Why Did Zen Master Danxia Burn the Wooden Buddha?

After Chan Master Danxia attained enlightenment and realized the self-nature Buddha, his mind not only broke through the four marks—the mark of self, the mark of a person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of a life span—but also broke through the mark of the Buddha. He acknowledged only the true Buddha, not the false Buddha; those Buddha statues carved from wood or sculpted from stone were of course even less the true Buddha, so what harm was there in burning them? However, those who have not realized the true Buddha must absolutely not imitate him, because without realizing the true, the false marks still remain, and burning the false marks is the same as burning the true mark—this constitutes a great offense, and the karmic retribution for slandering and defaming the Buddha is extremely bad. In ancient times there was a layperson who imitated an enlightened bhikṣu by writing the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on his underwear, and as a result, within a day or two he vomited blood—whether he died, I do not remember. There are also modern people who threw a statue of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva into a river, and after returning home their whole body felt cold and damp, and only after repenting and making amends did their serious illness finally heal. 

Danxia had profound wholesome roots from past lives, and after enlightenment his cultivation of the Path was considerable. His mind was empty and without marks; he often lay sleeping on a bridge, leisurely and carefree, with nothing to do, and people often found him strange. For one who has attained the Way, what other matters are there? The world of the five aggregates is all empty—without marks, without vows, without seeking; life is just eating and sleeping, so lying back with both legs stretched out is perfectly normal. What is all the fuss about—seeking here and there all day, rushing east and west, busying oneself inside and out—what is there to scheme for? Only when the mind is completely empty will all dharmas naturally unfold without contrivance, and the Buddha will naturally come to confer the prediction of future buddhahood. If even one dharma remains unemptied, if there is still one thing to seek, if one still wishes to become a Buddha or a patriarch, then forget about the Buddha conferring a prediction. As for those who, under the name of saving sentient beings, pursue their own selfish interests and fill Buddhism with smoke and miasma, they will probably not only fail to receive the Buddha's prediction, but will also receive the Buddha's discipline—the law of cause and effect is fearsome. 

Some people will say, "I also believe that Buddha statues carved from wood or sculpted from stone are not the true Buddha, so nothing will happen to me if I burn one." Then go ahead and burn one and see whether it brings down the karmic result of all five internal organs being scorched, unbearably painful. What you yourself believe does not count; what the mind consciousness thinks is useless—if the manas does not accept it, cause and effect will not fail to respond. Those who believe they have attained the fruits, who believe they have seen the mind and become enlightened—go try writing the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on your underwear, go try burning a wooden Buddha or smashing a stone Buddha. If nothing happens, it can be regarded as genuine enlightenment that has broken through marks. Is there anyone who dares to do this like Chan Master Danxia?

Some people will say, "The person who gave me confirmation is quite accomplished in the Way, and I simply believe him." But I say the Buddha is the most accomplished of all. If the Buddha's confirmation did not match the facts, the tathāgatagarbha would not acknowledge it, and cause and effect would acknowledge it even less. Of course, this is only a hypothesis—what the Buddha confirms absolutely matches the facts and accords with the tathāgatagarbha. Some people are very stubborn; they listen to nothing and trust only their own feelings. But the tathāgatagarbha is even more stubborn—it cares only about the facts. And cause and effect is especially stubborn: it dares to stand up against everyone. For those who refuse to bow before the facts, cause and effect will lock horns with them.