Translation & commentary ~ D. Brazier
The following is a translation and commentary upon a famous Chinese Buddhist text. I am not a language scholar, so my translation is not perfect and, in any case, such texts are open to a variety of interpretations. However, the purpose here is to examine the text both from the point of view of Dharma practice and from that of psychotherapy and counselling.
There is, therefore, a commentary upon each line that has two parts. “Dharma Commentary” contains notes relevant to the meaning of the text and its significance in Buddhism. “Therapy Commentary” takes the line in question as a maxim for psychotherapy and suggests its application.
The text is about the “mirror mind” and is about the relationship between master and disciple or, equally, therapist and client. Here we are teasing out the nature of this relationship at different levels. For simplicity, the therapist is referred to as “she” and the client as “he”, but the principles apply the same whatever the gender of client and therapist may be.
There are also, for reference, three appendices at the end relating to Dong Shan's principle of the “Five Ranks” or “Five Positions”.
Author:
Master Dong Shan Liang Jie 洞山良价 (Tozan Ryokai, 807-869) and his leading disciple Caoshan Benji 曹山本寂 (840-901) are regarded as the founding figures of the Caodong School in China which became Soto in Japan. Master Dong Shan is especially noted for this text and for his associated doctrine of Five Ranks (五位). It seems likely that the present text was one of the inspirations for Dogen Zenji's seminal text Genjo Koan upon which I have also done some work for presentation in another publication.
The Jewel Mirror Samadhi Song
Thus, by Buddhas and ancestors, the Dharma is secretly transmitted.
Now that you have it, guard well.
Snow upon a silver plate, a white egret hiding in moonlight,
Similarity is not identity. Similars, when together, can be distinguished.
You'll not see it in what people say, you'll see it in their spontaneous responses and reactions.
Acting and achieving in the old familiar way you miss the slip – look again, wait, look to the longer context.
Too far away and too close are both wrong, as in relation to a great fire.
Fancy words that are merely rupa are themselves klesha.
True radiance comes in darkest night; the dawn brings no dew.
This rule benefits beings; use it to uproot all kinds of dukkha.
Although uncontrived, it is not wordless.
Thus facing the jewel mirror, rupa images regard one another.
You are not it, but it is definitely you.
It's like a baby, complete in five ways
Neither going nor coming, neither arising nor staying.
Ma-ma, wa-wa; speech without speech,
In the final analysis, the object is not attained because the speech is not yet right.
In the double li hexagram, the one who stands upright and the one who bows depend upon one another
You make your threefold division, but to get the result you rework it into five.
Like the chih grass taste, like the vajra.
In their encounter, disciple and master embrace and display the central mystery.
To know the ancient way is to know the way ahead; take it to heart and it will take you along.
If reverent, then happy. Nothing can go wrong.
The truth that Heaven bestows is nonetheless mysterious; not even to be classed with delusion and enlightenment.
All in due season, with the ripening of causes and conditions, its glory quietly emerges.
Fine, it penetrates hell; great, no cell can hold it.
A tiny mistake and you lose the tune
Now we have sudden and gradual and sectarian meanings take their stands
The sects separate, setting up rules and standards
Yet, if one plumb them to the very depths, it will be found that true nature flows quite naturally.
Outwardly calm yet agitated within, one is like a tethered colt or a trapped mouse.
From pity, as dana paramita, the former sages performed the Dharma
by such paradoxical means as black silk performing pure whiteness.
When muddled thought is extinguished, the willing heart comes into its own [i.e. is liberated].
To walk hand in hand with those of old, one must inquire of the ancient ways.
Along the Buddha Way: ten kalpas contemplating the bodhi tree.
Thus the tiger's tattered ears; thus the horse's old grey leg.
Therefore, for the downcast, a jewelled footrest, a noble chariot.
Therefore, astonishingly, there are dutiful cats and pure cattle.
Emperor Yi could hit a target at a hundred yards by dint of skill and strength.
But how will you make to meet two arrows in mid-air straight on?
How make the wooden man sing, the stone damsel dance?
This cannot arrive by vijñana cravings, much less include discriminative thought.
The minister serves the king, the child respects the father.
Without service there is no loyalty, without respect, no support.
Make use of this secret practice, be the foolish being completely.
Only in each making the other successful can the master within the master be inherited.
