大慧普覺禪師語錄 9

English (machine translation) 9

Language: English

9.1

Presented to the Emperor by his subject Yunmen, Abbot of Nengren Chan Monastery on Jingshan and Dharma Heir Chan Master Huiri.

Holding the whisk, a monk asked: "An iron caltrop in a furnace of myriad smeltings—when blocking the path, even buddhas and patriarchs cannot brook it. Now, taking it up freely with the hand for use, how, may I ask, do you speak of this dynamic?" The Master said, "There is no such idle furniture here." The monk proceeded: "Just as you extensively spread this seat, is that idle or not idle?" The Master said, "When the skull is crushed to powder, one feels no pain." The monk proceeded: "One might say an iron whip points out the barbarian's path, / bending the bow originally for the sake of later generations." The Master said, "Where is the iron caltrop?" The monk pressed forward: "Za!" The Master said, "Laughing the patch-robed monks to death!" Then he said: "In Yimen of old, family ugliness was displayed, / bringing forth boundless thorny water-chestnut burrs; / today, atop the solitary peak of Ou, / fortunately without incident, we meet again. Setting aside meeting again, how is the matter within? If anyone can speak a phrase, please each return to the hall; if you cannot speak, I will spin out entanglement-vines to deceive you all. Before the buddhas appeared in the world, there was this grasp on things; each and every person radiated a great precious light from atop the crown. After they appeared in the world, news was utterly absent; beneath each person's heels it went crisscross in all directions. Where there is a buddha, you must not stay; where there is no buddha, run past swiftly. If pressed and you cannot respond, your nostrils will be pierced through three thousand miles away. Coming to this point, even if you place boundless lands on the tip of a single hair—just this tip of a hair, from where did it come? If you contain a hundred billion Mount Sumerus in a single grain of millet—just this single grain of millet, where will you place it? If it is like this, then it is easy; if it is not like this, then it is difficult—cease searching in words, do not seek within conceptions! If it is like this, then it is difficult; if it is not like this, then it is easy—recognize the intention at the hook's tip, do not fixate on the star of the steelyard scale! A patch-robed monk's staff: take it up and go immediately; by no means drive a stake and row the oar on level ground! Therefore it is said: 'The divine light is never dimmed; an illustrious model for ten thousand ages. Having entered this gate, harbor no conceptual understanding.' Take the teachings of the entire Great Canon: speaking of provisional and real, speaking of sudden and gradual, speaking of existence and non-existence, and even the generations of patriarchs in India and this land, all good spiritual friends past and present, with their diverse words and diverse functions—tell me: is that conceptual understanding, or is it not conceptual understanding? If you can settle it, the senior monk holding the whisk suffers a total defeat; if you cannot settle it, I will splash a second ladle of foul water." He gave a shout and said, "What is it? Having illumination and function, without facing or opposing; only the Old Barbarian is permitted to know, the Old Barbarian is not permitted to understand. Muzhou was completely one-sided carrying a board; Zhaozhou bought high and sold cheap; only Sansheng's blind donkey has until today been laughed at and blamed by people. Mount Sumeru jutting out from beside your temples, ocean water pouring into your nostrils—setting that aside for now, Great Master Ma said, 'Ever since the rebellion, for thirty years I have never lacked salt and sauce.' How do you discuss this? Do you fully understand? The calendar of many years has had no one asking about it; / suddenly taken up, it grieves one to death." He gave a shout, and again cited: "Yantou visited Deshan; just as he stepped across the threshold, he asked, 'Common or sacred?' Shan gave a shout, and Tou bowed. Later a monk related this to Dongshan. Dongshan said, 'If it were not Master Huo, it would have been very hard to bear.' When Yantou heard this, he said, 'The old fellow Dongshan does not recognize good from bad and misapplies terms. At that time, with one hand I lifted up, and with one hand I pressed down.'" The Master said, "A fierce tiger does not recognize the trap, and dies in the trap; a flood dragon does not fear the sword, and perishes beneath the sword. Although Yantou had a way of breakthrough within the tiger's trap and a dynamic of escape on the sword's edge, if examined carefully, he still lacked awakening. Right now, is there anyone who can take charge for Yantou? Come forward and meet with Senior Monk Gao!" After a long pause, he gave a shout, clapped his hands once, and said, "Almost keeping a prisoner to foster wit."

9.3

Holding the whisk on the winter solstice, [the Master said]: "Opening the doors and windows wide, even a skillful hand cannot paint it. Who is this right in front of the veranda? Raising your eyes, you have already missed it. It is not mind, not buddha, not a thing, not Chan, not the Way; the buddhas of the three periods cannot fully speak of it, and the patriarchs of the six generations could not transmit it. To proceed just like this is merely to be a holeless iron hammer; even if you get out of the forest of thorns, you will inevitably die on flat ground. Therefore it is said: 'Words do not unfold the matter; speech does not tally with the fundamental. Those who accept words are lost; those who stagnate in phrases are deluded.' Suppose someone transcends emotional defilements and goes beyond external things, neither accepting words nor stagnating in phrases, discerning the Patriarch atop the myriad blades of grass and recognizing himself in the bustling market—just like a dragon gaining water or a tiger leaning against a mountain, beneath his heels he deserves three thousand blows in the morning and eight hundred in the evening. Why? In my king's treasury there is no such sword. If one is a wayfarer of exceptional caliber, one certainly does not act in this manner. Although that is so, if the law is enforced to the utmost, there will be no subjects left. Tonight I open a path to meet you all." Raising his fly-whisk, he said, "The way of the gentleman grows." Drawing a line with it, he said, "The way of the petty person wanes. A single drop of water freezes drop by drop; the seasonal nodes show no mercy. The nose-ropes of wildcats and white oxen are snapped; hiding in the depths of the water, they are burned by fire." He struck the meditation couch once, and further cited: "Benren instructed the assembly, saying: 'Usually I do not wish to play tricks with other people's sons and daughters before sound and after phrases. Why? Because sound is not sound, and form is not form.' A monk asked: 'What is it that sound is not sound?' Benren said: 'Can you call it form?' The monk said: 'What is it that form is not form?' Benren said: 'Can you call it sound?' The monk bowed. Benren said: 'Tell me: am I speaking for you, or answering your words? If someone can distinguish this, I grant that you have an entry.'" The Master said: "Benren used a single string of Yunju coins to swap out the eyes of everyone in the world, yet he had his nostrils pierced without moving weapons by this monk using a piece of broken-up rope. Later, Old Man Shun commented: 'Benren had already entered the weeds, and this monk fell into a deep village again. However, the song of 'Spring Snow' is hard for contemporaries to harmonize with, whereas village songs and local dances blend in with people everywhere.'" The Master said: "Old Man Shun is right enough, but he could not avoid being swept along with the stir. The elder holding the whisk does not spare his eyebrows to lay it bare for you all. Sound is not sound, form is not form; behind the horse, in front of the donkey, appearing like spirits and vanishing like ghosts. The song of 'Spring Snow' is not harmonized with; village songs and local dances are just a muddle." Striking the meditation couch with his fly-whisk, he said, "This definitely is not sound." Raising it again, he said, "This definitely is not form. But ultimately, what is it?" He gave a shout and said, "If you do not investigate the source at this time, you will have to wait until the future to ask Maitreya."

9.4

Court Gentleman Han Dequan requested [the Master] to hold the whisk. A monk asked, "When Bodhidharma came from the west, what did he transmit?" The Master said, "One must not take it entirely as the views of a wild fox spirit." The monk asked, "What is entering the subtle from the coarse?" The Master said, "A single pore inside the Ocean of Fragrant Waters." The monk asked, "What is entering the coarse from the subtle?" The Master said, "The Ocean of Fragrant Waters inside a single pore." The monk asked, "Why are you, Venerable Monk, turned upside down instead?" The Master said, "From the start there has been a bit of that." [The monk] asked, "How is it when a three-legged donkey gallops along?" The Master said, "It stomps through Zhaozhou's footbridge." Then he said: "'What is it, what is it?'—smashing open the inexhaustible storehouse. 'Thus, thus'—brushing past great empty space. 'So or not so'—penetrating straight through, one is still leaning on fences and groping along walls, a dead man standing on the ground. To further intend to take a step forward, 'how and why,' is precisely the external paths and demonic hordes destroying the Indian race. Right now, are there any seeds of our house? If so, come forth and vent your spleen on behalf of the assembly; if not, watch me smear ashes and paste mud once more. The marvelous nature is completely luminous, apart from all names and characteristics. Originally there are no worlds or sentient beings; due to delusion there is arising, and due to arising there is ceasing. Arising and ceasing are called delusion; the ceasing of delusion is called reality." He gave a shout and said: "If the Old Fellow of the Śākya clan had delivered this shout at that time, he would have avoided giving himself away. Why? Since it is completely luminous and apart from characteristics, after all, where does delusion arise from? Where is reality born from? Where does arising come from? Where does ceasing go to? If you see through this thoroughly, the mountains, rivers, the great earth, the forest of myriad phenomena, the four sages and six ordinary states, the sentient and the insentient, without needing a single squeeze, are seen to thaw like ice and shatter like tiles. Arriving here, there is no Chan, no Way, no mind, no nature, no profundity, and no marvel: completely exposed, bare and clean, with nothing to grasp. Even if you proceed just like this and buy straw sandals to wander on foot for thirty years, you haven't yet dreamed of the patch-robed monk's breath. And tell me: what strong point does a patch-robed monk have?" After a long pause, he said, "Flashing lightning blazes open the eye on the crown of the head; across the ravine, an ape's cry sounds chilly." He further cited: "Xuefeng asked a monk: 'Where did you leave recently?' The monk said: 'Fuchuan [Overturned Boat].' Xuefeng said: 'Not yet having crossed the sea of birth and death, why have you overturned your boat?' The monk had no words. He returned and related this to Fuchuan. Fuchuan said: 'Why didn't you say that he has no birth and death?' The monk went to Xuefeng again. Xuefeng cited the previous words again to ask the monk. The monk said: 'He has no birth and death.' Xuefeng said: 'These are not your words.' The monk said: 'It was Fuchuan who spoke like this.' Xuefeng said: 'I have twenty blows of the staff to send to Fuchuan, and twenty blows for this old monk to take himself, but none of it concerns you, ācārya.'" The Master said: "The adept lineage master naturally still possesses it; although that is so, the mind of a thief is anxious. Granted that it does not concern this monk, why should he take twenty blows himself? Just add another twenty blows and simply hit Fuchuan, and that is enough. And tell me: where was his fault? Being so advanced in years, he shouldn't have spoken on someone else's behalf."

