In the second year of the Kangxi era, the guimao year (1663), on an auspicious day of the tenth month, Kunyangzi was expounding the precepts at Biyuan in Jinling (present-day Nanjing), and he said to Ningzhenzi, Shao Shoushan, and Fuyaozi, Zhan Shouchun:
“From childhood I yearned for the Tao, having seen through the unreality of this floating life and the impermanence of the illusory world. Wishing to escape the cycle of rebirth, I began early to cultivate the ultimate Tao. But though Kongtong is near, Guangchengzi does not consent to be met; though the isles of Penglai are not far, how can a mortal body reach them? One must keep far from filth and sweep away all dust and sand, wear down deluded thoughts until ordinary thoughts are like ashes, and temper the physical body until the burning heart is like water. The ceasing of all entanglements at once comes from walking step by step within precepts and concentration; the return of all worries to emptiness comes from looking layer by layer into wisdom. When you see through it, you can hold firm; when you can endure it, you can move freely. Therefore, raise your eyebrows and grasp the knife that kills; stride forth and board the boat that ferries the world across. Turn yourself around, and you are freed from the cycle of rebirth; turn your thought, and you escape the net. With a compassionate heart unbroken—as the ancients said, save yourself and save others; with a merciful vow always present—I wish to save myself and save them. I remember that years ago I went to Mount Wangwu, seeking the true and inquiring after the Tao, and met an enlightened master. Above, I received the vast grace of the Three Treasures and heard the treasure of the Law in person; below, I relied on the strength of my own body to cultivate myself through austere practice. Taking refuge in the supreme King of the Law, I practiced the wondrous Tao of the Great Vehicle. Moreover, I have met with a flourishing age of peace and tranquility—something hard to hear of in ten thousand kalpas and rarely seen in a thousand lifetimes. How could I dare not proclaim the Three Treasures and repay the four kindnesses, contributing my drop of water and speck of dust and expressing my humble heart? Therefore, not shrinking from the fault of presumption, I open the altar and expound the precepts; not avoiding ridicule and slander, I teach the doctrine and discuss the scriptures. This has nothing to do with meddling or seeking fame; it is only to refute the heterodox and resolve doubts. The statutes of heaven do not permit flowery speech; the ultimate Tao lies only in direct words. I respectfully make known to the assembly the family tradition of the seventh generation of the Longmen (Dragon Gate) lineage, and reverently record the plain words from my heart spoken at Biyuan for the benefit of heavenly beings and humans. I dare not compose fine prose—what harm is there in simply speaking the truth? What I now give you is meant precisely to guide the ignorant and to clarify the orthodox teaching. As for vessels of the highest vehicle and clear-eyed people of high attainment, I, this poor Taoist, would count myself fortunate to sit beneath them, and would gladly ask for their compassionate instruction to verify what I have heard. That is my wish.”
Having heard this teaching, the two disciples bowed and withdrew.
The precept disciple Shi Shouping of Guangling bowed his head to the ground and offered this verse in praise:
The Law was originally no law; it exists because of the mind; the mind is originally no mind, and so the Law is empty.
The mind manifests the King of the Law, the mind manifests forms; the Law returns to the mind-king, the Law returns to emptiness.
Understand that a fixed law is not the perfect Law; awaken to this: the ordinary mind is the sage’s mind.
Mind-law, law-mind, mind, law, law—when law and mind are liberated, you have found a true kindred spirit.