53: Chapter 53 Nothing Exists Outside the Mind
After bidding farewell to the Lianxi Tomb, Lu Mingyuan was in no hurry to travel east.
He lingered on Lushan for another three days. Every morning he ascended the mountain, and every evening he returned to the guest house, never wandering far, merely walking at his leisure among the peaks. Sometimes he sat by a stream for half a day, sometimes he listened to the wind beneath the pines, and sometimes he did nothing at all, simply watching the clouds rise and fall.
On the morning of the fourth day, he finally descended the mountain and headed east.
The destination of this trip was Ehu Lake, Yanshan County, Guangxin Prefecture.
Eight hundred years ago, Master Zhu and Xiangshan Mountain had met here and debated for three days, known to history as the "Meeting of Ehu." It was the first direct confrontation between school of principle and the school of mind, and it remains one of the most famous debates in the history of Chinese thought.
He wanted to go and see it.
After traveling for seven days, he arrived at Ehu Lake at the beginning of the fifth month.
The mountain was not high, yet it was extremely serene. A stone path wound its way upward, flanked by ancient trees that towered into the sky, their dense foliage blotting out the sun. Reaching the midpoint of the mountain, he saw a temple with a plaque that read "Ehu Temple." Standing before the temple was a stone tablet, its inscription recording the meeting between Master Zhu and Lu all those years ago.
Lu Mingyuan read it once before the tablet, and then read it again.
In the second year of the Chunxi era, Zhu Xi, Lu Jiuyuan, Lü Zuqian, and others met here. Lu Jiuyuan's elder brother, Lu Jiuling, first composed a poem, and Master Zhu responded in kind; Lu Jiuyuan then wrote another poem, directly pointing out that Master Zhu's learning was "fragmented." Master Zhu was displeased, and they debated until sunset.
Three days later, the meeting concluded without anyone having convinced the other.
Yet this debate opened up eight hundred years of similarities and differences between Master Zhu and Lu.
He finished reading the inscription and was about to enter the temple when he suddenly heard someone behind him say:
"This gentleman, have you come to pay your respects to the Ehu Lake ruins?"
Lu Mingyuan turned around and saw three young Confucian scholars standing at the foot of the steps. The leader was about thirty years old, wearing a square cap and a green robe, with a certain valiant air about him; the two behind him were slightly younger, both dressed as students.
Lu Mingyuan cupped his hands: "Indeed. I am Lu Mingyuan, a man of Zhongnan Mountain."
The leader's eyes lit up: "Zhongnan Mountain? That is a blessed land of Daoism. Is Brother Lu a practitioner of the Dao?"
"I have practiced the Dao and meditated on Chan; now I have come to study Confucianism."
The three looked at each other, surprise evident in their eyes.
The leader said: "I am Chen Jiuchuan, a native of Jiangxi, traveling here for study. These two are my younger brothers, Chen Jiuyuan and Chen Jiugao."
Lu Mingyuan exchanged greetings with each of them.
Chen Jiuchuan said: "We were just about to head to the mountain peak to find the site where Master Zhu and Lu discussed the Dao. If you are interested, Brother Lu, why not join us?"
The four of them ascended the steps together.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the view before them suddenly opened up—a patch of level ground with several massive stones scattered about. The stones were mottled with traces of moss, clearly eroded by a thousand years of wind and rain.
Chen Jiuchuan pointed to the largest one and said: "Legend has it that Master Zhu and Xiangshan Mountain sat on this very stone to discuss the Dao."
Lu Mingyuan walked to the stone and gently stroked its moss-covered surface.
Eight hundred years.
So much wind and rain, so much frost and snow, so many people coming and going. Yet this stone remained, sitting here like a silent witness.
Chen Jiuchuan said: "Since Brother Lu has practiced the Dao, meditated on Chan, and now studies Confucianism, do you know what Master Zhu and Lu were actually arguing about?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"Master Zhu advocated for investigating things to exhaust principle, while Xiangshan Mountain advocated for manifesting the original mind. One enters from the outside, while the other emerges from within."
Chen Jiuyuan interjected: "Then which one does Brother Lu believe is right?"
Lu Mingyuan did not answer directly but asked in return: "What do you three think?"
Chen Jiuchuan said: "When I first began my studies, I believed strongly in Master Zhu. I thought that if I investigated one thing today and another tomorrow, after a long period of accumulation, I would eventually achieve a comprehensive understanding. But after several years of investigating many things, I have yet to see any such understanding of principle."
He paused and looked at his two younger brothers.
Chen Jiuyuan said: "I lean toward Xiangshan Mountain. The mind is principle; why seek it externally? Simply by manifesting the original mind, all things are complete within me."
Chen Jiugao, being the youngest, waited for his two elder brothers to finish before timidly saying: "I... I still haven't figured it out. I feel that both sides have their reasons, yet I also feel that something is not quite right with both."
Lu Mingyuan smiled.
"Brother Jiugao's words are actually the most honest."
He sat down on a stone and motioned for the three of them to sit as well.
"I have traveled to the Three Mountains of Daoism and seen the Dao carried through talismans; I have visited the Three Temples of Buddhism and practiced the Chan and Pure Land sects; I have also visited Yuelu and White Deer to begin my study of school of principle. Along the way, I have had one realization—"
He looked at the three of them.
"The starting points may differ, but the destination is not necessarily different."
Chen Jiuchuan said: "Are you saying, Brother Lu, that the dispute between Master Zhu and Lu was merely a dispute over starting points?"
Lu Mingyuan shook his head.
"A dispute over starting points is already a fundamental dispute. Because your starting point determines how you view the world and how you settle your body and mind. Master Zhu teaches people to investigate things so that they may see principle within all things; Xiangshan Mountain teaches people Ming Xin so that they may see principle within their original mind. One is outward, the other is inward; they seem diametrically opposed."
He paused.
"But I wonder, can the outward and the inward truly be so strictly separated?"
Chen Jiuyuan said: "How can they not be separated? The outward is the thing, and the inward is the mind. How can mind and thing be lumped together?"
Lu Mingyuan did not answer directly but looked around.
"You three, look at this mountain, these trees, and these stones. Do they exist?"
Chen Jiuchuan said: "Naturally, they exist."
"Then if no one is looking, do they still exist?"
Chen Jiuchuan was taken aback.
Chen Jiuyuan said: "Of course they exist. The mountain is the mountain, the tree is the tree, and the stone is the stone. What does that have to do with people?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Brother Jiuyuan's words are the view of Master Zhu's lineage—things exist of themselves, and principle exists of itself; they do not exist because of people."
He paused.
"But I must ask: if there were no mind, who would know that the mountain, the tree, and the stone are there?"
Chen Jiuyuan said: "Even if the mind is not there, the thing still is."
"If the mind is not there, where is the thing?" Lu Mingyuan asked. "In whose 'where' does it exist?"
Chen Jiuyuan opened his mouth to argue but suddenly stopped.
Lu Mingyuan said: "I am not trying to debate existence and non-existence with you, Brother Jiuyuan. I want to say that mind and thing are not two matters that can be strictly separated. Without the thing, the mind has nothing to rely on; without the mind, the thing has no way to manifest."
He pointed to the massive stone.
"This stone has been here for eight hundred years, having seen Master Zhu, having seen Xiangshan Mountain, and having seen countless people coming and going. But this stone is 'this stone' because someone looks at it, thinks of it, and speaks of it. Without a person, it is merely a mass of something unknown."
Chen Jiuchuan looked thoughtful.
"Brother Lu's words have a bit of the flavor of Xiangshan Mountain's 'the mind is principle'."
Chen Jiuyuan shook his head: "That's not right. If the mind is principle, then is the principle of this stone something bestowed by my mind? That is preposterous. The stone has its own principle, which does not exist because of me."
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Brother Jiuyuan is correct. The stone has its own principle and does not exist because of me. But that 'has' in 'the stone has its own principle'—who is it that knows this?"
Chen Jiuyuan was stunned.
Lu Mingyuan continued: "The existence of the stone does not depend on my mind. But the stone's 'being a stone,' and its 'having principle,' depend on my mind to perceive it, to name it, and to give it meaning. Without the mind, the world is a state of Chaos; with the mind, only then does Chaos open up into Heaven and Earth."
He paused.
"This is what Xiangshan Mountain called 'the mind is principle'—it is not that the mind creates principle, but that the mind allows principle to manifest."
The four of them remained silent for a long time.
Chen Jiuyuan suddenly said: "Then if my mind is not upright, the principle I see will also not be upright. How can I ensure that what my mind sees is the principle itself?"
Lu Mingyuan nodded.
"Brother Jiuyuan's question is exactly what Master Zhu was most concerned about regarding Xiangshan Mountain. If one only seeks from within the mind, and the mind is not upright, then everything seen is a delusion. Therefore, Master Zhu wants people to investigate things, using external principle to correct the internal mind."
He looked at Chen Jiuyuan.
"But I wonder, external principle also requires the mind to recognize it. If the mind is not upright, even if you investigate all the things in the world, you will only be investigating them with private intentions, and everything you see will be a projection of those private intentions."
He paused.
"So it is not a matter of who is right or wrong between Master Zhu and Xiangshan Mountain. They each saw one half, and only when joined together do they form the whole."
"How can they be joined?" Chen Jiuchuan asked.
Lu Mingyuan thought for a long time.
"I do not know either," he said. "But I feel that perhaps the key is not in 'joining,' but in 'action.' When investigating things, the mind is upon the things; when clarifying the mind, the things are within the mind. Through the process of investigating and clarifying, the 'one who investigates' and the 'one who clarifies' slowly change."
He thought of the grove of bamboo on Yuelu Mountain.
"It is like investigating bamboo. I investigated it for four days and found nothing at all. But after I finished, when I looked at that grove of bamboo again, I was no longer the same person who had looked at it on the first day."
He looked at the three of them.
"Is this change from investigating things, or from Ming Xin?"
Chen Jiuchuan, Chen Jiuyuan, and Chen Jiugao looked at each other, and no one could answer.
Lu Mingyuan smiled.
"I cannot answer it either. But I know that this change is real."
The sun rose higher, and the four of them sat on the stone for a full hour.
Chen Jiuyuan suddenly stood up and gave Lu Mingyuan a deep bow.
"Brother Lu's words have made me suddenly enlightened. In the past, I only knew of Xiangshan Mountain and despised Master Zhu as fragmented; today I finally know that Master Zhu also has his insights, and Xiangshan Mountain also has the biases of Xiangshan Mountain. If one clings to only one end, one will never see the whole."
Lu Mingyuan quickly rose and returned the gesture.
Chen Jiuchuan also said: "In the past, I investigated things with great effort, yet I always felt separated by a layer. Hearing Brother Lu's words today, I finally know it was because my mind had not arrived. If the mind has not arrived, even if you investigate all the things in the world, you are merely circling outside the gate."
Chen Jiugao was the youngest, yet he laughed the most happily.
"My two elder brothers have been arguing for three years, yet today they were reconciled by a single word from Brother Lu."
The four of them looked at each other and laughed.
Their laughter echoed through the valley, startling several mountain birds that flew off into the distance with a flutter of wings.
In the afternoon, the four of them descended the mountain together.
Halfway down, Chen Jiuchuan suddenly said: "Brother Lu, there is a place ahead that might be worth a look."
"Where?" Lu Mingyuan asked.
"One year, Xiangshan Mountain was lecturing here, and a Disciple asked: 'There are Nothing exists outside the mind in the world; as such, these flowers and trees blooming and falling by themselves in the deep mountains, what do they have to do with my mind?' Xiangshan Mountain replied: 'When you are not looking at this flower, this flower and your mind return to silence together. When you come to see this flower, the colors of this flower suddenly become clear. Thus, you know that this flower is not outside your mind.'"
He pointed to a slope ahead.
"Legend has it that the lecture took place right there."
Lu Mingyuan looked over.
On the slope, a patch of azaleas was in full bloom—red, pink, and white—bright and beautiful as a painting in the afternoon sun.
His heart suddenly stirred.
"When you are not looking at this flower, this flower and your mind return to silence together. When you come to see this flower, the colors of this flower suddenly become clear."
Thus, you know that this flower is not outside your mind.
He stood there, gazing at the patch of azaleas, motionless for a long time.
Seeing him lost in thought, Chen Jiuchuan and the others did not disturb him, but simply stood quietly to the side.
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Mingyuan suddenly smiled.
He remembered how he had just been discussing mind and thing with the three of them on the mountain. At that time, he had spoken with great logic, but only when he truly encountered this saying did he realize—
Everything he had said was merely theory.
And this saying was an insight.
Theory can be discussed, but insight can only be realized.
Standing before this patch of azaleas at this moment, he suddenly understood what "Nothing exists outside the mind" meant.
It was not saying that the thing does not exist.
It was saying that the thing becomes the thing at the moment the colors become clear within the mind.
The flowers blooming and falling by themselves in the deep mountains is the flowers' own existence. But what does a flower that has nothing to do with me have to do with me?
Only when I look at it does it enter my world and become "my" flower.
At that moment, the flower and the mind become clear at the same time.
He turned back and looked at Chen Jiuchuan and the others.
"Thank you three for leading me here."
Chen Jiuchuan asked: "What did you realize, Brother Lu?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"I realized what 'Nothing exists outside the mind' means."
Chen Jiuyuan asked: "What is 'Nothing exists outside the mind'?"
Lu Mingyuan pointed to the patch of azaleas.
"The flowers blooming and falling by themselves in the deep mountains is the flowers' own existence. But when I come to look, the color, shape, and fragrance of these flowers enter my mind in an instant. At that moment, the flower and the mind are no different and no separate."
He paused.
"Thus, I know that this flower is not outside my mind."
Chen Jiuyuan was silent for a moment, then he also suddenly smiled.
"In the past, when I read Xiangshan Mountain, I only remembered the four words 'the mind is principle,' but I never truly experienced it. Today, seeing Brother Lu standing before these flowers, I suddenly understand."
He gave a deep bow that nearly reached the ground.
"Thank you, Brother Lu."
Lu Mingyuan quickly supported him: "What are you doing, Brother Jiuyuan? I was merely speaking of my own realization."
Chen Jiuyuan straightened up and said seriously:
"Do you know, Brother Lu, that Xiangshan Mountain has a saying—'The Universe is my mind, and my mind is the Universe.' In the past, when I read this, I only took it as a metaphor. Today, seeing you, Brother Lu, I finally know it is not a metaphor, but the truth."
He looked toward the patch of azaleas.
"The Universe is too large for me to see. But this patch of azaleas is my mind at this moment. My mind is this patch of azaleas."
The four of them stood on the slope for a long while longer.
The sun began to sink in the west, casting long shadows of the azaleas. Bees were busy among the flowers, their humming constant. From the distance came the evening bell of the temple, sounding again and again, far-reaching and long.
Chen Jiuchuan asked: "Where will you go next, Brother Lu?"
Lu Mingyuan thought for a moment.
"I would like to make a trip to Guixi to visit the Xiangshan Academy."
Chen Jiuchuan's eyes lit up: "We are just about to return to our hometown, and Guixi is the road we must take. If you do not mind, Brother Lu, we can travel together."
Lu Mingyuan cupped his hands: "I could not ask for more."
The four of them descended the mountain together, the setting sun casting their shadows onto the stone steps, long and short, all the way to the east.
That night, the four of them stayed at an inn at the foot of the mountain.
After dinner, the Chen brothers returned to their rooms to rest. Lu Mingyuan sat alone in the courtyard, gazing at the moon.
The moonlight was beautiful, its clear radiance like water. In the courtyard was an old locust tree, its mottled shadows falling on the ground like an ink wash painting.
He took the string of prayer beads from his robe and gently told them.
"resting is..."
After reciting it, he suddenly smiled.
He had recited these two words countless times. But only today did he truly understand—
Resting is not about thinking of nothing.
Resting is the mind being in the present moment.
Just like watching those azaleas during the day. At that moment, the mind and the flower become one; there is no past or future, no investigating things or Ming Xin, no differences between Master Zhu and Lu.
There is only looking.
There is only the flower.
That is resting.
That is 'Nothing exists outside the mind'.