大慧普覺禪師語錄 16.4

16.4

Chan practitioner Yue requested a general discourse. A monk asked, "Linji instructed the assembly, saying: 'Sometimes I take away the person but do not take away the environment; sometimes I take away the environment but do not take away the person; sometimes I take away both person and environment; sometimes I take away neither person nor environment.' What is taking away the person but not taking away the environment?" The Master said, "Three thousand miles away, doubts and disputes cease." The monk proceeded, "What is taking away the environment but not taking away the person?" The Master said, "Pull out the wedge in your eye." The monk proceeded, "Linji said, 'The warm sun brings forth life, spreading an embroidered carpet upon the earth; the infant's hanging hair is white as silk.' I wonder if this is the same as or different from the Venerable's answer?" The Master said, "A dog that chews on a human shit-stick is no good dog." The monk proceeded, "What about when 'the king's decree has already circulated throughout the empire, and beyond the frontiers the general puts an end to smoke and dust'?" The Master said, "Just now it was still tolerable; now it is even more wretched." The monk asked, "'For the Bhagavāns of the ten directions, there is a single road to the gate of nirvāṇa.' I wonder: is Lady Wang dead or alive today?" The Master said, "Alive or dead?" The monk proceeded, "'From past to present it should never fall; distinctly it is right before the eyes.'" The Master said, "Pull out the arrow from behind the head." The monk proceeded, "What if a person comes who, throughout the twelve hours of the day, does not rely on a single thing—would the Master still receive him?" The Master said, "What do you call 'a single thing'?" The monk proceeded, "One cannot repeat the verse again." The Master said, "Obstructive enough to kill a person!"

The Master then said: "'Alive or dead? Neither gain nor loss; do not say, do not say; there is principle and there are phenomena.' If you gain an entry point in the place where there is principle and phenomena, you will merely be bobbing up and down within the scriptural vehicles. If you gain an entry point in the place of neither gain nor loss, I dare guarantee that throughout the twelve periods of the day you will still have no place to settle your body and establish your life. Since you have no place to settle your body and establish your life, you do not know where Lady Wang has landed. If you know Lady Wang's whereabouts, then you know your own place to settle your body and establish your life. Tell me: right now, is Lady Wang alive, or is she dead? Is she unborn, or does she not die? If you say she is unborn, what can be done about death? If you say she does not die, what can be done about birth? If you say she is both alive and dead, that again is frivolous discourse. If you say she is neither alive nor dead, that again is a contradictory statement. Even if you depart from the four propositions and extinguish the hundred negations, directly like a bright mirror facing the stand or a brilliant pearl in the palm—when a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears—under the feet of each and every person it is cleanly naked and brightly distinct, birth and death are like dreams, illusions, and flowers in the sky, and coming and going are like floating clouds and the moon in water—still, this is not yet the ultimate place. Even if you see in accordance with reality that past birth was originally never born and today's extinction was originally never extinguished, this too is speaking of dreams where there is no dream. Why so? Born yet unborn is the image in a mirror; extinguished yet unextinguished is the moon in water. Right at such a time, where is Lady Wang's point of emergence? If you can understand thoroughly, Lady Wang right now walks hand in hand with all of you, together entering the Tathāgata's great sea of tranquil extinction. If perhaps you cannot, 'There are cold and heat that curtail your life; there are ghosts and spirits that envy your blessings.'"

The Master also said: "This was Senior Jinyue's intention in requesting this old fellow Miaoxi to preach the Dharma for his mother, Lady Wang. But how is the Dharma to be preached? Have you not heard it said: 'The Dharma cannot be seen, heard, sensed, or known. If one practices seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, this is merely seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, not seeking the Dharma.' Since seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing cannot serve to enter the Way, could it be that not seeing, not hearing, not sensing, and not knowing is it?" After a long pause, he said in a loud voice: "What else could it be? Miaoxi has preached with all his might, yet can only preach up to here. This matter definitely does not lie in words. Therefore, the past sages appeared in the world one after another, each using skillful means, chattering and lamenting, solely fearing that people would become bogged down in words. If it lay in words, the five thousand and forty-eight fascicles of the great Canon preach the provisional and the real, preach existence and non-existence, preach the sudden and the gradual—how could they be without words? Why then did Bodhidharma come from the West and say: 'A separate transmission of the mind-seal, not establishing written words and speech, directly pointing to the human mind, seeing one's nature and becoming a buddha'? Why did he not speak of transmitting the mysterious, transmitting the wondrous, or transmitting speech and words? It was only desired that each person directly clarify their own original mind and see their own original nature. Having no choice in the matter, speaking of 'mind' and speaking of 'nature' was already a great mess. If you wish to pull out the roots of birth and death completely, you must by no means memorize what I say. Even if you can recite the entire great Canon like pouring water from a pitcher, that is called carrying dung in, not carrying dung out; instead, it becomes a slight obstruction to your own right view and knowledge so that it cannot appear, and your own spiritual penetrations cannot be revealed. You will merely play with the light and shadows before your eyes, comprehending Chan, comprehending the Way, comprehending mind, comprehending nature, comprehending the extraordinary, and comprehending the mysterious and wondrous. It is much like swinging a stick to hit the moon, vainly wasting mental energy—the Tathāgata called such people pitiful.

Whenever the ancients uttered a word or half a phrase, they set up a vajra-ring or a chestnut-burr, having you swallow it and having you penetrate it. If one is an outstanding, uniquely liberated person who transcends emotional dust and goes beyond rational nature, what kind of monkey-tamer's props or offerings to inspect ghosts and spirits would a vajra-ring or chestnut-burr be? Because you cannot realize in a single thought that conditioned arising is unborn, and merely make your living entirely around mind, intellect, and consciousness, as soon as you see an ancestral teacher open his mouth, you search for the mysterious and wondrous in his mouth. Consequently, you are flipped head over heels by the ancestral teacher; you still do not know the whereabouts of your own fundamental destiny, beneath your feet is pitch black, and as before you are just a lacquer bucket. Take, for example, the dialogue on taking away the person but not taking away the environment that the Senior asked about just now: he only knew how to recite it from a book, and when I answered him according to the Dharma, he could not comprehend it again; before one section of questioning was finished, he asked another, just like villagers playing a game of passing the word. Now, not begrudging vocal karma, I will entangle in vines and annotate it for you all once.

One day Linji showed the assembly, saying: 'Sometimes I take away the person but do not take away the environment; sometimes I take away the environment but do not take away the person; sometimes I take away both person and environment; sometimes I take away neither person nor environment. Do you understand?' After a long pause, he looked left and right, and stepped down from the seat. This very thing is the vajra-king precious sword. As I said yesterday, put centipedes, venomous snakes, scorpions, and all kinds of poisons into a single jar, and try sticking your hand inside to pick out one that is not poisonous and see. If you can pick it out, you will indeed have a slight accord with this matter; if you cannot pick it out, it is simply that your capacity is dull and you have lacked spiritual bones from past lives—you cannot blame Miaoxi. When Linji uttered those few words of idle talk back then, his original face was fully present; it is simply that you cannot see it. If you grasp this meaning, then ever since the disorder of the Hu barbarians, for thirty years you will lack neither salt nor sauce; chanting praises on the bell tower, planting vegetables under the bedposts, and the like—you will not need to ask anyone, and will naturally know where each and every thing lands. When the ancients offered an expedient, was it an idle opening of the mouth? You must know that within the soft mud there are thorns.

