Ma-tsu

Ma-tsu

(Ma Tzu rebelled against the traditionalism that had grown after Bodhidharma. He introduced totally new ideas, new devices—hitting, shouting. Nobody had ever heard that you can wake up a man just by shouting at the right moment; it was a great contribution to human consciousness that hitting can become a reward….  – OSHO)

Ma-tsu

Ma-tsu was one of the great early Masters of zen in China.  He lived through the eighth century for about seventy years.  He lived from 709 to 788.  There's an interesting story of himself.  He studied with Nan-yueh, who was a student of the sixth ancestral teacher.  He's in the Rinzai line.  Most of the teachers up until his time had one student who carried on the way, or maybe two.  He had 139 enlightened successors by all accounts.  Maybe they varied some in quality, but still quite an impressive number.  When he went to study with his teacher, whenever he had free time he would go into the zendo and meditate.  People still do this today, of course.  Somebody noticed this and drew it to the attention of his teacher Nan-yueh.  So he went down and questioned him and said:

Ma-tsu, whether he was sick or well, was not in itself a very disturbing thing.  He was grounded in this present moment.  Just as we all are the minute we come home.  If you are not grounded in this present moment, then it is a very hard thing and you suffer.  If we are not grounded like this, the mind chases around after a thousand things and when we get sick, it is a great misfortune.  We keep longing for something that we cannot have.  But even if you get well, if your mind chases around like this, it is also a great misfortune and you keep longing for something you cannot have.

You can tell that when Ma-tsu studied with his teacher, he worked very hard at his meditation and he was eager in questioning.  He really wanted to understand.  His teacher told him how to become absorbed in this moment and in his koan.  That is what we must do today.  

His teacher taught him, also, not to rely too much on technique.  Anything you cling to sooner or later will change.  If you want to be free the way he was, then you have to not cling to any particular method, but you do your best.  Method is always something that is sort of coupled together.  It is like a stick that props up a fence that somebody hasn't managed to really fix up.  Sooner or later the fence will fall down, but that's okay.  We use method and try to become one with our circumstances right where we are. 

There's really no other choice in life that has any opening to it.  All other ways lead to death and darkness.  We may take a bit of a detour on the way there, but that's only human.  So if you want to find life and light, there is no other way than by entering circumstances.  You will find that you're always separated from your meditation and you have to find, by any means you can, a way to become one with it.  And when you become one with it, the whole world will change.  The distance between heaven and earth is just that. 

  

It is said that before you do zazen the trees are trees, the hills are hills, and the rivers are rivers.  Halfway through your practice the trees are not trees and the hills are not hills and the rivers are not rivers.  This is the moment when you really get taken up into your meditation and you see that there is no basis for anything.  All the things that we thought were substantial are not.  They all come out of our own hearts.  But then, fortunately, practice continues and we find that trees are trees and rivers are rivers again.  Hills are hills.  Everything is changed by that magical transformation of awareness.  The great magic in life is awareness and attention.  There is nothing else as powerful and nothing else as revealing as giving our attention to what we are doing.  Finally, the green sheaves of light come.  Then everything you do will sing and you will hear the trees singing and you will see the hills walking.

MA-TSU 

Someone asked Ma-tsu: "How does a man discipline himself in the Tao?"

The master replied: "In the Tao there is nothing to discipline oneself in. If there is any discipline in it, the completion of such discipline means the destruction of the Tao. One then will be like the Sravaka. But if here is no discipline whatever in the Tao, one remains an ignoramus."

"By what kind of understanding does a man attain the Tao?"

On this, the master gave the following sermon:

"The Tao in its nature is from the first perfect and self-sufficient. When a man finds himself unhalting in his management of the affairs of life good or bad, he is known as one who is disciplined in the Tao. To shun evils and to become attached to things good, to meditate on Emptiness and to enter into a state of samadhi--this is doing something. If those who run after an outward object, they are the farthest away [from the Tao].

I want to become a Buddha

As the story goes, Huai-jang one day came upon Ma-tsu absorbed in meditation and proceeded to question the purpose of his long bouts of dhyana. Ma-tsu immediately replied, “I want to become a Buddha, an enlightened being.”

Saying nothing, Huai-jang quietly picked up a brick and started rubbing it on a stone. After a time Ma-tsu’s curiosity bested him and he inquired, “Why are you rubbing that brick on a stone?”

Huai-jang replied, “I am polishing it into a mirror.”

Ma-tsu probably knew by this time that he had been set up, but he had to follow through: “But how can you make a mirror by polishing a brick on a stone?”

The celebrated answer was: “How can you become enlightened by sitting in meditation?”

The point, driven home time and again throughout the eighth century, was that enlightenment is an active, not a passive, condition. And Ma-tsu himself was to become the foremost exponent of enlightenment as a natural part of life.

Jolt  into a non-dualistic state

Ma-tsu apparently was the first master who developed non-meditative tricks for nudging a disciple into the state of “no-thought.” He was an experimenter, and he pioneered a number of methods that later were perfected by his followers and the descendants of his followers. He was the first master to ask a novice an unanswerable question, and then while the person struggled for an answer, to shout in his ear (he liked the syllable “Ho!”)—hoping to jolt the pupil into a non-dualistic mind state.

Another similar technique was to call out someone’s name just as the person was leaving the room, a surprise that seemed to bring the person up short and cause him to suddenly experience his original nature. A similar device was to deliver the student a sharp blow as he pondered a point, using violence to focus his attention completely on reality and abort ratiocination. Other tricks included responding to a question with a seemingly irrelevant answer, causing the student to sense the irrelevancy of his question. He would also sometimes send a pupil on a “goose chase” between himself and some other enlightened individual at the monastery, perhaps in the hope that bouncing the novice from one personality to another would somehow shake his complacency. Whatever the technique, his goal was always to force a novice to uncover his original nature for himself. He did this by never giving a straight answer or a predictable response and therefore never allowing a disciple to lapse into a passive mental mode.

 Enlightenment.

Ma-tsu also seems to have simplified the idea of what constitutes enlightenment. As he defined it, “seeing into one’s own nature” simply meant understanding (intuitively, not rationally) who you are and what you are. This truth could be taught with whatever method seemed appropriate at a given moment. As Hu Shih so eloquently describes his teaching,

“. . . any gesture or motion, or even silence, might be used to communicate a truth. [Recall the Buddha once enlightened a follower by holding up a flower.] Ma-tsu developed this idea into a pedagogical method for the new Zen. There is no need to seek any special faculty in the mind for the enlightenment. Every behavior is the mind, the manifestation of the Buddha-nature. Snapping a finger, frowning or stretching the brow, coughing, smiling, anger, sorrow, or desire . . . is the functioning of the Buddhahead: it is the Tao, the Way. There is no need to perform any special act, be it dhyana or worship, in order to achieve the Tao. To be natural is the Way. Walk naturally, sit naturally, sleep naturally, live naturally—that is the Way. Let the mind be free: do not purposely do evil; nor purposely do good. There is no Law to abide, no Buddhahood to attain. Maintain a free mind and cling to nothing: that is Tao.

 Everyday-mindedness.

Cultivation is of no use for the attainment of Tao. The only thing that one can do is to be free of defilement. When one’s mind is stained with thoughts of life and death, or deliberate action, that is defilement. The grasping of the Truth is the function of everyday-mindedness. Everyday-mindedness is free from intentional action, free from concepts of right and wrong, taking and giving, the finite or the infinite. . . . All our daily activities—walking, standing, sitting, lying down—all response to situations, our dealings with circumstances as they arise: all this is Tao.

 "All of you should realize that your own mind is Buddha, that is, this mind is Buddha’s Mind. . . . Those who seek for the Truth should realize that there is nothing to seek. There is no Buddha but Mind; there is no Mind but Buddha"

"Do not choose what is good, nor reject what is evil, but rather be free from purity and defilement. Then you will realize the emptiness of sin."

