佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 1.33

1.33

雲門初參睦州。州旋機電轉。直是難湊泊。尋常接人。纔跨門便搊住云。道道。擬議不來。便推出云。秦時𨍏轢鑽。雲門凡去見。至第三回。纔敲門。州云。誰。門云。文偃。纔開門便跳入。州搊住云。道道。門擬議。便被推出門一足在門閫內。被州急合門。拶折雲門脚。門忍痛作聲。忽然大悟。後來語脈接人。一摸脫出睦州。後於陳操尚書宅。住三年。睦州指往雪峯處去。至彼出眾便問。如何是佛。峯云。莫寐語。雲門便禮拜。一住三年。雪峯一日問。子見處如何。門云。某甲見處。與從上諸聖。不移易一絲毫許。靈樹二十年。不請首座。常云。我首座生也。又云。我首座牧牛也。復云。我首座行脚也。忽一日令撞鐘。三門前接首座。眾皆訝之雲門果至。便請入首座寮。解包。靈樹人號曰知聖禪師。過去未來事皆預知。一日廣主劉王。將興兵。躬入院。請師決臧否。靈樹已先知。怡然坐化。廣主怒曰。和尚何時得疾。侍者對曰。師不曾有疾。適封一合子。令俟王來呈之。廣主開合得一帖子云。人天眼目。堂中首座。廣主悟旨。遂寢兵。請雲門出世。住靈樹。後來方住雲門。師開堂說法。有鞠常侍致問。靈樹果子熟也未。門云。什麼年中。得信道生。復引劉王昔為賣香客等因緣。劉王後諡靈樹。為知聖禪師。靈樹生生不失通。雲門凡三生為王。所以失通。一日劉王詔師入內過夏。共數人尊宿。皆受內人問訊說法。唯師一人不言。亦無人親近。有一直殿使。書一偈。貼在碧玉殿上云。大智修行。始是禪。禪門宜默不宜喧。萬般巧說爭如實。輸却雲門總不言。雲門尋常愛說三字禪。顧鑒咦。又說一字禪。僧問殺父殺母。佛前懺悔。殺佛殺祖。向什麼處懺悔。門云。露。又問。如何是正法眼藏。門云。普。直是不容擬議。到平鋪處。又却罵人若下一句語。如鐵橛子相似。後出四哲。乃洞山初。智門寬。德山密。香林遠皆為大宗師。香林十八年為侍者。凡接他。只叫遠侍者。遠云。喏。門云。是什麼。如此十八年。一日方悟。門云。我今後更不叫汝。雲門尋常接人。多用睦州手段。只是難為湊泊。有抽釘拔楔底鉗鎚。雪竇道。我愛韶陽新定機。一生與人抽釘拔楔。垂箇問頭示眾云。十五日已前不問汝。十五日已後道將一句來。坐斷千差不通凡聖。自代云。日日是好日。十五日已前。這語已坐斷千差。十五日已後。這語也坐斷千差。是他不道明日是十六。後人只管隨語生解。有什麼交涉他雲門立箇宗風。須是有箇為人處。垂語了。却自代云。日日是好日。此語通貫古今。從前至後。一時坐斷。山僧如此說話。也是隨語生解。他殺不如自殺。纔作道理。墮坑落塹。雲門一句中。三句俱備。蓋是他家宗旨如此。垂一句語。須要歸宗。若不如此。只是杜撰。此事無許多論說。而未透者。却要如此。若透得。便見古人意旨。看取雪竇打葛藤。

When Yunmen first studied under Muzhou, Muzhou’s dynamic function was like revolving lightning, truly hard to approach. Customarily, when receiving people, the moment they crossed the threshold he would seize them and say, “Speak! Speak!” If they hesitated, he would shove them out, saying, “The drill of the Qin dynasty!” Whenever Yunmen went to see him, on the third occasion, as soon as he knocked on the door, Muzhou asked, “Who is it?” Yunmen said, “Wenyan.” As soon as the door opened, he leapt in. Muzhou seized him and said, “Speak! Speak!” Yunmen hesitated, and was shoved out the door. One foot was still inside the door threshold when Muzhou quickly slammed the door, crushing and breaking Yunmen’s leg. Yunmen cried out in pain, and suddenly attained great awakening. Later, the style of his speech in receiving people was cast entirely from the mold of Muzhou.

Afterward, he stayed for three years at the residence of Minister Chen Cao. Muzhou directed him to go to Xuefeng’s place. When he arrived there, he came forward from the assembly and asked, “What is the Buddha?” Xuefeng said, “Do not talk in your sleep.” Yunmen then bowed; he stayed for three years. One day Xuefeng asked, “How is your insight?” Yunmen said, “My insight does not differ by the slightest hairsbreadth from that of all the sages from of old.”

