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and polished, they are not stained. Yet even so, they need to be sifted and
strained. Sifted and strained, you will know it all inside and out and be free in
every way.
5
When the Zen Master knocks on the mortar three times, the grains of
rice spontaneously arrange themselves and the seed of the mind is revealed.
When Huineng shakes the grains in the sieve thrice, the Way of Zen was
communicated between them. Since that time, that night of striking the
mortar has not come to the dawn, the day of Transmission has never ceased.
Let’s look into this. The Master had been a woodcutter in Lingnan and
the workman Lu hulling rice in the mill. He used to just wander around
carrying his axe and had no scholarly learning. Yet, in hearing even just one
line of the sutra, he gave rise to “the mind that dwells nowhere.” Later he
threshed with mortar and pestle. Though he had no formal experience of Zen
study, after only eight months of tireless work he illumined the mind like a
clear mirror without a stand and the Transmission was carried out at midnight
so that the bloodline of the Zen Ancestors was carried on. It is true that this
does not necessarily take years of effort but it does take complete diligence
and care. The enlightenment of the Buddhas cannot be measured out as
being “long” or “short.” So how can you understand the Transmission of the
Way of the Zen Ancestors if you think about it in terms of past and present?
Further, I’ve spoken this way and that for the ninety days of this
summer retreat. I’ve talked about past and present. I’ve tried to give
expression to these Awakened Ones to you using loud words and soft speech.
Trying to bring out what is subtle and fine, I’ve had to fall into “twos and
threes” and so I’ve defiled the Way of Zen and brought out the disgrace of the
Lineage. I think that at least I’ve been able to bring you people to understand
the principle and give you strength, but it seems you still have not brought
yourselves intimately in line with the meaning of the Awakened Ancestors.
Your practice is not the same as our past sages.
We are so fortunate that we have been able to meet like this. If you
practice the Way whole-heartedly you will be able to master it. But I see so
many of you who have not reached the other shore and still have not seen
into the inner room. The time of the Buddha is long gone and your work on
the Way is still incomplete. The length of your life is uncertain yet still you
procrastinate. The end of this summer retreat is already here and it is time
for us to disband. How could you just pick and choose a word here or a
phrase there and think that you have my Teaching? Would you bring up a
mere husk of knowledge, a bit of understanding, and call that what I am
trying to give to you? Even fully exerting attainment still disgraces the
Lineage. How much worse then is it to teach mistakes about the Way?
If you want to truly arrive here in my realm, don’t waste time and
don’t squander this bodymind. 
Once more. A little verse to explain the koan:
                                                
5
Huineng’s great capacity for the Dharma was natural to him and needed no “cultivation.” In seeking the
Dharma he was only becoming more fully what he always was. Yet there is always more to realize. In the
same way, the capacity for beings to realize their true nature is natural to them. They need only practice the
Dharma and strip away everything about themselves is only the product of habit and delusion to come to
what and who they truly are. Buddha nature, our own inherent intelligence and wisdom, cannot be given or
taken away, it is the birthright of everyone; nontheless, we must claim it by practicing it and realizing it
fully for ourselves. We must never settle down, we must never be drawn this way or that, inside or outside.
We must penetrate into and open ourselves to our true natures again and again, sifting and straining what is
true from what is only azimed to be true.