宏智禪師廣錄 5.31

5.31

小參僧問。密密綿綿不容著眼。明明了了相與傳心。作麼生是傳底心。師云。混時無影像。辨處絕蹤由。僧云。寶印當風妙。重重錦縫開。師云。機絲初不掛。裏許妙無痕。僧云。心空及第去也。師云。爾道心空及第時。到甚麼處所。僧云。舉世盡言無位位。當機須辨箇玄玄。師云。登科任汝登科。拔萃任汝拔萃。僧云。記得。僧問道吾。如何是學人著力處。吾云。千人萬人喚。不回意旨如何。師云。檐版漢做處。僧云。如何是學人著力處。師云。機輪曾未轉直下好承當。僧問。承師適來道。機絲初不掛。裏許妙無痕。正恁麼時。還有辨白也無。師云。推開明月戶。氣象恰如秋。僧云。空山雲自在。片月夜相投。師云。一色轉時。還同一色。僧云。趙州道。泥佛為甚麼不度水。師云。消碎盡去也。僧云。金佛為甚麼不度爐。師云。烹煉盡去也。僧云。木佛為甚麼不度火。師云。燒爇盡去也。僧禮拜。師乃云。此一段事。直須人人自到。人人自證。可以超出生死。可以透過古今。可以與佛祖同得。所以道。一切眾生。具有如來智慧德相。但以妄想執著。而不證得。爾若離妄想離執著。即無一星事。如今認地水火風為自己。豈不是妄想執著。喚甚麼作自己。只爾思惟分別底是妄想。見聞覺知底是妄想。直須歇得到。空空無相。湛湛絕緣。普與法界虛空合。箇時是爾本身。若恁麼時。明白見得徹。如虛空不可掛針相似。那時生相已離。有甚麼死相。所以道。生滅二元離。是名常真實。此喚作無生理。為渠不可生即無死。只如胞胎未具已前。著爾在甚麼處。若道有。是甚麼相狀。若道無是甚麼相狀。箇時若似一物即成礙塞。不可名。不可狀。能恁麼也。却到本所住處。若不分曉識不破。爭知恁麼來。所以勞它諸佛出世祖師建立。人人分上具足。箇時節無男女差別等相。純一清淨妙明。喚作真實相。一切皆盡。便見趙州道泥佛不度水。木佛不度火。金佛不度爐。到這裏。有因緣底。有形相底。有名字底。俱立不得。若是真佛屋裏坐。箇時三世諸佛。仰望不及。歷代祖師。傳持不得。天下老和尚。橫說竪說說不著。唯是自己深證始得。如人飲水冷暖自知。唯獨自明了。餘人所不見。若向箇時分曉。便知道交互明中暗。功齊轉覺難。力窮忘進退。金鎖網鞔鞔。若恁麼辨得。敲諸佛之骨髓。得祖師之命脈。若不到恁麼時節。又入輪回生死去也。地獄天堂。幾時休息。只為爾元不曾成佛作祖來。爾若曾成佛作祖來。流轉爾不得。明明了了。於地獄畜生中。皆得自在。分明知道。俱是我心所現境界。所以在地獄中。如受三禪樂。將箇殼漏子。天上人間。任運恁麼受用。若男若女身中。亦是成佛作祖相似在。一切處迷不得是佛。一切處壞不得是法。一切處混不得是僧。是爾分上具足三寶。又不見龐居士道。十方同聚會。箇箇學無為。此是選佛場。心空及第歸。若心地下空寂。便是及第底節時。若有一絲頭。即成礙法。到者裏。善惡如尖檐兩頭脫相似。箇時身心。廣大如法界。究竟等虛空。的的分曉便知道。金枝敲玉戶。韻出碧霄。齊若從此透得出。靈靈而知。歷歷而照。跨步應世。在諸法頭上行。箇時山不是山。水不是水。若具足成就。山是山水是水。小是小大是大。到恁麼田地。甚麼時不成道。甚麼時不說法。甚麼時不為人。甚麼時不明己。所以雪峯道。盡大地撮來。如米粟粒大。拋向面前。漆桶不會。打鼓普請看。若見得透。破一微塵。出大千經卷。但心地下。不著一箇字脚。自然一切處通達。且道。正恁麼時如何。山河不隔越。處處是光明。

