大慧普覺禪師語錄 15.2.1

15.2.1

Consultant Qian requested a general discourse. A monk asked, "In the past, a monk asked the Venerable Yangqi, 'What is the Buddha?' He replied, 'A three-legged donkey jerks its hooves and walks.' I wonder, what is the meaning of this?" The Master said, "In heaven above and earth below, there is no trace." The monk asked further, "Just before the King of Majestic Voice, who rode it?" The Master said, "After the King of Majestic Voice, who rides it?" The monk hesitated. The Master then shouted, and then said, "Before the King of Majestic Voice, the three-legged donkey galloped; after the King of Majestic Voice, old man Yangqi cut off all news. Since he cut off all news, why on earth did the three-legged donkey gallop? If you can understand clearly right here, only then will you know that before the King of Majestic Voice the three-legged donkey indeed galloped; if you cannot understand clearly, old man Yangqi has suffered an injustice all his life. Right at such a time, what is a single phrase that clears the injustice?" He gave a shout and said, "Almost took a dangerous risk!" He further said, "Senior monk Yunwen came today on behalf of Zixu to request that I give a general discourse for the assembly. The old fellow asked, 'What should I say that would do?' Yunwen said, 'We request the Venerable to bring forth Yangqi's vajra ring and chestnut burr, and bestow them upon the great assembly.' He also said, 'Regarding the dharma preaching of National Teacher Zhong and Venerable Dazhu, the various quarters have great doubt, thinking that dragging through mud and water, not preaching straightforward doctrinal Chan, [causes confusion]. We wish the Venerable would clarify the genuine and the false, and resolve the assembly's doubts.' This was also the intention of the patron who requested this general discourse. The old fellow said, 'Alright.' Thus, when the Greatly Awakened World-Honoured One initially awakened to this matter, for three weeks in the country of Magadha he had nowhere to open his mouth, and said to himself: 'I would rather not preach the Dharma, and quickly enter into nirvāṇa.' Know with certainty that preaching the Dharma is difficult—how could it be easy? He subsequently recalled the power of expedients practiced by past Buddhas; only then did he rise from the Bodhi tree, proceed to the Deer Park, and according to the capacities of sentient beings, preach the entire canon of teachings. At the very end, drawing the causes to a conclusion, he nonetheless said, 'From the Deer Park at the beginning to the Hiraṇyavatī River at the end, between these two, I have not yet spoken a single word.' Just this is what Yangqi called the vajra ring and the chestnut burr: truly hard to swallow, hard to penetrate. Arriving here, even if one directly accepts and assumes it, if the Great Dharma is not illuminated, there is nothing one can do about it. I venture to ask everyone: What is called the Great Dharma? How do you penetrate the vajra ring? How do you swallow the chestnut burr? Do you not see what Yantou said: 'If you bind people with real dharmas, you cannot even digest earth, how much less the faithful offerings of the ten directions?' The appearance of the Buddhas in the world and the coming of the Patriarch from the West were nothing other than to serve as masters of verification for all of you. If there were any dharma that could be transmitted or conferred, how could the wisdom-life of the Buddhas have reached today? Therefore the Patriarch said: 'The mind-ground is spoken of in accord with the times; bodhi is also just tranquil. When phenomena and principle are both unobstructed, that which is arising is immediately non-arising.' If you can understand these four lines, then you penetrate the vajra ring and swallow the chestnut burr; you do not need to seek to illuminate the Great Dharma—the Great Dharma illuminates itself! Furthermore, regarding the ancient masters' diverse and varied core circumstances, and the wondrous mystery of mind and nature: if the Great Dharma is illuminated, the moment they are brought up you will understand them, exactly like a lodestone meeting iron—moved at the slightest lead. You must be able to comprehend three parts upon hearing one, discern the situation down to a grain and dram: touch the south and the north moves; the moment it is brought up, you immediately understand. Nowadays, across the various quarters, there are several kinds of deviant Chan. If the Great Dharma is illuminated, just this deviant Chan becomes furniture for one's own use. Those fond of striking sparks from stone and flashes of lightning, of a single blow and a single shout, are determined [in their way]. Those who do not like speaking of mind and speaking of nature only love sharp and agile dynamic action, calling it the 'great function and great dynamic'; those who are fond of speaking of mind and speaking of nature are determined not to like striking sparks from stone and flashes of lightning. Those of a single blow and a single shout only love threads coming and strings going, calling it 'continuous and dense', and also calling it 'the matter under one's own feet.' Little do they know that they are simply useless fellows playing with mud balls! Look at the functional activity of the former venerable elders whose Great Dharma was illuminated—whirling like a waterwheel; National Teacher Nanyang Zhong and Venerable Dazhu are examples of this. Only Yang Wengong possessed the eye: when he compiled the Transmission of the Lamp, he placed National Teacher Zhong and Venerable Dazhu above the venerable elders under Mazu, and included all the phrases in their extensive sayings into it. Under the Sixth Patriarch, National Teacher Zhong's sayings were collected the most, because his family enterprise was grand, his gate wide, and his dharma-nature vast, with broad waves and wide currents difficult to approach. Such Dharma is difficult to speak of; his Chan is equipped with all modes. Take, for instance, the story of calling three times to the attendant: can you call that speaking grandmotherly Chan, or dragging through mud and water? One day he called his attendant; the attendant responded. He called three times like this, and the attendant responded three times." The Master said, "When the National Teacher called the attendant three times, how was there ever any betrayal? When the attendant responded three times, where was the betrayal? The National Teacher said, 'I had thought that I was betraying you, but who knew that you were betraying me?'" The Master said, "A pile of bones raised on level ground!" He further said, "In the monasteries, it is called the story of the National Teacher calling his attendant three times. From this, a whole tangled skein arose. Only Xuedou saw through to the ancients' marrow, saying, 'The National Teacher calling the attendant three times—tapping, but not reaching.'" The Master said, "Indeed so! 'The attendant responding three times—reaching, but not tapping.'" The Master said, "It is not like that, however! '"I had thought that I was betraying you, but who knew that you were betraying me"—cannot fool Xuedou.'" The Master said, "Who said so?" He called again to the great assembly and said, "A fine 'cannot fool Xuedou'! Even though it is like this, Xuedou cannot fool Miaoxi either; Miaoxi cannot fool all of you either; and all of you cannot fool the exposed pillar either. Xuansha said, 'The attendant actually understood.' Xuedou said, 'Keeping a prisoner increases his wit.'" The Master said, "A double win in one roll. Yunmen said, 'What was the place where the National Teacher betrayed the attendant? Even if you understand, it is unprovoked.' Xuedou said, 'Originally he did not understand.'" The Master said, "What Xuefeng said. Yunmen also said, 'What was the place where the attendant betrayed the National Teacher? Could crushing the bones and pulverizing the body repay it?' Xuedou said, 'Unprovoked, unprovoked!'" The Master said, "Standing as a target invites arrows. Fayan said, 'Go away for now, and come back another time.' Xuedou said, 'You cannot fool me.'" The Master said, "Yet Fayan understood! Xinghua said, 'One blind person leading a crowd of blind people.'"