大慧普覺禪師語錄 25.17

25.17

Your letter states: 'Since arriving in the city, putting on clothes and eating food, holding my child and playing with my grandson, everything is just as before. Having eliminated grasping feelings of obstruction, I also make no notion of anything extraordinary; past habits and old obstacles have also become slightly lighter.' Reading these words three times over, I leaped with joy; this is indeed the verification of studying Buddhism. If not an extraordinary great person who, in a single laugh, brings a hundred things to completion and a thousand things to rest, one cannot know that our house truly possesses the wonder that is not transmitted. If it were not so, the dharma-gate of the two words 'doubt' and 'anger' could ultimately never be destroyed through all future time. Even if empty space were made into Yunmen's mouth, and grasses, trees, tiles, and stones all emitted light to assist in explaining the principles, it would be of no avail. Only then does one believe that this matter cannot be transmitted and cannot be studied; one must personally verify and awaken to it oneself, personally approve and bring it to rest oneself, before one reaches the end. Now, in a single laugh, you have instantly forgotten what was attained; what more can be said? The yellow-faced old fellow said: 'Do not grasp at what sentient beings speak of, all conditioned, false, and illusory matters. Although not relying on the path of words, also do not attach to wordlessness.' What your letter says—having eliminated grasping feelings of obstruction, and also making no notion of anything extraordinary—silently accords with what the yellow-faced old fellow said. To speak in this way is called the Buddha's teaching; departing from this speech is the teaching of Pāpīmān. This rustic mountain monk in the past made a great vow: I would rather take this body to endure the suffering of hell on behalf of all sentient beings than ever use this mouth to make the Buddha-Dharma into human sentiment and blind the eyes of everyone. Since you have already reached such a stage and personally know that this matter is not obtained from others, just remain as before and do not ask whether the Great Dharma is clear or not, or whether your response to conditions is obstructed or not; if you produce such thoughts, then you are not remaining as before. Hearing that you can come out again only after spending the summer is very much to this ill monk's liking; if you were to rush about feverishly seeking without rest, it would not be fitting. The other day I saw your extreme joy, and for that reason I did not dare to expose it completely, fearing it would harm the speech; now that the joy has settled, I only now dare point out that this matter is extremely difficult—you must produce shame before you can succeed. Often those of sharp roots and superior wisdom obtain it without spending effort, and thereupon produce a mind of ease, neglecting cultivation; they are mostly snatched away by the objects before their eyes, unable to be their own master, and as days and months deepen, they go astray and do not return. When the power of the Way cannot overcome the power of karma, Māra finds his opportunity, and one is definitely taken hold of by Māra, having no strength at the end of life either. By all means remember: as for the words spoken the other day, in principle there is sudden awakening, and riding upon awakening [delusions] are simultaneously dissolved; in phenomena there is gradual elimination, which is exhausted through sequential stages. In walking, standing, sitting, and reclining, you must never forget this. The various differing words and phrases of the ancients can none of them be taken as real, yet neither can they be taken as empty; after a long time of thorough maturity, you will naturally and silently accord with your own original mind; there is no need to seek something distinct, superior, or extraordinary. Formerly, while picking vines, Monk Shuiliao asked Mazu: 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' The Patriarch said: 'Come forward, and I will tell you.' As soon as Shuiliao stepped forward, Mazu kicked him squarely in the chest and knocked him down. Shuiliao unconsciously got up, clapped his hands, and laughed heartily: 'Ha, ha!' The Patriarch said: 'What principle did you see that you laugh?' Shuiliao said: 'Hundreds of thousands of dharma-gates and boundless subtle meanings—today, on the tip of a single hair, I have completely recognized their source.' Mazu then paid him no further attention. Xuefeng knew that Gushan's conditions were ripe; one day he suddenly grabbed him by the chest and said: 'What is this?' Gushan was thoroughly awakened, and his conscious mind vanished; he only smiled, raised his hands, and waved them. Xuefeng said: 'Are you making a principle of it?' Gushan again waved his hands and said: 'Venerable monk, what principle could there be?' Xuefeng then dropped it. Chan Master Daoming of Mengshan pursued Postulant Lu to the Dayu Ridge to seize the robe and bowl. Lord Lu threw them onto a rock and said: 'This robe signifies faith; can it be contended for by force?' Leaving Lord Lu to take them, Ming tried to lift them but could not move them. He then said: 'I seek the Dharma, not the robe and bowl. I pray the postulant will give me instruction.' Lord Lu said: 'Do not think of good, do not think of evil; right at this very moment, what is the elder's original face?' Ming was greatly awakened at that moment, sweat streaming all over his body; weeping tears, he bowed and said: 'Aside from the secret words and secret meanings from above, is there still any further meaning?' Lord Lu said: 'What I have spoken to you now is not a secret meaning. If you reflect back upon your own face, the secret is on your side. If I could speak it, it would not be a secret.' Taking these three elders' three cases to compare with your being relieved in a single laugh, how do they compare in excellence? Please judge for yourself and see: is there still any other extraordinary principle? If there were still something else, it would be as though you had never been relieved. Just know how to be a buddha; do not worry that the buddha does not understand words. From ancient times, when people who attained the Way had their own selves fulfilled, extending the surplus of themselves to respond to capacities and encounter phenomena, they were like a bright mirror on its stand or a luminous pearl in the palm: when a foreigner comes, a foreigner appears; when a Han person comes, a Han person appears—it is without deliberation. If one deliberates, there would be a real dharma given to people. If you wish the Great Dharma to be clear and your response to conditions unobstructed, just remain as before and have no need to ask others; after a long time, you will naturally nod in assent. As for the words personally spoken at your departure, please write them to the right of your seat. Other than this, there is nothing else to say; even if there were, for your part they would all become superfluous words. The entangling vines are too many; let us set this matter aside for now.