Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi

Precious Mirror Samadhi

Baojing Sanmeike by Dongshan Liangjie

Hokyo zammai by Tozan Ryokai (Jap.)

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The teaching of thusness has been intimately communicated by Buddhas and ancestors.

Now you have it, so keep it well.

Filling a silver bowl with snow, hiding a heron in the moonlight -

Taken as similar, they are not the same; when you mix them you know where they are.

The meaning is not in the words, yet it responds to the inquiring impulse.

Move and you are trapped, miss and you fall into doubt and vacillation. Turning away and touching are both wrong,

for it is like a massive fire. Just to depict it in literary form

is to stain it with defilement. It is bright just at midnight, it doesnt appear at dawn.

It acts as a guide for beings, its use removes all pains.

Although it is not fabricated, it is not without speech.

It is like facing a jewel mirror; form and image behold each other -

you are not it, in truth it is you.

Like a babe in the world, in five aspects complete;

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it does not go or come, nor rise nor stand.

Baba wawa- is there anything said or not?

Ultimately it does not apprehend anything because its speech is not yet correct.

It is like the six lines of the illumination hexagram: relative and ultimate interact -

piled up, they make three, the complete transformation makes five.

It is like the taste of the five-flavored herb, like a diamond thunderbolt.

Subtly included within the true, inquiry and response come up together.

Communing with the source, travel the pathways, embrace the territory, and treasure the road.

Respecting this is fortunate; do not neglect it.

Naturally real yet inconceivable, it is not within the province of delusion or enlightenment.

With causal conditions, time and season, quiescently it shines bright.

In its fineness it fits into spacelessness, in its greatness it is utterly beyond location.

A hairsbreadths deviation will fail to accord with the proper attunement.

Now there are sudden and gradual, in which teachings and approaches arise. Once basic approaches are distinguished,

then there are guiding rules. But even though the basis is reached and the approach comprehended,

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true eternity still flows. Outwardly still while inwardly moving,

like a tethered colt, a trapped rat - the ancient sages pitied them

and bestowed upon them the teaching. According to their delusions,

they called black as white; when erroneous imaginations cease, the acquiescent mind realizes itself.

If you want to conform to the ancient way, please observe the sages of the former times.

When about to fulfill the way of Buddhahood, one gazed at a tree for ten eons,

like a battle-scarred tiger, like a horse with shanks gone gray.

Because there is the common, there are jewel pedestals, fine clothing; because there is the startingly different,

there are house cat and cow. Yi with his archer's skill,

could hit a target at a hundred paces. But when arrow-points meet head on,

what has this to do with the power of skill? When the wooden man begins to sing,

the stone woman gets up dancing; its not within reach of feeling or discrimination - how could it admit of consideration in thought?

Ministers serve their lords, children obey their parents;

not obeying is not filial and not serving is no help.

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Practice secretly, working within, like a fool, like an idiot.

Just to continue in this way is called the host within the host.

(807-869) Cave Mountain, Virtuous Servant translated by San Francisco Zen Center

based on translation by Thomas Cleary

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Precious Mirror SamadhiHky zanmai

tr. by Sotoshu Shumucho

The Administrative Headquarters of Soto Zen Buddhism, Tokyo

The dharma of thusness is intimately

transmitted by buddhas and ancestors.

Now you have it;

preserve it well.

A silver bowl filled with snow,

a heron hidden in the moon.

Taken as similar, they are not the samenot distinguished, their places are known.

The meaning does not reside in the words,

but a pivotal moment brings it forth.

Move and you are trapped,

miss and you fall into doubt and vacillation.

Turning away and touching are both wrong,

for it is like a massive fire.

Just to portray it in literary form

is to stain it with defilement.

In darkest night it is perfectly clearin the light of dawn it is hidden.

It is a standard for all thingsits use removes all suffering.

Although it is not constructed,

it is not beyond words.

Like facing a precious mirror

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form and reflection behold each other.

You are not it,

but in truth it is you.