9.5

Holding the whisk on New Year's Day, a monk asked, "The old year has gone and the new year has arrived; is there still something that does not involve the new or the old?" The Master said, "There is." The monk asked, "What is that which does not involve the new or the old?" The Master said, "Buddhas, bodhisattvas, beasts, donkeys, and horses." The monk said, "Tonight, giving out a little, I have met with a great deal." The Master said, "I had already entered the wild weeds for no reason, and you have jumped into a cesspool again." The monk said, "Neither of us finds an advantage." The Master said, "Sure enough, you follow along after me." Then he said: "'Taking a step forward from the hundred-foot pole'—from where did you get this news? 'Revealing a working before the peak of ten thousand fathoms'—falling into the nest and burrow of contemporaries. Do not falsely imagine; put it down. When you are willing to take charge at the place where tricks are exhausted, the tip of the nose-rope is in my hand. Therefore Nanquan said: 'Leading an ox to pasture east of the stream, it inevitably eats the king's water and grass; leading an ox to pasture west of the stream, it also inevitably eats the king's water and grass; it is better to offer up a little according to one's lot, and then none of it is seen.' Elder Gao will offer up a little according to his lot." After a long pause, he said, "Śākya closed his room in Magadha, plowing the ground and planting thorns; Vimalakīrti held his tongue in Vaiśālī, clamping a pot over raw iron; Subhūti sang of non-exposition to reveal the Way, offering spoiled rice to idle spirits; Śakra and Brahmā ceased listening while raining flowers, as if someone truly received it. Even if the path upward is not transmitted by the thousand sages, unyielding and lively, with birthlessness borne under the blow, facing the dynamic without seeing a master, this is still scratching an itch through a boot. If none of it is so, one falls into the realm of doing nothing. How then do you open up a pivot and respond to the season?" Suddenly taking his staff, he struck once and said, "Do you understand? A fraction of an inch off, and you are lost by a thousand miles. In early spring it is still cold; it ends and begins again. The Old Fellow of the Śākya clan is a hitching post for donkeys; the entire canon of teachings is scrap waste paper. As when I press my finger the ocean-seal shines with light, the moment you arouse a thought, afflictions arise first. Talks of transcending buddhas and surpassing patriarchs have already slipped past beneath your heels before being spoken. In the end, what about it? Vipaśyin Buddha paid attention long ago, yet up to this day has not attained its marvel." Striking once again, he cited: "A monk asked Jingqing, 'Is there still the Buddha Dharma at the start of the new year, or not?' Jingqing said, 'There is.' The monk said, 'What is the Buddha Dharma at the start of the new year?' Jingqing said, 'The prime month begins good fortune; the myriad things are all renewed.' The monk said, 'Thank you, Master, for answering my question.' Jingqing said, 'This mountain monk has suffered a loss today.' Another monk asked Mingjiao, 'Is there still the Buddha Dharma at the start of the new year, or not?' Mingjiao said, 'No.' The monk said, 'Year after year is a good year, day after day is a good day; why is there none?' Mingjiao said, 'Master Zhang drinks the wine, Master Li gets drunk.' The monk said, 'So advanced in years, yet a dragon's head and a snake's tail.' Mingjiao said, 'This mountain monk has suffered a loss today.'" The Master said: "Of these two venerable elders, one stands atop the highest peak without showing his head, and one walks in the depths of the ocean without wetting his feet. That is right enough, but it cannot avoid some ambiguity. If tonight someone asks Elder Gao, 'Is there still the Buddha Dharma at the start of the new year, or not?' I will simply say to him: 'Today a band of servants in the tea hall are singing village songs and dancing local dances, playing with spirits and ghosts, so much so that the Venerable Chest-Tapper flew into a rage, took Mount Bowl-Peak and hurled it beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, frightening Kauṇḍinya so much that he panicked, rode an exposed pillar backwards, leaped into the nostrils of a board-carrying Chan monk, and knocked down Mount Tianzhu in Shuzhou. The mountain spirit of Mount Anle could not hold back his laughter, and came out, grabbed him by the chest, and said: "Venerable! Since you are called an arhat, transcending the afflictions of the twenty-five states of existence in the triple world and surpassing delimited birth and death, why do you have so much ignorance?" Confronted with this question, he was utterly ashamed, and went back to sit in the third seat in the Buddha Hall, still tapping his chest and ribs, saying: "In heaven above and earth below, I alone am the honored one."'" He said to himself, "Hold on, hold on, Elder Gao! He asked about the Buddha Dharma at the start of the new year, so why did you keep turning somersaults in empty space, uttering hollow fabrications to deceive people?" After a long pause, he said, "Elder Gao has suffered a loss tonight."

