Another meditation on Hongzhi's Acupuncture Needle of Zazen

A meditation on Hongzhi's Acupuncture Needle of Zazen

Hongzhi likes untouched function.
Action said to be action of Buddhas
past and present is to see all

in the ten directions without
reaching for the pry bar.
Without reaching for the pry bar,

just appreciate. See, appreciate,
settle in, sip tea. Fearlessly sipping tea
is a tiger's roar. The squirrel

out there watches a jay bury acorns.
He relentlessly digs and eats them.
The jay returns with more acorns.

The squirrel returns and digs.
I set down my cup, chuckling.
 

Hongzhi taught at the Tiantong Monastery for 30 years. He then emerged from the gates to thank his supporters, and returned inside and died. This reminds me a little of Huiyuan, Tao Yuanming and Lu Xiujing laughing together when they realized they had crossed the bridge over Tiger Creek, the boundary of Huiyan's temple's grounds, which he had vowed never to leave. [image: wikiart]

Acupuncture Needle of Zazen

The essential function of all buddhas,
the functional essence of all ancestors,
is to know without touching things
and illuminate without encountering objects.
Knowing without touching things,
this knowledge is innately subtle.
Illuminating without encountering objects,
this illumination is innately miraculous.
The knowledge innately subtle
has never engaged in discriminative thinking.
The illumination innately miraculous
has never displayed the slightest identification.
Never engaging in discriminating thinking,
this knowledge is rare without match.
Never displaying the most minute identification,
this illumination is complete without grasping.
The water is clear right down to the bottom,
fish lazily swim on.
The sky is vast without end,
birds fly far into the distance.

— Tr. Leighton and Wu

 

Dogen re-wrote Hongzhi's poem a couple of generations or so later:

The Needle of Seated Meditation

The important function for Buddha after Buddha
And the pivotal moment for ancestor after ancestor
Is to let it manifest without deliberately thinking about anything
And to realize it without creating complications.
 When one lets it manifest without thinking about anything,
Such a manifestation is naturally close to us:
When one realizes it without creating complications,
Such a realization is naturally a direct experience.
When that manifestation is naturally close to us,
There is not the least bit of defilement:
When that realization is naturally a direct experience
There is not the least difference between host and guest.
When the closeness is without the least bit of defilement,
That closeness is put aside and falls away:
When one directly experiences that there is not the least
distinction between host and guest,
Out of that experience come no set plans, as we diligently continue to train.
The water is so clear you can see down to the bottom,
 As fish swim by, just as fish do:
The sky is now boundless, penetrating the heavens,
As birds fly off, just as birds do.


— Tr. Nearman