大慧普覺禪師語錄 14.3
English (machine translation) 14.3
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- English
14.3.1
Grand Lady of the State of Qin requested a general discourse. A monk asked, "The Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra says: 'It is like a pure maṇi jewel reflecting the five colours.' When the colours have not yet appeared, where is the jewel?" The Master said, "When did the Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra ever say such a thing?" [The monk] advanced and said, "I wonder how it should be understood?" The Master said, "The Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra never said such a thing; what more is there to understand?" [The monk] advanced and said, "How is it ultimately?" The Master said, "In a quiet place: svāhā." [The monk] asked, "Leaving aside Hu Zhang the Third and Hei Li the Fourth, how long are the nostrils of the Great Buddha of Jiazhou?" The Master said, "Some two hundred zhang long." [The monk] advanced and said, "How comes it to be so disorderly and loose?" The Master said, "You Sichuan monks ought to know naturally." [The monk] advanced and said, "Why was it swallowed whole by the iron ox of Shanzhou?" The Master said, "Who said such a thing?" [The monk] advanced and said, "Viewed from the very high, it is not enough; levelled from the very low, there is more than enough." The Master said, "Try speaking of it from where it is neither high nor low." [The monk] advanced and said, "Dangerous!" The Master said, "This is still something of the high and low." [The monk] advanced and said, "When one has spirited resolve, add more resolve to it." The Master said, "The grassroots bandit suffers a great defeat." Then he said: "Today is the birthday celebration of the Grand Lady of the State of Qin, Ji Fazhen. She has respectfully donated pure funds, coming from afar to this mountain to arrange and offer a pure incense vegetarian feast for the Chan assembly, and has further instructed this mountain monk to ascend to this seat to give a general discourse for the assembly, holding up and propagating prajñā, with the vow that her progress on the Path will be free of demons and her physical body at peace and ease. This is the intention of the Grand Lady of the State of Qin. As for this old woman's conduct throughout her life, there is no monk from Sichuan who does not know of it; only you northern monks do not yet know. Today, on the occasion of celebrating this vegetarian feast, I cite it for the assembly to hear. When this old woman was around thirty years of age, the late Grand Preceptor passed away. The Huiyou Academician and the Prime Minister were still young. She established herself outstandingly, with a stern countenance that commanded awe, so that neighbours to the east and west respected and feared her from afar. She taught her two sons to read with the utmost strictness and maintained the family discipline with great propriety. Ordinarily, when the Huiyou Academician and the Prime Minister served by her side, if she did not tell them to sit, they did not dare to sit; her stern resolve was like this. The Prime Minister often said: 'That I serve as an official today is entirely due to the education my elderly mother gave me in the past. Of the salary I receive, apart from our daily routine vegetables and rice, my elderly mother gives all of it away in alms to feed monks, so as to pray for our sovereign's longevity; she was always troubled by the thought of receiving an emolument without merit. When I heard our late master returned to Shu, he received no small amount of offerings from her, but she did not yet know how to practise Chan.' However, both the Huiyou Academician and the Prime Minister attained illumination with our late master. Formerly, when Chan [Monk] Qian was staying at their house, the Huiyou Academician and the Prime Minister said personally to Qian: 'Our elderly mother has cultivated practice for forty years, yet she is still short of this one move. You have long attended Master Jingshan and have heard and seen much. Please stay with her morning and evening to talk with her; as sons speaking to our mother, it is difficult for us brothers to open our mouths and say it.' Daily they gathered with Qian, focusing solely on rousing and encouraging this matter. One day she asked Qian: 'How does Master Jingshan ordinarily guide people?' Qian said: 'The Master only teaches people to investigate the huatou "A dog has no buddha-nature" and the huatou of the bamboo comb. Only, one must not formulate words, one must not deliberate, one must not try to understand it at the point where it is raised, and one must not take it up at the point where one opens one's mouth. "Does a dog also have buddha-nature or not?" "No." He only teaches people to investigate in this manner.' She thereupon had genuine faith and inquired into it intimately day and night. She had always loved reading sūtras and bowing to the Buddha, so Qian said: 'The Master ordinarily says: "If you want to settle this matter, you must lay aside reading sūtras, bowing to the Buddha, reciting dhāraṇīs, and the like. Put the mind to rest for a while to investigate and inquire into it; do not let your effort be interrupted." If you are single-mindedly attached to reading sūtras and bowing to the Buddha, seeking merit, that itself is an obstruction to the Path. Wait until one thought accords; then, just as before, read sūtras and bow to the Buddha—even a single stick of incense, a single flower, a single gaze, a single prostration, all such activities will not be in vain, all being the wondrous functioning of the Buddha, and also your basic cultivation of practice. Only listen and trust; it will definitely not mislead you.' When she heard Qian's words, she let go of everything all at once, solely dedicating herself to sitting in meditation and investigating the huatou 'A dog has no buddha-nature.' I hear that suddenly one night last winter she was startled awake from sleep; seizing the impulse, she got up to sit in meditation and brought up the huatou, and abruptly there was a place of joy. Recently, when Qian returned from Qin, she sent a personal letter along with several gāthās to present to this mountain monk. One of the gāthās says: 'Day by day reading the sūtra texts / is like meeting an old acquaintance. / Do not say there are frequent obstructions; / with every single raising, each time it is fresh.' This mountain monk frequently says to the brethren: 'Once you have comprehended Chan, whenever you read sūtra texts, it is just like taking a stroll in your own house, or like meeting with an old acquaintance.' Now this gāthā by Lady Qin tacitly accords with Sunzi and Wu Qi. Look at her: she is a woman, yet her work is just like that of a great man, able to accomplish the affairs of a great man. Chan [Monk] Qian came up yesterday and told this mountain monk: 'Please explain the sicknesses of Chan in detail, so as to establish a karmic connection of prajñā between Lady Qin and the great assembly.' This mountain monk said to him: 'What sickness does Chan have to talk about? Chan has never suffered from headaches, nor suffered from foot aches, nor suffered from deafness, nor suffered from blindness. It is only that among those who practise Chan, their investigation differs, their realization differs, their mental application differs, and the masters they rely on differ. Because of these differences, it is named a sickness, not that Chan itself has a sickness.' 'What is the Buddha? Mind itself is the Buddha.' What sickness is there? 'Does a dog also have buddha-nature or not? No.' What sickness is there? 'If you call it a bamboo comb you touch it; if you do not call it a bamboo comb you turn your back on it.' What sickness is there? 'What is the Buddha? Three pounds of hemp.' What sickness is there? 'What is the Buddha? A dried piece of excrement.' What sickness is there? When you have not penetrated, the moment you make principles of it, wanting to penetrate, you are a thousand or ten thousand miles away from having any connection with it. If you try to fit your mind to it, if you try to deliberate over it, if you grasp it at the point where it is raised, or understand it where sparks fly from flint or lightning flashes, this is truly a sickness, before which worldly physicians fold their hands. Yet ultimately it has nothing to do with Chan. Zhaozhou said: 'If you want to be a disciple of the King of Emptiness, do not let your mental sickness become the most difficult to heal.' I recall Śāriputra asking the maiden Candrottarā: 'Which vehicle do you practise now? Do you practise the Śrāvaka vehicle? Do you practise the Pratyekabuddha vehicle? Or do you practise the Mahāyāna?'"
14.3.2
Candrottarā replied, saying: 'Śāriputra! Since you have asked me what vehicle I practice, I will now ask you in turn. Śāriputra! Please answer me as you will. Regarding the dharma realized by Śāriputra: is it practicing the Śrāvaka Vehicle? Is it practicing the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle? Or is it practicing the Great Vehicle?' Śāriputra said: 'It is not so, Candrottarā! Why is that? Because that dharma cannot be differentiated, nor can it be spoken of; it is neither distinct nor one, nor is it manifold.' Candrottarā said: 'Śāriputra! Therefore, one should not differentiate phenomena as having a single characteristic, different characteristics, or no distinct characteristics; among all characteristics there is nothing to abide in.'"
The Master said, "Śāriputra asked like this, and Candrottarā answered like this. Tell me, how far is this from the dharma realized by the Grand Lady of the State of Qin? Is there anyone who can determine it? Step forward and try to determine it. If there is no one, then understand it within the entangling vines. Therefore it is said: 'Those who study and investigate must investigate the living phrase, not the dead phrase. If you understand through a living phrase, you will never forget it for eternal kalpas; if you understand through a dead phrase, you will not even be able to save yourself.'
