations will have fewer opportunities to manifest. Your personality becomes stable and calm. You will cause less harm to yourself and others. You can truly go forward in your practice.

Upon meeting people, I do not try to assess what level they are at or if they are enlightened. I observe whether their personality and emotions are stable and whether their mind is clear. If so, I can see that they are ready for serious practice. Very seldom do I try to assess whether someone had a genuine enlightenment. I only do that when I meet someone who is very confident that they are already enlightened. Then I will chat with them to find out their state of mind.

However, other than these occasions, which are very, very rare, I do not test people, especially in interview. The interviews during the retreat are meant to resolve a student’s difficulties in practice, to clarify different methods and ideas. However, some of you are coming to the interview quite nervous, perhaps thinking I will do Dharma combat with you. So I hope you will not be so tense, so nervous. On the other hand, there are those who believe that they are already enlightened, and they turn around the interview and try to test me. I do not discourse with such people, because anything I say will probably be denied by them.

However, the main point of tonight’s Dharma talk, is the usefulness of collecting or reigning in the mind. In Zen, a retreat is called sesshin, which means “connecting the mind,” in which the teacher’s and the student’s minds mutually seal, in other words, inka or sanction a transmission. This word comes from the Chinese word shexin, which means “collecting the mind.” The pronunciation is similar, but the meaning has been changed somewhat. In the remaining two days, I hope you will make collecting the mind your priority. Whether in that time you will be enlightened doesn’t matter. If I sanction you but then after the retreat you still have lots of vexations, still harm others, and have all sorts of negative emotions, then what’s the use?

On the other hand, if by developing collected mind, you have less vexations, you become more stable and upright, and you have more harmony with other people, then I will call this retreat quite useful. If you continually practice collecting the mind, always withdrawing and collecting the mind, it is very possible you will suddenly realize that there is nothing substantial about your thoughts – they arise, change, and then disappear, continually. And then you realize that none of these thoughts are you. If you stop identifying yourself with these thoughts, it is possible to realize no-mind. So do not belittle this mere collecting the mind; this very basic practice can be of tremendous benefit.

In Ch’an one can gain an entry at any level. For example, you don’t have to go through unified mind to gain entry You may say, “Oh, this collecting the mind, it’s just a beginner’s practice.” But you must have heard of the “beginner’s mind,” and you should know that the beginner’s mind is the best mind.

On the other hand, I did not say that collecting the mind is enough and that you don’t need other methods. Although collecting the mind is important, keep practicing, and whatever stage you get to, it will come naturally. From today’s interviews, it seems some of you have reached concentrated mind, and some of you also had a taste of the unified mind. However, you should not seek after unified mind, nor should you always be concerned with what stage you are at.

Everyone had an interview today, so I don’t think people have questions. Does anybody want to argue?

(Voice from the hall: I have one very short question. There is an insect here. Do you think it had any use from this talk?)

Ask that insect. Please have compassion on that sentient being and take it out.

Part 2

Tonight we will continue with section two of the sayings of Ch’an Master Linji. The text goes as follows:

The Master one day had occasion to go to the Hebei prefectural office. Constant Attendant Wang, head of the prefecture, requested the Master to step up to the lecture seat. At that time Magu came forward and asked, “Of the eyes of the thousand-armed thousand-eyed bodhisattva of great compassion, which is the true eye?” The Master said, “Of the eyes of the thousand-armed thousand-eyed bodhisattva of great compassion, which is the true eye? Answer me! Answer me!” Magu dragged the Master down from the lecture seat and sat in it himself The Master went up close to him and said, “How are you?” Magu was about to say something when the Master dragged him down from the seat and sat in it himself. Magu thereupon walked out of the gathering, and the Master stepped down from the lecture seat.

In this record, we see two monks playing some kind of game of musical chairs. What’s going on? This story involves two Ch’an masters, one of course is Linji, the other is Magu, a disciple of Mazu. In this story Magu challenges Linji with a very difficult question. It is not unusual for a master to throw back a difficult question to the questioner, as Linji does in this case.

A simple interpretation might be that Magu thought, “Is this how you answer my question? You’re not fit to be a Ch’an a master.” So he dragged Linji down and sat on the seat himself. Then Linji, thinking, “Hmm, this is not an ordinary fellow,” went up to Magu, and said, “Who are you?” (Note: The translation in this text is incorrect; it should be “Who are you?” - quite different from “How are you?” The Chinese contains the meaning of “I don’t recognize you - who are you?”) And perhaps Magu, his realization being a level below Linji’s, wanted to reply. Before Magu could speak, Linji dragged him down and reclaimed the seat. At this time, you could say, Magu should shut up; but before he could say anything, he was upstaged by Linji.

Let’s put this story in a setting. Wang, an enlightened government official, invited his Dharma Master Linji to give a Dharma talk at his spacious office. There must have been many people there, including Magu, an enlightened disciple of Mazu. The dialogue ensued.

Despite his question, Magu was not necessarily challenging Linji. It could be he wanted to give the audience a direct taste of the Dharma of Ch’an. Magu was a direct descendant of Mazu, which made him senior to Linji in the Dharma lineage. Linji was two generations away from Mazu, with Baizhang and Huangbo in between. It would seem then that Magu was the older man when this story occurred.

So, Magu took the occasion to question Linji, this young fellow who was giving a Dharma talk. He asked him, “Guanyin has a thousand hands and a thousand eyes. All I want to do is ask you one simple question - which of the thousand eyes is the true eye?” According to the Great Compassionate Dharani Sutra attributed to Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin), this bodhisattva has a thousand hands and a thousand eyes to help sentient beings. This is a symbolic description of the bodhisattva’s great compassion as he looks upon all sentient beings through many eyes and helps them in many ways. In this symbolism, the number of eyes and hands can be infinite, so great is this bodhisattva’s compassion.

Right now when I look at you, I see each of you in a different perspective, each with your unique situation. When I help you with your method, or during interview, I try to help you in a way that suits your situation, your perspective. Even when two of you ask me the same question, I may give you different answers depending on your needs and situation. Although I do not have a thousand eyes and a thousand hands, I do have about forty-two eyes and forty-two hands to help you with. With this analogy, we can understand the meaning of Guanyin’s thousand eyes and thousand hands. The difference is, Avalokiteshvara can simultaneously fulfill all the needs of sentient beings, whereas after a long day helping just forty-plus people, I am exhausted. The bodhisattva can even be depicted with a thousand ears, to hear the cries of sentient beings.

In Ch’an, a master can also be symbolically described in terms of the eyes and hands, as a way of expressing a master’s skillful means - whether the master’s eyes and hands are high or low, many or few, correct or deviant. If a master’s eyes and hands are described as high, that means his skills in delivering sentient being are quite profound. If a master has many eyes and hands, he has many expedient ways to help. A genuine master is always described as someone whose eyes and hands are correct, as opposed to a false master, who has deviant eyes and hands. So in this sense, Avalokiteshvara is an archetype of all enlightened ones, with reference to their skills in helping sentient beings.

According to legend, once when the Buddha was at Vulture peak, he held up a flower before the Dharma assembly, but said not a word. Among the assembly only Mahakashyapa understood the Buddha’s meaning and smiled. When Shakyamuni saw this he knew Mahakashyapa understood the mind Dharma, and transmitted to him the “treasure of the correct Dharma eye.” This “correct eye” was what Magu was referring to.

Have you heard this story before? I am sure many of you have. It is so old, it’s teeth have fallen out. But have you heard that the story was not true? (Different opinions are given by people in the hall.) Actually, there is no evidence it ever happened. It was likely fabricated in later generations, but it does describe the kind of thing that can take place in transmission. Nevertheless, it’s true that the Dharma has been transmitted from Shakyamuni Buddha all the way to the present. The story is legend, but transmission is true.

Now what is this “treasure of the correct Dharma eye”? This is just a mere name, but generation after generation, this mind Dharma has been transmitted from master to disciple, to the very present day. For example my own master transmitted to me this “treasure of the correct Dharma eye,” but as to what this precisely is, any answer given will be off the mark. This is analogous to the thousand-eyed, thousand-handed bodhisattva. Which one is the correct Dharma eye? It is analogous to the transmission, from generation to generation, of this “treasure of the correct Dharma eye” to all these enlightened people. For example, Mazu transmitted to over 130 disciples. Which one received the “treasure of the correct Dharma eye?” And if you say, “This one did,” then what exactly did he receive? So because it was an unanswerable question Linji just threw it back at Magu, like a hot coal. So, what exactly is this “treasure of the correct Dharma eye?” When you are enlightened you will know.

