圓悟佛果禪師語錄 12.6

12.6

"For twenty-seven years this mountain monk has set up a shop for all people to untie knots and remove fetters, pull out nails and extract wedges, causing each and every one to be free of ruts and free of contrivance, not uttering matching words, not uttering approximate words, not relying on a single thing, bringing the actions and deeds of the twenty-eight patriarchs, Master Ma, Baizhang, Huangbo, Linji, and the great lineage masters of the world into complete, manifest display. Not only today, but habitually I have never uttered worldly phrases upon the jewel-flower king's seat; nor do I speak of dynamic Chan subtleties or discuss arising and ceasing—how could I talk nonsense and create hellish karma? Relying solely on this one real place, I have directly spoken out before all people. Those who can take it up truly awaken and enter, obtaining great application without any further stagnation. Having now already retired to private quarters, this mountain monk did not wish to ascend the seat again for an informal gathering; however, the Grand Dowager, the Prefectural Governor, the Court Gentleman for Consultation, the Assistant Magistrate, the Grandees, and all officials have day and night repeatedly illumined me with this Path, earnestly requesting again and again that I hold an informal gathering for the assembly, so I have responded to their bidding according to my duty. Yet this matter is neither difficult nor easy. If you call it difficult: when Yongjia came to the Sixth Patriarch's place, he was able to take it up beneath a single phrase. When he first arrived at Caoxi, he circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff, and stood there. The Patriarch said, 'A śramaṇa is endowed with the three thousand deportments and the eighty thousand subtle practices; from where does the Virtuous One come, giving rise to such great conceit?' Yongjia said, 'The matter of birth and death is great; impermanence is swift.' The Sixth Patriarch opened a gate of expedient means and said, 'Why not embody the unborn and comprehend the unswift?' Everyone, tell me: how does one embody the unborn, and how does one comprehend the unswift? Yixiu Jue ('He Who Awakened Overnight') took it up directly on the spot, saying, 'The embodiment is itself the unborn; comprehension is originally unswift.' Like water entering water, like milk blending with water, like arrowheads meeting point-to-point, it naturally hit the mark. When the Sixth Patriarch saw that he had penetrated through, he said, 'You have deeply attained the intention of the unborn.' In this single sentence alone, there is the provisional and the real, illumination and function. That Yongjia did not sit dead beneath a dead phrase, nor did he offer matching words; he merely said slowly, 'Venerable Sir, how could the unborn have any intention?' Marvellous indeed! Marvellous indeed! Nowadays, no sooner do people hear a teacher say 'You have deeply attained the intention of the unborn,' than they immediately say, 'The Venerable Sir confirms me and seals me; this kindness is hard to repay.' The third stick of incense is not burnt for anyone else—they just die inside phrases, failing to reach the original source: what bowl are they searching for? When it came time for Yongjia to take his leave, the Patriarch said, 'Are you returning too swiftly?' He replied, 'Originally, by nature there is no motion; how could there be swiftness?' The Patriarch said, 'Who knows there is no motion?' He replied, 'Benevolent One, you yourself give rise to discrimination.' At that moment he fortunately had the spirit of a great man; it is a pity he let it pass. If he had overturned the meditation seat, it would not have been going too far; yet he simply followed convention and stayed for one night. Furthermore, when Shitou was a novice in the Sixth Patriarch's assembly, he asked the Patriarch one day, 'After the Venerable Sir passes away, what should I do?' The Patriarch said, 'Go seek thoughts (Xingsi).' After the Sixth Patriarch passed away, he merely devoted himself exclusively to sitting meditation, constantly pondering the principle of the unborn, making a livelihood in a ghost cave. At that time, a fellow practitioner asked him, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'The Venerable Sir instructed me to seek thoughts (Xingsi), so I am sitting in meditation.' The fellow practitioner said, 'You are mistaken! There is Senior Brother Si of Qingyuan; he was directing you to go see him.' Only then did Shitou realize it; he then went to Qingyuan. Qingyuan asked, 'Where do you come from?' He said, 'I come from Caoxi.' Si held up his fly-whisk and asked, 'Does Caoxi have this?' Nowadays, when brothers are asked this, they immediately give a shout or utter words: 'A wild-fox spirit's understanding!' They widen their brows and glare with their eyes, forcing themselves to act as the host, but none of it has any connection. Shitou understood at once and answered, 'Not only does Caoxi not have it, even the Western Heavens do not have it.' Si said, 'Have you not been to the Western Heavens?' He said, 'If I had gone, it would exist.' He was truly unbroken and seamless; his words did not lose the ancestral lineage, and with every step he trod upon the ground. Si said, 'Not yet; speak further.' Shitou said, 'The Venerable Sir must also speak half; do not rely entirely on me.' Si said, 'I do not refuse to speak to you, but I fear that hereafter there will be no one to take it up.' Another day, he asked Qingyuan, 'When the Venerable Sir was at Caoxi, did you know the Sixth Patriarch?' Si said, 'Do you know this old monk right now?' He said, 'Even if I knew, how could I truly know? Though the common horns are many, a single qilin is enough.' Naturally their qualities were of the same kind, their feathers resembled each other, joined like glue and lacquer. Nowadays, people speak one sentence to the east and another to the west, sometimes talking of mind and talking of nature, begging others for verification—what connection does that have? Furthermore, while Yaoshan was sitting in Shitou's assembly, Shitou came, saw him, and asked, 'What are you doing here?' He said, 'I am not doing a single thing.' Shitou said, 'Then you are sitting idly.' Nowadays people do not understand, so they say, 'What do you call sitting idly?' Or they say, 'Had it not been for the Venerable Sir's question, I would not have known.' Their minds are pitch black; they just talk wildly. He had his own purport, so he said, 'If I were sitting idly, that would be doing something.' Shitou said, 'You say you are not doing anything; what is it that you are not doing?' He replied, 'Even the thousand sages do not know it.' Thereupon Shitou composed a verse of praise: 'Always dwelling together, yet not knowing its name, / Moving along naturally, we just go on this way. / From ancient times, even supreme sages have not known it; / How could careless, ordinary folk ever comprehend it?' And tell me: ultimately, what is that which does not do anything? Why does it not even know the thousand sages? Since it does not know, how do they dwell together? Therefore, these matters do not tolerate your calculating and deliberating; you cannot approach them, and ghosts and spirits cannot pry. Cast off thousands and tens of thousands of layers of wicked knowledge and wicked understanding, and the mind's eye will naturally see. If the thorn of views is not removed, and gain and loss, right and wrong occupy your thoughts, then there will eternally be no connection. This is where this mountain monk, having no choice, speaks of Chan illnesses for you all; it is also called profound talk entering the principle. Take, for instance, when Xuansha sent a monk to convey a letter up to Xuefeng. Xuefeng ascended the hall, opened the envelope, saw three sheets of blank paper, and held them up to show the great assembly, saying, 'Do you understand? Have you not heard it said: "A noble man shares the same wind across a thousand leagues"?' Then he stepped down from the seat. The monk reported this back to Xuansha, and Xuansha said, 'The old fellow on the mountain peak missed it and did not even realize it.' I venture to ask the assembly: Where was Xuefeng's missing it? Could it be that Xuansha's understanding surpassed his master's? Rest assured, it has no connection to that! If you try to understand it all within the dust of emotions, how could you ever understand? Therefore Master Zhenru Zhe has a verse that says: 'Xuansha seals blank paper; / Old Xue shares the wind. / Missing it is hard for people to understand; / The ancient tune's melody is different.' Arriving here, the feelings of ordinary and sacred are exhausted, the barrier of birth and death is penetrated, and gain and loss, right and wrong clearly do not arise. The entire substance is suchness, and even suchness is not wanted. After that, ride the Buddha hall out through the triple gate; clash the foreheads of Silla and Campā together; smear yourself with ash and mud; unfold your bowl and eat your meal; wear clothes to ward off the cold; roam free at ease. Originally there are no two conditions, nor are there two marks: it is not mind, it is not Buddha; the whole mind is itself Buddha, the whole Buddha is itself person; person and Buddha are non-dual, and even this non-duality is not needed. Therefore, when the thousand sages appear, there is no place for you to lift it up, no place for you to approach: like a blazing mass of fire, if you come near it, it scorches your face; like leaning on the sword Tai'e, if you intend to grasp it, you lose your body and life. Only when you reach such a stage will you begin to understand your own livelihood. Thus the ancients said: 'To seek the ox, one must track its footprints; / To learn the Way, what is prized is no-mind. / Where the footprints are, the ox remains; / With no-mind, the Way is