密菴和尚語錄 1.195

1.195

小參：「盡大地撮來如粟米粒大，拋向面前，有眼者見，有耳者聞。要且不是心、不是佛、不是物、不是禪道佛法，亦非少室單傳。靈利漢聞與麼告報，如慣戰良馬聞鑼鼓聲，渾身痒簇簇地，千人萬人羅籠不住。有口說不到，有耳聽不聞，有眼覷不透，三世諸佛仰望不及；六代祖師提掇不起；天下老和尚摸𢱢不著；一大藏教詮注不及。黃面老子得此柄霸入手，便道：『未離兜率，已降王宮，未出母胎，度人已畢。』達磨大師得箇消息便道：『單傳心印，不立文字，直指人心，見性成佛。』爾後一人傳虛，萬人傳實，互相激揚。如天普蓋，似地普擎，寂寥非內，寬廓非外。及至德山、臨濟出來各逞威權，行棒行喝傍若無人；雪峯輥三毬；俱胝竪一指；汾州莫妄想；玄沙因我得禮爾。以至從上老凍齈，全提半提，直是天下無敵。正眼觀來，於自己本分事大似隔靴抓癢，有什麼快活處？遮些出格巴鼻，除非當人自肯知非退步，就己脚跟下推勘到詞窮理盡無告訴處，本地風光頓爾現前，四大五蘊一時脫落，空索索地。如人拾得至寶，終不說向人我寶重幾兩直幾錢，明眼漢沒窠臼，擬不擬便斬為三段。」復云：「記得先應庵在蔣山時，因大慧禪師至，陞座舉佛眼和尚做無為軍化主，路中著跌有箇省處，歸來舉似五祖。後在客司，因夜坐撥火忽然猛省。雖然如是，每至入室未能深入閫奧，從容請益五祖，祖云：『我為爾說箇喻子：正如一人牽一頭牛從窓櫺中過，兩角四蹄俱過了，唯有尾巴過不得。』某自虎丘先師處聞此語在肚皮裏，信知在今天下無人理會得，所以密之三寸，今日不因師叔老師到來，小姪此生無因拈出。敢問大眾，既是大底過了，如何尾巴過不得？且道誵訛在什麼處？小姪今日對眾拈出，供養師叔大和尚，願與趙州同年，為佛法作大主張，使天下衲僧洞徹此一段奇特大事。」師乃云：「先師舉了也是渾崘吞箇棗，至今未有人動著，今夜從頭說破，也要共知五祖和尚錯舉，先師亦乃錯傳，山僧不免將錯就錯。」驀拈拄杖，卓一下云：「錯錯！空裏磨盤生八角。」喝一喝，擲拄杖下座。

An informal gathering: "Taking up the great earth, it is gathered together like a grain of millet and tossed before you: those with eyes see it; those with ears hear it. Yet it is not mind, not Buddha, not things, not Zen, the Way, or the Buddha Dharma, nor is it the special transmission of Shaoshi. When a sharp fellow hears such an announcement, he is like a warhorse hearing gongs and drums—his whole body bristling with eager itch, unboundable by thousands or tens of thousands of people. Mouths cannot speak it, ears cannot hear it, eyes cannot see through it. The Buddhas of the three periods cannot gaze up to reach it; the six generations of patriarchs cannot lift it up; old venerable monks throughout the realm cannot lay hands on it; the entire great canon of teachings cannot fully comment upon it. When the yellow-faced old fellow got this handle into his grip, he said: 'Before leaving Tuṣita, he had already descended into the royal palace; before emerging from his mother's womb, he had finished saving beings.' When Great Master Bodhidharma caught wind of this news, he said: 'A special transmission outside the teachings, not established on written words, directly pointing to the human mind, seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha.' Thereafter, one person transmitted the fiction, and ten thousand people transmitted it as truth, stirring each other up. Like heaven, it universally covers; like earth, it universally supports; solitary and empty, it is not inside; vast and open, it is not outside. By the time Deshan and Linji came forth, each brandished their authority, swinging the staff and letting out shouts as if no one else were around: Xuefeng rolled three balls; Juzhi held up one finger; Fenzhou said, 'Do not harbor false thoughts'; Xuansha said, 'Because of me, you receive respect.' Down to the ancient dry bones of old, whether fully bringing it forth or halfway bringing it forth, they were truly unrivaled under heaven. Viewed with the true eye, regarding one's own fundamental matter, this is very much like scratching an itch from outside one's boot—what joy is there in it? These extraordinary points of departure cannot be known unless one is willing to acknowledge one's own fault and take a step back, investigating beneath one's own heels until words are exhausted and reasoning ends, with nowhere left to turn; then one's native ground suddenly manifests before oneself, and the four great elements and five aggregates fall away all at once, completely bare and open. Like someone who has found a supreme treasure, they never say to others how many ounces their treasure weighs or how much it is worth. A clear-eyed fellow has no set mold; whether you hesitate or do not hesitate, he cuts you straight into three pieces." He further said: "I recall when the late Ying'an was at Jiangshan, because Chan Master Dahui arrived, he ascended the seat and brought up: When Venerable Foyan was serving as the fund-raising superintendent for Wuwei Commandery, he stumbled on the road and had an awakening, and upon his return he related it to Wuzu. Later, while in the guest quarters, sitting at night poking the fire, he suddenly had a powerful awakening. Even so, each time he entered the room, he was unable to penetrate deeply into the inner sanctum. Calmly asking for further instruction from Wuzu, Wuzu said: 'I will give you an analogy: it is just like someone leading a water buffalo through a window lattice. The two horns and four hooves have all passed through; only the tail cannot pass through.' When I heard these words in my belly from my late master of Huqiu, I truly knew that nowadays no one in the realm understands it. Therefore I kept it secret within three inches. Today, were it not for the arrival of my venerable uncle-master, this small nephew would have had no cause to bring it forth in this lifetime. I venture to ask the great assembly: since the large parts have already passed through, why cannot the tail pass through? Tell me, where does the hitch lie? Today, this small nephew brings it forth before the assembly as an offering to the great Venerable, my uncle-master, wishing that you share the same longevity as Zhaozhou, serving as the great authority for the Buddha Dharma, causing the patch-robed monks of the realm to thoroughly penetrate this extraordinary great matter." The master then said: "The late master's bringing it up was also swallowing a date whole; to this day no one has stirred it. Tonight I will expose it from the very beginning, so that everyone may know that Venerable Wuzu made an error in bringing it up, and my late master also made an error in transmitting it. This mountain monk cannot avoid compounding error upon error." He abruptly picked up his staff, struck it once, and said: "Wrong, wrong! In empty space, the millstone grows eight corners." Giving a shout, he threw down his staff and descended from the seat.