筠州洞山悟本禪師語錄 1.208

1.208

龍之為物，其非常耶！人能觀者寡矣。丹青以畫，告人以龍，人知其為龍，不信者未之有。後觀真龍，告之以龍，人且怪焉。方今之世，孰不說法，囂囂其教，似則似，真則否，如彼畫龍然，非惟畫龍不興雲為霖而已，間奪朱，幾為病，於戲可懼。屬者有禪人宜默者，再編集《洞山語要》，來以告予。予爇香稽首，看讀一過，謂之曰：「近世支那禪師瑞白雪公有言曰：『洞山古剎，我等祖基，傾頹已久，瓦礫不存。』今幸孤涯上座住持，欲重新祖塔，我輩為洞山兒孫，烏可坐視乎？」由是觀之，知重修棠蔭於彼土，今也於子亦資始祖錄乎我國，宜矣，知所遵也。吾儕苟辱遠裔，安不喜躍，命工鋟梓，以廣其傳。俾參學者，知丹青外寔有神龍，雲行雨施。千古如此，請莫怪焉。

As a creature, is not the dragon extraordinary? Those among men who can behold it are few. When painted in vermilion and blue and told to people that it is a dragon, people know it to be a dragon, and none disbelieve it. Later, when they see a true dragon and are told that it is a dragon, they actually find it strange. In today's world, who does not expound the Dharma? Their teachings are clamorous; they seem like it, but truly are not, just like those painted dragons. Not only do painted dragons fail to raise clouds and bring rain, but they also substitute secondary red for vermilion, almost becoming a sickness—alas, how frightening! Recently, there was a Chan practitioner named Gimo who recompiled the Essential Sayings of Dongshan and came to inform me. I burned incense, bowed my head, read through it once, and said to him: “In recent times, the Chinese Chan master Elder Ruibai Xue had a saying: ‘The ancient monastery of Dongshan, our ancestral foundation, has long been in ruins, with not a tile or pebble remaining.’ Now, fortunately, the elder Guya resides there as abbot and wishes to rebuild the ancestral stūpa; as the descendants of Dongshan, how could we sit by and watch?” Looking at it from this perspective, we know that just as rebuilding the shaded arbor was done in that land, so now it is appropriate for you to provide the original ancestor's record in our country; you know what to venerate. If we, even as unworthy distant descendants, are not overjoyed, we should order craftsmen to carve the printing blocks to widen its transmission. This will enable practitioners to know that beyond vermilion and blue there is truly a divine dragon that makes clouds move and rain fall. It has been thus for a thousand ages; please do not find it strange.