 This is not a preachment of values; rather it is the insight that there is a reality beyond our puny discriminations. If you can achieve this larger perspective, then good and evil become an inconsequential part of the larger flow of life.

Becoming a Buddha

 The essence of this teaching is that reality is, for us, merely what our mind says it is, and “enlightenment” or “becoming a Buddha” is merely coming to terms with ourselves and with this tricky mind that constantly devises our reality for us.

A monk once drew four lines in front of Ma-tsu. The top line was long and the remaining three were short. He then demanded of the Master, “Besides saying that one line is long and the other three are short, what else could you say?” Ma-tsu drew one line on the ground and said, “This could be called either long or short. That is my answer.”

Language is deceptive. But if it is used to construct an anti-logical question, it can equally be used to construct an anti-logical reply.

Ma-tsu's doctrine of the "ordinary mind

My daily activity is nothing other than harmony with myself;
When each thing I do is without taking or rejecting,
There is no contradiction anywhere.
For whom is the honor of red and purple robes?
The summit of the inner being is never touched by the dust of the world.
Supernatural power and wonderful functioning are found
In the carrying of water and chopping of Wood. 

The carrying of water and the chopping of wood -- therein lies the Tao. The statement is a familiar one in Ch'an literature. The truth of Tao, however, is inexpressible. Therefore, when Shih-t'ou Hsi-chien  asked P'ang Yun: "What is daily activity?" P'ang Yun answered: "When you ask about daily activity I cannot even open my mouth."  Daily activity is the unity of one's inner reality, free from contradictions and beyond intellectual disputation.

 Enough mind

Zen means. “I don’t want anything”. Another name for this is “enough mind,” which means completely attain this moment. But we often hear Zen Master Seung Sahn say that his only teaching is “don’t know.” This is interesting. We hear many times that Zen is very simple. And it is, but we are human beings so we sometimes have a lot of thinking; then things get complicated. Because we have thinking, we have many teaching words. But all these teaching words mean only one thing: “don’t know.”

Sengtsan, the Third Patriarch, left us with -this poem:

Sengtsan

To live in the Great Way
is neither easy nor difficult,
but those with limited views
are fearful and irresolute:
the faster they hurry, the slower they go,
and clinging (attachment) cannot be limited;
even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray.
Just let things be in their own way,
and there will be neither coming nor going.

 Buddha is your mind

Realizing that Buddha is your mind, you don’t have to ask about the methods of Ma Tsu. Mind is Buddha. Buddha is your mind. Buddha is not some statue made of wood or jade. Buddha is not a god. Buddha cannot be found in heaven. The Buddha is in your heart and mind. When your mind has precepts, concentration, and wisdom, Buddha is present. The Buddha is not the mind of forgetfulness. He is the mind of mindfulness.

When you are mindful, here and now, when your light is shining, why ask about the methods of Ma Tsu? Don’t even think about his methods. You don’t have to ask about the methods of Ma Tsu, such as kung an, questioning, shouting, or using the stick. Yelling and hitting are tools that can help meditation students untie the knots of suffering in themselves. These kung an, questions and answers, are used by the Dhyana masters to undo the knots of the students.

When you are cooking, sweeping, or working in the garden, practice mindfulness. If not, it is a waste of time. When I ask, “What are you doing?” if you are present, you can just look at me and smile. But if you are not practicing, you have to say, “Thay, you’ve caught me. I’m not practicing.”

Sayings of the Ancient Worthies:

The Normal Mind:

The Way does not require cultivation - just don't pollute it. What is pollution? As long as you have a fluctuating mind fabricating artificialities and contrivances, all of this is pollution. If you want to understand the Way directly, the normal mind is the Way. What I mean by the normal mind is the mind without artificiality, without subjective judgments, without grasping or rejection.
The Root:
The founders of Zen said that one's own essence is inherently complete. Just don't linger over good or bad things - that is called practice of the Way. To grasp the good and reject the bad, to contemplate emptiness and enter concentration, is all in the province of contrivance - and if you go on seeking externals, you get further and further estranged. Just end the mental objectivization of the world. 

