144 Denkároku

Hannyatara asked, “Amongst all things, which is the greatest?”

Bodaidaruma answered, “The DHARMA-NATURE is the
greatest.”

Bodaidaruma was of the warrior caste. Originally his name

was Bodaitara; he was the third son of King Káshi of Southern
India. This king, whose name means ‘He Whose Fragrance
Excels All Others’, had a reverence for Buddhism far exceeding
that of his companions and had once bestowed a priceless pearl
on Hannyatara. His three sons he had named Gatsujátara
(S. CandravimalatÅra, ‘The Bright Pearl of the Moon’), Kudo-
kutara (S. PuœyatÅra, ‘The Pearl of Meritorious Virtue’) and
Bodaitara (S. BodhitÅra, ‘The Pearl of Supreme Enlighten-
ment’). Hannyatara, wishing to test the spiritual wisdom of
these three princes, showed them the pearl and asked, “Can any-
thing rival this pearl?” The first and second sons replied, “This
pearl is the most honoured amongst the seven precious objects
and is truly unrivalled. If not someone with your Worship’s
spiritual prowess, who better to receive it?”
Bodaitara said, “This is a worldly treasure so it still falls
short of being considered supreme; amongst all treasures, the
DHARMA TREASURE is considered above them. This jewel has a
worldly lustre so it still falls short of being considered supreme;
amongst all lustres, the lustre of ENLIGHTENED WISDOM is
considered supreme. This pearl has a worldly brightness so
it still falls short of being considered supreme; amongst all
forms of brightness, the ORIGINAL NATURE’s brightness is
considered supreme. The splendour of this jewel cannot shine
in, and of, itself; of necessity you must borrow from the LIGHT
OF ENLIGHTENED WISDOM to perceive its shining. When you
have fully discerned this, then you will know that THAT is
the JEWEL. When you have come to know that JEWEL , then
you will be clear about what that TREASURE is. If you are clear
about what that TREASURE is, a treasure will, in itself, not be
 The Sainted Bodaidaruma 145

the TREASURE . If you have discerned that JEWEL , a jewel,

in itself, will not be the JEWEL . A jewel, in itself, will not be
the JEWEL when we invariably use the JEWEL OF ENLIGHTENED
WISDOM to differentiate amongst worldly treasures; a treasure,
in itself, will not be the TREASURE when we invariably use
the TREASURE OF ENLIGHTENED WISDOM to be clear about
the DHARMA TREASURE . Because Hannyatara’s Way is the
TREASURE OF ENLIGHTENED WISDOM, you are now conscious
of the worldly treasure, however, since the master keeps the
Way, this TREASURE then manifests ITSELF ; should sentient
beings keep the Way, the TREASURE will also manifest ITSELF
for them.”
Hannyatara, upon hearing such eloquence, knew that
Bodaitara was karmically descended from a sage. Although he
discerned that Bodaitara was certainly his Dharma heir, for the
time being he kept silent about it and did not single him out.
This is why he asked him, “Amongst all things, which is with-
out any characteristics?” to which Bodaitara had replied, “The
NON-ARISING is without characteristics,” whereupon Hannya-
tara had asked, “Amongst all things, which is the loftiest?” to
which Bodaitara had answered, “The TRUE SELF is the loftiest.”
Hannyatara had then asked, “Amongst all things, which is the
greatest?” to which Bodaitara had said, “The DHARMA-NATURE
is the greatest.” Although they carried on their discussion in this
manner, with the minds of the master and his disciple in com-
munion, Hannyatara still held back for a while on his bringing
Bodaitara’s spiritual potential to maturity.
Later, when his father the king passed away and everyone
was bewailing his death, Bodaitara sat alone before the bier and
entered into samadhi. After seven days had passed, he emerged
and then went to Hannyatara and asked to become a monk.
Hannyatara, realizing the time was ripe, let him become a monk
and had him take all the Precepts. After this Bodaitara stayed in
Hannyatara’s abode doing seated meditation for seven days.
146 Denkároku

Hannyatara instructed him extensively on the subtle principles

of seated meditation; upon hearing them, Bodaitara gave rise to
unsurpassed wisdom.
Hannyatara then pointed out to him, “You have already
attained the full measure of the Dharma Teaching. Since
‘dharma’ has a meaning of ‘all-pervasiveness’, it would be well
to give you the name of Daruma (S. Dharma),” consequently his
name was changed to Bodaidaruma (S. Bodhidharma, ‘He
Whose Enlightenment Is All-Pervasive’). Upon becoming a
monk and receiving the Transmission of the Law, Bodaidaruma
asked Hannyatara on bended knees, “Now that I have received
the Teaching, to which country should I go to carry out the
activities of Buddha?” Hannyatara said, “Although you have
received the Teachings, you should stay in Southern India for a
while. Wait until my parinirvana at age sixty-seven, then, by all
means, go to China and make contact with those of great charac-
ter.” Bodaidaruma said, “Will I be able to find noble beings with
the capacity for the Teaching in that land and, after a thousand
years, will troubles also arise there?” Hannyatara said, “In that
land you will leave behind countless people who will realize en-
lightenment. There are some small difficulties that will arise;
you would do well to submit to them. When you reach China, do
not abide in the South; there they are only fond of the achieve-
ments that are found in the transient world and fail to perceive
the ruling principles of Buddhism.” He then recited a verse for
Bodaidaruma,
“In travelling the road, you will traverse the waters
and encounter sheep;
All by yourself, and agitated,
you will cross the river in darkness.
The most pitiable under the sun
will be a pair—an elephant and a horse.
Two young cinnamon trees will there be
whose glory will prosper far into the future.
 The Sainted Bodaidaruma 147

Whilst in a meditation grove you will witness a man on the

verge of finding the FRUITION OF THE WAY.” He also said in
verse,
“Though China is vast, there is no other road for you
If you would have disciples follow in your footsteps;
Since the Golden Cock
knows how to hold a grain of millet in his beak,
He will nourish worthy monks in all ten directions.”
Through such verses Bodaidaruma received the SEAL and the
detailed predictions of his activities; he served and trained
closely under Hannyatara for forty years. After Hannyatara
entered parinirvana, a fellow trainee named Butsudaisen (S.
Buddhasena, ‘He Who Is Dependent on the Buddha’), who had
also received confirmation and predictions from Hannyatara
along with a monk named Sháta, divided Hannyatara’s fol-
lowers up into six schools by comparing their teachings with
those of Hannyatara. Bodaidaruma, through his own teaching,
reformed the six groups for which act his name was universally
revered.
As he approached his sixties, he knew that his karmic con-
nection with China had ripened, so he went to the king, who
held non-Buddhist views, and told him, “Revere the Triple
Treasure and you will thrive and prosper in the blessings of the
Buddha. My karmic connections with China have ripened.
When my work there is finished, I will return.” The king, weep-
ing like one in mourning, said, “What offences has this our
country committed? What is so felicitous about their land?
Well, if you must go, you must but, once you have finished your
work in China, please return to us quickly; do not forget the
land of your parents.” The king himself saw Bodaidaruma off,
accompanying him to the very seashore.
Bodaidaruma sailed for three whole years, crossing the
Southern Sea to arrive at Nankai (C. Nan-hai), on the south
148 Denkároku

coast of China, on the twenty-first day of the ninth lunar month

in the year 527 C.E. during the Liang Dynasty, the era name
having changed from Futsâ (C. P’u-t’ung, ‘The Common Way’)
to Daitsâ (C. Ta-t’ung, ‘The Great Universal Way’) in the third
month. First he had an audience with Emperor Bu (C. Wu) of
Liang, as the familiar story goes, which was what Hannyatara
had alluded to when he said, “Do not abide in the South.”
He went north to the kingdom of Wei; it is said that he
floated there on a reed. Literal-minded people fancy that this
refers to a reed stalk and portray him as floating on a reed shaft,
which is inaccurate. A ‘reed’ is what a small passenger boat was
called because of its shape; it was not an actual reed. In
Hannyatara’s verse, ‘encountering a sheep’ refers to Emperor
Bu of Liang and ‘crossing the river in darkness’ refers to
Bodaidaruma’s crossing of the Yangtze River which separates
the two kingdoms. In this way he quickly reached Shárin-ji
(C. Shao-lin-ssu), on Mount Sâ (C. Sung), where he stayed in
the monastery’s East Gallery. No one could fathom what he was
doing because he sat cross-legged throughout the day; as a con-
sequence they called him ‘the Brahman Who Contemplates the
Wall’. Thus he passed nine years without ever preaching in a
harsh or critical manner and without being quick to point things
out. After the nine years he handed down his ‘skin, flesh, bones
and marrow’, respectively, to his four disciples Dáfuku, Dáiku,
Sáji and Eka (C. Tao-fu, Tao-yu¨, Tsung-ch’ih and Hui-k’o) for
he knew their spiritual potential had already ripened.
At that time there were two heretical Buddhists named
Bodairyâshi (S. Bodhiruci, ‘He Who Longs for Enlightenment’)
and Vinaya Master Kázu (C. Kuang-t’ung, ‘He of the Lineage
of Light’). Seeing Bodaidaruma’s religious virtue spreading
through the country and people everywhere paying their re-
spects to him, they could not restrain their resentment. Not only
did they throw stones at him and knock out his front teeth but
they also tried to poison him five times. When they proffered a
 The Sainted Bodaidaruma 149

