Don’t do evil and do good deeds
Song Dynasty | ①, this county ② is from Fuyang. His surname was Pan... He became a monk at the age of nine and received ordination at Guoyuan Temple in Jingzhou at the age of twenty-one... Later, he saw a long pine tree on Qinwang Mountain with lush branches and leaves, twisting like a canopy, so he rested on it, so people at that time called him the Bird Nest Zen Master. . There is a magpie's nest on its side, and it is naturally tame, and people also regard it as a magpie's nest monk... In the middle of Yuanhe 4, Bai Juyi's ⑤ minister went out to guard Zijun and went to the mountain to visit the master ⑥. Asked: "The Zen master's residence is very dangerous." The master said: "The prefect is especially in danger!" Bai said: "The disciple is in Zhenjiang Mountain 7, how can it be so dangerous!" The master said: "The fire and fire intersect, and the consciousness does not stop. Isn't it dangerous?" He asked again: "What is the main idea of ??Buddhism?" The master said: "Don't do any evil and do all the good." Bai said: "A three-year-old child can understand the way. Although a child of 80 years old can do it, an eighty-year-old man can't do it." He bowed in vain and left.
Volume 2 of "Wudeng Huiyuan"
Word notes
① Zen Master Niao Ke Daolin (735~833): a native of Fuyang, Hangzhou. His common surname is Pan, his legal name is Yuan Xiu, and his nickname is Daolin. He was born in the 23rd year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (735), moved to Baiyu, Fuqing (now Jiangyin Town) in his later years, and passed away in the 7th year of Dahe of the Tang Dynasty (833). He was 99 years old and had been a monk for more than 80 years.
②This county: refers to Hangzhou. In the Sui Dynasty, the Hangzhou area was called Qiantang County, and in the Tang Dynasty it was renamed Hangzhou, but the old name was inherited here.
③Qinwang Mountain: Located northeast of Leshan Village, Fengqiao Town, Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province, it is a famous mountain in the Kuaiji Mountains. Its native name is "Swallow Rock Head", also known as Stone Carving Mountain. It is said that it is the place where Qin Shihuang carved stones in Kuaiji, hence its name. .
④Yuanhezhong: refers to the middle period of Yuanhe (805-820), the reign name of Emperor Xianzong of Tang Dynasty, that is, the years 810-815 AD.
⑤Bai Juyi (772～846): courtesy name Letian, also known as Xiangshan Jushi, also known as Mr. Zuiyin, his ancestral home is Taiyuan, and he was born in Xinzheng, Henan. He is one of the three great poets of the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen jointly advocated the New Yuefu Movement, known as "Yuan Bai" in the world, and "Liu Bai" together with Liu Yuxi.
Bai Juyi's poetry has a wide range of themes, diverse forms, and simple and popular language. He is known as the "Poetry Demon" and the "Poetry King". He became a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy and a doctor of Zuo Zanshan. In 846 AD, Bai Juyi died in Luoyang and was buried in Xiangshan. There is "Bai's Changqing Collection" handed down from generation to generation, and his representative poems include "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", "Charcoal Seller", "Pipa Play" and so on.
From 822 to 825 AD, Bai Juyi served as the governor of Hangzhou and the governor of Suzhou. It was during this period that I met Zen Master Niao Ke Daolin.
⑥Visiting Master: Refers to Bai Juyi’s visit to Zen Master Niaohe Daolin. Ye, greetings. Master refers to Zen Master Niao Ke Daolin. Because most of the recorders in the lantern records recorded the stories of their master's deeds for their disciples, they often used the master's name as a reference to the master.
⑦ Position Zhenjiangshan: It means having an important position and guarding one side.
⑧The fire and fire intersect, and knowledge continues: The first four words "the fire and fire intersect" refer to the confusion in reality and the inner troubles intertwined. The last four words "constant knowledge" continue to explain the previous scene, indicating that the various desires and delusions in the heart are endless. Consciousness refers to people’s ability to understand and judge the nature of things.
⑨ Do no evil and do all good: This sentence has many origins. It is generally believed to come from the "Zengyi Agama Sutra", which consists of four verses: "Do not do any evil, and practice all the good. Purify your mind, this is all Buddhism." The obvious meaning is that Buddhist believers are required to only do good deeds and not do evil deeds. Once you have purified your heart, you will be a true Buddhist. Of course, the "good" and "evil" here are just Buddhist standards. According to Zen "neither good nor evil" and "neither evil nor good", we should not adhere to the dual opposition point of view and make other opinions.
Appreciation and Interpretation
The first paragraph of this koan is an introduction to Zen Master Niao Ke Daolin, which can be regarded as a foreshadowing before entering the core of the article. But this foreshadowing is very important, as indispensable as the ladder to climb the stairs. Without this foreshadowing, the subsequent appearance of Bai Juyi would not have been introduced. At that time, Bai was not only a poet, but also a frontier official who "held the power of Jiangshan", holding the power of life and death within his jurisdiction. He went to "go into the mountains to pay homage to the master", which highlighted the extraordinary weight of the person being paid a visit. At the beginning of the conversation, Bai Juyi may not have a deep meaning, but Zen Master Niaoyi deliberately enlightened him. Finally, Bai asked "The general meaning of Buddhism", and the Zen master gave the answer "Do not do any evil and practice all good". But this is not the climax of this koan. The climax lies in the final question and answer. Bai is a feudal official and a well-educated scholar who believes in Buddhism. Of course he is not satisfied with Zen Master Niaoyu's unoriginal answer. He thinks that "a three-year-old child can understand the Tao." Aren't you trying to prevaricate me? ? The Zen master then uttered a truth that shocked thousands of years: "Although a three-year-old child can do it, an eighty-year-old man cannot do it." Bai Juyi was speechless after hearing this answer, so he could only "be polite and retreat."
The inspiration of this koan for our descendants is that we should always reflect on ourselves. It is easy to shout out those big, good and beautiful slogans, but we must do it and persist in it. It would be very difficult to do it. It is only because of its difficulty that it is valuable and respectable.