For twenty years, Lingshu did not appoint a head monk, often saying, “My head monk is born.” Again he said, “My head monk is herding cattle.” Again he said, “My head monk is on itinerant pilgrimage.” Suddenly one day he ordered the bell struck to welcome the head monk in front of the three gates. The assembly was all astonished; Yunmen indeed arrived. He was then invited into the head monk’s quarters to unpack his bundle.

People called Lingshu the Chan Master Who Knows the Sage; he foreknew both past and future matters. One day, the Ruler of Guang, King Liu, was about to raise troops; he came in person to the cloister to ask the Master to determine good or bad fortune. Lingshu had already known beforehand; he serenely passed away sitting up. The Ruler of Guang said angrily, “When did the venerable monk fall ill?” The attendant replied, “The master was never ill. Just recently he sealed a box, instructing that it await the King’s arrival to be presented to him.” The Ruler of Guang opened the box and found a slip of paper that read, “The eye of humans and devas: the head monk in the hall.” The Ruler of Guang grasped the intent, and thereupon ceased military action. He invited Yunmen to appear in the world and reside at Lingshu. Only later did he reside at Yunmen.

When the Master opened the hall to expound the Dharma, Attendant Ju posed a question: “Is the fruit of Lingshu ripe yet or not?” Yunmen said, “In what year did you get the word that it was unripe?” He also cited the past conditions of King Liu having formerly been an incense merchant, and so forth. King Liu later posthumously conferred upon Lingshu the title Chan Master Who Knows the Sage. Lingshu never lost his supernormal powers lifetime after lifetime; Yunmen had been a king for three lifetimes, which is why he lost his supernormal powers.

One day King Liu summoned the Master to enter the palace to pass the summer, along with several venerable elders. All of them received inquiries from the palace attendants and expounded the Dharma; only the Master alone did not speak, nor did anyone approach him. An attendant of the palace wrote a verse and posted it in the Jade Palace, saying:

Cultivating with great wisdom is truly Chan;
The gate of Chan is suited to silence, not to clamor.
How can myriad clever speeches compare to reality?
They all lose to Yunmen, who does not speak at all.

Yunmen customarily liked to speak three-word Chan: “Look, examine, oh!” He also spoke one-word Chan. A monk asked, “If one kills one's father and kills one's mother, one repents before the Buddha. If one kills the Buddha and kills the patriarch, where does one repent?” Yunmen said, “Exposed.” Again a monk asked, “What is the treasury of the true Dharma eye?” Yunmen said, “Universal.” Truly he did not allow hesitation. When it came to level ground, he would also scold people. If he brought down a word, it was just like an iron stake.

Later there emerged four adepts: Dongshan Chu, Zhimon Kuan, Deshan Mi, and Xianglin Yuan. All were great lineage masters. Xianglin served as attendant for eighteen years; whenever Yunmen received him, he merely called, “Attendant Yuan!” Yuan would say, “Yes?” Yunmen would say, “What is it?” Like this for eighteen years, until one day he finally awakened. Yunmen said, “From now on, I will not call you anymore.”

Yunmen customarily received people using mostly Muzhou’s methods; they were simply hard to approach. He had the pliers and hammer that draw out nails and pull out wedges. Xuedou said, “I love the newly settled dynamic of Shaoyang; all his life he drew out nails and pulled out wedges for people.”

He brought forth a question to instruct the assembly, saying: “I do not ask you about before the fifteenth day. After the fifteenth day, bring a phrase forth!” Cutting off myriad differences, permitting neither ordinary nor holy. He spoke in place [of the assembly], saying, “Every day is a good day.” “Before the fifteenth day”—this phrase has already cut off myriad differences. “After the fifteenth day”—this phrase has also cut off myriad differences. It was that he did not say tomorrow is the sixteenth. Later people merely follow the words to produce interpretations—what connection is there? For Yunmen to establish this house style, there had to be a place to help people. Having brought forth the phrase, he then spoke in their place, saying, “Every day is a good day.” This phrase penetrates past and present; from before to after, it cuts them off all at once. For this mountain monk to speak like this is also to follow words and produce interpretations. “Better to kill oneself than to be killed by another.” As soon as you make principles, you fall into a pit and plunge into a trench.

Within one phrase of Yunmen, the three phrases are completely equipped. It is because his family’s essential doctrine is like this. In bringing forth a phrase, one must return to the source; if not like this, it is merely fabricated. In this matter there is not much discussion, yet those who have not penetrated must have it like this. If you can penetrate it, you will see the ancient’s intended meaning. Look at Xuedou spinning entangling vines.