Fazang's Treatise on the Golden Lion


1. To understand the principle of dependent-arising.
2. To distinguish form and Emptiness.
3. To summarize the three characters.
4. To reveal the non-existence of forms.
5. To explain the truth of the unborn.
6. To discuss the five doctrines.
7. To master the ten mysteries.
8. To embrace the six forms.
9. To achieve the perfect Wisdom of Bodhi.
10. To enter into Nirvāna.

1. To understand the principle of dependent-arising. This is to say that gold lion has no inherent nature of its own [i.e., no Svabhāva]. It is owing to the artistry of the skillful craftsman that the form of the lion arises. This arising is the result solely of the cause-conditioning; therefore it is called the arising through dependent-arising.

Put paws, whiskers & a mane into the gold.
The sweating brow of the craftsman, as he bends with his tools --
a furnace roars, melting the workshop's roof of snow.

2. To distinguish form and Emptiness. This means that the form of the lion is unreal; what is real is the gold. Because the lion is not existent, and the body of the gold is not non-existent, they are called form/Emptiness. Furthermore, Emptiness does not have any mark of its own; it is through forms that [Emptiness] is revealed. This fact that Emptiness does not impede the illusory existence of forms is called form/Emptiness [sê-k'ung].

The plum tree in the courtyard --
its branches weighted down by the snowstorm.
I shake snow from my coat
& turn away, tears already frozen.

3. To summarize the three characters. Because of men's delusory perceptions, the lion [seems to] exist [in a concrete manner]; this is called the character of universal imagination [parikalpita]. The [manifestation] of the lion appears to be existing, this is called the character of dependency on others [paratantra]. The nature of gold never changes, this is called the character of perfect reality [parinispanna].

Walking on a road in the rain --
my shoes sink deeply into mud.
The fields around are cold & silent,
& the crows have all gone to their nests

4. To reveal the non-existence of forms. This is to say that when the gold completely takes in the lion, there is no form of lion to be found. This is called the non-existence of forms.

Last night I dreamt of a blue sky charged with clouds --
white clouds, layer upon layer, climbing into space.

5. To explain the truth of the unborn. This means that at the very moment when [we see] the lion come into existence, it is actually the gold that comes into existence. There is nothing apart from the gold. Although the lion may come into and go out of existence, the substance of gold [in fact] never increases or decreases. This is called the truth of the unborn.

You see the mountain, then you don't --
the clouds keep changing form, 
& in the big pine tree a raven 
utters its bell-like rawk.

6. To discuss the five doctrines. The first: although the lion is a dharma produced through dependent-arising, it undergoes generation and destruction in each and every moment. [Since nothing in the phenomenal world endures,] no form of the lion can ever be found. This is called the teaching for the ignorant Śrāvakas [Hīnayāna].

Broken straw sandals, a bell abandoned in the weeds.

The second: all things, being the product of dependent-arising, are devoid of Selfhood [Svabhāva], and in the final analysis, are nothing but Emptiness. This is called the preliminary teaching of Mahāyāna.

The mountain priest lights incense & bangs the moktak.
His chanting is heard down in the village below.

The third: although all things are Emptiness through and through, this does not impede the vivid appearance of the Māyā/becoming. All that which is of dependent-arising is fictitiously existent [and therefore it is truly void.] This co-existence of both being and non-being is called the final teaching of Mahāyāna.

Everybody here is sound asleep by midnight.
They all dream about different lives.
Some get restless & cry out.
Others smile into the frost-thick dawn.

The fourth: inasmuch as these two characters [that of Emptiness and that of form] mutually annul each other, they are both abolished. Here, no imaginings or false presuppositions exist; neither the concept of Emptiness nor the idea of existence retains any influence. [This is the sphere in which] the ideas of both being and non-being vanish. It is a realm that names and speech cannot reach. Here the mind rests without any attachment. This is called the instantaneous teaching of Mahāyāna.

In the morning, he climbs the mountain to pick herbs.
At night, he locks the goats in their wooden pen.

The fifth: when all false feelings and wrong ideas are eliminated, and the true substance is revealed, everything becomes merged into one great mass. Great functions then arise in abundance, and whatever arises is absolutely true. The myriad manifestations, despite their variety, interpenetrate without confusion or disarray. The all is the one, for both are empty in substance. The one is the all, for cause and effect clearly manifest themselves [without fail]. In their power and functions [the one and the all] embrace each other. They spread out and roll up in utter freedom. This is called the Round Doctrine of the One Vehicle.

The warrior came up to the temple carrying his helmet.
He was leading a horse along behind him.
They were both worn out, battered & bloody.
The caretaker came out holding his broom & bowed deeply to them. 

7. Mastering the ten mysteries. The first: the gold and the lion are simultaneously established, all-perfect and complete. This is called the principle of simultaneous completeness.

Mountains are mountains, water is water.
Everything is exactly how you see it now.

The second: if the eyes of the lion take in the complete lion, then the all [the whole lion] is the eyes. If the ears take in the complete lion, then the all is the ears. If all the organs simultaneously take in the whole lion and all are complete in their possession, then each and every organ is "mixed" [involving others] as well as "pure" [being itself]. This is called the principle of full possession of the purity and mixture by the various storehouses.

The bell rings out at dawn, then again at noon.
You listen to the echoes deep inside your chest.
Some children are running around in the street,
shouting & throwing snowballs.

The third: the gold and the lion both establish and include each other in harmony. There is no obstruction between one and many. [In this complete mutual inclusion,] the Li [noumenon] and the Shih [phenomena], the one and the many, remain in their own positions. This is called the mutual inclusion and differentiation of one and many.

