宏智禪師廣錄 5.10

5.10

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "I recall that a monk asked Yunju, 'What is it like ultimately for a monk?' Yunju said, 'Dwelling in the mountains is good.' I have not yet understood: what is the meaning of this?"
The Master said, "Dwelling in the mountains is good."
The monk said, "What about someone who has not yet reached the bottom, when there is no road on all four sides—how should he place his feet?"
The Master said, "For now, sit at the foot of the mountain."
The monk said, "If he suddenly finds a living road, how is it then?"
The Master said, "Have you ever crossed Flying Ape Ridge?"
The monk said, "Step by step, / the white clouds grow deeper and deeper."
The Master said, "Entangling vines are creeping over your feet again."
The monk said, "Just as to Flying Ape Ridge, ultimately how high is it?"
The Master said, "Only when a native of this very homeland comes walking past can it be known."
The monk said, "I have crossed it."
The Master said, "Still your heels do not touch the ground."
The Master then said: "Where a completely secure and secret fellow acts, fundamentally there must be no seams and an utter absence of sharp edges; only then can he be completely rounded and smooth, uncontainable anywhere, and able to roll along everywhere. Sometimes, when he needs to speak, he immediately says what is precisely fitting. Therefore, when the monk asked Yunju, 'What is it like ultimately for a monk?' Yunju said, 'Dwelling in the mountains is good.' Some say, 'The mountain is the unchanging substance; going toward the green and shadowy place'—what connection does that have? Some say, 'White clouds layer upon layer; that is the circumstance within'—what connection does that have? If you understand it: 'Dwelling in the mountains is good'—what is there that is not attained? Responding in accord with capacity, answering according to the question—is this not precisely fitting? If you treat it as an undertaking, as a burden to shoulder, as Buddha, as Dharma, you will see it as not fitting. It was just his ordinary functioning. If one is a genuine patch-robed monk, he nods in agreement. If it is not so, it becomes another thousand layers, ten thousand layers. An ancient said, 'A single word exhausts the ten directions, / before the slightest thread is raised.' What kind of words are these? Then you know: mountains are mountains, waters are waters; people are people, dharmas are dharmas. The worlds are just so, every dust mote is just so; each dharma is just so, every thought is just so. Here, you cannot add or subtract a hair's breadth. If there is the slightest trace of a principle, it is torn to pieces again. Have you not heard it said: 'At all times, do not give rise to delusive thoughts; toward various delusive minds, also do not extinguish them; dwelling in the realm of delusive ideation, do not add comprehension; toward non-comprehension, do not discern truth.' Just at such a time, how should one conduct oneself? A single level bosom / vanishes naturally of itself."