COMMENTARY
TITLE
The Jewel Mirror Samadhi Song
寶鏡三昧歌
Commentary: The Jewel 寶 generally refers to the “mani”, or “wish fulfilling jewel”, that represents the seemingly magical effect of Dharma. The Mirror signifies the mind of one who has let self fall away. Samadhi means concentration, but has a wider implication than the English word, signifying a state transcending ordinary consciousness in which the spontaneous activity of the mind automatically reflects the Dharma.
A jewel has many facets and so reflects in many directions at the same time. Everything reflects everything, but, in particular, there is an important reflection effect between master and disciple and, similarly, also between individual and Buddha. Beyond the relationship between master and disciple is the relationship that they together have to the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The jewel mirror thus also refers to the “Three Jewels”. It is the influence of the threefold jewel coming through that actually heals. It is this deeper connection that makes the reflection between master and disciples or between therapist and client deeply meaningful. The master-disciple relationship itself reveals the jewel mirror and only exists because of the jewel mirror.
The therapist who employs a Buddhist psychology approach has a sense of the Buddha as present in the relationship and as being the jewel mirror. The truth that emerges through the therapy process is Dharma. It is the deep meaning of human heartedness and of “the depths of the soul”. We, therefore, must approach this work in a spirit of great humility. What we discover by working with a client is no small thing. It is not a fault in a psychological mechanism that needs fixing, it is something much more important. The client embodies the Dharma and the client's “problem” or “koan” that is ripening in their life is like a chink of light reflected from the jewel mirror.
Thus, it is not simply that “the relationship heals”, it is that the relationship gives access to the meaning of life exemplified in a particular instance. This is portentious. It moves us. We feel it. We are touched and moved. These “touchings” and “movings” are not always easy to put into words, but the therapist must learn to allow herself to be touched and moved and to find in that deep involuntary effect something of great worth, something to respect infinitely. In this infinite respect the Dharma is made manifest.
LINES
Line 1
Thus, by Buddhas and ancestors, the Dharma is secretly transmitted.
如是之法佛祖密付
Dharma Commentary
Secret transmission
The Dharma is passed down directly, heart to heart. The point here is that we should not think that the Dharma is something merely intellectual, nor that it is a matter that can be figured out if one is just sufficiently clever. The Dharma is more connaisance than savoir, “caught” rather than “taught”, experiential rather than didactic. The didactic elements are signposts. All over France there are signposts to Paris, but no study of the signposts, however exhaustive, will ever substitute for a visit to the city. The Dharma is found in the spontaneous, nonpossessive love that exists between a true master and a true disciple. It is a mirroring of mutual esteem, supported by shared esteem for the Dharma.
Thus
Buddhist scriptures generally begin, “Thus have I heard...” The term tatha in Sanskrit can be translated as “thus” or “such”, hence tathata as “thusness” and Tathagata as an epithet of Buddha. The whole idea of “thusness” has a particular cachet in Buddhism, referring both to the transmitted Dharma and to the idea that Dharma is simply things as they are - “thus”. It would, therefore, also be possible to translate this first line as “By Buddhas and ancestors, the Dharma of thusness is secretly transmitted.”
By Buddhas and Ancestors
The Buddhas and ancestors are eternally transmitting this Dharma. This is the religious sense of Buddhism. We are not merely talking about a theory, but a living presence. Things emerge in the Dharma relationship that are not traceable to the individuals and their personal karma. Something more is at work.
Therapy Commentary
The “Dharma of thusness” refers to a certain kind of spontaneity or naturalness. An aim of therapy is to help the client to arrive at such a state of freedom from inner conflict, such that the mind can be trusted and anxiety then can subside. In therapy a special kind of relationship space is created within which certain qualities can be transmitted. It is also a space within which a person feels able to be more spontaneous and to follow the hidden thread of their deeper thoughts and feelings. There is a heart to heart connection between therapist and client which creates a freedom, where the client feels trusted and immune to destructive criticism. In therapy, different things happen at different levels. Superficially the client may obtain reassurance and may learn some things from the therapist. This process of learning and reassurance, however, can be the medium within which a deeper meeting occurs in which there is a real opening, heart to heart, by means of which a deep healing takes place. This all happens secretly. It is not necessarily conscious to either therapist or client. It is the fact that there is no contrivance or manipulation that makes it possible.
