圓悟佛果禪師語錄 10.22

10.22

Requested for an informal gathering by Revenue Officer Zhang, the Master said: "Right here it is; it does not admit of deliberation or intellectual reflection. Are there any adept Chan practitioners? Step forward before the assembly and produce proof!" A monk asked, "What is the matter of the Linji lineage?" The Master said, "A single blade cut into two." The monk asked further, "What is the matter of the Yunmen lineage?" The Master said, "The three phrases crisscrossing." The monk asked further, "What is the matter of the Caodong lineage?" The Master said, "The five ranks of lord and minister are not handed over." The monk asked further, "What is the matter of the Guiyang lineage?" The Master said, "Advancing forward and stepping backward leaves no room for deliberation." The monk asked further, "What about that phrase?" The Master said, "Why do you not ask about the matter of the Fayan lineage?" The monk bowed, and the Master then said: "When the secret intent was raised at Vulture Peak, only Kāśyapa personally heard it; when the wondrous knack was expounded at Shaolin, it was permitted only for Shenguang to shoulder it. This is solely because dynamic workings correspond to one another, arrows hit each other point-to-point, their dynamic functioning in sound and form is pure and true, and when raised, heaven and earth are solely exposed; their secret intent is utterly without mistake, and their profound dynamic mechanism lacks any back-and-forth ambiguity. If one is an authentic, free and untrammeled person who can take it up and shoulder it, one will never again fall before sounds or after phrases, nor will one need deliberation or intellectual reflection; right here in the open, clearly receive and comprehend it! Therefore it is said: 'If you discuss this matter, with the twitch of an eyebrow it has already been missed.' Since it is already missed, what is the use of flapping the two lips and babbling away? Is this not missing it right in the hall? Since it is already missed, do you still know the matter that has not yet been missed? If you know the matter that has not yet been missed, then though you speak all day, you have never moved your tongue; though you walk all day, you have never shifted a step; though you eat all day, you have never chewed a grain of rice; though you wear clothes all day, you have never hung a single thread on yourself. Even though it is like this, this is still the teaching gate's descending down to act for people. Have you not seen: whenever Venerable Deshan had question-and-answer words, whether transcendent or downward, they were all spirits of bamboo and wood clinging to grass and trees. Therefore, this mountain monk gives them the staff from the very start, waiting until there is a solitary, emancipated one to discuss it with. Later, Yuanjian of Fushan said: 'Even this solitary, emancipated one is also a spirit of grass and trees.' Tell me: is there still any acting for people or not? This mountain monk does not begrudge his eyebrows to enter the mud and water to spread it out plainly for you all. Do you still understand? If only the myriad dharmas do not concern the mind, one leap directly enters the ground of the Tathāgatas."