Deny the real too!

Chan Master Dazhu Huihai, a prominent Tang Dynasty monk, was ordained under Master Daozhi at Dayun Temple in Yuezhou. After reading Huihai’s writing (The Essential Gateway to Truth by Sudden Awakening), Master Mazu Daoyi praised him as “Great Pearl” — a Buddhist symbol of awakening and wisdom — hence later generations also referred to him as “Great Pearl Monk” or “Dazhu Huihai.”

Once, master Daoguang asked Master Dazhu Huihai:
“With what mind do you practice the Dao?”
Dazhu: “This old monk has no mind to use, no Dao to cultivate.”
Daoguang: “If no mind and no Dao, why gather people to teach Chan?”
Dazhu: “I own no tile above, no land below — where could I gather crowds?”
Daoguang: “Yet you teach daily — isn’t this liberating beings?”
Dazhu: “Do not wrong me! I lack words to speak — how could I teach? I see no beings — how could I liberate?”
Daoguang: “Master, you speak falsehood!”
Dazhu: “I have no tongue — how could I lie?”
Daoguang: “Are the world, our existence, and Chan itself all false?”
Dazhu: “All real!”
Daoguang: “If real, why deny them?”
Dazhu: “Deny the false; deny the real too!”
At this, Daoguang awakened instantly.

Philosophical Notes

Radical Non-Attachment:

Dazhu’s denials (“no mind,” “no tongue”) embody Zen’s sword of negation: severing attachment to all concepts — even “truth,” “teaching,” or “liberation.”

The Paradox of “Deny Reality”:

Deny falsehood = Reject illusion.

Deny reality = Shatter the last fetter: clinging to “truth” as an object.
True emptiness leaves no trace of “real” or “unreal.”

Awakening in Total Collapse:

Daoguang’s enlightenment erupted when all footholds vanished:

No “Way(Dao)” to grasp

No “mind” claiming awakening

Not even “real” to rely on

Dazhu’s final blow — “Deny the real too!” — reveals:

Ultimate truth isn’t affirmed; it’s realized when all positions implode.