圓悟佛果禪師語錄 12.10

12.10

師云：「此箇大事，已是八字打開了，直饒回頭返照，早是鈍置也。直是徹底信得，於未發言已前，一時覷透，既發言之後，且道：作麼生承當？初機之士，且於脚跟下明取，而今坐立儼然，各各見聞不昧，人人向脚跟下，如印印空、如印印水、如印印泥，初不分得失彼我是非，淨裸裸赤灑灑，輝騰今古，逈絕知見，返照回光，豈有許多事？然未返照時，却無許多事，只如尋常百不思百不管，絕念忘緣時，一時現成。聊聞返照，便作箇見聞覺知解會，各各在見聞覺知處起模畫樣，方恁麼時，落在生死陰果中，無由得出離。欲明此事，直須蘊藉深，方可不落是非得失聞見知覺，纖毫淨盡始得快活，拘牽惹絆他不住，所以道：『如人學射，久久方中。』豈不見，裴相國出鎮宛陵，因遊寺見高僧像，遂問僧職云：『高僧儀相可觀，未審高僧在什麼處？』于時僧職莫知所措，裴公云：『此間有禪僧麼？』僧職云：『近有一僧，捨身掃地，身披百衲，恐是禪僧。』及乎請得來，乃是黃檗斷際運禪師也，裴公乃舉前話問之，檗乃召相公，公應諾，檗云：『在什麼處？』裴公於此大悟。諸人且道：問處是？答處是？且道：又是箇什麼禪僧家，直須有省發始得？莫只認聲認色。所以老僧尋常道：『千人萬人但識取一人，千句萬句但識取一句，千機萬機但明取一機。』畢竟且道：是什麼？將知洪爐大冶千煆百煉，正要得人。須知向一言下，一明一切明，一了一切了，聊聞舉著，透頂透底，淨盡無餘，且如斷際一呼之下，因什麼高僧却作裴公，裴公却成高僧？若論此事，直須是俊流始得淨盡，所以道：『舉不顧，即差互，擬思量，何劫悟？』本分衲僧，不要思量分別，直須求箇悟處。言悟者，如失一件物，多年廢置，而一旦得之。又如傷寒病，忽然得汗，直是慶快也。將知悟心見性，非思量分別，所以證入金剛正體，自然亘古亘今，廓周沙界，水不能溺，火不能燒，世界壞時此箇常住，為山河大地之本，六凡四聖之家，而蘊在各各當人方寸之下。若能方寸頴悟，獨露真常，於萬別千差說處，終不起異見，於千差萬別境上，終不作別解，須是打併淨盡，方可全體見成。如水潦問馬祖，本來佛法，祖與一踏倒地，忽然大悟，起來呵呵大笑云：『百千三昧無量妙義，只向一毫頭，一時識得根源去。』又呵呵大笑。後來出世，每陞堂自云：『自從一喫馬師踏，直至如今笑未休。』復呵呵大笑。且道：作麼生是根源？將知此箇根源若識得了，說到深深密密，千聖所不到處亦得，若只一棒一喝，盡乾坤大地一時收來，如金剛王寶劍、踞地師子亦得。行脚人要參禪，有如是眼腦，方可入作。直須審細，言多去道轉遠。」