"You all go up and down every day, drinking tea and decoctions in the dormitories, carrying salt and flour on the estates, serving food in the Sangha hall, picking vegetables along the long veranda, carrying manure in the back garden, pushing the millstone in the millhouse—at such a time, even the Buddha's eye cannot catch sight of you. Tell me: is this a dead phrase, a living phrase, or a neither-dead-nor-living phrase? Try to settle it and see. Even if you manage to settle it, you still cannot avoid being caught within the three phrases.
"Have you not seen? A monk asked Master Nanquan: ''Mind itself is Buddha' is not permissible, and 'neither mind nor Buddha' is not permissible; what is the Master's meaning?' Nanquan said: 'You just have faith that 'mind itself is Buddha' and that's it; why speak further of permissible and impermissible? Just like when the Venerable has finished eating and goes from the east veranda down to the west veranda, you can hardly go around asking people whether it is permissible or not permissible.'
"If you recognize Nanquan right here, only then will you not be driven by the three phrases, and you will be able to drive the three phrases. Having driven the three phrases, only then will you see with the same eyes as Nanquan, hear with the same ears, smell with the same nose, taste with the same tongue, feel with the same touch, and conceive with the same thoughts, without any difference whatsoever. It is only because you cling to the medicine as an illness: the old illness has not been eliminated, and a new illness arises again, so that you are driven upside down and tossed about by dead phrases and living phrases, and completely distort the direct cut made by the ancients.
"And what is the ancients' direct cut? I will bring up one or two more cases for you. Just as Nanquan said: 'If you lead the ox to pasture east of the stream, it cannot avoid eating the king's water and grass; if you lead the ox to pasture west of the stream, it cannot avoid eating the king's water and grass. It would be better to pay a small share as it comes, and nothing will be detected.' In this gong'an, how many people have misjudged the principle of 'paying a small share' and said: 'What is so hard about wearing clothes and eating food?' Making a living in front of donkeys and behind horses—better not slander Nanquan!
"Since you misunderstand this, you will definitely misunderstand that one too. Huangbo said: 'All of you are fellows who swill distillers' grains! Making pilgrimage like this, where could there be this day? Do you know that in the great Tang realm there are no Chan masters?' At the time, a monk came forward and said: 'What about those in all quarters who assemble disciples and lead the assembly?' Huangbo said: 'I did not say there is no Chan, only that there are no masters.'
"This huatou is a seed of disaster. Do not say that those who are unenlightened misunderstand it; even if one is enlightened from head to tail, if the Great Dharma is not clear, one still cannot catch sight of Huangbo. Just as Huangbo said: 'I did not say there is no Chan, only that there are no masters'—how do you understand it? People in the assembly deliberate, saying: 'In everyone's own lot, who is not a great man? How could one depend on a master's transmission? Swilling distillers' grains means gnawing on words, and words are the dregs of the ancients.' Fortunately, this has no connection at all! If you wish not to incur the karma of the Avīci Hell, do not slander the Tathāgata's true wheel of the Dharma.
"Have you not seen? Guishan brought up this story and asked Yangshan: 'What was Huangbo's meaning?' Yangshan said: 'The goose king selects the milk; it was never of the duck kind.' Guishan said: 'This is indeed hard to discern.' Just as Guishan and Yangshan questioned and answered like this, how do you deliberate it? When you come to this point, you must be the right person. Since people do not understand this, they take 'the cypress tree in the courtyard,' 'three pounds of flax,' 'a dried shit-stick,' and 'sawing apart a steelyard weight' and consider them all to be dregs.
"Since you misunderstand this, you will definitely misunderstand that one too. Dongshan asked Head Monk Chan: 'The Buddha's true dharmakāya is like empty space; responding to things, it manifests forms like the moon in water. How do you explain the principle of responding?' Chan said: 'Like a donkey peering into a well.' Dongshan said: 'That says a great deal indeed, but it only says eighty percent.' Chan said: 'What about the Master?' Dongshan said: 'Like a well peering at a donkey.' People in various quarters deliberate, saying: 'A donkey peering into a well has traces; a well peering at a donkey has no traces; this is also called extinguishing feelings and wiping away traces.' Fortunately, this has no connection at all; it is not this principle at all!
