Master Jingcen, a Tang Dynasty monk revered as “Chan Master Zhaoxian”, “Chan Master Changsha” or “Changsha Monk,” was among the seventeen foremost disciples of Nanquan Puyuan.
His famed verse states:
“One atop a hundred-foot pole — motionless —
has attained but not the truth.
Advance further from the pole’s summit —
the ten-direction world becomes your whole body.”
A student asked: “Where should a learner go?”
Jingcen replied in verse:
“Not knowing the Vajra body, you call it dependent origination.
True extinction in all quarters —
nobody dwells or leaves.”
The student pressed: “How to advance from the pole’s summit?”
Jingcen: “Mountains of Langzhou, waters of Langzhou.”
Student: “I don’t understand.”
Jingcen: “All lakes and seas within the king’s domain.”
Student: “What is the learner’s mind?”
Jingcen: “The ten-direction world is your mind.”
Student: “Then I have no place to stand!”
Jingcen: “Where you can stand is where you stand.”
Student: “What is ‘where I can stand’?”
Jingcen: “Ocean waters, deep beyond deep.”
Student: “Still unclear.”
Jingcen: “Fish and dragons rise and sink freely.”
Student: “You say the whole world is one bright pearl — how to grasp this?”
Jingcen retorted: “Grasp what?”
Philosophical Notes
“100-Foot Pole” as Spiritual Dead End:
Clinging to meditative “summits” (motionless atop the pole) becomes subtle attachment. True awakening requires “advancing further” — into ordinary life (mountains/waters).
No Place to Stand = Total Freedom:
The student’s panic (“no place to stand!”) exposed his craving for conceptual security. Jingcen’s “ocean without bottom” reveals: Enlightenment is standing nowhere — thus standing everywhere.
Fish-Dragon Metaphor for Non-Attachment:
“Fish and dragons rise and sink freely” embodies:
No preference for “depth” (samādhi) or “surface” (daily chores)
Suchness beyond grasping (“Grasp what?” shatters the last doubt).
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