Like a newborn child,

it is fully endowed with five aspects.

No going, no coming, no arising, no abiding;

"Baba wawa" - is anything said or not?

In the end it says nothing,

for the words are not yet right.

In the hexagram "double fire,"

when main and subsidiary lines are transposed,

piled up they become threethe permutations make five.

Like the taste of the five-flavored herb,

like the five-pronged vajra.

Wondrously embraced within the complete,

drumming and singing begin together.

Penetrate the source and travel the pathways,

embrace the territory and treasure the roads.

You would do well to respect this;

do not neglect it.

Natural and wondrous,

it is not a matter of delusion or enlightenment.

Within causes and conditions, time and season,

it is serene and illuminating.

So minute it enters where there is no gap,

so vast it transcends dimension.

A hairsbreadth deviation,

and you are out of tune.

Now there are sudden and gradual,

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in which teachings and approaches arise.

With teachings and approaches distinguished,

each has its standard.

Whether teachings and approaches are mastered or not,

reality constantly flows,

Outside still and inside trembling,

like tethered colts or cowering rats.

The ancient sages grieved for them,

and offered them the dharma.

Led by their inverted views,

they take black for white.

When inverted thinking stops,

the affirming mind naturally accords.

If you want to follow in the ancient tracks,

please observe the sages of the past.

One on the verge of realizing the buddha way

contemplated a tree for ten kalpas.

Like a battle-scarred tiger,

like a horse with shanks gone grey.

Because some are vulgar,

jeweled tables and ornate robes.

Because others are wide-eyed,

cats and white oxen.

With his archer's skill,

Yi hit the mark at a hundred paces.

But when arrows meet head-on,

how could it be a matter of skill?

The wooden man starts to sing,

the stone woman gets up dancing.

It is not reached by feelings or consciousness;

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how could it involve deliberation?

Ministers serve their lords,

children obey their parents.Not obeying is not filial,

Failure to serve is no help.

With practice hidden, function secretly,

like a fool, like an idiot.

Just to continue in this way

is called the host within the host.

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Seal of the Precious Mirror Samadhitranslated by Lu Kuan Yu (Charles Luk)

Chan and Zen Teaching Vol II

Such is the esoteric Dharma

Inherited from Buddhas and Patriarchs.

Now that you have received it,

You should guard it carefully.

Like snow in a silver bowl,

An egret in the moonlight,

All species which are not uniform

Can be distinguished when assembled

Though Its aim lies beyond (all) words,

It is responsive to enquiring seekers.

To stray from it produces pitfalls,

To deviate leads to false thinking

Rejection and acceptance are both wrong

For it is like a mass of fire

Elegantly to express it

Will only make it (seem) impure,

It shines in the dead of night

But does not appear at dawn.

Being a pattern for the living

Its function saves them from (all) miseries;

Though not of the wordly plane,

It is not altogether dumb.

It is like looking in a precious mirror

In which you see your own reflection;

You are not what it is

(But) it is what you are?

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Like a babe (born) in the world,

Complete with all five characteristics,

It neither goes nor comes,

Arises not nor stays,

And when words are stammered

About the "Is" and "Is not",

They will lead to no result

Through the inefficiency of speech.

The six lines of the Chung Li Hexagram

Representing the intermutable real and seeming,

Are interlaid to establish a triple basis

Which transforms into five positions.

They taste like five-flavoured herbs

And look like a thunderbolt

The real is wonderfully inclusive;

Both it and the seeming should be brought out,

For guest and host are intermutable

By (direct) pointing and (expedient) teaching.

Devotion to it will earn blessings;

On no account should it be offended.

Wonderful is the eternal reality

Beyond delusion and enlightenment;

With concurrent cause and time prevailing,

It will appear both bright and still.

Reduced in size it is all pervasive;

If extended it is beyond location and direction.

A slight deviation from it

Destroys the perfect harmony.

Since there are instant and gradual aptitudes

(Our) sect sets up (five) different phases.

