大慧普覺禪師語錄 16.2

16.2

傅經幹請普說，師云：「經幹道友，妙喜初不相識，去歲經由衡陽，特來相訪，一見便如故人，蓋為信得此段大事因緣及。何以故？豈不見，華嚴會上智首菩薩問文殊師利菩薩言：『佛子！菩薩云何得無過失身語意業等事？』文殊答：『以善用其心，則獲一切勝妙功德。』為說行住坐臥四威儀中一百四十大願，謂之無濁亂清淨行大功德，此功德皆從信地而發，故文殊普為已發信心者，作不請友，以偈問賢首菩薩曰：『我今已為諸菩薩說佛往修清淨行，仁亦當於此會中演暢修行勝功德。』賢首菩薩以偈答之，其中曰：『以法威力現世間，則獲十地十自在。』亦是說初發心從信地起之義。末後善財到毘盧樓閣前，彌勒為說一百二十種菩提心，亦是此義。其中有一種喻曰：『如師子王哮吼，師子兒聞皆增勇健，餘獸聞之即皆竄伏。佛師子王菩提心吼，應知亦爾，諸菩薩聞增長功德，有所得者聞皆退散。』亦是此義。既有信根，即是成佛基本，忽地與現行相應，便證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。如釋迦老子，初在正覺山前，舉頭見明星出現，忽然悟道，遂乃歎曰：『奇哉！一切眾生具有如來智慧德相，但以妄想執著而不證得。』謂上至十方諸佛，下至六道四生含蠢蠕動，於我悟處，以平等印一印印定，更無差別。爾看，黃面老子纔悟了，便見得如此廣大，然後興慈運悲，於生死海不著此岸、不著彼岸、不住中流，而能運載此岸眾生到欲彼岸，不住生死中流。這箇道理亦不出自家信種。所以無盡居士注《海眼經》題說佛成就云：『始覺合本之謂佛。』他雖是箇俗人，然却見得徹、識得根本，謂始覺時，從明星上起信，忽然覺悟自性本來是佛，大地有情更無差別。無盡喚作始覺合本覺方始成佛。參禪人能恁麼辨白得了，然後休歇身心，識取本來面目，不要麁心。古聖得了，便於得處滅却生滅心，亦不住在寂滅地，謂之寂滅現前。於寂滅地獲二殊勝：一者上合十方諸佛，與佛如來同一慈力；二者下合六道眾生，與諸眾生同一悲仰，前所云興慈運悲救拔惡道是也。眾生為不覺故輪轉生死，先覺之士若無慈悲，如何得眾生界空？信知佛恩難報。今日經幹道友請妙喜普說，不獨為先考承事追修而已，要與現前一眾說些禪病。故柳子厚以天台教為司南，言禪病最多，誠哉是言。天台智者之教，以空假中三觀攝一切法，教人把本修行，禪無文字，須是悟始得。妙喜自十七歲，便疑著此事，恰恰參十七年，方得休歇。未得已前，常自思惟，我今已幾歲，不知我未託生來南閻浮提時從甚麼處來？心頭黑似漆，並不知來處，既不知來處，即是生大。我百年後死時，却向甚麼處去？心頭依舊黑漫漫地，不知去處，既不知去處，即是死大。謂之無常迅速，生死事大。爾諸人還曾恁麼疑著麼？現今坐立儼然，孤明歷歷地，說法聽法賓主交參，妙喜簸兩片皮，牙齒敲磕，臍輪下鼓，起粥飯氣，口裏忉忉怛怛，在遮裏說，說者是聲，此聲普在諸人髑髏裏，諸人髑髏同在妙喜聲中。這箇境界，他日死了，却向甚處安著？既不知安著處，則撞入驢胎馬腹亦不知，生快樂天宮亦不知。禪和子，尋常於經論上收拾得底，問著無有不知者；士大夫，向九經十七史上學得底，問著亦無有不知者。却離文字絕却思惟，問他自家屋裏事，十箇有五雙不知，他人家事却知得。如此分曉，如是則空來世上打一遭，將來隨業受報，畢竟不知自家本命元辰落著處，可不悲哉！所以古人到這裏如救頭然，尋師決擇，要得心地開通不疑生死。然有學而知之者，有生而知之者，那箇是學而知之者？如僧問趙州：『學人乍入叢林，乞師指示。』州云：『爾喫粥了也未？』僧云：『喫粥了。』州云：『洗鉢盂去。』僧於言下忽然大悟，當下休歇，便知生死去處。妙喜常說不易，這僧有力量，趙州將一百二十斤檐子，一送送在他肩上，這僧荷得，一氣走一百二十里更不回頭，如將梵位直授凡庸，心裏便怗怗地，興得慈力、運得悲願，此是學而知之者。那箇是生而之知者？如趙州作沙彌時，同本師行脚到南泉，值南泉臥次，本師禮拜了，趙州方禮拜，南泉問云：『近離甚處？』州云：『近離瑞像。』泉云：『還見瑞像麼？』州云：『瑞像則不見，面前只見臥如來。』南泉遂起問：『爾是有主沙彌，無主沙彌？』州云：『是有主沙彌。』泉云：『那箇是爾主？』若是如今禪和家，便近前彈指，打箇圓相，喝一喝，拍一拍，拂袖便行，放出這般惡氣息。爾看他趙州，緩緩地近前道：『孟春猶寒，伏惟和尚尊候萬福。』泉乃喚維那云：『此沙彌別處安排。』次日却來問：『如何是道？』南泉也不行棒，也不下喝，也不談玄，也不說妙，也不牽經，也不引論，也不舉古人公案，亦不說事，亦不說理，只實頭向他道：『平常心是道。』為他趙州已理會得平常心了，便却問：『還假趣向也無？』泉云：『擬向即乖。』州云：『不擬，爭知是道？』泉云：『道不屬知，不屬不知，知是妄覺，不知是無記，若真達不疑之道，猶如太虛廓然蕩豁，豈可於中彊是非耶？』趙州於言下千了百當，南泉道：『道不屬知，不屬不知。』圭峯謂之靈知，荷澤謂之知之一字眾妙之門。黃龍死心云：『知之一字眾禍之門。』要見圭峯荷澤則易，要見死心則難。到這裏須是具超方眼，說似人不得，傳與人不得。所以圜悟先師說：『趙州禪只在口脣皮上，難奈他何，如善用兵者，不齎糧行，就爾水草糧食，又殺了爾。』有一秀才問：『佛不違眾生願，是否？』州云：『是。』才云：『弟子欲就和尚手中乞取拄杖，得否？』州云：『君子不奪人所好。』才云：『某甲不是君子。』州云：『老僧亦不是佛。』又一僧問：『如何是祖師意？』州乃敲禪床脚，僧云：『莫只這便是否？』州云：『是則脫取去。』又一僧問：『諸方盡向口裏道，和尚如何示人？』州以脚跟打火爐示之，僧云：『莫便是也無？』州云：『恰認得老僧脚跟。』又僧問：『如何是趙州？』州云：『東門、南門、西門、北門。』僧云：『某甲不問這箇。』州云：『爾問我趙州聻。』又僧問：『如何是道？』州云：『牆外底。』僧云：『某甲不問這箇道。』州云：『爾問那箇道？』僧云：『某甲問大道。』州云：『大道通長安。』爾不得作無事會，不得作玄妙會，不得作奇特會，不得作平常會。趙州不在無事上，不在玄妙上，不在奇特上，不在平常上，畢竟在甚麼處？具眼者辨取。這老漢有時云：『未出家被菩提使，出家後使得菩提。汝諸人被十二時使，老僧使得十二時。』又云：『佛之一字吾不喜聞。』佛之一字尚不喜聞，達磨灼然是甚老臊胡，十地菩薩是擔糞漢，等妙二覺是破凡夫，菩提涅槃是繫驢橛，十二分教是鬼神簿拭瘡膿紙，四果三賢初心十地是守古塚鬼。爾既不到這箇田地，是事理會不得也。學人麁走大步，便把一句子禪要祗對人，且不是這箇道理。所以妙喜室中，常問禪和子：『喚作竹篦則觸，不喚作竹篦則背。不得下語，不得無語，不得思量，不得卜度，不得拂袖便行，一切總不得。爾便奪却竹篦，我且許爾奪却。我喚作拳頭則觸，不喚作拳頭則背，爾又如何奪？更饒爾道箇請和尚放下著，我且放下著。我喚作露柱則觸，不喚作露柱則背，爾又如何奪？我喚作山河大地則觸，不喚作山河大地則背，爾又如何奪？』有箇舟峯長老云：『某看和尚竹篦子話，如籍沒却人家財產了，更要人納物事。』妙喜曰：『爾譬喻得極妙，我真箇要爾納物事，爾無從所出，便須討死路去也，或投河赴火，[拚-ㄙ+云]得命方始死，得死了却緩緩地再活起來，喚爾作菩薩便歡喜，喚爾作賊漢便惡發，依前只是舊時人。』所以古人道：懸崖撒手自肯承當，絕後再甦欺君不得。到這裏始契得竹篦子話。」復說偈云：