9.6

Requested by Xiong Bozhuang to wield the fly-whisk, [the Master said]: "'The characteristic of all phenomena is quiescence and extinction, which cannot be proclaimed in words.' Old Man Śākya, in the kingdom of Magadha, for three weeks had no way to open his mouth. Great Master Bodhidharma, facing Emperor Wu of Liang, did his utmost to uphold [the Dharma], yet could only say 'I do not know.' If one were to sit still throughout, across the whole earth not a single person would bring forth the true and return to the source. Fortunately, the ancient sages had the gate of the secondary truth; what harm is there in clearing a pathway through it? Therefore it is said: 'The pure realm of Suchness: once obliterated, it has never remained; yet able to follow defiled and pure conditions, it thereupon becomes the ten dharmadhātus.'"
He then held up his fly-whisk and said: "This fly-whisk shares with the buddhas of the past, the buddhas of the future, and the buddhas of the present the same compassion and wisdom, the same practice and vows, the same power of benevolence; the same seeing of the eyes, the same hearing of the ears, the same smelling of the nose, the same tasting of the tongue, the same touching of the body, and the same thinking of the mind. Expounding the Dharma according to what is appropriate, for the great bodhisattvas it speaks the six pāramitās, causing each to realize the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas; for the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas it speaks the twelve links of dependent origination and the true principle of the four noble truths, causing each to attain the eight liberations and six supernatural knowledges and realize the bliss of quiescence and extinction; for the celestial assemblies it speaks of how all conditioned things are impermanent and all instruments of pleasure decay and wither, causing each to transcend the three realms; for the human assemblies it speaks the teaching of not being blinded to cause and effect, causing each to cultivate the ten wholesome paths and perpetually purify the three karmas; for the asura assemblies it speaks the teaching of non-self, causing them to abandon arrogance and negligence and abide securely in the stage of forbearance; for the beings suffering extreme torment in the hells it speaks of how the nature of transgressions is neither within, without, nor in between, causing them in a single thought to suddenly transcend the ten grounds; for hungry ghosts and beasts it speaks the teaching of forever severing fundamental ignorance, causing them to abandon hunger, thirst, heat, and torment, and be born among humans and devas. The fly-whisk speaks such Dharma according to what is appropriate in this way, neither adding a single word to nor subtracting a single word from the entire canon of teachings. Do you all have complete faith in this yet? If you do not yet have complete faith, then listen to the fly-whisk restate the verse:"
Thereupon he struck the meditation seat once and said:
"Whether holy or mundane, all are liberated; / Lofty throughout the three realms, uniquely acclaimed the most revered."
He then brought up: "A monk asked Muzhou, 'At the head of the sūtra, the character yi (以) is not formed, nor is the character ba (八); I wonder, what character is it?' Zhou snapped his fingers once and said, 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I do not understand.' Zhou said, 'Having praised and expounded above, boundless superior causes: a toad leaps up to heaven, an earthworm charges across the Eastern Sea.'"
The Master said: "This monk only asked about the single character at the head of the sūtra, yet Muzhou took the diverse wheel of characters of Śilpābhijña, together with the Longkan Shoujian, the Tangyun, and the Yupian, annotated them from the beginning, and scattered them into this monk's bosom. This monk was certainly extraordinary as well, directly willing to undertake it. Tell me, where was the place he undertook it? Listen to this note: The character yi is not formed, nor is the character ba; before the finger-snap ends, it covers heaven and wraps the earth. Striking open the forty-two gates of prajñāpāramitā, thoroughly penetrating Śilpābhijña within the Avataṃsaka assembly; inside the teachings and outside the teachings gathered up all at once; mundane and supramundane fully prepared; boundless transgressions and faults melt like ice before fire; immeasurable superior meanings gather like the sands of the Ganges. There is still a final phrase: Firmly and securely stored forever in the treasury, it all belongs to Xiong Bozhuang before the mountain."

9.7

Wielding the fly-whisk, [the Master said]: "'If you wish to know the meaning of the buddha-nature, you should observe the temporal causes and conditions. When the time arrives, the principle becomes manifest of itself.' Tell me: right now, what time and season is it? Could it be that those who sit, sit, and those who stand, stand? Could it be that the spring rain is like rich oil, and the spring clouds are like cranes? Could it be that the incense smoke coils around, and the lamps and candles shine brightly? Could it be that monks and laypeople mingle together in one assembly? If it is like this, you have seen only one side. You should know that the dust-mote-like buddhas appearing in the world, descending into the royal palace, sitting in the bodhimanda, turning the wheel of the Dharma, subduing the demon armies, delivering sentient beings, and entering nirvāṇa, never go beyond this very time and season. If you can completely believe this, the boundless lands of the kṣetras, self and other are not separated by the tip of a hair; the ten times, ancient and modern, from beginning to end are never separate from the present thought. If you cannot completely believe this, I shall speak grandmotherly Chan: 'The Buddha is not far from man; realize it right in the mind'—a monkey playing with sticky glue. 'Dharma is without attachment; whatever realm is touched is Suchness'—a mangy horse tied to a withered stump. 'Not mind, not buddha, not a thing'—the whole family sent off to the ferryboat. Like this will not do; not like this will not do; both like this and not like this will not do at all—spitting out wild-fox slobber, taking Pingwei San again. If there is a fellow among them who, before taking a shit, leaps straight out, looking at it from high above, it is never enough; evening it out from down below, there is plenty to spare. He can soar high above the three realms, walk alone in the great sphere, cut off the flow of birth and death, and occupy the seat of the buddhas and patriarchs. Even if you proceed like this, you are merely lodging in a grass hut, still dwelling outside the gate. Why? Have you not seen what an ancient said: 'One who speaks words well, speaks what words cannot speak; one who leaves traces well, leaves traces where traces cannot be left.' Leaving traces where traces cannot be left is traceless; speaking what words cannot speak is wordless. Since there are neither words nor traces, the fan in Yunmen's hand leaps up to the thirty-three heavens, strikes the nostrils of Lord Śakra, gives the carp of the Eastern Sea a blow with the staff, and rain pours down in buckets. Ultimately, what principle is this?" He gave a shout and said: "The mountains cut off, one suspects it has ceased; the peaks rising high, it surges up again."
He then brought up: "Longya's verse says: 'Reaching all famous mountains was due to my feet; through years of hardship they wore socks. Now in old age I cannot walk; in my hand I hold a broken wooden ladle.' Reverend Baiyun Duan said: 'Old Man Longya could be called one for whom familiar places are hard to forget.'"
The Master said: "Reverend Duan speaking like this is very much like measuring others by himself. Senior Monk Gao would not do so: A poor household finds it hard to prepare vegetarian food; busy with affairs, there is no time for cursive script."