"Since you misunderstand this, you will definitely misunderstand Master Nanyue's saying: 'It is like an ox yoked to a cart. If the cart does not move, is it right to strike the cart, or is it right to strike the ox?' Mazu heard this and suddenly experienced great enlightenment. Nowadays, Chan practitioners understand it by saying: 'The ox is a metaphor for the mind, and the cart is a metaphor for the dharmas. Only clarify the mind, and the dharmas will be clear of themselves; only strike the ox, and the cart will move of itself.' Fortunately, this has no connection at all! If it were like that, Mazu would not have attained enlightenment even in the year of the donkey.
"This old fellow initially thought that buddhahood could be accomplished by sitting, and that Chan could be awakened to by sitting; he constantly sat on the ground waiting. Master Nanyue knew he was extraordinary, so he took a tile and ground it in front of his hermitage. Mazu said: 'What are you grinding the tile for, Master?' Nanyue said: 'Grinding it to make a mirror.' Mazu said: 'How can grinding a tile make a mirror?' Nanyue said: 'Since grinding a tile cannot make a mirror, how can sitting in meditation make a buddha?' Mazu was stirred by him, felt feverish anxiety in his mind, and asked: 'What is the right way?' Right here, the nose-rope was already in Master Nanyue's hands. Therefore it is said: 'If you wish to know the meaning of buddha-nature, you must observe the causes and conditions of the season.'"
14.3.3
Reverend Nanyue knew that his time had arrived, and immediately said to him: 'Do you study sitting in Chan, or do you study sitting as a buddha? If you study sitting in Chan, Chan is neither sitting nor lying down. If you study sitting as a buddha, the Buddha has no fixed mark. Regarding the dharma of non-abiding, one should neither grasp nor reject. If you sit as a buddha, that is killing the Buddha; if you cling to the mark of sitting, you have not reached its principle.' Having completely confiscated his household livelihood, he further demanded that he pay taxes, leaving him with nowhere to turn, so that he was only then willing to sacrifice his life to find a place of death. His life having been abandoned, he was then able to ask: 'How should one apply the mind so as to accord with the formless samādhi?' Nanyue said: 'Your learning the Dharma-gate of the mind-ground is like sowing seeds; my expounding the essentials of the Dharma is like moisture from heaven. Because your conditions harmonize, you shall see the Way.' He further asked: 'The Way is not form or mark; how can it be seen?' Nanyue said: 'The Dharma-eye of the mind-ground can see the Way; the formless samādhi is also like this.' The Patriarch said: 'Is there creation and destruction?' Nanyue said: 'If one sees the Way through creation and destruction, aggregation and dispersion, that is incorrect.' Mazu thereupon became utterly clear and free of doubt. As it is said: if you do not enter the tiger's den, you will not get the tiger's cub. If after awakening one does not meet the right person, five pairs out of ten will be fabrications, definitely unable to help others. Do you all want to know one who met the right person after awakening? This Mazu right here is the model! After Mazu attained the Dharma, he went straight to Jiangxi to establish the ancestral teachings. One day Reverend Nanyue said: 'Daoyi is expounding the Dharma in Jiangxi, yet I never see any news brought from him.' He then instructed a monk, saying: 'Go, wait until he ascends the hall, and then ask: "How is it?" See what he says, and remember it to bring back.' The monk went in accordance with the instructions, saw him ascend the hall, stepped forward, and asked: 'How is it?' The Patriarch said: 'Ever since the rebellion, for thirty years I have never lacked salt or sauce.'" The master addressed the assembly, saying: "Those who pierce people's nostrils under the gate of the Patriarchs all come from this single phrase. Tell me: where does this single phrase come from? It comes from the place of beating the ox or beating the cart! If you can understand this, you will understand the old woman on the road to Mount Tai. Whenever a monk asked, 'Which way goes to Mount Tai?' the old woman would say, 'Go straight ahead.' Just as the monk walked on, the woman would say, 'A fine master, yet he goes off like that!' Zhaozhou heard of this and said, 'Wait until I go examine this old woman.' Zhaozhou went to see the woman and