法演禪師語錄 1.5

1.5

小參，僧問：「如何是佛？」師云：「肥從口入。」乃舉：「德山示眾云：『今夜不答話，有問話者三十棒。』眾中舉者甚多，會者不少，且道向什麼處見德山？有不顧性命底漢，試出來道看；若無，山僧為大眾與德山老人相見去也。待德山道：『今夜不答話，問話者三十棒。』但向伊道：『某甲話也不問，棒也不喫。』儞道，還契他德山老人麼？到者裏須是箇漢始得。況法演遊方十有餘年，海上參尋見數員尊宿，自謂了當，及到浮山圓鑑會下，直是開口不得，後到白雲門下，咬破一箇鐵餕餡，直得百味具足。且道餡子一句作麼生道？」乃云：「花發鷄冠媚早秋，誰人能染紫絲頭，有時風動頻相倚，似向堦前鬪不休。」

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "What is the Buddha?" The Master said: "Fatness enters through the mouth." He then cited: "Deshan instructed the assembly, saying: 'Tonight I will not answer questions; whoever asks a question gets thirty blows of the stick.' Many in the assembly cite this, and not a few understand it. Tell me, in what place do you see Deshan? If there is a fellow who disregards his own life, let him come forward and try to speak. If not, this mountain monk will go to meet old man Deshan on behalf of the assembly. When Deshan says, 'Tonight I will not answer questions; whoever asks a question gets thirty blows of the stick,' just say to him, 'I neither ask a question nor take the blows.' Tell me, does that still accord with that old man Deshan? To reach here, you must be such a fellow before you can do it. Moreover, I, Fayan, wandered visiting teachers for more than ten years; searching across the seas, I met several venerable elders and thought I had completed the matter. But when I arrived at the assembly of Fushan Yuanjian, I simply could not open my mouth. Later, coming to Baiyun's gate, I bit through an iron dumpling, immediately finding all the hundred flavors complete. Tell me, how do you say the phrase of the dumpling?" He then said: "The cockscomb flower blooms, charming in early autumn; / Who could dye its head of purple silk? / At times the wind moves it to lean repeatedly, / As if fighting ceaselessly before the steps."