9.8

Wielding the fly-whisk at the beginning of the summer retreat, [the Master said]: "The single path transcending far prior to sound—yellow-faced Gautama did not know it. A single phrase clearly atop the hundred grasses—the blue-eyed barbarian was at a loss. Where it is bustling, it is utterly quiet; where it is utterly quiet, it is bustling. Directly present like the king's precious sword, who dares face it head-on? If you intend to run against its sharp edge, corpses will lie strewn across ten thousand miles. What more need be said of 'like the earth upholding a mountain, unaware of the mountain's lonely steepness; like a stone containing jade, unaware of the jade's lack of flaw'? What more need be said of 'an elephant crossing the river, cutting off the flow completely to cross over'? What more need be said of 'completely illuminating and completely dark, both releasing and both gathering'? You should know that one who comes thus does not have a single thread hanging on; one who goes thus piles up mountains and amasses peaks. Making the best of a mistake, taking the Great Perfect Enlightenment as my monastery, body and mind dwelling peacefully in the wisdom of equality, for ninety days mixing mud and molding unburnt bricks. Coming to this point, if there were a single path of turning around, one would not be keeping to one's own livelihood; how could one be following the standards of the ancient sages? Therefore it is said: 'With all weapons facing the sage, one rarely encounters an intimate friend; dying together and living together, there is not one in ten thousand.' Tell me: the one who dies together and lives together—what face does he have?"
He suddenly took up his staff and said: "Reverend Zhaozhou has come! A gold buddha does not survive the furnace; a wooden buddha does not survive the fire; a mud buddha does not survive the water." Striking once, he said: "A hundred fragments, without a seam; clear-eyed patch-robed monks are blind, deaf, and mute. Hiding the body at the edge of the vajra-water, galloping horses in the heaven of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. One is all, all is one; the whole earth is a gate of liberation, everyone knows it is there. Tell me: when the practitioner of the Stone Room trod the mortar, why did he forget to move his feet?"
After a long silence, he gave a shout, and then brought up: "Sansheng said, 'Whenever I meet someone, I come out; coming out, I do not act on behalf of the person.' Xinghua said, 'Whenever I meet someone, I do not come out; coming out, I immediately act on behalf of the person.' Reverend Zhenjing said, 'These two old awls stole a little bit of Linji's livelihood, and each set up their own boundaries and territories, their vigor piercing the universe, making clear-eyed people do nothing but laugh.'"
The Master said: "Old Man Zhenjing was very much cheating the deceased. Senior Monk Gao would not do so: Opening wide the path of the three essentials and three mysteries, sitting firmly on the first peak of Sumeru. Tell me: is it on Sansheng's side, or on Xinghua's side? Those with eyes, discern it!"