poisonous drug for the sixth time, Bodaidaruma spread it out

upon a huge boulder which immediately crumbled to pieces.
When he saw that his spiritual mission had already been
completed, he thought to himself, “Upon receiving the SEAL
and the predictions from my former master I saw a great spirit
in China and knew for certain that there would be someone
capable of receiving the Teachings of Mahayana. However,
following my encounter with Emperor Bu of Liang, occasions
have not been suitable for winning people over. In vain have
I sat in silence for only the Noble One (that is, Eka) has
realized the DIVINE LIGHT and to him I have passed on all that
I have derived from the Way. My work has now been dis-
posed of and my karmic connection completed. It is time to pass
on.” So saying he sat erect and died; he was buried on Bear’s
Ear Peak (J. Yâjihá; C. Hsiung-erh-feng). It is said he met
Sáun (C. Sung-yu¨n) later on in the Onion Range (that is,
the Belaturgh Mountains of Turkestan); however, he is actu-
ally buried on Bear’s Ear Peak, this is correct. Just as Hannya-
tara had predicted, Bodaidaruma became the first Ancestor in
China.
At the time when he was still a prince, Bodaidaruma had
held forth upon the pearl. As a result of this Hannyatara had
asked him, “Amongst all things, which is without any charac-
teristics?” and he had answered, “The NON-ARISING is without
characteristics.” Truly, even though some say that IT is void and
tranquil, such a view is not free of characteristics which is why
he had said that the NON-ARISING is without characteristics.
Because of this you should understand that IT towers above all
like a steep cliff soaring into the sky; you should comprehend
that IT is clear and bright within the hundred grasses and realize
that nothing is other than IT, however, everything, simply by its
very nature, abides in its phenomenal state and yet is not the
NON-ARISING, and is not, therefore, free of characteristics.
When Heaven and Earth have not yet been separated, how can
150 Denkároku

the sanctified and the ordinary possibly be differentiated? At

this stage nothing will give rise to anything, not a speck of dirt
will be able to stain or soil anything.
This does not mean that originally there was nothing at
all; IT is truly vast and clear like the sky, wondrously alert and
resplendent. Because IT is beyond comparison and is never
accompanied by anything, IT is the very maximum. This is
why they say that the GREAT is called unimaginable and the
UNIMAGINABLE is called the DHARMA-NATURE. Not even the
priceless pearl could compare with IT ; not even the clear light
of the mind resembles IT. This is why Bodaidaruma said of the
pearl, “It has a worldly lustre, so it still falls short of being
considered supreme; the lustre of ENLIGHTENED WISDOM is
supreme.” This is how he divined IT.
What he said truly arose from his inherent intelligence,
nevertheless he sat in meditation for seven days whilst being
instructed in the marvellous principles of seated meditation
and gave rise to the wisdom of the unsurpassed Way. You
should know that, after you have found a thorough under-
standing of this and completely made real such a state, you will
know THAT which the Buddhas and Ancestors were talking
about and, having gained a clear understanding of THAT which
the Buddhas of the past have already borne witness to, you
will be a direct descendant of the Buddhas and Ancestors, a
fact that the Venerable Bodaidaruma, in particular, exemplifies.
Although he was like one who already has naturally en-
lightened wisdom, he also gave rise to the wisdom of the
Unsurpassed Way. Still later he trained thoroughly in medita-
tion and probed deeply into what efforts he should make to
preserve and maintain it in the future; for forty years he served
his master Hannyatara, scrupulously performing his duties with-
out forgetting Hannyatara’s predictions for his future. Having
lived sixty years, he spent three whole years of winters and
summers upon the billows of the vast sea until at last he reached
 The Sainted Bodaidaruma 151

a foreign land then, during his nine years of sitting in silent

meditation, he found a great vessel for the Teaching and for the
first time propagated the True Law of the Tathagata in China as
well as disseminated the great blessings of his former teacher.
His hardships were more severe than those of any other; his
austerities were greater than those of any other.
Our times are decadent and frivolous and people’s abilities
are mediocre so many trainees today, as might be expected,
desire easy attainments. Those of this ilk who lay claim to what
they have not yet found must be companions to those conceited
braggarts on Vulture Peak who thought their spiritual prowess
was sufficiently so advanced that they did not need to stay to
hear the whole of the Buddha’s Teaching.
If you meditate carefully and probe deeply into what is
happening in the previous story, your understanding of these
lofty matters will continue to increase; if you ‘wear your brains
out and discard your body’ by training with a good will, you
will have the subtle fragrance of the Buddhas and directly match
what was apprehended by the Buddhas and Ancestors. Do not
think that some bit of wisdom or a partial comprehension is
sufficient.
Again, here are my humble words. Do you wish to hear
them?
There is no location, boundary or surface,
So how can anything even as minute as autumn down
possibly exist?
152 Denkároku

CHAPTER 30.

THE TWENTY-NINTH ANCESTOR,

THE GREAT ANCESTOR AND GREAT TEACHER
EKA.

Whilst serving and training with Bodaidaruma, Eka one day

told him, “I have by now severed all my karmic ties.”
Bodaidaruma said, “You are not denying the law of karma, are
you?” Eka answered, “No, I am not.” Bodaidaruma asked him,
“And how can you be sure of this?” Eka replied, “Clearly, and
beyond doubt, I have always known; words cannot approach
IT.” Bodaidaruma said, “This is the ORIGINAL NATURE which
the Buddhas have apprehended; do not let yourself doubt IT ever
again.”

