佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 1.48

1.48

大凡參禪問道。明究自己。切忌揀擇言句。何故不見趙州舉道。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。又不見雲門道。如今禪和子。三箇五箇聚頭口喃喃地。便道。這箇是上才語句。那箇是就身處打出語。不知古人方便門中。為初機後學。未明心地。未見本性。不得已而立箇方便語句。如祖師西來。單傳心印。直指人心。見性成佛。那裏如此葛藤。須是斬斷語言。格外見諦。透脫得去。可謂如龍得水。似虎靠山。久參先德。有見而未透。透而未明。謂之請益。若是見得透請益。却要語句上周旋。無有凝滯。久參請益。與賊過梯。其實此事不在言句上。所以雲門道。此事若在言句上。三乘十二分教。豈是無言句。何須達磨西來。汾陽十八問中。此問謂之驗主問。亦謂之探拔問。這僧致箇問頭。也不妨奇特。若不是趙州。也難抵對他。這僧問如何是趙州。趙州是本分作家。便向道。東門西門南門北門。僧云。某甲不問這箇趙州。州云。爾問那箇趙州。後人喚作無事禪。賺人不少。何故他問趙州。州答云。東門西門南門北門。所以只答他趙州。爾若恁麼會。三家村裏漢。更是會佛法去。只這便是破滅佛法。如將魚目比況明珠。似則似是則不是。山僧道。不在河南。正在河北。且道是有事是無事。也須是子細始得。遠錄公云。末後一句。始到牢關。指南之旨不在言詮。十日一風。五日一雨。安邦樂業。鼓腹謳歌。謂之太平時節。謂之無事。不是拍盲便道無事。須是透過關捩子。出得荊棘林。淨裸裸赤灑灑。依前似平常人。由爾有事也得。無事也得。七縱八橫。終不執無定有。有般底人道。本來無一星事。但只遇茶喫茶。遇飯喫飯。此是大妄語。謂之未得謂得。未證謂證。元來不曾參得透。見人說心說性說玄說妙。便道只是狂言。本來無事。可謂一盲引眾盲。殊不知。祖師未來時。那裏喚天作地。喚山作水。來為什麼祖師更西來。諸方陞堂入室。說箇什麼。盡是情識計較。若是情識計較。情盡方見得透。若見得透。依舊天是天。地是地。山是山。水是水。古人道。心是根。法是塵。兩種猶如鏡上痕。到這箇田地。自然淨裸裸赤灑灑。若極則理論。也未是安穩處在。到這裏。人多錯會。打在無事界裏。佛也不禮。香也不燒。似則也似。爭奈脫體不是。纔問著。却是極則相似纔拶著。七花八裂。坐在空腹高心處。及到臘月三十日。換手搥胸。已是遲了也。這僧恁麼問。趙州恁麼答。且道作麼生摸索。恁麼也不得。不恁麼也不得。畢竟如何。這些子是難處。所以雪竇拈出來。當面示人。趙州一日坐次。侍者報云。大王來也。趙州矍然云。大王萬福。侍者云。未到和尚。州云。又道來也。參到這裏。見到這裏。不妨奇特。南禪師拈云。侍者只知報客。不知身在帝鄉。趙州入草求人。不覺渾身泥水。這些子實處。諸人還知麼。看取雪竇頌。