The Oceanic Reflection:

Human delusions of time immemorial, deceit, pride, deviousness, and conceit, have conglomerated into one body.That is why scripture says that this body is just made of elements, and its appearance and disappearance is just that of the elements, which have no identity. When successive thoughts do not await one another, and each thought dies peacefully away, this is called absorption in the oceanic reflection.

Delusion and Enlightenment:

Delusion means you are not aware of your own fundamental mind; enlightenment means you realize your own fundamental essence. Once enlightened, you do not become deluded anymore. If you understand mind and objects, then false conceptions do not arise; when false conceptions do not arise, this is the acceptance of the beginninglessness of things. You have always had it, and you have it now - there is no need to cultivate the Way and sit in meditation.

The Tao:

Right this moment, as you walk, stand, sit, and recline, responding to all situations and dealing with people - all is the Tao. The Tao is the realm of reality. No matter how numerous are the uncountable, inconceivable functions, they are not beyond this realm. If they were, how could we speak of the teaching of the Mind-ground, and how could we tell of the inexhaustible lantern?

The Mind:

All phenomena are mental; all labels are labeled by the mind. All phenomena arise out of mind; mind is the root of all phenomena. A sutra says, 'When you know mind and arrive at its root source, in that sense you may be called a devotee.

The Dharmakaya:

The Dharmakaya is infinite; its substance nether waxes nor wanes. It can be vast or minute, angled or smooth; it manifests images in accordance with things and beings, like the moon reflected in a pool. Its function gushes forth yet does not take root; it never exhausts deliberate action nor does it dwell in inaction. Deliberate action is a function of authenticity; authenticity is the basis of deliberate action. Because of no longer having fixation on this basis, one is spoken of as autonomous, like empty space.

Suchness:

The true Suchness of mind is like a mirror reflecting forms: the mind is like the mirror, and phenomena are like the (reflected) forms. If the mind grasps at phenomena, then it involves itself in external conditions & causes; this is what 'the birth and death of mind' means. If it no longer grasps at such phenomena, this is what 'the true Suchness of mind' means.

All dharmas are Buddhist teachings; all dharmas are liberation. Liberation is true Suchnes, and not one thing is separate from this true Suchness. Walking, standing, sitting, and reclining are all inconceivable actions.

 On another occasion a monk asked ma tzu, "what is the buddha?"

Ma tzu answered, "mind is the buddha."

Ma tzu answered, "mind is the buddha."

The monk then asked, "what is the way?"

"no-mind is the way," answered ma tzu.

Someone asked Ma-tsu: "How does a man discipline himself in the Tao?"

The master replied: "In the Tao there is nothing to discipline oneself in. If there is any discipline in it, the completion of such discipline means the destruction of the Tao. One then will be like the Sravaka. But if there is no discipline whatever in the Tao, one remains an ignoramus."

"By what kind of understanding does a man attain the Tao?"

On this, the master gave the following sermon:

"The Tao in its nature is from the first perfect and self-sufficient. When a man finds himself unhalting in his management of the affairs of life good or bad, he is known as one who is disciplined in the Tao. To shun evils and to become attached to things good, to meditate in Emptiness and to enter into a state of samadhi--this is doing something. If those who run after an outward object, they are the farthest away [from the Tao].

One day in the first month of the fourth year of Chen-yuan (788), while walking in the woods at Shih-men Shan, Ma-tsu noticed a cave with a flat floor. He said to his attendant monk, "My body subject to decomposition will return to earth here in the month to come." On the fourth of the second month, he was indisposed as he predicted, and after a bath he sat cross-legged and passed away.


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