A Verse in Praise Says:

A blow on the crown of the head;
Straightaway he transcended the provisional.
Wonderful function with no selfishness,
He does not hang on to cares and worries.
Opening the eyes of Mahesvara,
Revealing the face of Natha.
His investigation broke through;
Snowflakes in the red-hot furnace!

A blow on the crown of the head. He smacked him soundly on the head—dealt him a blow. Straightaway he transcended the provisional. He suddenly became enlightened, surpassing all expedient dharmas, and fathoming the very bottom source. There was no more crookedness, no more walking on unnecessary paths.

Wonderful function with no selfishness. How can there be wonderful function? Simply because there is no self. Why is there no self? Because there is wonderful function. We cannot be selfish. If you are selfish and seek personal benefit, you won't have wonderful function, and it won't be effective. He does not hang on to cares and worries. He isn't so anxious and concerned. Why not? Because he's not selfish and self-benefitting. So he doesn't need to worry so much. Why do people worry so much, thinking, for example, "Is this person treating me badly?" "Did my words make him upset with me?" "Have I insulted others?" This is all worry. When you're overly worried, you're "afraid of the wolves in front, and scared of the tigers behind." You're never at ease. But if you are not selfish, you won't have to worry. You shouldn't have even a hair's breadth of selfishness.

Opening the eyes of Mahesvara. He opened the eyes of Mahesvara. He stared with his eyes opened wide. He glared angrily, with his eyebrows horizontal and eyes wide open. Lord Mahesvara is the Lord of the Great Brahma Heaven. He has three eyes, and is very awesome. He's always very arrogant, and feels very masterful and contented. This Dhyana Master was also quite contented, but he wasn't arrogant. Revealing the face of Natha. He had a pleasant demeanor, like that of Natha. He also had a very fierce look. He used the two skills of subduing and attracting to teach and transform living beings.

His investigation broke through. He already understood, was enlightened, and had finished everything. Snowflakes in the red-hot furnace. There is no such thing as snowflakes in a red furnace. It cannot be achieved. How can there be snowflakes in a red-hot furnace? It's absolutely impossible. But even though it's impossible, this time it's also possible. This is an analogy. It's as difficult to get snowflakes in a red-hot furnace as it is to break through in one's investigation. But now he's succeeded. That's what this line means. Don't think that snowflakes can really exist in a red-hot furnace. It's not possible for them to be there. When the cold reaches an extreme, it becomes warm. When the heat reaches an extreme, it becomes cool. Snowflakes cannot exist in a redhot furnace. The banter of the Chan School is meant to make you confused, to make you wonder, "What's going on? How is it really?" It's not any way at all. If "You have not seen," that's the best!

Hsuan Hua's Verse Says:

The Song of Enlightenment by Great Master Yung Jya
Is unlike the work of Su Dung-pwo of Mount Omei.
This empty body, an illusory transformation; suddenly there is awakening.
Beyond expression, the Real Mark of True Suchness.
Try to explain, whom does "Have you not seen..." address?
You fall into a pit, die, and live once again.
Opening Mahesvara's eyes and revealing Natha's face.
Take refuge with Prajna Paramita.

The Song of Enlightenment by Great Master Yung Jya. This song was spoken by the Great Master Yung Jya after he certified to the way. Is unlike the work of Su Dung-pwo of Mount Omei. He wasn't like Su Dung-pwo of Sz Chwyan Province, who pretended to be an expert, to be "One who has gone through" How so? He claimed to have reached a state which he had not attained. He had a state in which he saw a little bit, but he thought it was a big deal. One day, while meditating, he entered a shallow samadhi, and felt as if he were bowing to the Buddha. Thereupon, he felt that his skill was really something. Being the type of person who is meticulous in his choice of words, and wishing to show off his literary talent, he wrote a verse. In order to let everyone know how great he was, he composed the following poem:

I bow to the god among gods;
His hair-light illuminates the world.
Unmoved when the Eight Winds blow,
Upright I sit in a purple-gold lotus.

After writing this verse, he felt he should go somewhere to advertise it. He thought, "Dhyana Master Fwo Yin is a notable in the Chan School. If he were to certify me, I would be recognized as enlightened, and many people would admire me. Then I would certainly attain great fame and benefit." So he sent his attendant to deliver his verse to Dhyana Master Fwo Yin, who was the abbot of Jyang Tyan Monastery on Gold Mountain. Su Dung-pwo lived on the opposite shore of the river. He sent his verse over for the Dhyana Master to appraise. Dhyana Master Fwo Yin took one look, wrote four characters on it, resealed the letter, and told the attendant to take it back, saying, "Show it to the scholar. You'll know what I've written when you get back."

The attendant took it back and handed it to Su Dung-pwo. He took one look, and exploded in outrage, exclaiming, "You baldheaded monk! How can you scold me? I wrote such a fine poem, but you not only failed to admire it, you even dare to scold me!" Just exactly what four characters did Fwo Yin write? He had scrawled "Fart! Fart!" at the end of the poem. When Su Dung-pwo saw this, he was unable to hold his "gas" temper, and had to let it out. In a great fury, he rushed across the river to straighten the account with Dhyana Master Fwo Yin, to get revenge by plucking a few hairs from his bald head. Huffing and puffing in rage, he exclaimed, "You monk, how can you scold me?" Dhyana Master Fwo Yin smiled and asked, "If the eight winds can't move you, how come you've been blown clear across the river by a couple of farts?" Su Dong Pwo's temper vanished in a second, and he had no more farts to let out. He went back very calmly. He had been blown over by just one wind, not to speak of all eight winds. So that's how the two lines "The Song of Enlightenment by Great Master Yung Jya; Is unlike the work of Su Dung-pwo of Mount Omei" came about.

This empty body, an illusory transformation; suddenly there is awakening. When he read to the line, "This empty body, an illusory transformation, is just the Dharma body," he had some understanding, delved in a bit deeper, and had an awakening. Beyond expression, the Real Mark of True Suchness. There's nothing to be said about the essence of the Real Mark of True Suchness.

The mouth wants to speak, but words are lost.
The mind wants to manipulate conditions, but thoughts are gone.

The mouth wants to speak: The mouth wants to talk, but there's nothing to say. Words are lost: All language and literature are lost. The mind wants to manipulate conditions: The mind wants to think, but it cannot produce any thoughts. Thoughts are gone: There isn't anything to think about. The Real Mark of True Suchness is just this way.

Try to explain, whom does "Have you not seen..." address? Dhyana Master Hwan Ywan said to him, "Try to tell me whom is the question, 'Have you not seen...?' addressing? Whom does it refer to?" You fall into a pit, die, and live once again. You've already fallen into a pit, and are such a dull idiot. It's really meaningless. You ought to die and come back to life again. What's the point of dragging this corpse around, showing it off everywhere?

Opening Mahesvara's eyes and revealing Natha's face. You've opened the eyes of Lord' Mahesvara, the Lord of the Great Brahma Heaven, and you bear the demeanor of Natha. Natha is said to have three faces. Actually, he has more than three faces. He displays an awesome appearance in order to subdue the heavenly demons and externalists. His weird, never-seen-before appearance includes three heads, six arms, seven hands and eight feet. Take refuge with Prajna Paramita. One should take refuge with wisdom. All people should study wisdom. If one truly has wisdom, one can arrive at the other shore. Paramita means "reaching the other shore." Prajna Paramita is "wisdom which reaches the other shore." If you have wisdom, you can reach the other shore. If you don't have wisdom, you're stuck on this shore, and can't cross the river.