撫州曹山本寂禪師語錄 2.48

2.48

Chou Buna asked, "What is the class of form?" I said, "Wearing fur and bearing horns." He said, "What is the class of words?" I said, "Caoshan has only a single pair of eyebrows." He asked again, "What is the water buffalo?" I said, "Dim and dazed." He said, "What does this mean?" I said, "Not knowing that heaven and earth exist." Chou again brought up: "A senior seat asked Yunju, 'The late master had a saying: "From youth I have raised a son whose head is three feet long and whose neck is two inches long." What is the son raised from youth?' Yunju said, 'Daily provision is hard to forget.' He said, 'What is the head three feet long?' Yunju said, 'Nothing can be done about it.' He said, 'What is the neck two inches long?' Yunju said, 'Down to the present, can anything still be done about it?' He said, 'What is "daily provision is hard to forget"?' Yunju said, 'Constantly being present is it.' He said, 'What is constantly being present?' Yunju said, 'Not turning contrary is it.' He said, 'What is "nothing can be done about it"?' Yunju said, 'When arriving at such a time, who can do anything about it?' He said, '"Down to the present, can anything still be done"—what does this mean?' Yunju said, 'The Buddhas of the three periods can do nothing about it.'" He asked me, "What is the head three feet long and neck two inches long?" I said, "It is not the original matter." He said, "What is the original matter?" I said, "What do you call it?" He asked, "What practice does a śramaṇa practice?" I said, "The practice of a beast." He said, "What is the practice of a beast?" I said, "Wearing fur and bearing horns." He said, "What is a śramaṇa?" I said, "Thing after thing without interruption." He said, "What is the matter of being without interruption?" I said, "Only then can one practice." He said, "What is a person who wears fur and bears horns?" I said, "Not fearing karma." He said, "Why does one reach such a state?" I said, "If one does not fear karma, where would one not reach?" He asked, "Going from the ordinary into the sagely I do not ask about; what is it like when going from the sagely into the ordinary?" I said, "The water buffalo." He said, "What is the water buffalo?" I said, "Dim and dazed." He said, "What does this mean?" I said, "Thinking only of water and grass, knowing nothing else." He said, "What side of the matter does this accomplish?" I said, "It is simply coming upon grass and eating grass, coming upon water and drinking water." (I also said: "These words have power. If you wish to know that they have power: this person does not grasp at the śramaṇa's side of the matter, nor does he enter the retributive ranks of the sages; this is indeed entering among different kinds. Being among different kinds is wearing fur and bearing horns; it is called the practice of a śramaṇa, it is called the śramaṇa's place of conduct, and it is also called the head three feet long and neck two inches long. If you wish to know this meaning: when arriving at the śramaṇa's practice, one does not wish to use dimensions to divide intimacy and estrangement, nor may one speak of Zhang the Third and Li the Fourth. Furthermore, as for the head being three feet long, it is simply going from small to large, today's merit accomplished. Reaching such a time is called the supreme phrase and marvelous phrase. As for the neck being two inches long, it is not sitting in the rank of a śramaṇa, nor abiding in the retributive ranks of the sages; hence it is the neck two inches long. At such a time, one cannot speak of matching or not matching; therefore it is said: one does not bring dimensions here to deliberate. Although this is so, it is still a matter on the side of kind. One must know that there is a matter within different kinds. Have you not seen it said: 'Where wisdom does not reach, be sure not to speak of it; if you speak of it, horns will grow on your head. Calling it "suchness" is already changing.' One must act within different kinds; this is called emptying a single rank, called face-to-face integration, utterly without any exact target.")