撫州曹山元證禪師語錄 1.2

1.2

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: