袁州仰山慧寂禪師語錄 1.35

1.35

Minister Lu Xisheng wished to visit the Master. First, he drew this circle figure ○, sealed it, and presented it. The Master broke the seal and wrote beneath the figure: "To know it without thinking falls into the second head; to know it by thinking falls into the third category." He then sealed it and sent it back. Seeing it, the minister immediately entered the mountain. The Master welcomed him at the gate. As soon as the minister entered the gate, he asked, "When all three gates are open, through which gate does one enter?" The Master said, "Enter through the gate of faith." The minister reached the Dharma hall and asked again, "How is it when one does not leave the realm of demons, yet immediately enters the realm of Buddhas?" The Master tapped three times downward with his fly-whisk, and the minister bowed. He asked again, "Does the upādhyāya still keep the precepts?" The Master said, "I do not keep the precepts." He said, "Do you still sit in meditation?" The Master said, "I do not sit in meditation." The minister remained silent for a long time. The Master said, "Do you understand?" He said, "I do not understand." The Master said, "Listen to an old monk's verse: / In a great torrent, not keeping precepts; / Immovable, not sitting in meditation; / Two or three bowls of strong tea, / My intention is beside the mattock." The Master then asked, "I have heard that the minister attained awakening through reading the sutras; is that so?" He said, "Because your disciple read the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, which says, 'Entering nirvāṇa without severing the defilements,' I attained a place of peace and joy." The Master held up his fly-whisk and said, "Just as to this, how does one enter?" He said, "The single word 'enter' is not needed either." The Master said, "The single word 'enter' is not for the minister." The minister then got up and left. (Fadeng said, "Sthaviras! Tell me, for what person is the single word 'enter'?" He also said, "Minister, for now do not be distressed." Xuedou Xian provided an alternative word at Yangshan's holding up the fly-whisk: "The fly-whisk has come into my hands." He also provided an alternative word for the later phrase: "I would have thought you were an ordinary layman.")