圓悟佛果禪師語錄 11.13

11.13

At an informal gathering, the Master said: "When the thousand differences are raised at once, where they are raised, all obstruction is cut off; when the ten thousand transformations are taken up at once, when they are taken up, there is no facing toward or turning away. Just as it is said: Before the ancient Buddhas appeared in the world, before they attained the Way, before they gave rise to the mind [for awakening], was there this news or not? If you say there was, where was it? If you say there was not, how did this come about? Therefore, former sages and later sages, former Buddhas and later Buddhas, could only hold it up and look up to it, but after all did not know how to become the master at the place held firm upon the dynamic and the realm. This mountain monk tonight will be the master for them: before the Buddhas appeared in the world, before they gave rise to the mind, before they attained the Way, all are in this mountain monk's hand. If I let them go, I allow them to breathe a breath of air; if I do not let them go, it takes no more than a single grip to choke them to death. Therefore Huangbo said: 'Niutou spoke horizontally and spoke vertically, but did not know there is a transcendent pivot.' If he had been made to know the transcendent pivot, even Patriarchs and Buddhas could not have brought it out; truly the land is vast and people are scarce, and those who encounter it are few. If suddenly someone who shares the same death and the same life comes to meet Tianning, I must tolerate them. Why? If they sit, this mountain monk must step down from the Chan bed; if this mountain monk sits, they must stand obliquely on their feet. Even if it is directly like this, although on the same road, after all they are not in the same rut; although sharing the same light, after all they are not in the same darkness; although sharing the same gain, after all they are not in the same loss. And after all, what about it? Stepping outside heaven to look, / Who is a person from within?" He also cited: "After Master Xianzi of Jingzhao studied with Dongshan, he had no fixed residence and did not observe the monastic rules. Every day along the riverbank he gathered shrimp and clams to fill his morning stomach, and at night he slept among paper money at the White Horse Shrine. At that time, Chan Master Jing of Huayan heard of this and, wishing to determine whether he was genuine or fake, slipped in advance into the paper money. When Xianzi returned late at night, Jing grabbed hold of him and asked: 'What is the meaning of the Ancestral Master's coming from the West?' Xianzi replied: 'The wine offering tray in front of the spirit shrine.' Jing was astonished, made an apology, and withdrew." The Master said: "If you do not yet fully understand, this mountain monk will add a footnote: The wine offering tray in front of the spirit shrine, / An iron ball as big as a fist; / A single strike smashes it to pieces, / Not worth half a copper coin."