黃龍慧南禪師語錄 1.9

1.9

上堂云：「今日四月八，我佛降生之日，天下精藍皆悉浴佛。記得遵布衲在藥山會裏充殿主，浴佛之次，藥山問：『汝祇浴得這箇，還浴得那箇麼？』遵云：『把將那箇來。』藥山便休。」師云：「古人隨時一言半句，亦無巧妙，今人用盡心力安排，終不到他境界。眾中商量或云：『這箇是銅像，那箇是法身，銅像有形，可以洗滌，法身無相，如何洗得？藥山只知其一，不知其二，被遵公倒靠，直得口似匾擔，不勝懡㦬。』又云：『古聖垂問，只要驗人，問汝那箇，便道把將那箇來，正是隨聲逐色，咬他言句，上他綣繢；藥山見伊不會，所以便休。』又道：『藥山與麼來，早是無事起事，好肉上剜瘡；遵公不見來病，却向灸瘡瘢上更著艾焦。』有云：『古人得了，逢場作戲，無可不可，何高何低？彼此知有，自是後人強生分別。』」師云：「如前所解，蓋不遇人，一失其源，迷而不復，所以只憑誠心，思量計較，以當宗乘。殊不知，有作思惟，從有心起，用此思惟，辨於佛境，如取螢火燒須彌山，縱經塵劫，終不能著。是故行脚高人，切須自看，從上來事合作麼生，畢竟將何敵他生死？勿以少許浮麁識見，自作障礙，佛法不是這箇道理。同安今日不避口業，與諸人說破。此二尊宿，一出一入，未見輸贏。三十年後，不得錯舉。」下座。

Ascending the hall, he said: "Today is the eighth day of the fourth month, the day our Buddha descended to be born. In saṅghārāmas throughout the realm, they all bathe the Buddha. I recall when Cloth-Robe Zun was serving as hall master in Yaoshan's assembly. During the bathing of the Buddha, Yaoshan asked: 'You only bathe this one; can you also bathe that one?' Zun said: 'Bring that one here.' Yaoshan then let it rest." The Master said: "When the ancients uttered a word or half a phrase according to occasion, there was no clever contrivance; yet people today exhaust their mental effort to arrange things, but in the end never reach their realm. Some in the assembly deliberate and say: 'This one is the bronze statue, that one is the dharmakāya. The bronze statue has form and can be washed; the dharmakāya has no form, so how can it be washed? Yaoshan only knew one and did not know two; he was pushed back by Master Zun, until his mouth was like a carrying-pole, completely humiliated.' Others say: 'When the ancient sage posed a question, he only wanted to test the person. When he asked you about that one, you immediately said, "Bring that one here"—this is just following sound and chasing form, chewing on his words, falling into his entanglements. Yaoshan saw he did not understand, which is why he let it rest.' Still others say: 'For Yaoshan to come out like that was already making trouble where there was none, gouging out a wound on healthy flesh. Master Zun did not see the original illness, but applied more moxibustion scorches onto the burn scar.' There are also those who say: 'The ancients attained it and played at each occasion; nothing was right and nothing was wrong, so what is high and what is low? Both sides knew it was there; it is merely later people forcing distinctions.'" The Master said: "Explanations such as those above are because they have not encountered the right person. Once they lose the source, they wander and do not return. Thus they rely solely on good intentions, deliberating and calculating to serve as the ancestral vehicle. Little do they know that intentional thinking arises from a deliberate mind; to use this thinking to discern the realm of the Buddha is like taking a firefly's light to burn Mount Sumeru—even passing through kalpas numerous as dust particles, it can never ignite it. Therefore, itinerant practitioners of superior caliber must strictly look for themselves: what are the ancestral matters fundamentally about? In the end, what will you use to confront birth and death? Do not allow petty, superficial, and coarse views to create obstacles for yourselves; the Buddha Dharma is not this kind of principle. Today, Tong'an will not avoid verbal karma and will lay it bare for you all: these two venerable masters, one going out and one coming in, have not yet revealed who won and who lost. Thirty years later, do not quote it wrongly!" He descended from the seat.