Sitting down to supper, putting your chopsticks in the bowl.
The fire crackles & the twigs in it give off a good smell.
Everybody who ever lived has died. 
There is only this instant to enjoy yourself in.

The fourth: all the parts of the lion, down to the tip of each and every hair, take in the whole lion in so far as they are all gold. Each and every one of them permeates the eyes of the lion. The eyes are the ears, the ears are the nose, the nose is the tongue, the tongue is the body. They all exist in total freedom without obstruction or impediment. This is called the mutual identity of all dharmas in freedom.

Eyes pervaded by vision, nose by smell, ears by sound --
A beautiful young girl walks through the rain singing. 

The fifth: if we look at the lion [as a lion], there is only lion and no gold. This is the disclosure of the lion but the concealment of the gold. If we look at the gold [as gold], there is only gold and no lion. This is the disclosure of the gold but the concealment of the lion. If we look at both simultaneously, they are both manifest or hidden. Being hidden they arc secret, being manifest they are revealed. This is called the simultaneous establishment of disclosure and concealment in secrecy.

The temple puts out its flags. Drums bang across the river. 
The smell of roasting rice on the breeze suddenly makes you feel hungry.

The sixth: the gold and the lion may be manifest or hidden, one or many, pure or mixed, powerful or powerless. The one is the other. The principal and the companion interchange their radiance. Both Li and Shih simultaneously come into view. Being mutually compatible, they do not impede one another's existence. This is true even in the case of the minute and the subtle aspects and is called the peaceful co-existence.. of the minute and the subtle.

The boy who gazed into the starry sky, long ago . . . 
And the man gazing into the starry sky now . . . 

The seventh: in each of the lion's eyes, in its ears, limbs, and so forth, down to each and every single hair, there is a golden-lion. All the lions embraced by each and every hair simultaneously and instantaneously enter into one single hair. Thus in each and every hair there are an infinite number of lions. Furthermore, each and every hair containing infinite lions returns again to a single hair. The progression is infinite, like the jewels of Celestial Lord lndra's Net; a realm-embracing-realm ad infinitum is thus established, and it is called the realm of lndra's Net.

Coming back from a long soak in the hot spring,
I light my pipe & relax looking at the autumn-colored mountains.

The eighth: the lion is spoken of in order to indicate men's ignorance; the gold is spoken of in order to reveal the true nature. By jointly discussing Li and Shih the Ālaya Consciousness is described so that a correct understanding [of the doctrine] may be reached. This is called the creation of understanding by revealing the Dharma through facts.

Once upon a time, in a storm of blue butterflies . . . 

The ninth: the lion is a transient and conditioned thing [samskrta dharma]; it arises and fades away at every moment, and each moment can be divided into past, present, and future. Each of these three periods again contains three sections of past, present, and future; therefore, altogether there are three-times-three units, thus forming the nine ages; grouping them together we have a total gate to the Dharma-truth. Although there are nine ages, each is different from the other, and yet their existences are established because of one another. They are harmoniously merged without the slightest obstruction in one identical [eternal] moment. This is called the different formation of separated dharmas in ten ages.

Night. The traffic light on Main Street has stopped turning from red to green to yellow to red. 
It just blinks yellow, swinging a little in the mountain wind.

The tenth: the gold and the lion may be manifest or hidden, one or many, but they are both devoid of a Self-being [Svabhāva]. They manifest in various forms in accordance with the turning and transforming of the Mind. Whether we speak of them as Li or Shih, there is [the Mind] by which they are formed and exist. This is called the universal accomplishment through the projection of Mind-Only.

All the Buddhas are born from this single sesame cake,
this sip of green tea from a mis-shapen bowl.

8. To embrace the Six Forms. The lion represents the character of wholeness, and the five organs, being various and different, represent diversity. The fact that they are all of one dependent-arising represents the character of universality. The eyes, ears, and so on remain in their own places and do not interfere with one another; this represents the character of particularity. The combination and convergence of the various organs makes up the lion; this represents the character of formation. The fact that each organ remains at its own position represents the character of disintegration.

Walking Market Street at night -- scoffed at by beggars, 
offered drugs & hookers on every corner, 
seeing broken men shuffle, hearing women laugh crazily & wail --
oh no this can't be our lives. How do we get out of this hell?

9. To achieve the perfect Wisdom of Bodhi. "Bodhi," in the Chinese language, means the Way [Tao] or Enlightenment. This is to say that when we look at the lion, we see at once that all conditioned things, without going through the process of disintegration, are from the beginning in a state of quiescent non-existence. By being free from both clinging and detachment, one can follow this path into the ocean of omniscience [sarvajña]; therefore it is called the Way. To comprehend the fact that from the very no-beginning all illusions are in reality non-existent is called Enlightenment.

The cypress tree in the courtyard!
It's greenness spreads strength & calm for a thousand miles in every direction.

10. To enter into Nirvāna. When we look at the lion and the gold, the marks of both are exhausted. At this point, the passion-desires no longer arise even though beauty and ugliness are displayed before one's eyes. The mind is tranquil like the sea; all disturbing and delusory thoughts are extinguished, and there are no compulsions. One emerges from bondage and is free from all hindrances. The source of all suffering is forever cut off, and this is called entering into Nirvāna.

I saw a dragonfly stop in flight, circle back & shoot off again in a straight line.
Most nights that summer, the leaky hose drip-dripped under a starry sky.

-Fazang, translated from the Chinese by C. C. Change

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