The Contest Between Su Dongpo and Chan Master Foyin

During the Song Dynasty, Su Dongpo and Chan Master Foyin Liaoyuan were close friends who often discussed the Dharma together. One day, Chan Master Foyin suggested, "Shall we compare our understanding of the Dharma? The loser must forfeit a possession." Su Dongpo agreed. The Chan Master spoke first: "I see you as a Buddha." Su Dongpo replied: "I see you as a pile of dung." Chan Master Foyin then declared, "You have lost. Forfeit the jade belt from your waist." He then removed Su Dongpo's jade belt and kept it for himself. Everyone, please judge: why did Su Dongpo lose?

Chan Master Foyin, having attained realization, could perceive the existence and functioning of his own Tathagatagarbha. He also understood the Tathagatagarbha within all sentient beings, seeing that it manifests in every being and that, because of this Tathagatagarbha, they will ultimately attain Buddhahood. Therefore, he saw all sentient beings as Buddhas. Su Dongpo, lacking realization, did not understand the Tathagatagarbha and Buddha-nature within himself and others. Consequently, he became attached to appearances and could only perceive the false external forms of sentient beings. Seeing Chan Master Foyin's external form as a dung bucket demonstrates that Su Dongpo’s own mind was impure and that he failed to perceive the true nature of all phenomena.

Chan Master Foyin possessed wisdom. He transformed the other’s appearance into that of a Buddha. A mind capable of transforming things into the Buddha is close to Buddhahood itself, abides near the Buddha, and will swiftly attain Buddhahood. Su Dongpo, a literary giant of his generation, excelled in writing and debate, skilled with words and rhetoric. Regrettably, he engaged more in verbal sophistry than actual practice and did not attain realization in that lifetime. During the Ming Dynasty, he was reincarnated as a famous Chan Master, still possessing great literary skill and poetic flair, and authored many works on the Dharma. He is said to have attained enlightenment, though this remains unclear, yet his wisdom was still not particularly high. The reason was the habitual tendencies from his past life as a literary figure, which carried over into his later life, and his practice was still not deep or thorough enough.

Su Dongpo’s manas (ego-mind) clung to the Chan Master’s appearance as something foul, and his conscious mind accordingly discriminated it as foul. Thus, both Su Dongpo’s manas and conscious mind were defiled. The seeds projected by his eighth consciousness (alaya consciousness) for these two minds were defiled, indicating that Su Dongpo had not cultivated these two consciousnesses well; his mind-consciousness had not transformed, and his inner mind remained impure. The more the manas clings to the faults of others, the more defiled it becomes, needlessly polluting one’s own mind. Why bother? Once defiled, the defiled seeds reside in the eighth consciousness. When the eighth consciousness projects consciousness-seeds in the future, they will all be defiled and impure. When will it ever regain purity? Having defiled oneself, one must cleanse it oneself. This is troublesome and brings much suffering. One must not constantly cling to the faults of others. Instead, look at others' virtues; then the appearances within your mind will all be virtuous. Your mind will be influenced by virtuous appearances and can transform for the better. Only wholesome seeds will be stored in the eighth consciousness; the mind-consciousness will be wholesome. Cultivating in this way is beneficial. The more wholesome one becomes, the closer one draws to Buddhahood.