직지심체요절 (Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings — World's Oldest Movable Metal Type, 1377)

Attaining an Opening within a Word

○ Xuan-sha ascended the hall and said, "I have practiced alongside the Old Man Shakyamuni. Now, tell me, whom did you see?"
At that time, a monk came forward, bowed, and was about to ask a question. The Master said, "Wrong, wrong!" He then descended from the seat.

○ Xuan-sha ascended the hall, heard the sound of a cuckoo, and said, "Profoundly discussing reality, skillfully explaining the essential dharma!"
He then descended from the seat.

○ Xuan-sha, because Xue-feng said, "Venerable Bei, why do you not go over the mountain ridge and travel for study?" As soon as the Master crossed the ridge, he stubbed his toe and, without realizing it, made a sound of pain. He said, "Over there is emptiness, here is emptiness. My body has no pain; from where could it arise?" [He then said,] "Rest, rest! Bodhidharma did not come to the Eastern Lands, and the Third Patriarch did not go to the Western Heaven." Returning, Xue-feng then went out over the ridge.

○ Chan Master Fayan Wenyi, because Dizang asked, "Venerable, where are you going?" The Master said, "I am just walking on foot." Dizang said, "What is the matter of walking on foot?" The Master said, "I do not know." Dizang said, "Not knowing is most inti-

mate." The Master was suddenly and greatly enlightened.

While Fayan and Wukong were sitting by the fire, he picked up an incense spoon and asked Wukong, "You must not call this an incense spoon. Elder Brother, what do you call it?" Wukong said, "An incense spoon." Fayan did not approve. Twenty days later, Kong finally understood the meaning.

○ Three fellow travelers of Fayan cited the words of the Dharma Master Seng-zhao: "Heaven and earth and I share the same root; the myriad things and I are one body." He said, "That is very strange." That is truly strange. Chan Master Guichen asked, "Venerable, are the mountains, rivers, and the great earth the same as yourself, or are they different?" Fayan said, "They are the same." Chen held up two fingers and looked at them intently. He said, "They are two." Fayan was greatly shocked.

○ As Master Chen was seeing off the three [monks, including] Fayan outside the gate, Chen asked, "Venerable, you often say that the triple world is mind-only." He then pointed to a stone in the courtyard and asked, "Is this stone inside the mind or outside the mind?" Fayan said, "It is inside the mind." Chen laughed and said, "What reason does a traveling monk have to place a stone in his heart?"