asked the same question, and the woman gave the same answer. He returned and said to the assembly: 'The old woman on the road to Mount Tai has been seen through by this old monk.' Do you all understand? The Son of Heaven's imperial decree within the realm, the general's command beyond the frontier—just see it in this way. In former years, when this mountain monk did not understand, I once consulted a fabricating elder, who commented for me, saying: 'The moment this monk asked which way goes to Mount Tai, he was already seen through by the old woman. The woman said, "Go straight ahead." The monk then walked on—this was precisely following sound and chasing form; how could he not be seen through? He also said: "The moment one opens one's mouth, one is already seen through."' Thinking back on it today, it is truly unbearable! This mountain monk will break it open for you: if you understand Zhaozhou's saying, 'The old woman on the road to Mount Tai has been seen through by this old monk,' you will understand the old woman's saying, 'A fine master, yet he goes off like that.' This mountain monk once composed a verse: 'The world's Chan practitioners speak of seeing through, / How could they know that Zhaozhou has already fallen into words? / Leading descendants to become unmanly, / Each one touched on the head, lying down in the cold ground.' This verse is very clear; by no means misunderstand it! Having misunderstood this, you will definitely also misunderstand Muzhou calling to a monk, 'Venerable Sir!' The monk turned his head, and Muzhou said, 'A board-carrying fellow!' There was once a Chan elder who raised this topic and asked a monk: 'How do you understand it?' The moment he saw the monk open his mouth, he said: 'Truly, a board-carrying fellow.' What a pity, it has no connection whatsoever! Xuedou brought this up and said: 'Muzhou possessed only one eye. When called, this monk turned his head—why did he turn into a board-carrying fellow?' Huitang said: 'Xuedou also possessed only one eye. When called, this monk immediately turned around—why did he not turn into a board-carrying fellow?' These two old fellows! They can walk hand in hand with Muzhou. If one were a sharp fellow, the moment it is brought up, his eyes would be like bronze bells, and he would never beat about the bush here. Having failed to understand this, you will definitely also misunderstand Baizhang's wild fox case, saying: '"Not falling into" is correct, and "not obscured by" is also correct; it is just that when answering this question back then, one should not have harbored doubt, and therefore fell into being a wild fox, because a wild fox by nature has much doubt.' What a pity, it has no connection whatsoever! Having misunderstood this, you will definitely also misunderstand the Patriarch's saying: 'It is not the wind that moves, nor is it the banner that moves; your minds, virtuous sirs, are moving.' This mountain monk also once asked an elder: 'What is the meaning of this?' The elder shook his sleeve in the gesture of wind blowing and said: 'What is this?' How bitter! How shameful and mortifying! How clumsy and embarrassing! Some say: 'It is not the wind moving, nor the banner moving—it must be the mind moving.' This mountain monk regularly asks students: 'It is not the wind moving, it is not the banner moving, and it is not the mind moving—how is it?' How could blinking an eye be allowed here? Having misunderstood this, you will definitely also misunderstand: 'Mañjuśrī is the teacher of the seven buddhas; why could he not bring the woman out of samādhi, while the bodhisattva Net-Light could bring the woman out of samādhi?' People in the assemblies deliberate and say: 'The ladle's handle was in the woman's hand.' What a pity, it has no connection whatsoever! Having misunderstood this, you will definitely also misunderstand Xuefeng saying: 'At Wangzhou Pavilion I met with you; at Wushi Ridge I met with you; in front of the monks' hall I met with you.' Nowadays people everywhere deliberate and say: 'What is the place of meeting at Wangzhou Pavilion?' and then say, 'At the south end buying cheap, at the north end selling dear.' 'What is the meaning of meeting at Wushi Ridge?' and then say, 'Among stones, the big ones are big, and the small ones are small.' 'What is meeting in front of the monks' hall?' and then say, 'Return to the hall and drink tea.' What a pity, it has no connection whatsoever! The rest of the deviant interpretations are beyond count.