9.9

Taking up the fly-whisk, a monk asked, "What is it like before the ancient mirror is polished?" The Master said, "Fire does not wait for the sun to be hot." The monk asked further, "What is it like after it is polished?" The Master said, "Wind does not wait for the moon to be cool." The monk asked further, "What is it like at the very time of being polished and not yet polished?" The Master said, "They meet." The monk asked, "'What kind of person is it who does not keep company with the myriad dharmas? When you swallow all the water of the West River in a single gulp, I will tell you.' What is the meaning of this?" The Master said, "Nailing with nails and sticking with glue." He then said: "The essential subtleties of the patriarchs are not sought through competing debates; they strike and ring out to shatter divergent views. Therefore Deshan gave a blow of his staff the moment someone entered the gate, sparks from flint bursting into the blue sky; Linji gave a shout the moment someone entered the gate, dry thunder rumbling through the universe. It is not the dharma before your eyes, nor is it the mechanism of transcendence. If, in 'thus' or 'not thus', you can leap out, you are right inside the nest of entangled vines. How should it be assessed? How should it be discussed and understood? You cannot say that great capacity, great function, and great liberation are completely bare and stark naked, with nothing to grasp, and then simply stop. Will that do or not? Have you not seen Master Fengxue say: 'Even if you apprehend it before words, you are still stuck in the shell and blind to the seal; even though you master it thoroughly under the phrase, you cannot avoid a mad view that runs into obstacles.' If one is a patch-robed monk of genuine character, taking it in at once, one can sit atop sounds and forms and lie atop sounds and forms. Mañjuśrī is of himself Mañjuśrī; liberation is of itself liberation—what bowl of mine does it soil?" After a long pause he said: "To startle the herd must take a heroic fellow; / to contend with the holy is left to the lion's whelp. / If one has no such eyes when choosing a buddha, / even after a thousand ages, what would be the use?" Striking the meditation couch once with his fly-whisk, he then brought up the case: "When Baizhang attended on Mazu for a second time and stood in waiting, the Patriarch raised his fly-whisk. Baizhang said: 'Identical to this function, detached from this function.' The Patriarch hung the fly-whisk back in its former place. After a long pause he said: 'Hereafter, when you open your two lips, how will you act for others?' Baizhang took the fly-whisk and raised it. The Patriarch said: 'Identical to this function, detached from this function.' Baizhang also hung the fly-whisk back in its former place. The Patriarch then gave a shout. Later, when Huangbo came to Baizhang, one day he took his leave, intending to go pay homage to Mazu. Baizhang said: 'Mazu has already passed away.' Huangbo said: 'I have not yet inquired what words and phrases Mazu had.' Baizhang then recounted the circumstances of his second visit, saying: 'At that time, subjected to a single shout from Mazu, I was deafened straightaway for three days.' Hearing this recounted, Huangbo unconsciously stuck out his tongue. Baizhang said: 'Will you not succeed Mazu hereafter?' Huangbo said: 'Not so. Today, because of your recounting, Master, I have come to see Mazu's function of great capacity; yet I do not know Mazu. If I were to succeed Mazu, hereafter I would forfeit my descendants.'" The Master said: "Baizhang was shouted at and straightaway deafened for three days; Huangbo heard it recounted and unconsciously stuck out his tongue; Baizhang suspected him of succeeding Mazu. Later, when Linji three times asked about the great meaning of the Buddhadharma and was three times struck with sixty blows, he vented his anger over those three days of deafness; only then did Linji realize it was like being brushed with a wormwood stalk. I dare ask the great assembly: since there is proof in the master's transmission, why are their applications different? Do you understand? If the waves of Caoxi are alike, / countless ordinary people will drown on dry land."

9.10

A donor requested the Master to take up the fly-whisk for the reading of the Canon: "The Buddha's true Dharma-body is just like empty space; responding to things, it manifests its form, like the moon in the water." Raising his staff, he said: "Old Śākya has arrived! Right atop Senior Monk Gao's staff, he manifests the wondrous form-body and broadly proclaims to the great assembly: 'Within the treasury of Vairocana there is a great scroll of scripture, equal in measure to the trichiliocosm, recording the matters of the trichiliocosm entirely without remainder. With my pure divine eye, I observe that this great scroll of scripture is inside a single dust particle. Tonight, before the assembly of gods and humans, I shall establish a great expedient, break open that single dust particle, bring forth this scroll of scripture, and bring benefit to sentient beings!'" Striking [the floor] once, he called out to the great assembly: "The single dust particle has been broken open, and the great scroll of scripture has come forth: there is sudden and gradual, provisional and real, half and full, center and border, principle and phenomena, fruit and cause; hundreds of thousands of dharma gates and immeasurable wondrous meanings, all worldly and world-transcending dharmas are entirely within it. Can you people still have complete faith in this? If you can have complete faith, you will transcend the three realms, cross the sea of suffering, and attain its use unto the end of future time. If you cannot have complete faith, Old Śākya will retreat back into the staff!" Raising it, he then said: "If you call it Old Śākya, it is again a staff; if you call it a staff, it is again Old Śākya. Old Śākya pierces through the staff; the staff pierces through Old Śākya. Right at this very moment, is it sudden or gradual? Is it provisional or real? Is it half or full? Is it the center or the border? Is it principle or phenomena? Is it cause or fruit? Is it Old Śākya or is it a staff?" He gave a shout and said: "Sudden cannot be attained, gradual cannot be attained, provisional cannot be attained, real cannot be attained, half cannot be attained, full cannot be attained, center cannot be attained, border cannot be attained, principle cannot be attained, phenomena cannot be attained, cause cannot be attained, fruit cannot be attained, Old Śākya cannot be attained, the staff cannot be attained, the single dust particle cannot be attained, the great scroll of scripture cannot be attained, the present expounder of the Dharma cannot be attained, the listeners to the Dharma cannot be attained, and this very 'cannot be attained' cannot be attained either." He then drew a line with his staff and said: "Drawing a line that cuts through the entangled vines." Raising it again, he said: "Right at this very moment, what is the nostril of each and every person?" After a long pause he said: "Where the thousand sages have gone no one knows; / the long sword leaning against heaven chills men with its menace." He struck [the floor] once more, and then brought up the case: "Long ago, an old woman offered money and requested Master Zhaozhou to turn the Great Canon. Zhaozhou stepped down from the meditation couch, circled it once, and said: 'The turning of the Canon is finished.' A person returned and reported this to the old woman. The woman said: 'I originally asked for the turning of a whole canon; why did the Master turn only half a canon?'" The Master said: "Those in the assembly deliberate, saying: 'What is that other half of the canon?' Some say: 'Circling it once more; or snapping the fingers once, or giving a cough, or giving a shout, or clapping the hands once.' Such views are simply shameless. If it is that other half of the canon, not only if Zhaozhou had circled it once more—even if he had circled it hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of times, from the old woman's standpoint it would still be only half a canon. Even if he were to circle Mount Sumeru hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of times, from the old woman's standpoint it would also be only half a canon. Even if all the old masters under heaven were also to circle it hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of times like this, from the old woman's standpoint it would still be only half a canon. Even if the mountains, rivers, the great earth, and all myriad phenomena, grasses and trees, each possessed the mark of a broad and long tongue and with different mouths spoke the same sound, turning it from today until the end of future time, from the old woman's standpoint it would also be only half a canon. Do you people wish to know the old woman?" After a long pause he said: "Letting you gaze at the embroidered mandarin ducks, / she does not pass the golden needle to anyone."

9.11

Hanging the portrait for Master Gao'an Wu, he held up the portrait scroll and showed it to the assembly, saying: "The true and real exposition atop Lotus Flower Peak; / returning from the Three Pagodas, he revealed the mechanism once again. / The path at both places is thoroughly liberated; / not a dust speck in the lands fails to shine fully with radiance. / The radiance is indeed what everyone knows exists; but tell me: where is the original face of the old man Gao'an? Do you understand thoroughly? Before beings and buddhas were equipped, before the world was formed, his eyebrows and eyes were distinctly clear, completely manifest. If someone recognizes it here, he will walk hand in hand with this old man, and not make calculations of names and appearances toward the scroll. If it is not yet so, Yunmen cannot avoid following convention and becoming topsy-turvy." He then unrolled it and said: "Do you still see? If this is it, there are two of them; if this is not it, you miss it right to its face. Not missing it, there are not two of them: with no position arranged in the Patriarchs' Hall, sit idly for a while in the Pavilion of Utter Stillness."

9.12

End of Taking up the Fly-whisk at the Head Monk's Quarters of Yunju.

9.13

Encounters in the Abbot's Room

9.14

The Master asked a monk, "As soon as Yantou crossed Deshan's threshold, he asked: 'Is it ordinary or holy?' Deshan gave a shout, and Yantou bowed. What is the meaning of this?" The monk said, "Fine news indeed." The Master said, "Where is the good point?" The monk gave a shout. The Master said, "In this shout of yours, there is as yet no host." He went out.

9.15

He asked a monk, "'It is not mind, it is not buddha, it is not a thing'—how do you understand this?" The monk said, "I receive it." The Master said, "Receive the spirits of the seven generations of ancestors in your house!" The monk gave a shout. The Master said, "Just now you received it, and now you shout; what business does that have with 'it is not mind, it is not buddha, it is not a thing'?" The monk was speechless. The Master struck him and drove him out.

9.16

He asked a monk, "'When meeting a person who has attained the Way on the road, what will you do if you do not face them with speech or silence?'" The monk said, "Take care," and walked away. The Master laughed heartily. Next, another monk entered. The Master said, "Just now I asked this monk: 'When meeting a person who has attained the Way on the road, what will you do if you do not face them with speech or silence?' He said, 'Take care,' and walked away. Do you say he understood or did not understand?" The monk was about to make inquiries, and the Master struck him and drove him out.

9.17

He asked a monk, "'What kind of person is it who does not keep company with the myriad dharmas?'" The monk said, "A fellow with no face." The Master said, "Just now there was a monk who spoke like this, and he was beaten and driven out." The monk hesitated, and the Master struck him.

9.18

He asked a monk, "The National Teacher called his attendant three times; what was the intention?" The monk said, "When fish swim, the water becomes muddy." The Master said, "Do not talk nonsense." The monk was speechless, and the Master struck him.

9.19

He asked a monk, "Great Master Ma said: 'Ever since the rebellion, for thirty years I have never lacked salt or sauce.' What is the meaning of this?" The monk said, "According with the household's abundance or frugality." The Master said, "A fine 'according with the household's abundance or frugality,' but you simply do not understand." The monk hesitated, and the Master shouted him out.

9.20

A monk asked for further instruction, saying, "I do not know where I will go after death." The Master said, "Right now, are you alive or dead?" The monk said, "I say neither living nor dead." The Master said, "You Jianyuan slave!" The monk hesitated, and the Master struck him and drove him out. He then asked another monk, "Just now this monk incurred a total defeat; do you know it?" The monk said, "I know it." The Master struck him and drove him out as well.

9.21

He asked a monk, "Regarding Xiangyan's 'up a tree' case, how do you understand it?" The monk said, "Fine to sing 'The Partridge' facing the spring breeze." The Master said, "Tiger head." A senior monk stepped forward from the assembly and said, "Not asking about being up in the tree, please tell, Master, what about before climbing the tree?" The monk said, "Just now I have already told the Master." The Master said, "Is 'Fine to sing The Partridge facing the spring breeze' a phrase from up in the tree or a phrase from down under the tree?" The monk had no reply, and the Master struck him.

9.22

He asked a monk, "'Thus' will not do, 'not thus' will not do, 'thus or not thus' will not do at all. What about it?" The monk said, "All will do." The Master said, "Casting away the sweet peach tree, you climb the mountain to pick sour pears."

9.23

He asked a monk, "Tell me, does Chan still admit of instruction or not?" The monk said, "For ten thousand leagues, a single piece of iron." The Master said, "What can you do about there being a Maitreya inside the Guanyin Hall?" The monk hesitated; the Master drove him out with blows.

9.24

A monk asked for further instruction regarding the case of Jiashan's environment. Before the sound of his words had ended, the Master shouted. The monk was at a loss. The Master said, "What were you asking?" The monk prepared to bring it up again; the Master gave him repeated blows, shouted, and drove him out.

9.25

He asked a monk, "'The Way needs no cultivation, just do not defile it.' What is the Way that is not defiled?" The monk said, "I dare not speak." The Master said, "Why do you not dare speak?" The monk said, "I fear defiling it." The Master called out in a loud voice, "Postulant, bring the dung basket and broom!" The monk was at a loss; the Master drove him out with blows.

9.26

As soon as the Master saw a monk enter, he said, "Not right, get out." The monk went out. The Master said, "A great man of immeasurable stature, turned around by the thread of words!" Next, a monk entered. The Master also said, "Not right, get out." The monk instead stepped forward. The Master said, "I told you it is not right; why step further forward seeking something?" and drove him out with blows. Another monk entered and said, "Just now those two monks did not understand the Venerable's intention." The Master lowered his head and let out a sigh. The monk was at a loss. The Master then struck him and said, "Yet you understand this old monk's intention!"

9.27

He asked a monk, "'The purity of the knowledge of all knowledges is non-dual and undivided, because it is without distinction and without interruption.' How do you understand this?" The monk said, "'The purity of the knowledge of all knowledges is non-dual and undivided, because it is without distinction and without interruption'—I understand it just like this." The Master said in a loud voice, "Bring the cat here!" The monk was speechless; the Master shouted him out.

9.28

He asked a monk, "The day before yesterday I left a question with you, and you already answered me the day before yesterday. Why are you dozing off right now?" The monk said, "Thus, thus." The Master said, "What are you saying?" The monk said, "Not so, not so." The Master gave him two successive blows with his staff and said, "One blow strikes your 'thus,' and one blow strikes your 'not so.'"

9.29

As soon as the Master saw a monk enter, he said, "The buddhas and bodhisattvas, beasts, donkeys, and horses, the cypress tree in the courtyard, three pounds of hemp, a dry shit-stick—you are an unruly thief!" The monk said, "I have long known the Venerable possesses this pivotal technique." The Master said, "I have already entered the overgrown grass for no reason, and you do not even notice the stench of shit." The monk flicked his sleeves and went out. The Master said, "Alas, O Buddha!"

9.30

As soon as the Master saw a monk enter, he said, "You do not understand, get out." The monk went out. Next, a monk entered, and the Master likewise said, "You do not understand, get out." That monk also went out. Another monk entered, and the Master said, "Of the two elders just now, one knew how to gather in but not how to let go, and one knew how to let go but not how to gather in. Can you distinguish them?" The monk said, "The charge has been acknowledged and accepted." The Master said, "After accepting it, what other good news is there?" The monk clapped his hands once and went out. The Master said, "You will attain awakening thirty years from now."

9.31

He asked a monk, "What is your name?" The monk said, "Faroo (Dharma-Thusness)." The Master said, "Are the monks' hall and the Buddha hall 'thus'?" The monk said, "Thus." The Master said, "This old monk has been seen through by you." The monk hesitated; the Master struck him.

9.32

He asked a monk, "Do you still remember the huatou?" The monk said, "I do not remember." The Master said, "What business do you have coming here?" and struck him.

9.33

He asked a monk, "Wuzu said, 'Zhaozhou's "a dog has no buddha-nature" is still a hundred thousand times superior to a cat.' What about it?" The monk said, "When the wind blows, the grass bends." The Master said, "You are not speaking recklessly either; but how do you understand it?" The monk was speechless. The Master said, "One who merely parrots words!" and drove him out with blows.

9.34

As soon as the Master saw a monk enter, he said, "Old Śākya has arrived!" The monk stepped forward. The Master said, "So it was not him after all," and struck him. Next, a monk entered, and the Master likewise said, "Old Śākya has arrived!" The monk made a greeting right to his face and went out. The Master said, "He really seemed like the real thing."

9.35

He asked his attendant, "So many people have entered my room; how many hit the mark, and how many missed the mark?" The attendant said, "I only watch." The Master held out his hand and said, "How does my hand resemble a Buddha's hand?" The attendant said, "The weather is cold; please tuck your hands into your sleeves, Venerable," and walked away. The Master struck him from behind with a bamboo comb, saying, "Tell me: is this rewarding you or punishing you?"

9.36

Encounter Dialogues in the Abbot's Room, Fascicle Nine

Linked texts (1)

大慧普覺禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese