The teacher asked Yang Shan: "Of the forty volumes of the Nirvana Sutra, how many are said by the Buddha and how many are said by the Devil?" The teacher said: "There is no one to do after that!" Yang said: "Hui Lonely is the matter of the first phase, where is the line?" The teacher said: "Only the noble son has a straight eye, and he does not say that the son is doing things." ”
- "Five Lantern Huiyuan" Volume 9 Weishan Lingyou Zen Master
Literal translation in the vernacular:
Weishan Lingyou inspected Yangshan Huishan and asked: "There are forty volumes of the Nirvana Sutra, how many of them do you say are said by the Buddha, and how many are said by the demons?"
Yang Shan Huishan replied: "It's all said by the devil." ”
Weishan Lingyou exclaimed: "It seems that no one can stump you in the future." ”
Yang Shan Hui asked Master, "Now that I have my insight and realm, what should I do next?"
Weishan Lingyou said: "As long as your insight is right, you don't have to care about what to do." ”
Prompt:
It is best to read the original text and ponder the artistic conception behind the words. If you really can't read it, you can read the "literal translation of the vernacular" and understand the literal meaning first. "Appreciation and commentary" is a personal interpretation of the public case, if you can see it, you can watch it, and it is good to see the excitement, and it should not be taken seriously.
Appreciation:
The Nirvana Sutra believes that "all living beings have Buddha nature", making it possible that "everyone can become a Buddha", which is one of the most fundamental ideas of Chinese Zen Buddhism, and it is also the brightest signboard of Zen Buddhism.
The Nirvana Sutra is, of course, the words and deeds of the Buddha, but why does Yang Shan Huishan answer "It's always the devil's words"?
The "sutra" is the mantra of the Buddha, but the sutra is not. As the saying goes, "the book is not exhaustive, the words are not exhaustive", no matter how detailed the written record is, it cannot reflect the real situation, cannot reflect the whole picture of things, and is always "unfinished". These words are not necessarily what the Buddha said, not necessarily what the Buddha wanted to say.
What's more, most of these "words" or "books" were not written by themselves, but were recorded and sorted out by later generations, and there are many possibilities, who dares to say that the people who recorded these words and deeds or translated these classics did not carry "private goods", which were not mixed with their own opinions?
In addition, the difference in language and the difference in writing may cause the translation to be more or less different from the original meaning.
And the "general idea of Buddhism" is beyond the existence of language and writing, beyond the existence of thinking, with limited language and words to express the infinite Buddha's meaning, naturally its expression is inaccurate and incomplete, this so-called interpretation of the three Buddha's grievances according to the scriptures!
Chinese Zen Buddhism pays attention to "not establishing words", not relying on words, otherwise where would there be so many public cases and lanterns, and the most important thing about "not establishing words" is to tell us not to cling to words.
To comprehend Zen, you can't rely on words, logical reasoning, and thinking considerations, but you can see it now. Therefore, if you cling to the scriptures, you will be bound by the scriptures, and from this point of view, these scriptures are actually easy to help people "become demons." Therefore, it is especially impossible to say that the "Nirvana Sutra" is "always a demonic saying", and it can also be said that all "sutras" are demonic sayings!
On the other hand, if we realize that all "words and words" are limited human cognition and cannot cling to these words, then all the scriptures are "Buddha's words" again.
Therefore, whether it is a "Buddha's doctrine" or a "demon's doctrine" does not depend on the scriptures themselves, but on how the reader views the contents of the scriptures! If one is attached to what the scriptures say and is firm in the absolute, then one is "entering the demons"; if one is not attached to "being" or "emptiness," and is comfortable at both ends of the "duality," then he is a "Buddha" at ease.
For Yangshan Huil's "insight", Weishan Lingyou is sure, so he issued a "no one has no one to do", he knows that Yangshan Huishan has been freed from the shackles, because what binds people is those relative "cognition" and "opinions". We can't say that they are wrong, nor can we cling to them as right, but we must look at everything in the present dialectically.
Cultivation pays attention to "knowledge, understanding, cultivation, and certification", and the "first phase of things" mentioned by Yangshan Huishan is also the level of "knowledge and understanding", so he wants to ask Weishan Lingyou how to "perform" next, that is, "cultivation".
Weishan Lingyou told him not to separate "knowledge and action", your current knowledge is what you have gained from your past evidence. As long as you have the right insight, you don't need to ask about the skill of cultivation. "Knowledge" and "action" cannot be separated from each other, there is action in knowledge, there is knowledge in action, knowledge and action are the same thing, this is "sex is one".
Knowledge is sexuality, action is phase, and the two are inseparable wholes, and they exist in symbiosis with each other. It is impossible to know and not be able to do it, and to do it without knowing it. If you just know and can't do it, then you don't know, it's a "fake pedant" and a "mantra"!
Of course, the reason why Weishan Lingyou said this is also for a genius like Yangshan Huilian who has reached the "first phase of things", in fact, every patriarch is insightful, cultivated, and made wishes, etc., and almost can't do it at all.
So don't think that Zen Buddhism "emphasizes insight and not effort" because he says this, "Kung Fu" still has to be done, but this "Kung Fu" does not need to be forced.