圓悟佛果禪師語錄 13.10

13.10

The Master said: "The Way is reached through awakening; the Dharma is separate from seeing and hearing. Taking charge of it directly, there is no second one. This is still an expedient lowering of hands to accommodate the present age. If it were the fundamental lot, it would not be like this at all; therefore it is said: 'Before you step over the gunwale of the boat, you deserve thirty blows of the staff.' In this way, thousands and tens of thousands of miles are cut off all at once. Why? You must know that within each person's lot, there is that which water cannot wet and wind cannot blow into, utterly clear and pure, pristine and spotless, which Buddhas and patriarchs cannot reach and māras and non-Buddhists cannot enter, cutting off the vital crossing and admitting neither ordinary nor sage. Even if all the grasses, trees, and forests of the great earth were transformed into patch-robed monks, each putting forth hundreds and thousands of difficult questions, it would not take a single prick to make them all swallow their voices, hold their breath, with eyes staring blankly and mouths agape. Now, having no alternative, giving rise to views where there are no views and giving rise to speech where there is no speech, I temporarily open a season for you all. Within the lot of ordinary people, coming up and going down is already completely ready-made; what is lacking, that you come to seek it from others? Therefore Xuansha said: 'Sitting inside a grain basket with hands outstretched, asking people for food to eat.' It is only because, having abandoned your home for so long over beginningless kalpas, you have run contrary to this fundamental lot, delusively transmigrating in the realms of the six dusts, unable to reverse the light to illumine inward, willingly abiding in the lower streams. If you can possess superior roots and sharp wisdom, return to the origin and trace back to the source, and know this matter—which radiates brilliantly through past and present, transcending knowledge and views, cutting off the ten directions without further transmigration—only then will you have a share in speaking. Now you must change your bones before you can see this patch of ground; if you have not yet recognized this patch of ground, even if you understand the affair of the Buddhas and patriarchs, answering ten questions when asked one, in the end there is no relevance. You must know that the Buddhas appearing in the world solely verify this patch of ground, and the ancestral master coming from the West also solely upholds this patch of ground. Therefore, when our late teacher saw Master Baiyun and saw through it in a single glance, he composed a verse saying: 'A patch of idle land before the mountain; / With hands folded, I carefully inquire of the ancestral grandfather. / How many times has it been sold and bought back again, / Only out of love for the pines and bamboos drawing a clear breeze!' Have you people ever been like this or not? You must go to this patch of ground, stark naked and unburdened, before you can enter into action."