easy to find.' It is also said: 'The Buddha taught all Dharmas / To save all minds. / I have no mind at all; / What use are all the Dharmas?' There is a companion here to deliberate with you: everyone has a mind; why on earth is it said to be 'no-mind' in all our actions and deeds? Since there is no mind, what is that which opens the mouth and moves the tongue to speak, and what is that which the minds of the assembly comprehend? Arriving here, if you do not see through it thoroughly, it only becomes a mutual deception. Therefore, when the Second Patriarch met Bodhidharma, cutting off his arm and standing in the snow, Bodhidharma said, 'Bring your mind, and I will pacify it for you.' The Second Patriarch said, 'I have sought the mind, but it is completely unobtainable.' Nowadays, if the brothers are asked, 'Bring your mind, and I will pacify it for you,' they act recklessly like Meng the Eighth—either drawing a circle, or taking three steps forward and three steps backward, making a woman's bow, clapping once, shouting once, widening their brows and glaring with their eyes, or speaking of mind and speaking of nature—this is merely the dust of emotion and karmic consciousness. As the saying goes: 'Students of the Way do not recognize the real / Only because they have hitherto recognized the conscious spirit. / The root of birth and death for countless kalpas, / Fools call it the original person.' Take the Second Patriarch: could he not have produced many principles? Why did he only answer, 'I have sought the mind, but it is completely unobtainable'? You must know that when Bodhidharma gave that head-on push, the Second Patriarch immediately became like one who finds a lamp in the dark, like a pauper who finds a treasure, seeing through to the root source. Herein, it is not called mind, it is not called Buddha, nor is it a thing: it is just like placing a speck of snow upon a red-hot furnace. Some time ago, this mountain monk asked Master Wuzu: 'The Second Patriarch said, "I have sought the mind, but it is completely unobtainable"—what was it ultimately?' He said, 'You must investigate it yourself before you can attain these fine points; others cannot exert strength for you.' Investigating back and forth, suddenly, because of the quotation, 'She frequently calls for Xiaoyu, though there is really nothing the matter; / She only wants her lover to recognize her voice,' suddenly the bottom of the tub fell out! The cypress tree in front of the courtyard was penetrated; the three pounds of flax was also it; Xuansha's missing it was also it; Muzhou's carrying the board was also it; not falling into cause and effect was also it; not obscuring cause and effect was also it. The three vehicles and the twelve divisions of the canon, throughout the twelve periods of the day, in the eyes and in the ears, even the ringing of bells and striking of drums, the braying of donkeys and barking of dogs—none of it was not this message! Only then did I awaken to Master Huai's verse: 'The cuckoo cries through consecutive nights; / The partridge calls through the long darkness. / The gate of perfect penetration is flung wide open; / Why be separated by clouds and mud?' For a great man, all equally tread to shreds their straw sandals, cast down the emotional dust of calculating gain and loss, right and wrong, recognize the fundamental root, leave not a single thing behind, cling not to a single hair: 'Though the hundred bones all crumble and scatter, the one thing remains eternally luminous'—and even this 'one luminous thing' is not wanted! Afterwards, according to the hour and season, wear clothes and eat food. Now when the brothers hear such talk, they immediately say, 'This is just doing somersaults in empty space.' Brothers! Even this empty space is hard to attain. Have you not seen the Ancestral Master's verse on transmitting the Dharma: 'The mind is like the realm of empty space; / It demonstrates Dharmas equal to empty space. / When one realizes empty space, / There is neither right nor wrong Dharma'? Furthermore, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'The empty space of the ten directions is born within your mind, just like a fleck of cloud in the great clear sky.' Brothers! Since you visit and seek out spiritual friends and keep birth and death in mind, quiet the monkey of the mind and the horse of the will, shoulder the great potential and great function, and sit securely in the place where buddhas and patriarchs do not act! At times stand on the highest peak, at times walk on the bottom of the deepest sea; moving with conditions just like an unfeeling, foolish person, one naturally has the love of people of thorough understanding. For ten years this mountain monk was among the assembly without a single moment of divergent conditions; I merely investigated Chan, and only when I reached the tenth year did I break through thoroughly. Gradually knowing my errors, only then was I on solid ground. If there is a single thought of love and hate, gain and loss, right and wrong, that is a soiled garment. You must recognize the mysterious purport before you will succeed. Therefore it is said: 'If you do not recognize the mysterious purport, in vain do you labor to quiet your thoughts. Cast off gain and loss, right and wrong all at once; just have no love or hate, and it will be brightly clear.' As Yangqi said: the chestnut burr has prickles and is hard to swallow; the diamond cage is tiny and hard to leap through. Where there are no words, there are words; untying knots and removing fetters for others is not a matter of human sentiments. Brothers, in investigating Chan, you must not adopt deviant interpretations; you must be meticulous. Take, for example, Zhaozhou checking a hermitage master. As soon as he entered the door, he asked, 'Is there? Is there?' The hermitage master raised his fist. Zhaozhou said, 'The water is shallow; this is no place to moor a boat.' He also visited another hermitage master and said, 'Is there? Is there?' That master also raised his fist. Zhaozhou said, 'Able to release and able to seize, able to kill and able to give life.' Now, where was the water shallow and no place to moor a boat? Where was the ability to release and seize, kill and give life? Some say, 'Zhaozhou knew beforehand that the first hermitage master did not understand, which is why he said, "no place to moor a boat"; he knew beforehand that the latter hermitage master understood, which is why he said, "able to kill and able to give life."' Others say, 'The tongue was in Zhaozhou's mouth; it was up to him to grant or take away.' Such views are all the emotional reckonings of deviant factions; not having attained the genuine lineage eye, they are unable to swallow or leap through the diamond cage and the chestnut burr. Master Wuzu often said, 'The Chan that people in various places have investigated and attained is like a lapis lazuli vase: they cherish it and cannot let it go. Above all, do not let this old monk see it, for if I strike it once with an iron hammer, yours is sure to be smashed to pieces!' When this mountain monk first saw him say this, I dedicated my whole heart to investigating under him. He often asked, '"Being and non-being are like wisteria leaning on a tree"—how do you understand this?' This mountain monk would shout or offer words, but none of it matched. He said, 'You must understand it at the place where emotional consciousness is completely clean and contrivance is utterly forgotten.' The next day, at the place without contrivance, this mountain monk babbled and talked wildly, having even less of a connection. Later, when I awakened thoroughly, with real vision and real application, it was like a bright mirror on its stand, like a luminous pearl in the palm, obtaining great freedom. Old Man Śākya said, 'If there were any Dharma surpassing nirvāṇa, I would say it is like an illusion, like a transformation.' This one move, through all of antiquity and up to the present, is stably changeless: fire cannot burn it, water cannot drown it, knives and axes cannot chop it. It is called the fundamental root; all defiled and undefiled, Buddha-realms and Māra-realms, pure lands and defiled lands, are nothing other than real. If you awaken, you can stride alone in the cinnabar sky, without taking orders from anyone else; if you have not reached such a stage, you are certain to be snared in someone's cage. Having now retired from the monastery, this mountain monk knows that conditions for each other have their proper times; therefore, requested today by the Court Gentleman's Dowager to hold an informal gathering, I have spoken exhaustively for you all. Each of you, investigate and examine for yourselves! The Buddha Dharma originally has no this and that; the various houses are all the descendants of the Sixth Patriarch. Never say, 'I am a man of Linji; our house's lineage must flourish and spread!' Even if it means powdering my bones and shattering my body, I would never harbor such a view." He then brought up: "A monk asked Baoshou, 'When the myriad conditions come to invade, what then?' Baoshou said, 'Pay no attention to them.' The monk bowed. Baoshou said, 'Do not stir; if you stir, I will break your back.'" The Master said, "Assembly! Master Baoshou wielded the Vajra King jewel sword: all adversity and conformity, gain and loss, length and shortness, right and wrong—the boundless realms do not require a single glance. This monk acted seeing the opportunity and bowed at that moment; why did [Baoshou] then say 'Do not stir'? Inspecting it closely, it is very much like a dragon's head and a snake's tail. This mountain monk would not do so. If someone were to ask, 'When the myriad conditions come to invade, what then?' I would also tell him, 'Pay no attention to them.' If this monk were to bow, I would simply say to him, 'A sharp patch-robed monk turns at a single poke!'"