At an informal gathering, a monk asked, "'Dense and continuous, admitting no gaze; lucid and bright, mutually transmitting the mind.' What is the mind that is transmitted?" The Master said, "When blended, it has no image; where discerned, it leaves no trace." The monk said, "The precious seal facing the wind is wondrous; layer upon layer of brocade seams open up." The Master said, "The threads on the loom are not hitched at all; within it, wondrously, there is no seam." The monk said, "With mind emptied, one passes the examination!" The Master said, "When you say 'with mind emptied, one passes the examination,' to what place have you arrived?" The monk said, "The entire world says there is no position for the positions; meeting the occasion, one must discern the mysterious of the mysterious." The Master said, "Pass the examination as you will; stand out from the crowd as you will." The monk said, "I recall: A monk asked Daowu, 'What is the student's place of exerting effort?' Daowu said, 'Though a thousand or ten thousand call, he does not turn back.' What does this mean?" The Master said, "The doing of a fellow carrying a board on his shoulder." The monk said, "What is the student's place of exerting effort?" The Master said, "Before the loom's wheel has ever turned, take it upon yourself directly." A monk asked, "I have heard the Master say just now: 'The threads on the loom are not hitched at all; within it, wondrously, there is no seam.' Just at such a time, is there any discerning or not?" The Master said, "Pushing open the bright moon's door, the atmosphere is just like autumn." The monk said, "Over empty mountains, clouds are at ease; a sliver of the moon visits the night." The Master said, "When turning into a single colour, it is still the same single colour." The monk said, "Zhaozhou said, 'Why does a clay Buddha not cross the water?'" The Master said, "It dissolves and shatters completely." The monk said, "Why does a metal Buddha not cross the furnace?" The Master said, "It is smelted and refined away completely." The monk said, "Why does a wooden Buddha not cross the fire?" The Master said, "It burns and blazes away completely." The monk bowed. The Master then said: "For this matter, each and every person must arrive at it for themselves, each and every person must realise it for themselves. One can then transcend birth and death, pass through past and present, and share the attainment with the Buddhas and patriarchs. Therefore it is said: 'All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous marks of the Tathāgata, but because of delusion and attachment, they do not realise it.' If you leave behind delusion and leave behind attachment, there is not a speck of an issue. Nowadays you take earth, water, fire, and wind to be yourself—is this not delusion and attachment? What do you call yourself? It is precisely your thinking and discrimination that are delusion; your seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing that are delusion. You must bring them to a complete halt until you are empty and without marks, crystal-clear and devoid of conditions, universally uniting with the Dharmadhātu and empty space. At that time, that is your fundamental body. When it is like this, seeing clearly and penetrating thoroughly, it is like empty space that cannot hold a needle. At that time, the marks of birth are already departed—what mark of death could there be? Therefore it is said: 'Birth and cessation are both originally departed; this is called the eternally real.' This is called the principle of non-arising. Because it cannot arise, there is no death. Just as before your physical womb was formed, where were you situated? If you say it existed, what were its characteristics? If you say it did not exist, what were its characteristics? At that time, if it resembles a single thing, it becomes an obstruction. It cannot be named, it cannot be described. Being able to be like this, you return to your original dwelling place. If you are not clear about it and do not see through it, how could you know it comes like this? Therefore, it troubled the Buddhas to appear in the world and the patriarchs to establish [the teachings]. It is fully possessed by each person. At that juncture there are no distinctive marks of male or female; it is purely one, clear, pure, and wondrously bright, called the true mark. Everything is exhausted; then you see what Zhaozhou meant by 'a clay Buddha does not cross water, a wooden Buddha does not cross fire, and a metal Buddha does not cross a furnace.' Arriving here, what has causes and conditions, what has form and appearance, and what has names and terms—none of them can be established. If the true Buddha sits inside the house, at that time the Buddhas of the three periods cannot gaze up to it, the successive generations of patriarchs cannot transmit it, and the venerable old monks of the realm cannot hit upon it whether explaining horizontally or vertically. Only through your own profound realization can you attain it. Like a person drinking water, naturally knowing whether it is cold or warm, you alone clearly understand it, unseen by others. If you are clear about this juncture, you will know: 'Darkness within the interacting light; / when effort is equal, turning becomes difficult. / When strength is exhausted, advancing and retreating are forgotten; / the golden lock's mesh is tightly strung.' If you can discern it like this, you crack the marrow of the Buddhas and obtain the lifeblood of the patriarchs. If you do not arrive at such a juncture, you enter the cycle of birth and death once again. In hell and heaven, when will there be rest? This is simply because you have never originally become a Buddha or patriarch. If you had become a Buddha or patriarch, you could not be tossed about: bright and clear, in hells and among animals, you would attain complete ease in all of them, distinctly knowing that all are realms manifested by my own mind. Therefore, being in hell is like experiencing the bliss of the third dhyāna. Taking this mortal shell, you function at will in heaven and the human world. In a male or female body, you are likewise acting as a Buddha and patriarch. That which cannot be deluded anywhere is Buddha; that which cannot be destroyed anywhere is Dharma; that which cannot be mingled anywhere is Saṅgha. The Three Jewels are fully present within your own lot. Furthermore, have you not seen Layman Pang say: 'Gathering together from the ten directions, / each studies non-action. / This is the arena for selecting Buddhas; / with mind emptied, one passes the examination and returns.' If the mind-ground is empty and tranquil, that is the juncture of passing the examination. If there is a single strand of thread, it becomes an obstructing phenomenon. Arriving here, good and evil are like the two ends falling off a pointed shoulder-pole. At that time, body and mind are vast as the Dharmadhātu, ultimately equal to empty space. When it is distinctly clear, you will know: 'The golden branch knocks upon the jade door; / the harmony emerges into the azure sky.' If you can penetrate through from here, brightly aware and vividly illuminating, stride forward to respond to the world and walk atop all dharmas. At that time, mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. If fully accomplished, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers, the small is small, and the large is large. Arriving at such a ground, when does one not realize the Way? When does one not expound the Dharma? When does one not act for others? When does one not illumine oneself? Therefore Xuefeng said: 'Taking the entire great earth and gathering it up, it is the size of a grain of rice. Flung before you, you lacquer tubs do not understand; strike the drum and invite all to look!' If you see through it, breaking open a single dust mote brings forth the sutra scrolls of a great trichiliocosm. Just do not let a single word take root in the mind-ground, and naturally you will be thoroughly unimpeded everywhere. Now tell me, just at such a time, what is it like? Mountains and rivers do not obstruct; everywhere is radiance."