Editing Linji Yixuan (section)

===True person===
Although we may be "twisted and turned" by dependencies and externals, Linji taught that the true person, the one who "has the ability to speak dharma and listen to it," is a "solitary brightness"{{sfnp|Broughton|Watanabe|2013|pp=40, 45, 77, 128}} (or the one {{zh|labels=no|l=shining alone|p=gū míng|c=孤明}}){{sfn|Sasaki|2009|p=163}}who is not swayed by various situations or environments:
{{blockquote|Followers of the Way, this lone brightness before my eyes now, this person plainly listening to me—this person is unimpeded at any point but penetrates the ten directions, free to do as he pleases in the threefold world. No matter what environment he may encounter, with its peculiarities and differences, he cannot be swayed or pulled awry.{{sfnp|Watson|1999|p=33}}{{refn|group=note|Japanese commentators associate solitary brightness with "mind," "original nature," "natural face," "original source of all the buddhas," "the ārya knowledge of awakening on one's own," "the dharma substance of the mind ground," and "The thing 'you let loose to fill up the dharmadhātu and roll up so that it is not enough to stand up a single strand of hair'."<ref>The Record of Linji: A New Translation of the Linjilu in the Light of Ten Japanese Zen Commentaries, translated by Jeffrey L. Broughton with Elise Yoko Watanabe, page 163, note 52; page 179, note 131; page 252, note 604; Oxford University Press 2013</ref>}}}}

Similarly, Linji described the mind as a "single bright essence" (or "one pure radiance," {{lang|zh|一精明}}) which is formless and penetrates all directions.<ref>{{harvp|Watson|1999|p=25}}</ref>{{sfn|Sasaki|2009|p=165}} According to Linji, because this mind is formless, it is everywhere emancipated, and thus there was no need to go "rushing around everywhere looking for something."<ref>{{harvp|Watson|1999|pp= 25-26}}</ref> Instead, Linji advised his listeners to stop and take a good look at themselves.<ref>{{harvp|Watson|1999|pp=  26-27}}</ref>

Another way in which Linji referred to the true person was "the true man with no rank" ({{zh|labels=no|p=wúwèi [[Zhenren|zhēnrén]] |c=無位真人}}). According to Welter, all early sources agree that the notion of "the true man with no-rank" (which can also mean "a sage without any location") was a major teaching of Linji.{{sfn|Welter|2008|p=87}} In what is perhaps the earliest source of this teaching, the ''[[Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall|Zutang ji]]'', it is presented as follows:{{sfn|Welter|2008|p=87}} 
{{blockquote|On one occasion, the Master (Linji) addressed the assembly: "I, a mountain monk, tell you clearly—within the body-field of the [[Skandha|five skandhas]] there is a true man with no-rank, always present, not even a hair's breadth away. Why don't you recognize him?" 

Then, a monk asked: "What is this true man with no rank?" 

The Master struck him, and said: "The true man with no-rank—what an impure thing."}}

Other sources contain similar statements. In the [[The Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp|''Chuandenglu'']], for example, Linji says, "within your lump of red flesh there is a true man with no rank, constantly entering and exiting the openings of your face." When a monk asks who the true man is, Linji responds by saying, "The true man with no rank—what a dried lump of shit!"{{sfn|Welter|2008|p=88}}{{refn|group=note|Japanese commentators on the ''Linji lu'' associate the lump of red flesh, or the "red-meatball," with the first of the four types of mind in [[Guifeng Zongmi|Zongmi's]] ''Chan Prolegomenon;'' and the true man, or true person, with Zongmi's "real mind."<ref>The Record of Linji: A New Translation of the Linjilu in the Light of Ten Japanese Zen Commentaries, translated by Jeffrey L. Broughton with Elise Yoko Watanabe, pages 145-146, notes 31 & 32,  Oxford University Press 2013</ref> Regarding the four types of mind, Zongmi says: "The first is helituoye. This means the mind that is a lump of flesh. This is the mind in each of the five viscera in the body. [...] The second is the pondering-of-objective-supports mind. This is the eight consciousnesses [vijñāna], because all [eight] are capable of pondering as objective supports their own sense objects. [...] The third is zhiduoye [citta]. This means the mind that accumulates and produces, because only the eighth consciousness accumulates [karmic] seeds and produces the [seven] active [consciousnesses]. [...] The fourth is ganlituoye. This means real mind or true mind. This is the true mind."<ref>Jeffrey L. Broughton, Zongmi on Chan, page 117, Columbia University Press, 2009</ref>}}