Eka was a man from Burá (C. Wu-lao), his family was of
the Ki (C. Chi) clan to which the legendary Yellow Emperor
had also belonged. Before Eka was born, his father, whose
name was Seki (C. Chi, ‘The Silent, or Solitary, One’), had
often told himself, “Since my family respects what is good, how
can it be that I have had no offspring?” For a long time he
prayed for a child then, one night, he became aware of a strange
light illuming his bedroom and his wife, consequently, became
pregnant. Whilst growing up, the boy was given the name of Ká
(C. Kuang, ‘He of the Light’ or ‘The Radiant One’) because of
the auspiciousness of the illumined room. Even from childhood,
his spirit did not follow that of the herd. For a long time he lived
in the area between the rivers I and Raku (C. I and Lo), near the
ancient capital, and was an avid reader; he took no interest in
family affairs but preferred to wander the countryside. Con-
stantly lamenting that the teachings of Confucius and Lao-tzu
were merely rules and regulations for social manners and arts
 Great Teacher Eka 153

and that the writings of Chuang-tzu and The Book of Changes

had still not covered the subtler truth completely, he left home
to become a monk and took the Precepts under Meditation
Master Hájá (C. Pao-ching, ‘He Who Treasures Quietude’) of
Dragon’s Gate (J. Ryâmon; C. Lung-men) on Fragrant Moun-
tain (J. Kyázan; C. Hsiang-shan).
He floated around listening to the discourses of various
teachers, extensively studying the principles of both the Greater
and the Lesser Vehicles. One day, whilst reading a Buddhist
text on prajna, he rose above its literal meaning and grasped
its deeper significance. After that, he passed eight years sitting
in meditation day and night until, in the midst of his tranquil
silence, he saw a solitary divine being who addressed him,
saying, “You are on the verge of receiving the effects of your
training, so why tarry here? Supreme enlightenment is not far
off; go to the South.” Realizing that this was spiritual guidance,
he changed his name to Shinká (C. Shen-kuang, ‘He of the
Divine Light’ or ‘The Divinely Radiant One’). The next day
his head ached as if it had been pierced with a spike. When his
teacher tried to heal this, a voice from out of the air said, “This
is an altering of the skull bones; it is not an ordinary pain.”
Shinká, at length, told his teacher about his having seen a deva.
When his teacher examined Shinká’s skull it looked as if it had
the five peaks of Mount Sâ (C. Hsiu) upon it. Thereupon he
said, “You have an auspicious sign; undoubtedly you will
realize an authentic enlightenment. The deva’s commanding
you to go to the South refers to Great Teacher Bodaidaruma at
Shárin-ji. Without doubt you will become a master.”
Having received this instruction, Shinká travelled to
Shárin-ji on Mount Sâ, arriving on the ninth day of the final
month in 528 C.E. Bodaidaruma would not permit him to enter
as his disciple so Shinká stood outside the window. That night
it snowed heavily; standing in the snow he awaited the dawn.
The snow drift buried his hips, the bitter cold pierced him to
154 Denkároku

the bone, his teardrops froze as they fell. Seeing his own tears
only increased his feeling of coldness and regarding his reflec-
tion in the window, he thought, “Those of old who sought the
Way broke open their bones to let others feed upon the marrow,
pierced their veins to slake the thirst of others, wove their hair
into a mat to protect the Buddha’s feet from the mire or threw
themselves down some precipice to feed tigers. If those in the
past acted thus, how should I behave?” Through such reflections
he unflaggingly spurred his resolve; upright he stood without
moving. At dawn, Bodaidaruma, seeing that Shinká had stood in
the snow all through the night, asked him, out of compassion,
“What do you seek that you would stand in the snow for such
a long time?” Shinká answered, “Only that out of your com-
passion you will deign to open the Gate of Sweet Dew to me so
that I may ferry all types of sentient beings throughout the world
to the Other Shore.” Without giving him so much as a look
over his shoulder, Bodaidaruma retorted, “The Unsurpassed,
Wondrous Path of the Buddhas requires kalpas of effort and
diligence, being able to practise what is difficult to practise,
enduring what is hard to endure. How can you, with your
meagre virtues and puny understanding, with your frivolous
heart and lazy mind, dare to wish for the True Vehicle; in vain
do you strive and toil!” Shinká, hearing this compassionate
instruction with tears streaming down his face, was ever more
eager in his determination to seek the Way. Unseen by Bodai-
daruma, Shinká took a sharp sword and cut off his own left arm
at the elbow. Bodaidaruma, realizing that Shinká was a vessel
for the Teaching, told him, “All the Buddhas from the first
sought the Way. For the sake of the Teaching they disregarded
their bodies; you have now cut off your arm in my presence.
You are capable of seeking It.” Because of this act, Bodai-
daruma changed Shinká’s name to Eka (C. Hui-k’o, ‘He with
the Capacity for Wisdom’) and finally allowed him to enter as
a disciple. Eka served Bodaidaruma unswervingly for eight
years.
 Great Teacher Eka 155

Once, Eka asked Bodaidaruma, “Great Teacher, may I hear

what you have to say about the Dharma-Seal of the Buddhas?”
Bodaidaruma answered, “The Dharma-Seal of the Buddhas
cannot be obtained from another person.” On another occasion
Bodaidaruma told Eka, “Outwardly, sever all karmic ties; within
your mind, do not pant after things. When your mind is like
a wall you will be able to enter the Way.” As Eka was wont
to speak of Original Nature without connecting this with the
underlying principles of the Way, Bodaidaruma would sim-
ply cut off his errors and, for his sake, did not discuss the
ORIGINAL NATURE of the mind which is free from discrimina-
tive thought. It says in the Indescribably Skillful Devices from
Within the Master’s Quarters (J. ‘Shitsuchâ Genki;’ C. ‘Shih
Chung Hsu¨an Chi’), ‘Once, whilst Eka was attending Bodai-
daruma, they were climbing Scant Houses Peak (J. Sháshihá;
C. Shao-shih-feng) when Bodaidaruma asked, “Which way does
the path go?” Eka replied, “If you will please go straight ahead,
that is it.” Bodaidaruma responded, “If you try to go straight
ahead, you will not be able to move even one step.” When Eka
heard this, he realized enlightenment.’
At the time when, as related above, Eka told Bodaidaruma
that he had by now severed all karmic ties and Bodaidaruma
had replied that he should not let himself doubt IT ever again,
he at last gave Eka both the Kesa and the Teaching, saying,
“Inwardly, Transmit the DHARMA-SEAL by which the validity
of enlightenment is realized within the heart; outwardly, pass
on the Kesa by which the authenticity of our line is established.”
Accordingly, after Bodaidaruma entered perfect rest, Eka con-
tinued to spread the profound Teaching of his master’s line.
When giving the Teaching to Sásan, he said, “I still have
residual karmic troubles that I must by all means pay for.”
Having entrusted the Teaching and the Kesa to Sásan, Eka
began to preach the Law in the nearby capital city of Yeh
since circumstances seemed appropriate; members of all four
156 Denkároku

groups—male and female monks, lay men and women—took

the Refuges. He passed thirty years in the following way. He
would hide the LIGHT, cover his traces, change his appearance,
enter some wine-shop, pass through a butcher’s doors, stop
to listen to the local gossip or go about with the humblest
of menials, the outhouse cleaners. Someone once asked him,
“You are one who has realized enlightenment so why do you be-
have like this?” Eka replied, “What I am doing is scrutinizing
ORIGINAL NATURE but how does this concern you?”
Later, when Eka was expounding the essentials of the
Dharma outside the main gate of Kyákyâ-ji (C. K’uang-chiu-
ssu) in Kanjá (C. Kuan-ch’eng), a veritable forest of monks and
lay people, male and female, gathered about him. At the time
Dharma Master Benwa (C. Pien-ho) was lecturing within the
temple on the Nirvana Scripture but his flock, learning of
Eka’s preaching of the Dharma, left, one by one, to go and hear
him. Benwa, persistent in his resentment, gave vent to slander-
ous accusations against Eka before the district magistrate Teki
Châkan (C. Ti Chung-k’an). Having been led astray by these
improper remarks, Châkan used unlawful means to inflict capi-
tal punishment on Eka who submitted to all this with a cheerful
spirit. This occurred during the Sui Dynasty, on the sixteenth
day of the second lunar month, 591 C.E.
Superior and inferior are not distinguished when it comes to
the exalted virtues of the Ancestors; even so, Eka ranks as one
esteemed among the esteemed, revered among the revered for
the reason that, even though Bodaidaruma came from the West,
it would have been difficult for our lineage to come down to us
today had Eka not passed on the Transmission. His hardships
have exceeded those of others, his determination in pursuing the
Way has surpassed that of others. Even Bodaidaruma did not
speak for a long time as he waited for Eka’s genuine potential to
ripen; above all he did not point out, or explain, anything for
him, he just said, “Outwardly, sever all karmic ties; within your
 Great Teacher Eka 157

mind, do not pant after things. When your mind is like a wall,
you will be able to enter into the Way.” When you can truly
bring a halt to deliberate thought in this way, you will manifest
your ORIGINAL NATURE . Hearing what I have just said, you
may try to become ‘mindless’ like a blank wall, but this is not
taking a close look into your mind. This is why Eka said,
“Clearly and beyond doubt, I have always known.” If you can be
exactly like this, this is the significance of ‘what the Buddhas
have apprehended’.
When you are able to sever all karmic ties to the outside,
the myriad deliberate thoughts will cease to exist within. Be
alert and IT will not be obscured from you; rest beyond doubt
and IT will be clear to you as the SOURCE . Do not distinguish
between past and present, do not separate self from other.
Without departing even the slightest from what the Buddhas
have realized, or from the heart-to-heart Transmission of the
Ancestors, IT has come harmoniously, therefore IT was Trans-
mitted from India and the West to the lands of the East and
spread from China to Japan. This is how it was in the past, this
is how it is now. Do not yearn for the past or idle away the
present, just train! Do not think that the time is long gone since
Shakyamuni, the Wise One, passed away. Do not give up on
yourself.
Here are my humble words that try to express an example of
this. Do you wish to hear them?
Empty yet resonant,
all earth-bound thoughts exhausted,
IT is, beyond doubt, alert and clear,
always still and bright.
158 Denkároku

CHAPTER 31.

THE THIRTIETH ANCESTOR,

GREAT MASTER KANCHI SÜSAN.

Upon meeting Eka, Sásan asked him, “My body is riddled

with disease; please, Reverend Monk, cleanse me of my defile-
ment.” Eka replied, “Bring me your defilement and I will
cleanse you of it.” Sásan thought long and hard about this, then
said, “I have searched for my defilement but cannot find it.” Eka
replied, “I have cleansed you of your defilement. It is fitting that
you dwell in accord with Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.”

Sásan was a man from parts unknown; his first meeting

with Eka was as a lay person when he was in his forties. With-
out giving his name, he had suddenly come forward, bowed and
put his request to Eka to cleanse him of his defilement. The
above dialogue ensued up to where Eka said, “It is fitting that
you dwell in accord with Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,” where-
upon Sásan said, “Seeing you, Reverend Monk, I realize that
you represent the Sangha, but I have not yet ascertained what
are meant by Buddha and Dharma.” Eka replied, “Your
ORIGINAL NATURE is BUDDHA, your ORIGINAL NATURE is
DHARMA ; DHARMA and BUDDHA are inseparable. What I have
said is also true for the SANGHA TREASURE .” Sásan said,
“Today, for the first time, I realize that the true nature of
defilement does not exist within or without or in-between; it
is the same as ORIGINAL NATURE ; Buddha and Dharma are
inseparable.” Eka, seeing how profound Sásan’s capacity for the
Teaching was, shaved his head, saying, “You are my treasure; it
is fitting for me to give you the name Sásan (C. Seng-ts’an,
‘The Resplendent Jewel of the Sangha’).” On the eighteenth day
of the third lunar month of that year Sásan took the Precepts
in Káfuku-ji (C. Kuang-fu-ssu). From then on, his disease
gradually subsided.
 Great Master Kanchi Sásan 159

After Sásan had spent two years attending on Eka, the latter
said one day, “Great Master Bodaidaruma came from India to
this land and gave me both the Kesa and the Teaching; I now
give them to you.” He added, “Although you have already
obtained the Teaching, for the time being you should go deep
into the mountains and not teach or guide others since some
political troubles are about to arise.” Sásan said, “Master, since
you already know what is going to happen, please deign to give
me some instructions.” Eka replied, “This is not something that
I personally know about; it is a prediction by Hannyatara which
Bodaidaruma passed on to me as, ‘Even though the receipt of
the Teaching is auspicious within the heart, outwardly it will
bring misfortune.’ These are the troubles that he meant. When
I compare this prediction with the number of years that
Bodaidaruma spoke of, it applies directly to you. By all means
examine what has just been said and do not get caught up in
worldly difficulties.”
After this, Sásan sought seclusion on Mount Kanká
(C. Huan-kung) where he spent over ten years; this was during
the time that Emperor Bu (C. Wu) of the Chou Dynasty out-
lawed Buddhism and, in consequence, Sásan took up residence
on Mount Shikâ (C. Ssu-k’ung). Whilst staying there he had
no fixed abode and his physical appearance underwent a trans-
formation. Whilst acting in this way he came in contact with the
novice Dáshin whom he later told, “After my late master Eka
Transmitted the Teaching and the Kesa to me, he went to the
capital city of Yeh where he lived for thirty years. Now that I
have found you, what is to hold me here?” Accordingly he went
to Mount Rafu (C. Lo-fou) but later returned to his former dwell-
ing place where both the educated and the common people
hastened to prepare charitable offerings for him. For the sake of
the monks and laity, male and female, Sásan preached exten-
sively on the essence of mind then, during a Buddhist ceremony,
he passed away whilst sitting in gasshá under a large tree. His
160 Denkároku

poems, such as ‘What Is Engraved on the Heart That Trusts to

the Eternal’, have been recorded and to this day are still cir-
culated as Teaching. Later he was given the title of Great Master
Kanchi (C. Chien-chih, ‘He Whose Wisdom Is a Mirror’).
The disease that plagued Sásan’s body at the time of his
first meeting with Eka was leprosy but, after meeting Eka, his
karmic disease suddenly disappeared. There is nothing special
about what is happening in this story. Having understood that
the true nature of defilement is ungraspable, Sásan had awak-
ened to the fact that ORIGINAL NATURE is pure and unstained.
This is why, upon hearing that BUDDHA and DHARMA are
inseparable, he had said that ORIGINAL NATURE and DHARMA
were also inseparable.
When you can truly discern ORIGINAL NATURE , there is no
longer any difference between dying in one place and being
born in another: how much less is there discrimination between
the good and bad roots of defilement. This is why the four ele-
ments and the five skandhas ultimately do not exist; from the
very beginning we are free of skin, flesh, bones and marrow.
The disease that afflicted him therefore disappeared and his
ORIGINAL NATURE manifested ITSELF.
Sásan preached widely on the essentials of the Teaching fol-
lowing a set sequence; after talking on the text, ‘The Ultimate
Way is not hard; simply reject picking and choosing’, he would
expound on ‘The power of words fails to describe IT for IT is not
of past, future or present’. Truly, there is no inside or outside
and there is no in-between. What is there to choose, what to
reject? You cannot grab hold of IT or discard IT. Once you are
beyond hatred and desire, IT is crystal clear and unmistakable;
nothing is lacking at any time nor is there anything in excess.
Nevertheless, look, and probe deeply, into yourself until you
find the ungraspable place which is beyond imagining or
description. Never deny the law of karma or be a veritable log
or stone; strike space hard and make it reverberate, tether the
 Meditation Master Daii Dáshin 161

lightning and make it take form, carefully set your eyes on the
place that has no traces and never hide yourself there. If you are
like this, although we say that IT is not some object which is
before your eyes or which the sense organs settle on, you will
discern IT without deviating even as much as a dust mote.
So, how am I to discriminate and write some words about
what is going on in this story?
The ORIGINAL NATURE of things
is void, unstained and pure,
without inside or outside,
Hence neither defilements nor virtues
leave any traces therein.
ORIGINAL NATURE and BUDDHA
are fundamentally the same;
Both DHARMA and SANGHA
are, in themselves, clearly wise.

CHAPTER 32.

THE THIRTY-FIRST ANCESTOR,

MEDITATION MASTER DAII DÜSHIN.

Bowing before Great Master Kanchi, Dáshin said, “Please,

Reverend Monk, I beg you, from your compassion, to impart
to me the Dharma Gate of liberation.” Kanchi said, “Who is
preventing you from entering?” Dáshin answered, “No one is
preventing me.” Kanchi said, “Then why do you seek liberation
from me?” At these words Dáshin experienced a great awaken-
ing to his TRUE SELF.

Dáshin (C. Tao-hsin, ‘He Who Trusts in the Way’) was

his personal name; his family name was Shima (C. Ssu-ma).
162 Denkároku

He lived first in Kanai (C. Ho-nei) but later moved to Kásai

(C. Kuang-chi) in the provincial district of Kishâ (C. Ch’i-
chou). From his very birth he far excelled others; in his boy-
hood he practised various teachings on liberation taught by the
schools that taught about shunyata as if this were some habit
inherited from a previous life. When he had just entered his
fourteenth year, he met Great Master Kanchi and made his
plea for the priest’s compassion until he had a great awakening
upon hearing Kanchi’s reply. Dáshin worked hard serving Kan-
chi for nine years and, after receiving the Precepts in Kishâ,
he respectfully held to them with marked conscientiousness.
With the utmost subtlety, Kanchi would often test him. When
he recognised that Dáshin’s condition was ripe, he passed on
the Kesa and the Teaching. Dáshin pursued Kanchi’s approach
to training with full concentration and without sleeping; for
almost sixty years he never even lay down.
In 617 C.E., during the Sui Dynasty, Dáshin, together
with his followers, arrived at Kichishâ (C. Chi-chou) where a
gang of bandits had been holding the city in its grip for seventy
days. The whole populace was terrified so Dáshin took pity
on them and taught them how to recite The Scripture of Great
Wisdom. Some time later the robber band, whilst peering
though the openings in the parapet wall, saw what looked
like phantom soldiers inside and said amongst themselves,
“There must be some extraordinary person within the city;
we ought not to attack.” As a consequence they gradually
withdrew.
In 624 C.E. Dáshin returned to Kishâ. During the spring,
when he was living on Split Head Mountain (J. Hatázan; C. P’o-
t’ou-shan), a company of monks gathered about him like clouds.
One day, whilst on the road to Übai Mountain, (C. Huang-mei,
‘Yellow Plum Tree’), he met Kánin and, from the east side
of Ox Head Summit (J. Gozu; C. Niu-t’ou), on Split Head
Mountain, produced a branch of his line.
 Meditation Master Daii Dáshin 163

In 627 C.E. Emperor T’ai-tsung (J. Daishâ) of the T’ang

Dynasty, drawn toward Dáshin’s practical approach to the
Teaching, desired to pay his respects to Dáshin in person so he
had him summoned to the capital. Dáshin humbly declined the
emperor’s invitation. This summons was sent three times with
Dáshin finally pleading illness. With the fourth summons the
emperor commanded his emissary to bring back Dáshin’s head
if the monk really would not come. When the emissary reached
the mountain and made known the emperor’s instructions,
Dáshin, with great dignity, stretched out his neck to receive
the blade. Finding this behaviour extraordinary, the emissary
returned to report what had happened. The emperor’s admira-
tion for Dáshin only increased. He sent the monk a gift of rare
silks and left him to his own resolves.
In 651 C.E., on the fourth day of the ninth lunar month,
Dáshin suddenly gave the following admonition to his disciples,
“Each and every single, solitary thing, without exception, is
liberated; every one of you must keep this in mind, then let IT
flow out and transform others in the future,” whereupon he
stopped speaking and, sitting tranquilly, passed away in his
seventy-second year. His body was placed in a stupa on the
mountain where he had lived. The next year, on the eighth day
of the fourth lunar month, the door to the stupa opened by itself
from no apparent cause. Dáshin looked just as he had when
alive and, after this, his disciples did not dare to close the door
again. Later Dáshin was given the title of Meditation Master
Great Physician (J. Daii Zenji; C. Ta-i Ch’an-shih).
To be sure there is no superiority or inferiority in the
behaviour of any master; Dáshin had followed the teaching on
shunyata from boyhood just as though he had done so in a previ-
ous life. Throughout his life he avoided rulers and their minis-
ters. Once having discovered the Way, he trained resolutely
without ever turning back. From the very first he proclaimed the
Dharma Gate to Liberation and, at the time of his death, he
164 Denkároku

opened the Dharma Gate to Liberation to let it be known that,

ultimately, no one is ever bound by birth and death. He was
truly an extraordinary person, one met with only in a thousand
years.
The practice of the teaching on shunyata has, from the first,
been called the Dharma Gate to Liberation. Why is this? Neither
being alive, nor being a Buddha, ever fetters you. Furthermore,
what birth or death is there in which you can participate? Since
this is so, this is something that cannot be analyzed or measured
in terms of body or mind, or something that can be differen-
tiated in terms of delusion and enlightenment. Even if you talk
about mind and external objects or defiling passions and perfect
enlightenment, all are but different names for the self. This is
why mountains and rivers have no disparity. The karmic effects
from the past that manifest as one’s environment and as one’s
body and mind have no differences. Accordingly, O Acharyas,
when it is cold, it is cold enough to kill you; when it is hot, it is
hot enough to slay you. When you have crossed through the
barrier gate, this principle will not apply. In other words, there
is neither bondage nor liberation, neither this nor that; things do
not set up their names; objects do not discriminate between their
forms. You find fully the effects of your training so how can
you possibly be concerned with what is ‘phenomenal’ or
‘noumenal’? Ultimately there is no distinction between ‘sitting
upright in the meditation hall’ and just living. Do not abide in
time, space and dualistic views. When you can see things in this
way, you no longer need to use the word ‘liberation’. How can
you despise anything as ‘fettering you’?
Furthermore, you truly have a radiance; we call this ‘that
which sees the three worlds’. Your tongue has a sense of taste;
this is named ‘that which harmonizes with the six flavours’.
You emit light everywhere and prepare a feast at all times. As
you come to taste IT, there is a deeply rich flavour in THAT
which has no flavour. As you come to see IT, or go to see IT,
 Meditation Master Daiman Kánin 165

there is a true form in THAT which has no characteristic of form.

Thus there is no need to associate with rulers or ministers of
state, no obligation for body or mind to sit or lie down.
If you can reach this stage, Great Master Dáshin will be
none other than each and every one of you and you will all be
Great Master Dáshin. Is this not what is meant by ‘all things,
without exception, being gates to liberation’? Is this not what
is meant by ‘letting the TRUTH flow out and transform others
in the future’? The door and windows of the Seamless Stupa
suddenly fly open and ONE with the features of an ordinary
being emerges genially.
Now here again are my humble words. Do you all wish to
hear them?
ORIGINAL NATURE is empty, ITS unsullied wisdom
holds no thought of right or wrong;
Within ITSELF, IT recognises nothing
as being fettered or free;
Even though we may distinguish five skandhas
and four elements,
Sight and hearing, sound and form
are ultimately nothing other than IT.

CHAPTER 33.

THE THIRTY-SECOND ANCESTOR,

MEDITATION MASTER DAIMAN KÜNIN.

When Kánin encountered Dáshin on the road to Übai,

Dáshin asked him, “What is your clan name?” Kánin said, “I
have a NATURE but I do not have a conventional clan name.”
Dáshin asked, “And what is IT ?” Kánin replied, “It is the
BUDDHA NATURE.” Dáshin queried, “So you have no clan
166 Denkároku

name?” Kánin answered, “Because ORIGINAL NATURE is

empty, I do not.” Dáshin fell silent realizing that Kánin was a
vessel for the Teaching and that it was to him that he would
Transmit the Teaching and the Kesa.

Kánin (C. Hung-ren, ‘He of Magnificent Endurance’) was

a man from Übai in the provincial district of Kishâ (C. Ch’i-
chou); in a former life he had been an itinerant forester who
planted pine trees on Split Head Mountain. During that time he
had once asked Dáshin to explain to him how he could realize
enlightenment in accord with the Teaching. Dáshin had an-
swered, “You are already quite old; even were you to hear it,
how could you propagate it in order to convert others? How-
ever, were you to return in another lifetime, I would still be
waiting for you.” The forester departed. As he came to the edge
of a river he saw a lone young woman washing clothes and,
greeting her, he asked if he could lodge with her for the night.
The woman replied that she had a father and an elder brother
whom she could ask. He replied that, if it was all right with her,
he would venture to go with her. The young woman agreed and,
afterwards, returned to her task.
The young woman was the very plum of her entire clan so,
when she suddenly discovered upon her return home that she
was pregnant, her parents, in rancour, drove her out of the
house. Since the woman had no home to return to, she hired
herself out as a spinner in the village during the day and spent
her nights inside the public tavern. Ultimately she gave birth to
a son but, because having him seemed misfortunate to her, she
cast him into a muddy stream. He was not carried away by the
current but stayed afloat whilst his body remained dry. For
seven days divine beings protected him from harm; in the day
these divine beings were two birds whose wings stretched out to
cover the child, at night they were two dogs who crouched down
beside him as guardians. When his mother saw that his vitality