At that time, there was the practitioner Kefu, who understood Linji's meaning, and stepped forward to ask: 'What is taking away the person but not taking away the environment?' Linji at that time—who knows where he got so much idle talk—matched it together just right and said: 'The warm sun brings forth life, spreading an embroidered carpet upon the earth; the infant's hanging hair is white as silk.' Do you all understand? 'The warm sun brings forth life, spreading an embroidered carpet upon the earth' is the environment; 'the infant's hanging hair is white as silk' is the person. Of these two lines, one preserves the environment, and one takes away the person. Kefu also composed a verse, saying: 'Taking away the person but not taking away the environment, / It naturally carries a contradiction.'" The Master said, "What contradiction is there?" "'Intending to seek the profound purport, / Does one conversely blame deliberate thought?'" The Master said, "Falsely accusing another of a crime." "'The dragon pearl shines brilliantly; / The shadows of the toad-cassia tree sway gently.'" The Master said, "Why didn't you speak like this earlier?" "'Face to face there is no discrepancy, / Yet one must still be trapped in the net.'" The Master said, "Vaguely resembling a tune, it is barely listenable, / Yet again it is blown by the wind into a different key. This verse basically rests upon 'The dragon pearl shines brilliantly; the shadows of the toad-cassia tree sway gently.' For these two lines are the environment. When the student asks about not taking away the environment, 'Intending to seek the profound purport, does one conversely blame deliberate thought?' The main idea is simply that it cannot be deliberated or conjectured; the one who deliberates and conjectures is the person. Missing the single move presented face to face, one is immediately trapped in the net of words. This verse of Kefu's specifically clarifies 'The warm sun brings forth life, spreading an embroidered carpet upon the earth,' which is why it has the lines 'The dragon pearl shines brilliantly; the shadows of the toad-cassia tree sway gently.' This is preserving the environment while taking away the person; hence it says, 'Face to face there is no discrepancy, yet one must still be trapped in the net.' In the principle of taking away the person, ghee and poison travel the same road; only one with eyes can distinguish them.

He also asked: 'What is taking away the environment but not taking away the person?' The answer was: 'The king's decree has already circulated throughout the empire; beyond the frontiers the general puts an end to smoke and dust.'" The Master said, "'The king's decree has already circulated throughout the empire' takes away the environment; 'Beyond the frontiers the general puts an end to smoke and dust' preserves the person without taking him away. The verse says: 'Taking away the environment but not taking away the person, / Seeking words, where is the real?'" The Master said, "One must also be on guard in quiet places." "'Asking about Chan, Chan is false; / Investigating principle, principle is distant.'" The Master said, "A good thing is not as good as nothing." "'The sun shines, cold light is faint; / The mountains are distant, emerald colors fresh.'" The Master said, "A poor boy brooding over old debts." "'Even if you understand the mysterious, / It is still dust in the eye.'" The Master said, "Rising by oneself, falling by oneself. Do you want to understand 'The sun shines, cold light is faint; the mountains are distant, emerald colors fresh'? These two lines are the environment. 'Even if you understand the mysterious, it is still dust in the eye' immediately takes it away. The rest, taking away both person and environment, and taking away neither person nor environment, were all answered following the words and according to where the student asked.

He also asked: 'What is taking away both person and environment?' The answer was: 'Bing and Fen have cut off news; dwelling alone in one region.' This immediately reveals the countenance of taking away both person and environment. The verse says: 'Taking away both person and environment, / From the beginning the correct decree has been executed.'" The Master said, "Already fallen into the secondary." "'Regardless of buddhas or patriarchs, / How could it speak of the feelings of sages and ordinary people?'" The Master said, "Buying stones, one gets clouds thrown into the bargain." "'Intending to challenge the hair-blowing sword / Is like a blind turtle encountering a piece of wood.'" The Master said, "Those who know the law are afraid." "'Stepping forward to seek a wondrous understanding, / It specifically slashes the goblin.'" The Master said, "The first arrow was still light; the second arrow goes deep. 'The correct decree having been executed, it spares neither buddhas nor patriarchs.' Arriving here, advancing or retreating, life and death are entirely in the master's hands, like a hair-blowing sword whose edge cannot be crossed.

He also asked: 'What is taking away neither person nor environment?' The answer was: 'The king ascends the jeweled palace; the rustic old man sings folk songs.' The verse says: 'Taking away neither person nor environment, / The deliberating intention does not deviate.'" The Master said, "Do you understand? This phenomenon abides in its phenomenal position." "'Host and guest speak no different words.'" The Master said, "The characteristics of the worldly realm are permanent." "'Question and answer are both complete in principle.'" The Master said, "You cannot add a single hair, nor take away a single hair." "'Treading upon the moon in the clear pool.'" The Master said, "There is still this present." "'Piercing through the blue sky.'" The Master said, "Labor without merit." "'Unable to clarify the wondrous functioning.'" The Master said, "As soon as you stir, you are wrong." "'Sinking into the conditionless.'" The Master said, "Returning to abide in the original place. This is the gong'an that the Senior inquired about just now, called the Four Selections. If you wish to clearly understand Linji's meaning, just look at what he instructed at that time. How to look? 'Sometimes I take away the person but do not take away the environment; sometimes I take away the environment but do not take away the person; sometimes I take away both person and environment; sometimes I take away neither person nor environment.' If it is like this, then it is correct. If you take it as 'Sometimes I take away the person but do not take away the environment; sometimes I take away the environment but do not take away the person; sometimes I take away both person and environment; sometimes I take away neither person nor environment,' then it is no longer correct. Therefore my grandfather-master Wuzu had a saying: 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West? The cypress tree in the courtyard.' If you understand it like this, it is not correct. 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West? The cypress tree in the courtyard.' Only when you understand it like this is it correct. Do you all understand? As for talk of this kind, do not say that you cannot comprehend it; Miaoxi himself cannot comprehend it either. In my gate there is no comprehending or not comprehending; like a mosquito on an iron ox, there is no place for you to put your beak.

You must trust that when the ancients extended compassion, there was Dharma and no Dharma; if they did not extend compassion, when the eye of the Way was not yet opened and the Great Dharma was not yet illuminated, how could you avoid searching in other people's mouths for Chan, for the Way, for the mysterious, and for the wondrous? Having searched and found it, you only fear people will know; and when it comes time to speak, you again fear speaking it all, so that in the end there is nothing left to say. This is an limitless Dharma; if you intend to exhaust its whereabouts with a limited mind, do not make a mistake! Take, for example, the World-Honoured One at the assembly on Vulture Peak: before hundreds of thousands in the gathering, he held up a flower and showed it to everyone, and only Kāśyapa broke into a smile—when did he ever fear people knowing? And when was it ever transmitted in a secret room? Here with me, the Chan is permitted for you all to hear, but not permitted for you all to understand. Regarding the Four Selections explained and annotated above, if you all hear them together and understand them together, was Linji's intention really like this? If it were only like this, how could the Linji school have reached today? When you hear Miaoxi speak thoroughly, you will assume it stops at this. I tell you truly: 'This is slander of the first order.' If you hold on to a single stroke of the character yuan, that very thing is the root of birth and death. What you all have learned throughout the various quarters—the mystery within mystery, the wonder within wonder—what kind of shit Chan is that? Constantly stuffing it into your skin-bags, you assume there really is such a thing! Do not make a mistake!

Seniors! If you truly want to practice Miaoxi's Chan, take everything you have learned in the various quarters and sweep it away into other world realms; knowing nothing, understanding nothing, empty your minds and come, and I will investigate it together with you." He then spoke a verse, saying:

"A monk of Wuzhu named Jinyue,
Requested a general discourse for his mother, Lady Wang.
Miaoxi then ascended the curved-back chair,
Chattering and lamenting, freely wagging his tongue.
From the beginning, the Dharma is inherently free from verbal explanation;
It requires no deliberation or discrimination.
What need to speak of hell and heaven?
The four sages and six ordinarles are completely obliterated.
Even if demon kings wish to cause trouble,
The vajra precious sword cuts them off right at the head.
Lady Wang raised a son who seeks to practice Chan;
This single thought alone will never perish.
In the snap of a finger, all dharma gates are suddenly illuminated;
Śākyamuni and Maitreya are equally surpassed.
Just like the poison-smeared drum placed before the hall,
With a single strike, all who hear it have their brains split open.
Boundless afflictions are entirely cleared away;
Past karma and ancient calamities melt like snow in boiling water.
For her, I proclaim once more the ultimate phrase:
Motionless, ten thousand miles of a single strip of iron."

He gave a shout and stepped down from the seat.