When the Sect is known and its phases reached,

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True eternity emerges in an endless flow.

Still without, it moves within,

Like a tethered colt and hidden rat;

This is what saddened saints of old.

You should act as a bestower of the Dharma

And follow his perverted thoughts

Turning them upside down (disorderly).

When his inverted views have been wiped out,

For his quest will make up his mind.

To be in accord with the ancient Path,

Just look back to the olden times

When the Buddha before he won enlightenment,

Contemplated the tree [of wisdom] for ten aeons,

Like a tiger that leaves behind (a portion of) its prey,

(And) a horse (indifferent to) a left hind leg that's white.

There are those of low spirituality

Who cannot forsake their cherished clingings,

While others are of quick propensities

Like (agile) cats and bullocks white.

You should, like bowman I, use skill

To hit the target a hundred feet away;

It is the arrow's head that flies straight

And not the bowman's skill.

When the wooden man sings his song

(And] the stone girl moves to dance,

There is no room to feel and know,

To think or to consider.

A minister should serve his prince

(And) a son obey his father.

Disobedience (to father)is neglect of filial piety

(And) refusal to serve (the prince) is lack of loyalty.

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Keep your conduct hidden and your function secret,

Appearing as a stupid and vulgar man.

If you thus can act without interruption,

This is called (the final) host in host.

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The Precious Mirror-Samadhiby Tung-shan Liang-jie (China, 807-869)

translation Hakuun Barnhard

The dharma of this as it is,

Passed on in person by Buddha's and Ancestors,

Is now yours;

Guard it well.

A silver bowl full of snow and

A heron hidden in the moonlight

When you compare them they are not the same,

Brought together they find their place.

The meaning that does not lie in words

Accommodates motions arising;

Move towards and you become ensnared,

Miss it and you fall into dilatory hesitation.

Turning away, going towards, both are inept,

Just as when you relate to a giant fireball.

Express it in fancy words

And you colour it at once.

In the middle of the night it is clear and bright

But in the daylight it cannot be seen.

It acts as a compass for all beings,

And when used, liberates from suffering.

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Although not a doing

It is not without expression.

Just as when you look into a reflecting jewel,

Being and mirror-image behold each other:

You are not it, it is truly this that you are.

Just as a baby born to this world

Has all five aspects complete, and

Neither comes nor goes, neither arises nor stays,

It babbles, speaking without words

So we end up comprehending nothing,

As its words have not yet meaning.

It's just like the six lines of the hexagram Fire',

Wherein phenomena and real intermingle.

Stacked up, there are three pairs of combinations,

The whole transformation is completed with the fifth.

It is like the schizandra, which has five flavours,

Or like the diamond sceptre, which has five prongs.

The real is held within the subtle,

Drum and song arise together.

We penetrate the source walking the pathways,

We unify with the land covering the roads.

When these get mixed up, that is auspicious,

Do not oppose it.

Originally real and subtle,

Neither a realm of illusion nor of enlightenment,

It serenely illuminates

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Times of cause and of effect.

It is so fine that it fits where there is no space

And so broad that it transcends all dimension.

One hair's breadth off

And you are not in harmony with it.

So now we have sudden' and gradual'

And we clarify school's meanings and tones.

Once meanings and tones have been defined

They become a measure of practice.

Meaning and tone gone beyond,

Timeless truth flows forever.

The old masters had compassion for those

Who are quiet of body but restless of mind,

Like a tethered horse or a trapped rat,

And offered them Dharma.

In their topsy-turvy state

These people take black for white,

But when confused thinking comes to an end,

The still accepting mind is naturally present.

If you wish to join the ancients,

Contemplate the ways of old.

Close to realizing the Buddha's Way,

One sat for ten eons gazing at a tree

Like a lame tiger

Or a hobbled horse.

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Because there is inadequacy

We reach for precious furniture and rich clothes.

Because of our fear or wonder

We see black shadows* or white oxen.

