如淨和尚語錄 1.2

1.2

五家宗派中。曹洞則機關不露。臨濟則棒喝分明。苟得其由。門戶易入。雖取捨少異作用弗同。要之殊塗一致耳。惟天童淨禪師不流不倚兼而有之。自成一家八面受敵。始以竹篦子久知痛癢。後因一滴水漸至澎衝。斷塹懸崖斬釘截鐵。所謂用法得法外意。得魚忘筌。得兔忘蹄者也。觀其登寶華座。若猛虎踞。擊大灋鼓作獅子吼。直使人天讚仰魔鬼歸降。至於一偈一頌一話一言。呼風吐雲轟雷掣電。千態萬貌不可窮盡。近世尊宿絕無僅有者。凡歷四大寶剎。孤雲野鶴去住自如。皆於是見焉。故勇猛精進者得之。猶入暗室遇大光明見種種色。退縮未諭者畏之。如子弟之對嚴父師。殊不知藥瞑眩而厥疾。瘳終有益矣。師之得力處。出生入死處。固難以形迹求作實法會。然觀水必觀瀾。涉大海從津涯。故舍其言。無以求其奧也。宗上人以師之法語。俾予序其篇首。予則安能。蓋予與師。為鄉國人。為道誼友。且心眼相照。不可無數語以述大概。因卒爾以附于帙尾。若夫發揚盛美。使燈燈相續師之名愈久而愈隆。則有當世之名公鉅儒在。

Among the five houses and lineages, Caodong leaves its dynamic functions hidden, while Linji makes its blows and shouts distinct. If one finds their way in, their portals are easy to enter. Although their choices differ slightly and their applications are not the same, in short, they reach one goal by different paths. Only Chan Master Jing of Tiantong neither drifted nor leaned, embracing both. He formed a style of his own, facing opponents on all sides. At first, with the bamboo stick he long knew pain and itch; later, due to a single drop of water, it gradually swelled into a surging torrent. Severing chasms and hanging cliffs, cutting nails and shearing through iron—this is what is called using the Dharma to attain the intention beyond the Dharma, catching the fish and forgetting the trap, seizing the hare and forgetting the snare. Observe how he ascends the precious flower seat: like a fierce tiger crouching, striking the great Dharma drum and making the lion's roar, he directly causes humans and devas to praise and revere, and māras and ghosts to submit and take refuge. As for each gāthā, each eulogy, each story, and each word—calling forth wind, spitting clouds, roaring thunder, and brandishing lightning, their thousands of attitudes and myriad forms cannot be exhausted. Among venerable elders of recent times, he was truly rare and unmatched. Having traveled through four great precious monasteries, like a solitary cloud or a wild crane, leaving and staying at ease—all can be seen herein. Therefore, those of heroic vigor who obtain it are like entering a dark room and meeting a great bright light, seeing all manner of forms; those who shrink back and are not yet enlightened fear it, like sons and younger brothers facing a stern father and teacher. Little do they know that medicine makes one dizzy before the illness is cured, and in the end it brings benefit. The places where the master obtained power, the places where he exited birth and entered death, are indeed hard to seek through outward traces to make a conceptual understanding of real dharmas. Yet in observing water one must observe its surging waves; in wading through the great sea one must start from its shores. Thus, setting aside his words, there would be no way to seek his depths. Venerable Zong, taking the master's dharma words, asked me to write a preface at the head of the volume. How could I be capable of it? Yet the master and I were fellows of the same home region, companions in the fellowship of the Way, and saw into one another's mind and eye. I could not be without a few words to narrate an overview, and so on the spur of the moment I append this to the end of the text. As for exalting his grand splendor, causing lamp after lamp to continue in succession so that the master's renown grows ever longer and more eminent—for that, there are the famous public figures and great scholars of the present age.