The Master said: "This Great Matter has already been thrown wide open like the character eight (八). Even if you turn your head and reflect back upon yourself, you are already acting blunted and slow. You must believe thoroughly and see entirely through before a single word is ever uttered. Now, after words have been uttered, tell me: how will you take responsibility for it? Beginners in training should first make it clear under their own heels. Right now, you sit and stand dignified and solemn, each of your sights and hearings unobscured, every person stepping beneath their own heels—just like an imprint stamping space, an imprint stamping water, an imprint stamping clay. At first, no distinction is made between gain and loss, other and self, right and wrong; completely naked and stripped bare, it radiates between past and present, transcending knowledge and views. Reversing the light to illumine inward, how could there be so many complications? Yet before illumining inward, there were actually not so many complications either; it was just like the usual state of not thinking about a hundred things, not being concerned with a hundred things, when thoughts are cut off and external conditions forgotten—it is fully present all at once. But as soon as people hear of 'illumining inward,' they immediately form an understanding based on seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing, fashioning molds and drawing likenesses right within those faculties. At such a time, falling into the karmic fruition of the skandhas of birth and death, there is no way to escape. To clarify this matter, one's inner depth must be profound; only then will one avoid falling into right and wrong, gain and loss, seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing. Only when not a single speck remains can one attain true liberation, beyond all tether and entanglement. Thus it is said: 'Like learning archery, only after a long time does one hit the target.' Have you not seen: When Prime Minister Pei went out to govern Wanling, he visited a monastery and saw a portrait of an eminent monk. He asked the monastic official, 'The eminent monk's features are impressive, but I wonder: where is the eminent monk?' At that moment, the monastic official was at a loss. Prime Minister Pei asked, 'Is there a Chan monk here?' The official replied, 'Recently there is a monk who gave up himself to sweep the grounds, clad in a patchwork robe; he may be a Chan monk.' When he was invited to come, it was Chan Master Huangbo Duanji Yun. Prime Minister Pei cited the previous conversation and asked him. Huangbo called out, 'Prime Minister!' The Prime Minister answered, 'Yes!' Huangbo said, 'Where is he?' Thereupon, Prime Minister Pei was greatly enlightened. All of you, tell me: was the question correct, or was the answer correct? And tell me: what kind of Chan monk was he, that one must truly experience an awakening? Do not merely chase after sounds and sights. Hence, this old monk regularly says: 'Among thousands and myriads of people, recognize just one person; among thousands and myriads of phrases, recognize just one phrase; among thousands and myriads of dynamic potentials, clarify just one dynamic potential.' Ultimately, tell me: what is it? You must know that within the vast furnace and great forge, through thousands of firings and hundreds of temperings, the goal is precisely to find the right person. You must know that at a single word, when one is illuminated, all are illuminated; when one is understood, all are understood. Upon barely hearing it mentioned, it penetrates through top and bottom, thoroughly exhausted with nothing left over. Just take Duanji's single call: why did the eminent monk turn into Prime Minister Pei, and Prime Minister Pei become the eminent monk? If we speak of this matter, one must be an extraordinary talent to be entirely thorough. Therefore it is said: 'If brought up without a look, then error arises; if one intends to deliberate, in what eon will awakening come?' A patch-robed monk of fundamental capacity must not engage in deliberation or discrimination; he must directly seek the place of awakening. Speaking of awakening, it is like finding an object that has been discarded and lost for many years, suddenly recovered in an instant. It is also like having a typhoid fever and suddenly breaking into a sweat—it is an absolute joy and relief! You must understand that awakening the mind and seeing one's nature is not deliberation or discrimination; thus, upon realizing and entering the diamond true essence, it naturally spans eternity past and present, widely encompassing the sand-realms. Water cannot drown it, fire cannot burn it; when the universe is destroyed, this remains constant and unchanging, serving as the basis for the mountains, rivers, and the great earth, the home for the six ordinary realms and four noble realms, yet concealed in the heart of each individual. If you can awaken within your own heart, exposing the true and eternal on its own, then amidst the myriad differentiations of discourses you will never give rise to disparate views, and amid the thousands of varying environments you will never form distinct understandings. You must sweep everything away completely before the entire substance can be realized. Just as when Shuiliao asked Mazu about the fundamental Buddhist Dharma, Mazu kicked him to the ground with a single stomp. Suddenly experiencing great awakening, he got up, laughed loudly, and said: 'Hundreds of thousands of samādhis and immeasurable wondrous meanings—I have instantly recognized their very source right on the tip of a single hair!' Then he laughed loudly again. Later, when he began teaching, every time he ascended the hall he would say of himself: 'Ever since receiving that one kick from Master Ma, up to this day my laughter has not ceased!' And again he laughed loudly. Tell me: what is the source? You must know that if you have recognized this source, you can speak of it at the deepest and most hidden depths, where the thousands of sages cannot reach; or you can take up a single stick and a single shout, drawing in the entire universe and the great earth all at once, just like the Vajra King jewel sword or the crouching lion. If a traveling monk wishes to practice Chan, only with such eyes and brains can he take up the work. You must be meticulous; more words only lead further away from the Way."