圓悟佛果禪師語錄 1.4

1.4

Chan Master Yuanwu Keqin was once received in audience by the present Emperor, expounding and glorifying the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, and his Way flourished greatly. The monk Ruoping gathered labor and assembled materials, wishing to transmit the Master's Dharma words throughout the realm for the sake of future students; he entrusted the Elder Yuanbi of Tianning in Yanzhou to beg me for a preface. Alas, is this truly the Master's fundamental intent? I have heard that the Master constantly reclined in a single room, cutting off words, turning the unsurpassed dharmacakra beyond deliberation: if you raised an eyebrow or opened your mouth, you instantly lost your life; the moment you touched upon trivialities, the old fist flew at once. Whenever he brought up the gong'an 'Not taking the ten thousand dharmas as companions', he was already dragging through mud and water, falling into the secondary meaning. Now they wish to collect the spittle of his everyday sounds, laying them out and praising them—were the Master to hear of it, would he be untroubled? Even so, when the Master had no choice but to speak, 'I understand it.' It is like timely rain nourishing things according to their kind: in remote corners and secluded places, dried roots and worm-eaten sprouts, whether great or small, all are soaked and satisfied; yet empty space itself is fundamentally without form, nor does it act. Those who peruse this should grasp what lies beyond the surface of words and intent. Wherever this collection circulates, divine spirits will surely protect it. Written in the second month of the fourth year of Shaoxing [1134 CE] by Zhang Jun, Acting Junior Protector, Military Commissioner of the Dingguo Army, Administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs, and Founding Marquis of Nanyang Commandery.