宏智禪師廣錄 5.25

5.25

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "When merit is completely exhausted and illumination and sphere are both forgotten, how is it?"
The Master said: "Inside, there are no pauses or clauses, yet right here there is an encounter."
The monk said: "Just when right in the midst of the encounter, what face is it?"
The Master said: "Dangling nostrils three feet long."
The monk said: "Though ugly, allow everyone to dislike it; it bears no colour of mist or haze."
The Master said: "Intimately within it, watch the turning and shifting; at that time, one step requires complete clarity."
The monk said: "Just as an ancient said, 'The bare pillar is pregnant,' what is the meaning?"
The Master said: "Vaguely, it still falls into merit; indistinctly, illumination is not yet distinguished."
The Master then said: "In the Dharma of our Buddha, at the place of true arrival, one must directly exhaust the present moment and completely transcend the kalpa of emptiness. Facing that moment, release and let go with detachment: in the ten directions there are no walls, and spanning everything, directional corners are severed. Is this not the naked and bare place? Within it, distinguish clearly and realize wonderfully: not an image of birth and death can be established; not a single principle or verbal expression can attach. In the place where nothing can attach, that is your whole body, that is your nostrils. Do you not see? Jingqing asked Lingyun: 'How is it when primordial chaos is not yet divided?' Yun said: 'The bare pillar is pregnant.' Qing said: 'How is it after the division?' Yun said: 'Like a wisp of cloud dotting the great clarity.' Qing said: 'Just like the great clarity—does it still admit the dot or not?' Yun did not answer. Qing said: 'If so, then living beings do not come.' Yun also did not answer. Qing said: 'When one directly attains pure clarity without a single dot, how is it?' Yun said: 'It is still the flow of the truly constant.' Qing said: 'What is the flow of the truly constant?' Yun said: 'Like a mirror ever-bright.' Qing said: 'Is there still an affair beyond?' Yun said: 'There is.' Qing said: 'What is the affair beyond?' Yun said: 'Smash the mirror, and I will meet with you.' Brethren, when you realize this time completely, though empty, you cannot empty it; only then do you see the time when the bare pillar is pregnant. Clearly, with a slight shift of footing, you then see the time when a wisp of cloud dots the great clarity. The great clarity in the end does not admit a dot; when Lingyun came to this point, he could not insert his tongue. When living beings do not come, the mouth is truly narrow. When one directly attains pure clarity without a dot, like a mirror ever-bright, it is still the flow of the truly constant. At such a time there is discernment; in such a place there is the functioning of wisdom. You must know that beyond this there is still an affair. Therefore it is said: 'Smash the mirror, and I will meet with you.' Here, exiting illumination and shadow, severing merit, one unites with that person. Ming'an said: 'When illumination is exhausted, the substance has no reliance; the whole body unites with the Great Way.' This is the place of true arrival for all buddhas and patriarchs: interacting within the wondrous, turning and shifting in the profound. The images of birth and death have never sprouted; this is still the affair before the kalpa of emptiness. Yet it has not yet met with humans and devas. You must take another broad step: amidst the myriad forms, in the vast and lively place, attain great functioning. This body manifested by me is equal to all phenomena. I, together with all phenomena, emerge together and vanish together, are born together and die together. Not a single affair fails to emerge from here; not a single phenomenon fails to be born from here. Therefore it is said: 'Heaven and earth share the same root; the myriad things are of one body.' When you arrive in such a way, what extraneous eye-roots or ear-consciousnesses are there? What extraneous forms or sounds are there? This is when the patch-robed monk is thorough through and through, inside the cave and at its edge, when everything reaches the bottom. When the thirtieth day of the twelfth month comes, the body is naturally shed in this way. Tell me: just when going in this way, how is it? Zhang Qian searched to the end of the source of Mengjin; he toppled the Kunlun Mountains and left no reliance."