圓悟佛果禪師語錄 7.20

7.20

Ascending the hall, a monk asked: "Linji's three mysteries test the adepts. What is the mystery within the essence?" The Master said, "Swift thunder and a clap of lightning startle the crowd even more." The monk asked further, "What is the mystery within the phrase?" The Master said, "By all means avoid distinguishing it upon the three inches [of the tongue]." The monk asked further, "What is the mystery within the mystery?" The Master said, "The tip of the staff has an eye as bright as the sun." The monk asked further, "What is the one seal imprinting mud?" The Master said, "A total mess of antiquities under the heels." The monk asked further, "What is the one seal imprinting water?" The Master said, "Submerged without a trace." The monk asked further, "What is the one seal imprinting empty space?" The Master said, "Behind the head, a circular radiance ten thousand fathoms long." The monk asked further, "Is it one principle, or two meanings?" The Master said, "For now, bore the turtle and crack the tile." The Master then said: "Chan is not conceptual thought; if one investigates Chan with conceptual thought, then one turns away from the Way and cuts off meritorious achievements; if one studies the Way with meritorious achievements, then one loses it. One must directly cut off conceptual thought—what do you call Chan? Beneath the heels, wide open: the Chan of no-Chan is called true Chan, like a hare conceiving a fetus. Cut off meritorious achievements—what do you call the Way? Shining atop the crown of the head: the Way of no-Way is called the true Way, like an oyster containing the bright moon. Arriving here, the ground of ultimate reality is already clear, and the adamantine true essence is fully revealed. Thereafter, mountains are mountains, waters are waters, monks are monks, and laypeople are laypeople. The myriad phenomena are bristling, originally without facing or opposing." He then laughed out loud 'Ha, ha!' and said, "This mountain monk speaking like this is much like speaking of a dream without a dream, stirring up trouble where there is none. If a clear-eyed person catches sight of it, it is a total defeat. And how do you speak a phrase that leaves behind conceptual thought and cuts off meritorious achievements? An eight-armed yakṣa holds up an iron pillar; an enraged Nata hurls down Indra's bell."