In general, in investigating Chan and inquiring into the Way to clearly scrutinize oneself, one must by all means avoid picking and choosing words and phrases. Why? Do you not see Zhaozhou citing: "The Great Way is not difficult; it only disdains picking and choosing"? And do you not see Yunmen saying: "Nowadays Chan monks gather in groups of three or five, murmuring with their mouths, saying: 'This is a phrase of superior talent; that is a phrase struck out from within oneself'"? They do not know that within the ancient masters' gates of expedient means, for the sake of beginners and late learners whose mind-grounds were not yet clear and who had not yet seen their original nature, out of necessity they established expedient phrases. When the ancestral master came from the West, he solely transmitted the mind-seal, pointing directly to the human mind to see nature and attain Buddhahood. Where was there such entangling vine? One must cut off language, see the truth outside conventional bounds, and thoroughly break free; then one can be called like a dragon finding water, like a tiger relying on a mountain. Those who have long investigated with former worthies, having seen but not penetrated, or penetrated but not become fully clear, are said to "request further instruction." If one who has seen through requests further instruction, one still requires dealing within phrases without any stagnation. For one who has long investigated to request further instruction is giving a ladder to a thief. In reality, this matter does not lie in words and phrases. Therefore Yunmen said: "If this matter lay in words and phrases, does the teaching of the three vehicles and twelve divisions lack words and phrases? Why would there be any need for Bodhidharma to come from the West?" Among Fenyang's eighteen types of questions, this question is called the "question testing the host" and also called the "question probing and extracting." For this monk to raise this question-head was indeed extraordinary; had it not been for Zhaozhou, it would have been hard to confront him. This monk asked: "What is Zhaozhou?" Zhaozhou, being an adept of the fundamental duty, immediately said to him: "East gate, west gate, south gate, north gate." The monk said: "I did not ask about this Zhaozhou." Zhaozhou said: "Which Zhaozhou were you asking about?" Later people called this "doing-nothing Chan," leading no small number of people astray. Why? He asked about Zhaozhou, and Zhaozhou answered: "East gate, west gate, south gate, north gate"; hence he only answered him about Zhaozhou. If you understand it like that, then a fellow from a three-family village understands the Buddhadharma even more! This very [understanding] is destroying the Buddhadharma; it is like comparing a fish eye to a bright pearl—similar it may be, but right it is not. This mountain monk says: not in Henan, right in Hebei! Tell me, is there something to do or nothing to do? You must be meticulous before you get it. Old Master Yuanlu said: "Only with the final phrase does one reach the firm barrier; the intent of pointing south does not lie in verbal explanations." A wind every ten days, rain every five days; pacifying the country and enjoying one's livelihood, drumming the belly and singing songs—this is called a time of great peace, called doing nothing. It is not closing your eyes blindly and immediately claiming to have nothing to do. One must break through the crucial pivot, emerge from the forest of thorns, be clean-naked and bare-stripped, and as before resemble an ordinary person. Then, whether you have something to do is fine, or whether you have nothing to do is fine; seven longitudinal and eight horizontal, ultimately never grasping at non-existence or fixing on existence. There is a sort of person who says: "Originally there is not a single speck of an affair; just drink tea when encountering tea and eat rice when encountering rice." This is a great lie; it is called "claiming to have attained what has not been attained, claiming to have realized what has not been realized." Originally they have never investigated through. Seeing people speak of mind, speak of nature, speak of the mysterious, speak of the wondrous, they immediately say: "These are merely wild words; originally there is nothing to do." This can be called one blind man leading a crowd of blind men. Little do they know: before the ancestral master came, who ever called heaven earth, or called mountains water? If so, why did the ancestral master further come from the West? When masters everywhere ascend the hall and enter the room, what are they speaking of? It is all emotional consciousness and calculation. If it is emotional consciousness and calculation, only when emotion is exhausted can one see through. If one sees through, as before heaven is heaven, earth is earth, mountains are mountains, and water is water. An ancient said: "Mind is the faculty, phenomena are the dust; both are like scratches on a mirror." Arriving at this ground, one is naturally clean-naked and bare-stripped. If argued from the ultimate standard, even this is not yet a secure resting place. Arriving here, many people misunderstand, falling into the realm of doing nothing: neither bowing to Buddha nor burning incense. Similar it may indeed be, yet completely it is not! As soon as questioned, they appear extremely similar; as soon as pressed, they shatter into seven blossoms and eight fragments, sitting in empty-bellied arrogance. When the thirtieth day of the twelfth month arrives, beating their breasts with their own hands, it is already too late. This monk asked like that; Zhaozhou answered like that. Tell me, how do you grope for it? Like that will not do; not like that will not do either. Ultimately, what about it? This bit is the difficult place; therefore Xuedou picked it out to show directly to people. One day, while Zhaozhou was sitting, the attendant reported: "The Great King has arrived." Zhaozhou started up and said: "Ten thousand blessings to the Great King!" The attendant said: "He has not yet arrived, Venerable." Zhaozhou said: "And you said he had arrived!" If one investigates to here and sees to here, it is quite extraordinary. Chan Master Nan picked this up and said: "The attendant only knew how to report a guest, not knowing his own body was in the imperial city. Zhaozhou entered the grass to seek someone, unaware of his whole body being drenched in mud and water." Do you all know this bit of solid reality? Look at Xuedou's eulogy: