In the third watch, beginning of the night, before the moon is bright, do not wonder
at meeting without recognition; still held hidden in the heart is the beauty of former days.

A woman who's overslept encounters an ancient mirror; clearly she sees her face--there is no other reality.  Nevertheless, she still mistakes  her reflection for her head.

Within nothingness is a road out of the dust; just be able to avoid violating the present taboo  name and you will still surpass the eloquence of yore that silenced every tongue.

When two blades cross, no need to flee; an expert is like a lotus in fire--clearly there is a spirit spontaneously soaring.

If you are not trapped in being and nonbeing, who can dare to join you?
Everyone wants to leave the ordinary current, but in the final analysis you come back and sit in the ashes.
 

That idle old awl Cloud of Virtue-- how many times has he come down from the peak of wonder!  He helps other foolish sages  hauling snow to fill a well.

 

 

THE FIVE RANKS OF ZEN

explained by Zen Master Caoshan (Sozan)

A fragment of space pervading everywhere, senses and objects silent.

The moon reflected in the water, or an image reflected in a mirror, basically has no origin or extinction; how could there be any traces?

The whole being is revealed alone, the root source of myriad phenomena, without blame or praise.

Going along with things without being inhibited, like an empty boat, getting through openness, independent and free.

The absolute is not necessarily empty, the relative is not necessarily substantial; there is neither rejection nor inclination.

THE FIVE RANKS

by Zen Master Hongzhi

The blue sky clears and the River of Stars' cold flood dries up.

At midnight the wooden boy pounds on the moon's door.

In darkness the jade woman is startled from her sleep.

Ocean and clouds rendezvous at the top of the spirit mountain.

The old woman returns with hair hanging down like white silk.

And shyly faces the mirror coldly reflecting her image.

In the moonlit night the huge sea monster sheds its scales.

Its great back rubs the heaven, and it scatters clouds with its wing feathers.

Soaring here and there along the bird's path—it is difficult to classify.

Meeting face to face we need not shun each other's names.

In the changing wind, no injury to the profound meaning.

In the light, a road to the natural differences.

The Big Dipper slants across the sky before dawn.

In dewy cold the crane begins to wake from its dreams.

As it flies out of the old nest, the pine tree up in the clouds falls over.

Hongzhi's Five Ranks
by Taigen Dan Leighton
(ontological aspects of Awakened Mind)

Seeing particulars against the backdrop of the Ultimate.

Seeing the Ultimate in each or any particular event.

Emerging silent and shining from the experiential state of union with the Ultimate.

Using Both particulars and the sense of the Universal with familiarity.

Freely using either the Phenomenal or the ineffable Reality without attaching to either and without seeing them as separate.

Relative within the Absolute

Just Sitting in the Timeless Spring

279. Dharma Hall Discourse on the First Day of the Ninth Month [1248]

Sit on your cushions and think beyond thinking; play vividly and energetically, and don't be fooled by any demonic spirits. The old monk abiding on this mountain swallows buddhas and living beings with one gulp. The crouching lion catches rabbits and enraged elephants with one swipe of his paw. Smashing the polished tile of trying to become a buddha by sitting as buddha, laugh and destroy the net of doubts of the three vehicles and five vehicles. Completely avoid following others in order to realize the way and clarify the mind. Why should we fear the upside down illusions related to "It [is exactly me,] I [am not it]"?

For a long time, [those with such illusions] have put aside directly pointing and simply transmitting, and they only receive falsehoods derived from [mere] echoes. Do you want to completely understand the principle I am discussing?

 

Entering the First Rank bringing awareness to the breath, observing the in breath, the out breath, the depth or shallowness of the breath, the shortness or longness of the breath. Observe your thoughts and let them go. Loose interest in your thoughts, reassure your mind you can get back to them at other time. Then, let go of your attachment to your stories. Leap beyond everyday mind.

The mind responds and you enter the vastness. Now, refresh yourself in samadhi. Become familiar with no eyes, no ears, no nose, no body, no mind.

Then, ask your question...

The Practice of True Reality

The practice of true reality is simply to sit serenely in silent introspection. When you have fathomed this you cannot be turned around by external causes and conditions. This empty, wide open mind is subtly and correctly illuminating. Spacious and content, without confusion from inner thoughts of grasping, effectively overcome habitual behaviors and realize the self that is not possessed by emotions. You must be broad-minded, whole without relying on others. Such upright independent spirit can begin not to pursue degrading situations. Here you can rest and become clean, pure, lucid. Bight and penetrating, you can immediately return, accord, and respond to deal with events. Everything is unhindered, clouds gracefully floating up to the peaks, the moonlight glitteringly flowing down mountain streams. The entire place is brightly illumined and spiritually transformed, totally unobstructed and clearly manifesting responsive interaction like box and cover or arrow points [meeting]. Continuing, cultivate and nourish yourself to embody maturity and achieve stability. If you accord everywhere with thorough clarity and cut off sharp corners without dependence on doctrines, like the white ox or wildcat [helping to arouse wonder], you can be called a complete person. So we hear that this is how one on the way of non-mind acts, but before realizing non-mind we still have great hardship.

Entering the Second Rank we return to our everyday experience but fined tuned by the experience of emptiness. That means we are increasing our awareness of everyday activities and experience The Real. We continue to refine ourselves, cultivate and deepen awareness. We become intimate with our habitual modes of operation and draw closer attention to their triggers and thought processes that activate our responses. Each time taking care to intend to be awake and open to a change in our response.

We can also turn to nature as an entry point, investigating what do we see and hear with openness to the unexpected. Hakuin instructs us to as the question from morning till night, "What is it that sees everything right here, right now? What is it that hears right here, right now?"1

The Moon Shining on All Beings and Oneself

434. Dharma Hall Discourse

The family style of all buddhas and ancestors is to first arouse the vow to save all living beings by removing suffering and providing joy. Only this family style is inexhaustibly bright and clear. In the lofty mountains we see the moon for a long time. As clouds clear we first recognize the sky. Cast loose down the precipice, [the moonlight] shares itself within the ten thousand forms. Even when climbing up the bird's path, taking good care of yourself is spiritual power.

 

Practice Instructions

Entering the Third Rank we develop an appreciation for the true values of silence, quietude, and serenity learned in the "middle of equality". We have already "attained to" and won through the effort invested in meditation. Now the mind returns to the multiplicity of daily activities and are cautioned to avoid "talking too much". This is particularly helpful when in sesshin to deepen the experience of the Real in the Phenomenal.

Arriving in Both

Arriving within the Relative

Coming from within Both Together
Going within Both Phenomena and the Real

 

42. Dharma Hall Discourse
The body-mind that is "just this" is not the aggregate of material and mental elements; subtly existing, standing out, how could it be an object of emotion?
Without coming or going, it responds to sound and form; returning to the self, it overturns the middle and thence enters the sides.
Beyond relativities, the feet touch the ground. What birth and death are there; the spirit soars to the skies.

 

 

Here the movement of the mind is towards the midst of both aspects (of equality and diversity) through some kind of harmonious consortment of both levels of reality. This means we are moving from emptiness and equality in order to return to diversity without abandoning it in a way.

Can you experience silence and talk, stillness and action harmonized in your everyday experiences? Do you have an awareness that your activities are benefit of all sentient beings?

Casting Off All Duality

Purity without stain is your body; perfect illumination without conditioning is your eyes. The eye inside the body does not involve the sense gates; the body inside the eye does not collect appearances. So it is said that there is no wisdom outside suchness that can awaken suchness. Moreover, there is no suchness outside wisdom that can be awaken by wisdom. This may be called, buddha is the dharma family's buddha, dharma is the buddha family's dharma. Patch-robed monks arrive here and then know that to follow buddha's utterances and to follow dharma's blossoming is to attain buddhadharma. Restoring the absolute, they all sit cut off any duality. Only this is what people from ancient times have needed to celebrate fully.

This stage of cultivation is interpenetration of the absolute and the partial. If you want to pass through Tung-shan's rank of attainment in both, you should first study the following verse:

That idle old awl Cloud of Virtue

how many times has he come down

from the peak of wonder!

He helps other foolish sages

hauling snow to fill a well. 

rabbit – the moon
toads – seen in the moon's
enraged elephants – sent to subdue Shakyamuni
mountain – mind
cold valley – represents unbiased perceptivity
warming – symbolizes becoming lively and active
hidden – means there is no trace of conceptual tagging
cave – represents concentration or absorption
precipitous cliff - stands for the vantage point of the absolute, inaccessible by relative thought yet directly aware of the Suchness of the relative itself.
bird's path – original face
family style – lineage
clouds & sky – form and emptiness
upright and inclined – Absolute and Relative
ontological – a philosophical branch that deals with being
mudra - Sanskrit for symbolic physical gestures or postures, if used in ritual enactments, which represents and actualize aspects of the teaching; has been translated as "seal", confirmation or certification of a teaching. Zazen posture as a whole = mudra; ocean seal samadhi.