The archer Yi used his skill

To hit a target at a hundred paces.

But when two arrows meet head on

Does this depend on skill obtained?

As the wooden man begins to sing

A stone woman gets up to dance.

This cannot be reached by feeling, thought,

So why try to work it out!

A minister serves their lord,

A child obeys their parent;

Without obedience there is no filial piety,

Without service there is no advice.

Doing this inner work unseen

You may seem dull and foolish,

But when you are able to persist in it

You will be called master of masters.

Black shadows literally means: 1. a slave of dark colour 2. a wild cat. The wild cat is rather popular in Zen the untrained mind. As opposite to whiteox, which symbolizes the Buddha Mind. Both translations would do. Here I think the author points at the admired and the despised. To avoid making this passage obscure I translated it as black shadows.

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THE SONG OF THE PRECIOUS MIRRORSAMADHI

by Tung-shan Liang-chieh 807-869translated by Ming Yee Wang and Pei-gwang Dowiat

It is this very Dharma

The Buddha and Patriarchs secretly transmitted.

Now that you have it

Protect it well. Like a silver bowl full of snow

Or an egret hidden against the bright moon

They are similar but not identical.

When mingled their difference can be recognized.

The meaning does not lie in words,

Yet those who are ripe must be taught.

As soon as you act it is a dead issue,

So consider their varying attainments.

Rejecting words or clinging to them are both mistakes,

Like a blazing fire, useful but dangerous.

If it is only expressed in language

The precious mirror will be stained.

At midnight it is truly bright;

By daylight it no longer shows.

It serves as the law which governs all things;

Use it to uproot all suffering.

Though it is not a way of action

Still, it is not without words.

As before the precious mirror,

The form and reflection gaze on each other.

You are not it,

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But it is just you. Just as an infant

Is equipped with five sense organs.

It neither comes nor goes,

It neither arises nor abides. P'o-p'o H'o-h'o A phrase without meaning.

You can never get the substance of it

Because the language is not correct.

Doubling the Li trigram makes six lines.

The outer and inner lines mutually interact.

Stacked, they become three pairs;

At most they can transform into five.

Like the five aromas of the hyssop plant

Or the five branches of the vajra scepter.

The exact center subtly harmonizing,

Drumming and singing simultaneously.

Penetrate the goal and you will fathom the way.

In order to lead there must be a road.

To be wrong is auspicious;

Do not oppose it.

Natural and subtle

It is neither ignorance nor enlightenment

Causes and conditions have their time and season,

Tranquil and illuminating.

It is so small it enters the spaceless,

So large it is beyond dimension.

If you are off by a hair's breadth

Then you would be out of harmony.

Now there is sudden and gradual (enlightenment)

In order to establish the fundamental guidelines.

When the fundamental guidelines are clear

They become the rule.

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Realization of the basic principle is the ultimate standard,

Genuine, constant, yet flowing,

With still body but racing mind,

Like a tethered horse or a mouse frozen by fright.

Past sages pitied them

And liberated them with Buddhadharma.

Following their upside-down ways

They took black for white.

When inverted thinking disappears,

They realize mind of their own accord.

If you want to merge with the ancient track

Then contemplate the ancients.

At the completion of the Buddha path

Ten kalpas of contemplation will be established.

Like a tiger's lame foot,

Like a shoeless horse,

Because there is a defect

You seek the jeweled bench and priceless halter.

Because you are astonished

You realize you were like the brown or white ox.

Hou-i used his skill

To hit the target at a hundred paces.

As soon as the arrow hits the mark

Of what further use is his skill?

When a wooden man breaks into song,

A stone woman gets up to dance.

Since this cannot be understood by reasoning

How can it be analyzed?

The minister serves his lord;

The son obeys his father.

If he does not obey, he is not filial;

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If the minister does not serve, he is not loyal.

To cultivate in hiding, functioning in secret,

Like a fool, like a dolt;

If only you are able to persist,

You will be called a master among masters.

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