Chán Zhōng Shuō Chán: Entanglement Is Not Entanglement, Zen Is Not Zen — A Dead Tree's Dragon Song Illuminates the Great Thousand Worlds (XVIII)

2006/2/17 8:06:54

(XVIII)

Most people are foolish and ignorant; the world is full of bitter kalpas. Thus, those who lead the deluded with delusion and pursue private gain all love to proclaim the way of saving the world and rescuing people — in reality, this is nothing but the karma of greed, anger, ignorance, doubt, and pride. If anyone claims that through their doctrine, their principles, their god, or the like, they can save the world and rescue people, know with certainty that such a person is either self-serving or foolish, and speaks the great false speech. Even if a single person could, in one instant of thought, deliver the sentient beings of as many worlds as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, such a person still must not utter such great false speech. Salvation and deliverance — there is truly nothing saved or delivered. The one who saves and that which is saved, the one who delivers and that which is delivered — all are illusory play, nothing to be grasped.

If there is a single dharma that can save the world and rescue people, know with certainty that it must give birth to a single dharma that can throw the world into chaos and harm people — continuing and entangling, it is illusory play. The Zen practitioner would rather sink in a sea of fire for ten thousand kalpas than give rise to the thought that there is a single dharma that can save the world and rescue people. The Zen practitioner saves no one, nor saves themselves — truly, there is no saver and no saved. All those throughout history who have claimed to save the world and rescue people have practiced the method of market exchange — trading this price for that benefit, leading the deluded with delusion and pursuing private gain, merely adding to delusory karma.

The world is the illusory play of collective karma. Sentient beings follow conditions to assume the roles of sheng, mo, jing, dan, and chou, thus creating the human drama of partings and reunions, rise and fall. The Zen practitioner — now with a Bodhisattva's lowered brow, now with a Vajra's wrathful gaze, now with a long sword raised to heaven, now with a jade zither upon the desk; now turning stars and moving constellations, now dining on morning clouds and resting on stones, now in court, now in wilderness, now in jeweled pavilions, now in purgatory — there is nothing that cannot be done, while knowing clearly that all is the illusory play of collective karma. Following conditions, delivering all sentient beings — yet truly nothing is delivered. Sentient beings are not sentient beings; they are merely called sentient beings. Sentient beings originally have no birth or death, are originally pure, are originally liberated. If there is something to be saved, then sentient beings save you, and you yourself are truly beyond saving.

A verse:

Worshipping Buddha, seeking Zen — nothing but greed,
Pursuing life, avoiding calamity — all foolish talk.
Waking the deluded, their weary eyes reveal narrow hearts,
Bitter joy swaying emotions — wine makes one more foolish still.
Even emptiness should be relinquished, let alone clinging to existence,
When even the one is not established, how can one abide in three?
Startling wind sweeps the sun, clouds and sand turn red,
Waves surge through a thousand rivers, all flowing into the blue sea.