密菴和尚語錄 1.200

1.200

普說：「時光如箭急。始見結制又過了二十日。兄弟自己事如何？一等是拋離父母，挑囊負鉢蹈破草鞋，直須硬著脊梁窮究，教徹頭徹尾去，莫只半青半黃似有似無。向長連床上閉眉合眼，不是冥然無知，直是惺惺歷歷，上不見有諸佛可仰、下不見有眾生可度、中不見有自己可愛，只覺肚裏熱閧閧地快活無比。默自點頭，以謂天下無雙，才跳下床都不見了，被人把斷咽喉推勘又却去不得。何故？只為不曾親證親悟，乃是暫息塵緣，認得眼前些子光影以為究竟，此病最苦。所以雲門道：『光不透脫有兩般病，一切處不明，面前有物是一；又透得法空，隱隱地似有箇物相似，亦是光不透脫。又法身亦有兩般病：為法執不忘，已見猶存，坐在法身邊是一；直饒透得法身去，放過則不可，子細撿點將來有什麼氣息，亦是病。』雲門大師向人著手脚不及處痛下一錐，也只要諸人回頭轉腦。若是親證親悟大法明底人，說什麼把斷咽喉，渠自有超宗異目生涯。開眼時，也只恁麼湛湛地；閉眼時，也只恁麼湛湛地；上刀山攀劍樹，也只恁麼湛湛地；上三十三天，也只恁麼湛湛地。與平常人初無二樣，不作許多般鬼怪，只是肚裏逈別，等閑被人挨拶著，便如火星迸散。又如水上按葫蘆相似，轉轆轆地，誰能攔截得住？到遮境界，三世諸佛也覷不破，生死魔軍向甚處摸𢱢？迷悟向甚處栖泊？是非向甚處搖撼？通上徹下，淨裸裸地，赤洒洒地，全體是箇當人受用大解脫門，佛法世法打成一片。有時拈一莖草作丈六金身，有時將丈六金身作一莖草，舒卷自在縱奪臨時。別無他術，只為親證親悟，了達三祇劫空，不被諸塵所轉。而今兄弟未到遮般田地，硬將山河大地，明暗色空，情與無情，差排要歸自己，豈非大錯？見人下拍渠也拍，見人下喝渠也喝，不道爾底不是，輕輕從脚跟下勘，又却不知落處只成脫空，業識忙忙無本可據，深可痛哉！逗到孤燈獨照時，一點氣落上、一點氣落下，面前黑似漆，求死不得求生不得，當此之時悔將何及？莫言不道。所以道：『參須實參，悟須實語，閻羅大王，不怕多語。』兄弟既來此深山窮谷中相聚，傑上座遮裏，也無禪到爾參、也無道到爾學、也無錢到爾使、也無好食到爾喫、也不會順摩捋爾，只有劈胸一拳。爾若參得透，盡未來際受用無盡；若參不透，定向背地裏商量。此箇拳頭，如漫天網子相似，只要諸人跳得出，如斯理論有什麼交涉？每見兄弟來室中下語，多在六根門頭著到，脚步窄狹。今夜一等是入泥入水，據平生管見舉似大眾。昔行脚時入一尊宿室。乃問：『香嚴上樹如何？』對云：『只見錐頭利，不見鑿頭方。』又云：『上座因什麼喪身失命？』對云：『某甲今日倒退三千里。』問云：『此是樹上語樹下語？』對云：『杜撰長老如麻似粟。』聲未絕，尊宿便打，某甲接住云：『未在更道。』尊宿大笑。次見尊宿，乃竪起拂子云：『山河大地明暗色空，總在拂子頭上。』對云：『三千里外賺我來。』宿拂一拂云：『酌然酌然。』某甲把住，拂云：『和尚離却拂子別道。』尊宿笑云：『是拂子作麼生離？』某甲乃倒拂一拂便出。次日入室乃問云：『天人群生類，皆有箇歡喜處。』某叉手進前云：『某甲也無歡喜處。』宿云：『上座為什麼入門便笑？』某甲乃指云：『看遮老和尚當面敗關。』宿便掌，某甲乃笑。宿云：『草賊大敗。』某便出。看來此尊宿下刃遲了。若是傑上座，見他叉手進前，某甲也無歡喜處，便與劈胸一拳，待他擬開口再與一拳。雖然如是，也要諸人檢點。又見一尊宿，乃問：『如何是聖諦第一義？』對云：『一對草鞋三隻子。』宿云：『猶是第二義。』對云：『老老大大，誑惑人男女，有甚了期？』宿大笑。對云：『和尚恁麼為人，閻老面前喫鐵棒有日在。』更有多多葛藤不欲盡說。平生敗闕處，盡情抖擻了也。夜深久立。」

General address: "Time flies like an arrow. It seems we just began the summer retreat, and already twenty days have passed. How is it with the brethren's own affair? Equally, you have abandoned parents, carried bags and bowls, and worn out straw sandals; you must stiffen your backbones and investigate to the very bottom, seeing it through from head to tail. Do not just remain half-green and half-yellow, as if it is there and yet not there. Sitting on the long communal platforms with brows knit and eyes closed, you are not blindly ignorant, but clearly and vividly aware—above, seeing no Buddhas to look up to; below, seeing no sentient beings to save; within, seeing no self to cherish. You only feel inside completely elated and incomparably joyful, silently nodding to yourselves and thinking yourselves without equal under heaven. Yet the moment you jump down from the platform, it is all gone; when someone grabs you by the throat and interrogates you, you cannot get past. Why? Simply because you have never personally verified and awakened to it yourself; it is only temporarily setting aside dusty conditions and mistaking the minor play of light and shadow before your eyes for the ultimate. This illness is the most painful. Therefore Yunmen said: 'There are two kinds of illness where the radiance does not break through: one is where nothing anywhere is clear and there is an object before you; another is where you have penetrated through the emptiness of dharmas, yet vaguely there still seems to be an object—this too is the radiance not breaking through. Furthermore, the dharmakāya also has two kinds of illness: one is that through not forgetting attachment to dharmas and retaining personal views, one sits by the side of the dharmakāya; another is that even if one penetrates through the dharmakāya, if one lets it go that will not do, but if one inspects it closely to see what flavor it has, that too is an illness.' Master Yunmen drove a painful awl into the place where people cannot get hand or foot in, only wanting everyone to turn their heads around. If one is a person who has personally verified and awakened to the great Dharma clearly, what talk could there be of being grabbed by the throat? Such a person naturally has a livelihood that transcends the lineage and stands out distinctively. When opening the eyes, it is just clear and profound like this; when closing the eyes, it is just clear and profound like this; climbing mountains of knives and sword-trees, it is just clear and profound like this; ascending to the Thirty-Three Heavens, it is just clear and profound like this. At first there is no difference from ordinary people; such a person does not put on all kinds of ghostly antics, but inside is vastly different. Caught off guard by someone's push, sparks scatter at once. It is also like pressing a gourd down upon water: turning smoothly and freely, who can intercept or stop it? Reaching this realm, the Buddhas of the three times cannot see through it. Where can the demon armies of birth and death feel around for it? Where can delusion and awakening lodge? Where can right and wrong shake it? Thoroughly penetrating above and below, clean and naked, stark and exposed, one's whole being is the gate of great liberation for one's own enjoyment; the Buddha Dharma and worldly dharma are merged into a single piece. Sometimes one picks up a single stalk of grass and uses it as the sixteen-foot golden body; sometimes one takes the sixteen-foot golden body and uses it as a single stalk of grass, rolling up and unfurling at will, releasing or taking away as the moment demands. There is no other method—it is only because of personal verification and awakening, thoroughly comprehending the emptiness of three asamkhyeya kalpas, without being turned around by the various dusts. Yet nowadays the brethren have not reached this kind of stage, and stubbornly force the mountains, rivers, and the great earth, light and darkness, form and emptiness, the sentient and the insentient, assigning them all to belong to oneself—is this not a great error? Seeing others clap, you also clap; seeing others shout, you also shout. I am not saying yours is incorrect, but when lightly tested right under your heels, you do not know where to land and only end up empty and fake. Rushing about in karmic consciousness without any foundation to rely on—how deeply lamentable! When it comes to the time when a solitary lamp shines alone, when one breath rises and one breath falls, before your face pitch black like lacquer, unable to seek death and unable to seek life—at that moment, how will your regrets avail? Do not say I did not warn you. Therefore it is said: 'Practice must be real practice; awakening must be real words. King Yama does not fear many words.' Since the brethren have come to gather here in these deep mountains and remote valleys, here with Elder Jie, there is no Chan for you to practice, no Way for you to learn, no money for you to spend, no good food for you to eat, and no gently stroking you along your fur—there is only a single punch to the chest. If you can penetrate it, your enjoyment will be endless to the end of the future; if you cannot penetrate it, you will surely discuss it behind my back. This fist is like a net covering the sky, only wanting everyone to leap out—what relevance does such debate have? Whenever I see the brethren enter my room and deliver phrases, they mostly apply their efforts at the gates of the six sense faculties, their footwork narrow and constrained. Tonight, since I am equally stepping into mud and water, I shall present my own humble views to the assembly. Long ago when on pilgrimage, I entered the room of an eminent elder. He asked: 'How about Xiangyan up in a tree?' I answered: 'One only sees the sharpness of the awl's point, but does not see the squareness of the chisel's head.' He said further: 'Why did the elder lose his life?' I answered: 'Today I retreat three thousand leagues.' He asked: 'Are these words from up in the tree or down under the tree?' I answered: 'Concocting senior monks are as numerous as hemp seeds and millet grains.' Before my voice had ceased, the elder struck. I caught his blow and said: 'Not yet—speak further.' The elder laughed heartily. Next time I saw the elder, he held up his whisk and said: 'Mountains, rivers, and the great earth, light and darkness, form and emptiness, are all on the tip of the whisk.' I answered: 'You led me astray from three thousand leagues away.' The elder gave a flick of the whisk and said: 'Indeed, indeed.' I grabbed the whisk and said: 'Setting aside the whisk, Venerable, say something else.' The elder laughed and said: 'It is a whisk; how can it be set aside?' I then flicked it in reverse and left. The next day, entering the room, he asked: 'All species of devas and humans have a place of joy.' I clasped my hands, stepped forward, and said: 'I have no place of joy.' The elder said: 'Why did the elder enter the gate laughing?' I pointed and said: 'Look at this old venerable failing the pass to his face!' The elder slapped me, and I laughed. The elder said: 'The grass bandit is utterly defeated!' I then left. Looking at it, this elder was slow to draw the blade. Were it Elder Jie, seeing him clasp his hands, step forward, and say, 'I have no place of joy,' I would give him a punch to the chest, and waiting for him to open his mouth, give him another punch. Even so, everyone must still examine this. I also met another eminent elder, who asked: 'What is the primary meaning of the holy truth?' I answered: 'A pair of straw sandals, three pieces.' The elder said: 'That is still the secondary meaning.' I answered: 'So old and venerable, deluding people's sons and daughters—when will there ever be an end?' The elder laughed heartily. I answered: 'With the Venerable acting like this for others, the day will come when you taste the iron staff before Old Yama.' There are many more entanglements that I do not wish to recount in full. The shortcomings of my life have been thoroughly shaken out. It is late at night; you have been standing a long time."