Executive Fu requested a general discourse. The Master said: “Fellow Daoist Fu, Miaoxi did not know you initially. Last year, passing through Hengyang, you specially came to visit me. At our first meeting it was like old friends, solely because your faith reaches to this matter of the Great Cause. Why is this? Have you not seen that in the Avataṃsaka assembly, Bodhisattva Jñānaśīrṣa asked Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī: ‘Son of the Buddha! How does a bodhisattva attain bodily, verbal, and mental karmic actions without fault?’ Mañjuśrī replied: ‘By skillfully applying their mind, they attain all supreme and wondrous merits.’ For his sake he expounded the one hundred and forty great vows within the four postures of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, calling them the great merit of untainted and pure practice. These merits all arise from the ground of faith. Therefore Mañjuśrī, universally serving as an unasked friend for those who have already brought forth faith, asked Bodhisattva Bhadraśrī in verse: ‘I have now explained for the bodhisattvas the pure practices the Buddha cultivated in the past; you too, within this assembly, should expound the supreme merits of cultivation.’ Bodhisattva Bhadraśrī replied to him in verse, saying therein: ‘Manifesting in the world through the majestic power of the Dharma, one attains the ten stages and the ten masteries.’ This also speaks of the meaning that the initial bringing forth of the mind arises from the ground of faith. At the very end, when Sudhana arrived before the Pavilion of Vairocana, Maitreya explained for him the one hundred and twenty kinds of bodhicitta, which also has this meaning. Among them was an analogy that said: ‘Like the roar of the lion-king, hearing it, lion cubs all increase in courage and strength, while other beasts, hearing it, all scurry and hide. The roar of the bodhicitta of the Buddha, the lion-king, should be known to be just like this: the bodhisattvas, hearing it, increase in merit, while those with attaining [minds], hearing it, all retreat and scatter.’ This too has this meaning. Once one has the faculty of faith, that itself is the foundation of becoming a buddha. Suddenly according with one's current functioning, one immediately realizes anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Just like Old Man Śākya, at first before the Mountain of Right Awakening, he lifted his head and saw the morning star appear, suddenly awakening to the Way. He then sighed: ‘How marvelous! All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous marks of the Tathāgata, but because of delusive thoughts and attachments, they do not realize it.’ This means that from the buddhas of the ten directions above down to the four kinds of births in the six paths, wriggling and crawling beings, at the place of my awakening, are stamped definitively with a single seal of the seal of equality, without any distinction whatsoever. Look! As soon as the yellow-faced old man was awakened, he immediately saw things so vast and great. Thereafter, giving rise to kindness and exercising compassion, in the ocean of birth and death he did not cling to this shore, did not cling to that shore, and did not abide in the midstream, yet he could ferry the sentient beings on this shore who wished for the other shore, without abiding in the midstream of birth and death. This principle likewise does not go beyond the seed of one's own faith. Therefore Layman Wujin, in his preface to his commentary on the Ocean-Eye Sūtra, said regarding the Buddha's accomplishment: ‘The initial awakening uniting with the fundamental is called Buddha.’ Although he was a layperson, he saw through clearly and recognized the root. This means that at the time of initial awakening, giving rise to faith from the morning star, one suddenly awakens to the fact that one's self-nature is originally buddha, and that the sentient beings of the great earth are without any distinction whatsoever. Wujin called the initial awakening uniting with original awakening only then becoming a buddha. If Chan practitioners can clarify things in this way, and then rest body and mind to recognize their original face, they must not be careless. When the ancient sages attained it, right at the place of attainment they extinguished the mind of arising and ceasing, yet they did not abide in the realm of extinction either—this is called ‘extinction manifesting before one.’ In the realm of extinction they obtained two supreme qualities: first, above, uniting with the buddhas of the ten directions, sharing the same power of kindness with the Buddha Tathāgata; second, below, uniting with the sentient beings of the six paths, sharing the same compassionate longing with all sentient beings. This is what was mentioned earlier as giving rise to kindness, exercising compassion, and rescuing those in the evil destinies. Sentient beings, because of unawakening, transmigrate through birth and death; if those who are awakened first have no compassion, how can the realm of sentient beings be emptied? Truly know that the Buddha's grace is difficult to repay. Today, fellow Daoist Fu has asked Miaoxi for a general discourse, not merely to cultivate merit in posthumous dedication for his late father, but also wishing to explain some Chan sicknesses for the assembly present here. Thus Liu Zihou took the Tiantai teachings as his compass, saying that Chan sicknesses are the most numerous—true indeed are these words! The teachings of Tiantai Zhiyi subsume all phenomena under the three contemplations of emptiness, conventionality, and the middle, teaching people to hold to the root and cultivate. Chan has no written words; one must awaken to get it. Miaoxi, from the age of seventeen, doubted this matter, and investigated it for precisely seventeen years before finally obtaining rest. Prior to attaining it, I often reflected: ‘I am now so many years old; I do not know where I came from before I took birth here in South Jambudvīpa.’ My heart was pitch-black like lacquer; I completely did not know where I came from. Since I did not know where I came from, this was the greatness of birth. ‘When I die after a hundred years, where will I go then?’ My heart was as dark and indistinct as before, not knowing where I would go. Since I did not know where I would go, this was the greatness of death. This is called ‘impermanence is swift; birth and death is a great matter.’ Have you people ever harboured such doubts? Right now you sit and stand dignified, solitary clarity vividly distinct; expounding the Dharma and listening to the Dharma, guest and host intermingle. Miaoxi flaps two strips of skin, his teeth clattering, drumming beneath the navel wheel, raising the vapor of congee and rice, chattering away in his mouth, speaking right here. The speaker is sound; this sound is everywhere inside your skulls, and your skulls are together inside Miaoxi's sound. When you die on another day, where will this realm be settled? Since you do not know the place of settlement, crashing into a donkey's womb or a horse's belly you will not know it; being born into a joyful heavenly palace you will not know it either. Chan fellows: when asked about what they usually gather from sūtras and treatises, there is nothing they do not know; literati: when asked about what they learn from the Nine Classics and the Seventeen Histories, there is likewise nothing they do not know. Yet, leaving behind words and cutting off conceptual thought, if you ask them about the matter inside their own house, five pairs out of ten do not know it, while they know the matters of other people's houses. Understanding clearly like this, they merely come into this world in vain for a turn, and in the future will receive retribution according to their karma, in the end not knowing where their own fundamental destiny and primary celestial body will land—is this not sorrowful! Therefore the ancients, arriving here, were as if saving their heads from burning, seeking masters to resolve doubts, wanting their mind-ground to open through without doubting birth and death. However, there are those who know it through learning, and those who know it from birth. Who is one who knows it through learning? As when a monk asked Zhaozhou: ‘I have just entered the monastery; I beg the master for instruction.’ Zhaozhou said: ‘Have you eaten your congee yet?’ The monk said: ‘I have eaten my congee.’ Zhaozhou said: ‘Go wash your bowl.’ At these words the monk suddenly had a great awakening, rested right then and there, and immediately knew the destination of birth and death. Miaoxi often says it was not easy—this monk had power! Zhaozhou took a carrying pole of a hundred and twenty catties and with one thrust placed it on his shoulders; this monk bore it, ran a hundred and twenty li in one breath without turning his head, like directly conferring the status of Brahmā upon an ordinary mortal. His mind was at total peace, able to give rise to the power of kindness and exercise compassionate vows. This is one who knows through learning. Who is one who knows from birth? As when Zhaozhou was a novice, he went on pilgrimage with his primary master to Nanquan. It happened that Nanquan was lying down. After his primary master made prostrations, Zhaozhou then made prostrations. Nanquan asked: ‘Where have you recently departed from?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘I recently departed from the Auspicious Image.’ Nanquan said: ‘Did you see the Auspicious Image?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘I did not see the Auspicious Image; before me I only see a reclining Tathāgata.’ Nanquan then arose and asked: ‘Are you a novice with a master, or a novice without a master?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘A novice with a master.’ Nanquan said: ‘Which one is your master?’ If it were the Chan fellows of today, they would step forward, snap their fingers, draw a circle, give a shout, give a slap, shake their sleeves and leave, letting out this sort of foul breath. Look at Zhaozhou: he slowly stepped forward and said: ‘The first month of spring is still cold; I humbly wish the Venerable Monk ten thousand blessings in his venerable health.’ Nanquan then called the karmadāna, saying: ‘Arrange for this novice in another quarter.’ The next day he came again and asked: ‘What is the Way?’ Nanquan neither used the staff nor gave a shout, neither talked of the mysterious nor spoke of the wondrous, neither dragged in sūtras nor cited treatises, nor did he bring up the gong'ans of the ancients, nor did he speak of phenomena, nor did he speak of principle. He merely told him straight: ‘Ordinary mind is the Way.’ Because Zhaozhou had already understood the ordinary mind, he then asked: ‘Does it still rely on an intention to approach it?’ Nanquan said: ‘To intend toward it is to deviate.’ Zhaozhou said: ‘Without intending, how does one know it is the Way?’ Nanquan said: ‘The Way does not belong to knowing, nor does it belong to not knowing. Knowing is false consciousness; not knowing is neutral oblivion. If you truly reach the Way of no doubt, it is like the great emptiness, vast and open—how can you forcibly make right and wrong within it?’ At these words Zhaozhou had everything settled. Nanquan said: ‘The Way does not belong to knowing, nor does it belong to not knowing.’ Guifeng called it ‘numinous awareness.’ Heze called the single word ‘knowing’ the gate of all wonders. Sixin of Huanglong said: ‘The single word ‘knowing’ is the gate of all disasters.’ To meet Guifeng and Heze is easy; to meet Sixin is difficult. Arriving here, one must possess the eye that transcends conventions; it cannot be explained to others, nor transmitted to others. Therefore my late master Yuanwu said: ‘Zhaozhou's Chan is merely on the skin of his lips; one can do nothing with him. Like one skilled in military tactics, he travels without carrying provisions: using your water, grass, and provisions, he kills you instead.’ A scholar asked: ‘Does the Buddha not go against the vows of sentient beings, is this so?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘It is so.’ The scholar said: ‘I wish to beg for the staff from the Venerable Monk's hand, may I?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘A gentleman does not snatch away what another loves.’ The scholar said: ‘I am not a gentleman.’ Zhaozhou said: ‘This old monk is not a buddha either.’ Another monk asked: ‘What is the meaning of the Patriarch?’ Zhaozhou knocked on the leg of the meditation bench. The monk said: ‘Could it just be this?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘If it is, take it away.’ Another monk asked: ‘Everywhere they speak only with their mouths; how does the Venerable Monk instruct people?’ Zhaozhou showed him by kicking the brazier with his heel. The monk said: ‘Could that be it?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘You have just recognized this old monk's heel.’ Another monk asked: ‘What is Zhaozhou?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘East Gate, South Gate, West Gate, North Gate.’ The monk said: ‘I am not asking about this.’ Zhaozhou said: ‘Didn't you ask me about Zhaozhou?’ Another monk asked: ‘What is the Way?’ Zhaozhou said: ‘The one outside the wall.’ The monk said: ‘I am not asking about this way.’ Zhaozhou said: ‘Which way are you asking about?’ The monk said: ‘I am asking about the Great Way.’ Zhaozhou said: ‘The Great Way leads to Chang'an.’ You must not understand it as ‘no affairs’; you must not understand it as ‘mysterious and wondrous’; you must not understand it as ‘extraordinary’; you must not understand it as ‘ordinary.’ Zhaozhou is not in ‘no affairs,’ not in ‘mysterious and wondrous,’ not in ‘extraordinary,’ not in ‘ordinary.’ Where is he in the end? Those with eyes, discern it! This old fellow sometimes said: ‘Before leaving home, I was driven by bodhi; after leaving home, I drive bodhi. You people are driven by the twelve two-hour periods; this old monk drives the twelve two-hour periods.’ He also said: ‘I do not like to hear the single word ‘buddha’.’ If he did not even like to hear the single word ‘buddha,’ then Bodhidharma was clearly some old stinking barbarian, the bodhisattvas of the ten stages are dung-carrying men, equal and wondrous awakening are base worldlings, bodhi and nirvāṇa are hitching posts for donkeys, the twelve divisions of teachings are ledgers of ghosts and spirits and paper for wiping pus from sores, and the four fruits, three sages, initial mind, and ten stages are ghosts guarding ancient tombs. If you have not reached this realm, you will not understand anything. Students run rashly with big strides, taking a single phrase of Chan to deal with people, but it is not this principle at all! Therefore, in Miaoxi's room, I often ask Chan fellows: ‘If you call it a bamboo comb, you infringe; if you do not call it a bamboo comb, you turn away. You must not speak words, you must not be without words, you must not think and deliberate, you must not make conjectures, you must not shake your sleeves and leave—absolutely nothing is allowed! If you snatch away the bamboo comb, for now I allow you to snatch it away. If I call it a fist, I infringe; if I do not call it a fist, I turn away—how will you snatch it then? Even if you say: ‘Please, Venerable Monk, put it down,’ for now I put it down. If I call it a bare pillar, I infringe; if I do not call it a bare pillar, I turn away—how will you snatch it then? If I call it mountains, rivers, and the great earth, I infringe; if I do not call it mountains, rivers, and the great earth, I turn away—how will you snatch it then?’ Elder Zhoufeng said: ‘I see the Venerable Monk's topic of the bamboo comb as like having confiscated someone's property, yet still demanding that they pay goods.’ Miaoxi said: ‘Your analogy is extremely wondrous! I truly want you to pay goods. Having nowhere to produce them, you must seek the path of death: throwing yourself into a river or stepping into fire, risking your life, only then do you die. Having died, you slowly come back to life again. If called a bodhisattva you rejoice; if called a thief you flare up in anger—just as before, you are only the person of former days! Therefore the ancients said: ‘Letting go of one's hold on the hanging cliff, one acknowledges and shoulders it oneself; reviving after total extinction, one cannot be deceived.’ Arriving here, one first tallies with the topic of the bamboo comb.’ He then spoke a verse, saying:”
}
],