14.3.4
I, a mountain monk, also constantly ask students: 'At Wangzhou Pavilion I met with you, at Wushi Ridge I met with you, before the monks' hall I met with you—what about it?' This is precisely the vajra iron circle and the chestnut burr: how will you swallow it? How will you penetrate it? Do you want to know those who can swallow and penetrate it? Have you not seen: Baofu asked Ehu, 'Setting aside before the monks' hall, at what place did we meet at Wangzhou Pavilion and Wushi Ridge?' Ehu quickened his pace and returned to the abbot's quarters; Baofu then entered the monks' hall. Master Fenyang said in verse: 'Wangzhou, Wushi, and before the hall: / Meeting and knowing one another, thousands upon tens of thousands. / Only Ehu and Baofu / At this moment of meeting knew how to shift and yield.' This verse has clearly spoken it for you. Having failed to understand this, you will surely also misunderstand Xuansha's saying: 'Every quarter all say they receive beings and benefit creatures. If three kinds of sick people come, how should they be received? For one who is blind, when a mallet is raised or a fly-whisk is held upright, he cannot see it; for one who is deaf, he cannot hear the samādhi of words and speech; for one who is mute, when told to speak, he cannot speak. If one cannot receive such people, the Buddha-dharma has no efficacy.'" The Master looked around at the assembly and said, "Do you want to know Xuansha? 'All his life he poured out his heart and guts to people, / Yet meeting him is like not knowing him.' At that time Master Dizang was in the assembly, and stepped forward, saying: 'I have a mouth and am not mute, have eyes and am not blind, have ears and am not deaf. How does the Venerable receive me?' The Master said: 'Without a father, such a son would not be born. Xuansha laughed heartily.'" The Master said, "In the laugh there was a knife. Sometimes I bring up this topic to question students. Some come and draw a gourd according to the pattern, also saying: 'I have a mouth, ears, and eyes. How does the Venerable receive me?' I say to him: 'A dog that chews on someone else's shit-stick is no good dog.' Again they cannot move forward. Having misunderstood this, you will surely also misunderstand Xiangyan's saying: 'It is like a person up a tree, holding a branch with his teeth, his hands not grasping a branch, his feet not treading on the tree. Someone under the tree asks about the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West. If he does not answer, he goes against what was asked; if he does answer, he loses his body and life.'" The Master said, "He deserves to be buried in the same pit as Xuansha! In years past, I once asked an eminent elder for instruction: 'I do not know, what is Xiangyan's meaning?' He thereupon took the handle of the fly-whisk into his mouth, tightly closed his eyes, assumed the posture of holding a branch with his teeth, and shook his hands and flailed his feet, answering me in this way." The Master then snapped his fingers and said, "A person like this was also one of widespread fame and reputation in those days, yet he still made such an act! As for the rest who played tricks, they are not even worth mentioning. Do you want to understand? Just regard it as a single sentence. I tell you first: do not, hearing it said to regard it as a single sentence, then understand it at the point where it is raised—understanding it as soon as it is raised—for it is not this principle. What principle is it? 'It is like a person up a tree, holding a branch with his teeth, his hands not grasping a branch, his feet not treading on the tree. Someone under the tree asks about the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West. If he does not answer, he goes against what was asked; if he does answer, he loses his body and life.' How about it? Here, not a hair can intervene. At that time in Xiangyan's assembly, there was only Head Monk Hutou who grasped Xiangyan's meaning. He stepped forward to vent Xiangyan's spleen, saying: 'I do not ask about being up the tree; please, Venerable, speak about before going up the tree.'" The Master said, "'Though gaining a moment of glory, / He had both feet cut off.' Xiangyan laughed heartily." The Master said, "'An iron-made face!'" He also said, "'Turning the heavenly wheel, rotating the earthly axle!' Later, Xuedou commented: 'Speaking up the tree is easy; speaking down the tree is difficult. This old monk has gone up the tree: bring on a question!' Although Xuedou vented Head Monk Hutou's spleen, how could he avoid missing Xiangyan? Nowadays there is a sort of misguided fellow who, hearing Xuedou speak like this, cites Dongshan's words, saying: 'If one can avoid violating the present taboo, / It is superior to the tongue-cutting talent of the former court.' They say that Xiangyan set up this question-head just like a ball of fire that cannot be touched. Even so, words and phrases cannot be cut off. If someone asks what Buddha is: 'Three pounds of hemp'; what the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West is: 'The cypress tree in the courtyard'—what harm is there? You may well understand it nicely. Have you not seen Master Fenyang's verse: 'Xiangyan holding the tree showed it to many; / He