大慧普覺禪師語錄 14.3.3

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.