In our dialogue, it is more likely that Magu knew that his question was unanswerable. So when Linji just threw it back at him, Magu thought the younger monk’s answer showed real attainment, and seeing there was nothing more to be said, he decided to take over the seat. So it was not an act of aggression, but of affirmation. (Guo-gu Shi:) “But then, why did Linji himself drag Magu down and reclaim the seat?” A good question. When Magu took over the seat, he did not think that the first person to ask him a question would be Linji himself. Linji knew very well that Magu was an elder generation Ch’an master. But being very quick, Linji stood in front of him and said, “Hey, I don’t know you, who are you?” Before Magu could say anything, Linji immediately pulled the old monk from the seat and got up there himself. This time, it was Magu who had nothing to say, and left.

The Dharma talk was over; both monks said what needed to be said and left the hall. This kind of Dharma dialogue is of the highest level, and it would have been most interesting if you had been there to see such a high expression of Dharma. If you had been there, being highly intelligent, maybe you would have thought, “No big deal, I could have done the same thing.” But if you had good and deep virtuous roots or karmic affinity, upon witnessing this, perhaps you would have been enlightened at that very moment; you would have realized “So this is the Dharma of Ch’an!”

There are two kinds of meaning in the Dharma: the Dharma of secondary meaning, and the Dharma of ultimate meaning. Whatever can be spoken, heard, understood or learned refers to the Dharma of secondary meaning. The Dharma of ultimate meaning is beyond words and language, phrases, and names. To directly understand the Dharma of ultimate meaning is to be enlightened.

In ancient Ch’an monasteries, before the master spoke, the assembly gathered, and the chanting leader chanted a verse that begins something like this: “This assembly of great elephants and dragons gather to hear the Dharma King’s Dharma,” and concluded with: “The Dharma King’s Dharma is just thus. This is the Dharma of ultimate meaning.” Usually the first part was chanted before the master spoke, the last part after the talk. The Dharma King is of course the Buddha. Nowadays they just do this as a sort of ritual, so they chant the whole four verses. Actually it is much better, because the Dharma of first meaning is ineffable, so they chant: “The dragons and elephants gather together to hear the Dharma King’s Dharma,” then before anyone can speak any Dharma, they chant: “The Dharma is just thus.” This “thus” is the ultimate Dharma.

In the Linji story, what is this Dharma of ultimate meaning? It is precisely the dialogue of Linji and Magu. This story is an expression of the Dharma of ultimate meaning. Whether you understood or not, tonight all of you assembled here have heard this Dharma of ultimate meaning. Tonight’s text is an excellent expression of the style of the Linji school of sudden enlightenment. These stories are quite exciting. They convey the style of Ch’an, which is beyond words and language.

In Chinese Buddhism, dragons and elephants symbolize people of the highest attainment, the most fit vessels who embody the Dharma and who excel at propagating it. In Chinese legend, the dragon is the most powerful being in heaven, and the elephant the most powerful on earth. So practitioners who epitomize these creatures are of the highest and greatest capacity. For those of you assembled here who are already dragons and elephants, tonight’s talk was just rubbish. If you are not yet dragons and elephants, I hope you got some useful message out of this talk.

When my disciple John Crook held retreat here previously, he introduced the silent illumination method of the Cao-Dong school. I would have liked to spend more time on silent illumination, because I also received transmission in the Cao-Dong school. But since you already had some grounding in silent illumination, I thought it would be useful to introduce the Linji school and its practice.

Though I have never before lectured on the sayings of Linji, I feel these have been useful talks. They were very condensed and complete, as I made full use of our limited time. We had just three evenings and two very short sections to bring out the essence and character of the Linji tradition. We got a lot from these stories, simple yet pregnant with meaning. The very little time we had forced me to distill a lot in a very short space of time. So for the purpose of giving you a general sense and understanding of the Linji tradition, whatever is essential to know, I had to give it birth using just two short stories. That is why I feel the talks were good. I think, I hope, we succeeded, and you may perhaps feel fortunate in that regard and find them useful.