wanted to lead his companions to reach the fundamental reality.'" The Master said, "'Confessing according to the facts: / Deliberating, they search for it beneath the words, / Losing their bodies and lives, numerous as dust.'" The Master said, "'Unless one is a person of painstaking effort, one does not know: / Fenyang opens the heavenly road for you; / Clouds disperse across the vast sky, and the moonlight is fresh.'" The Master said, "Idle talk! Although it is like this, if you can grasp it here, the lifelong business of study is finished. If you cannot grasp it, you will surely also misunderstand Baizhang asking Guishan, Wufeng, and Yunyan: 'Having shut off throat, lips, and mouth, how do you speak?' Guishan said: 'Rather, please, Venerable, speak.' Baizhang said: 'I do not refuse to speak to you, but I fear that later it would destroy my descendants.' Wufeng said: 'The Venerable must also shut them off.' Baizhang said: 'Where there is no one, I shade my brow and gaze toward you.' Yunyan said: 'Venerable, do you have it or not?' Baizhang said: 'It destroys my descendants.' The assembly deliberates, saying: 'Baizhang is much like clutching stolen goods and crying robbery, or covering his ears to steal a bell. When the three sons answered like that, they all ran into the wild grass.' Fortunately, it has no connection! I tell you: this matter decidedly does not lie in words and speech. Since it does not lie in words and speech, at such a moment what ought to be done? I have already told you long ago. Having misunderstood this, you will surely also misunderstand Deshan saying: 'Tonight I will not answer questions; whoever asks a question gets thirty blows of the staff.' At that time a monk came forward and bowed. Deshan struck him at once. The monk said: 'I had not yet asked a question; why did you strike me?' Deshan said: 'Where are you from?' The monk said: 'From Silla.' Deshan said: 'Before you stepped on the ship's gunwale, you deserved thirty blows!' Later, Fayan said: 'Great and small Deshan! His speech was split into two pieces.' Yuanming said: 'Great and small Deshan! A dragon's head and a snake's tail.' Xuedou commented: 'Although the two old masters were good at trimming the long to mend the short, and discarding the heavy to follow the light, to see Deshan is still not yet possible. Why?
14.3.5
Deshan was much like holding supreme authority outside the borders, wielding the sword that 'when decisive action is not taken, disorder will surely ensue.' Do you want to know the Silla monk? He was just a blind fellow who collided with an exposed pillar.' The assembly deliberates, saying: 'The monk had not yet asked a question, so it was right to strike him. Deshan did not strike, but asked instead: "Where are you from?" This is where his speech was split into two pieces, a dragon's head and a snake's tail.' Fortunately, it has no connection! They also say: 'If this monk had been an adept, the moment he was asked "Where are you from?", he should have overturned the meditation bed. Since he could not do so, he was told by Deshan: "Before you stepped on the ship's gunwale, you deserved thirty blows." Here is the sword that "when decisive action is not taken, disorder will surely ensue."' Therefore Xuedou said: 'Do you want to know the Silla monk? He was just a blind fellow who collided with an exposed pillar.' Fortunately, it has no connection! If Chan were understood in this way, there would be no need for enlightenment at all. Clever and nimble people all generate understanding following words, and write explanatory notes away, and that is all. Let me ask you: when you have explained and annotated it away so that all has a conclusion for a time, when birth and death arrive, how will you manage? Now I clearly tell you: these idle words and long speeches are precisely the shortcut out of birth and death. Do not go planting thorns and digging cesspools on the shortcut! Suppose a patch-robed monk steps out and says: 'Isn't the Venerable right now planting thorns and digging cesspools here?' How would you answer? I have a way of deflecting it. How do I deflect it? Listen to a verse: / 'Among women there is a great hero, / Manifesting her body to transform her kind. / With the dharmas of precepts, samādhi, wisdom, and liberation, / She gathers in those of greed, anger, and delusion. / Though dwelling among them and doing Buddha-work, / Like wind moving through space, she has no support. / In past, future, and present, / Buddhas and bodhisattvas as numerous as dust and sand / With different mouths and the same voice utter these words: / "Splendid, extraordinary, rare in the world! / The source of mind is pure, without sorrow or joy; / She makes no thought of no joy and no sorrow; / Adapting to circumstances she plays in the arena, / Yet toward worldly conditions she has no attachment." / In the sixth month fiery clouds burn the blue sky; / Thunder suddenly shakes the three-thousandfold world; / Dispelling burning afflictions, she attains pure coolness: / This is the time of that hero's birth! / I speak this verse to aid the light, / Universally bestowing it on all women of the dharmadhātu.'" He gave a shout.
Linked texts (1)
- 大慧普覺禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese