Night Conversations in a Mountain Hermitage in Zhongfeng Extensive Record

Abstract Night Conversations is a miscellany covering many topics: Bodhidharma Chan is not ordinary dhyāna or fetal breathing; all speech, including even the sound of the wind or dripping of the rain, tally with Bodhidharma Chan’s direct pointing; for Chan, enlightened mind is the real essential—the myriad good practices should be taken as secondary; Yongming Yanshou’s sorting of Chan and Pure Land into four phrases is an upāya; Chan and Pure Land are two names for one substance; an analysis of the meaning of the term gong’an (Chan case); Zhongfeng’s assertion that he “is certainly not someone who has had a real awakening”; people nowadays are dominated by furtive mind; Gaofeng Yuanmiao’s “order” to burn a finger; Zhongfeng’s withdrawal into reclusion; Zhongfeng’s assertion that he is lacking in awakening and so could not bring others to understanding; the perceived necessity to die in cross-legged sitting posture, and so forth.