大慧普覺禪師語錄 23.11

23.11

The Patriarch said: 'The ground of the mind is spoken of in accord with the times; bodhi is also just tranquil. Phenomenon and principle are both unhindered; what is currently born is unborn.' If you wish to understand this principle, just sweep away at once to other realms what you have attained in your usual seated meditation, what you have attained in studying the scriptures and teachings, what you have remembered from recorded sayings, and what you have comprehended from the words of ancestral masters; and then leisurely and carefully observe: Why is it that whenever Deshan saw a monk enter the gate, he would immediately strike him? Why is it that whenever Linji saw a monk enter the gate, he would immediately shout? If you recognize where the two great elders functioned, then in your daily life, in encountering objects and meeting circumstances, you will not make of it worldly diffusion, nor will you make of it Buddhist theoretical doctrine. Once you do not adhere to these two extremes, you must know that you will naturally have a living pathway. Do you not see that one day, when Linji was attending upon Deshan, Deshan stood for a long time, then suddenly turned around and said, 'This old fellow is tired today.' Linji said, 'Why does this old fellow talk in his sleep?' When Deshan made to pick up his staff to strike him, Linji pushed over the meditation bed. Look at him: he was a fellow who had settled his affair; when meeting casually on the road, naturally each had a way out. Later, Chan Master Yunfeng Yue brought this up and said, 'These two masters pressed each other and pushed each other down, faintly revealing their style; it is much like holding hands to climb a high mountain. Even so, it cannot escape looking disgraceful to an onlooker. Tell me, who is the onlooker?' After a long pause, he gave a shout. According to what Miaoxi sees, Yunfeng also could not avoid wallowing in mud and mixing with water; they deserve to be indicted together with these two old fellows on the same charge and buried in the same pit. Tell me: where is the fault? Layman Yiwu has planted roots of virtue long ago and has arrived at faith in this one great matter of causes and conditions. Although in the midst of worldly toil, he can reflect upon himself; although he has not yet cut straight through with a single stroke of the sword and directly cut off the heads of the retribution and transformation buddhas, he nevertheless naturally has an entry through faith, like a tiger three days old that already has the spirit to devour an ox. To walk a thousand li begins with a single step; since the first step has been taken without error, you must directly expand and fulfill it, definitely knowing where the buddhas of the three periods failed, where the patriarchs of the six generations failed, and where Miaoxi failed; only then can you open your own treasury, bring out your own family wealth, and relieve everyone. Would that not be the intention of a lay bodhisattva? Strive on! Strive on!