撫州曹山元證禪師語錄 1.2

1.2

本寂禪師之於洞山，蓋瀉瓶而已，自一去不變異處，至住持大法之道，則大與餘者別矣，唯因真唱，使人至真證也。唯真也深玄精粹，是以難卒見焉。世以為平坦，無活用雄略。嗚呼！浮淺之人，胡知時世因真偽以致道之否泰哉？實不知之，故有詖辭。夫師之語要，在三墮示修治分位，異類通凡聖，明道之生熟也。洞祖所言「道合人、人合道，老不老，事體妙」者是也。苟知之不可瞞，只今唯瞞也多矣。元文之間，有與洞山錄并行焉，而此亦不便多眾之遮眼，庚辰之秋，吉祥之眾衲就予集錄焉。刊版欲與洞祖錄并行，而以反正時世妄譌也，可謂好心，冀有好報，且來請引語，乃敘錄中至要，以冠其首，但因曹山意見其道範，足一發其意云爾。維時

Chan Master Benji was to Dongshan like [pouring water from] one pitcher into another. From [the realization of] the one unchanging place to his holding and abiding by the great teaching, he differed greatly from the rest; it was solely because of his genuine proclamation that he brought people to genuine realization. Because [this genuineness] is deep, mysterious, pure, and refined, it is difficult to perceive at once. The world takes it to be commonplace, lacking active application and bold strategy. Alas! How could shallow people understand that the decline or prosperity of the Way in an era depends on its genuineness or falsehood? Not truly understanding it, they utter biased criticisms. Now, the essentials of the Master's words lie in using the three falls to indicate the stages and positions of cultivation, and using different species to penetrate both the ordinary and the sacred, clarifying the raw and ripe states of the Way. This is what the ancestral master of Dongshan meant by: 'The Way harmonizes with man, man harmonizes with the Way; whether old or not old, the matter and substance are wondrous.' If one truly knows this, it cannot be obscured; yet today, obscurations abound. During the Genbun era, [a text of this] was circulated together with the Record of Dongshan, but even this did not easily clear away the blinders of the multitude. In the autumn of the year Gengchen, the assembly of patch-robed monks of Kisshō gathered around me to compile this record. They cut the printing blocks intending to circulate it together with the ancestral master Dongshan's record, so as to correct the errors and falsehoods of the times. This can be called a good intention, and I hope it meets with a good recompense. Moreover, they came requesting an introductory text; hence I have set down the most essential points of the record to crown its head, solely allowing one to glimpse his normative example of the Way through Caoshan's own perspective—sufficient to disclose his meaning, and that is all. At the time: