(Extracted from Ven Master Hsuan Hua commentary in
Shurangama Sutra.)
In order to tell about the Eight Winds, we must talk about the
famous Sung Dynasty scholar and poet Su Tung P’o. He was known as
Layman Tung P’o and he carried on a dialogue with Dhyana Master Fo
Yin. The former lived on the south bank of the
Long River (Yang Tze) at Chen Chiang, and the latter on the north
bank of the river.
The poet Su Tung P’o meditated and cultivated, and one day in
meditation he saw a state that moved him to write a verse. The
verse went:
I bow my head to the God among gods.
And a ray of light illumines the great thousand worlds.
The Eight Winds cannot move me,
As I sit aloft a purple golden lotus.
The “God among gods” refers to the Buddha. The poet claimed that
when he bowed to the Buddha, he emitted a light that went
throughout the universe. The “Eight Winds” are:
1. praise;
2. ridicule;
3. suffering;
4. bliss;
5. benefit;
6. destruction;
7. gain;
8. loss.
“Praise” is someone’s saying things like, “You are an excellent
student. You really apply yourself. You have a fine personality and
a good moral character.” But you shouldn’t look upon praise as
something good, because if you are moved by it, you just prove that
you don’t have any samadhi-power. The Eight Winds are difficult for
cultivators to bear.
“Ridicule” means to chide or tease or use sarcasm. It’s to use
words in such a way as to break a person down. It may sound like
praise but it’s thick with sarcasm. This wind can cause one to lose
one’s temper. “How can you treat me like that!” is a typical
reaction.
“Suffering” in all its manifold aspects is also one of the winds,
as is “bliss.” You may feel good, but you should not think that
it’s a great thing, because as soon as your mind moves to
acknowledge the pleasure, a wind has moved you.
“Benefit” refers to something that will help you out.
“Destruction” means something unbeneficial which is bad for
you.
“Gain” refers to getting something, “loss” to losing it. Getting
something makes you happy; losing something upsets you. For
instance, a person buys the latest model of a very fancy radio.
He’s so taken with it that he even dreams about it at night. Or
maybe it’s a camera or a telescope. In general, just imagine the
thing that you are most fond of: buying it is what is meant by
“gain.” But once you have it, of course, other people find it
attractive, too, and who would have guessed that someone would wait
until you are a bit careless and steal it from you? At that point,
your ignorance arises and you are afflicted by your loss. That’s to
be moved by the Eight Winds.
But Su Tung P’o said that the Eight Winds did not move him as he
sat aloft a purple golden lotus. He had his servant take the poem
to Ch’an Master Fo Yin for his critique. Ch’an Master Fo Yin
scribbled two words across the poem. The two words were very
meaningful, but Su Tung P’o couldn’t handle them. He exploded in a
rage as soon as he glanced at them. What were the words? “Fart,
fart.”
Su Tung P’o grabbed the poem, threw on his coat, and stormed across
the river to confront Ch’an Master Fo Yin. “What kind of
bad-mouthed monk are you?” he demanded of the Ch’an Master. “What
right do you have to scold people like that?”
“But you said the Eight Winds would not move you,” Ch’an Master Fo
Yin replied calmly. “How is it that my two little farts have blown
you all the way across the river?”
Thinking it over, Su Tung P’o saw how right the Ch’an Master was,
and so he hung his head and went back home.