佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 2.5

2.5

雪竇此一頌。一似黃檗真贊相似。人却不得作真贊會。他底句下。便有出身處。分明道。凜凜孤風不自誇。黃檗恁麼示眾。且不是爭人負我。自逞自誇。若會這箇消息。一任七縱八橫。有時孤峯頂獨立。有時鬧市裏橫身。豈可僻守一隅。愈捨愈不歇。愈尋愈不見。愈擔荷愈沒溺。古人道。無翼飛天下。有名傳世間。盡情捨却佛法道理。玄妙奇特。一時放下。却較些子。自然觸處現成。雪竇道。端居寰海定龍蛇。是龍是蛇。入門來便驗取。謂之定龍蛇眼擒虎兕機。雪竇又道。定龍蛇兮眼何正。擒虎兕兮機不全。又道。大中天子曾輕觸。三度親遭弄爪牙。黃檗豈是如今惡脚手。從來如此。大中天子者。續咸通傳中載。唐憲宗有二子。一曰穆宗。一曰宣宗。宣宗乃大中也。年十三。少而敏黠。常愛跏趺坐。穆宗在位時。因早朝罷。大中乃戲登龍床。作揖群臣勢。大臣見而謂之心風。乃奏穆宗。穆宗見而撫歎曰。我弟乃吾宗英胄也。穆宗於長慶四年。晏駕。有三子。曰敬宗文宗武宗。敬宗繼父位。二年內臣謀易之。文宗繼位。一十四年。武宗即位。常喚大中作癡奴。一日武宗。恨大中昔日戲登父位。遂打殺致後苑中。以不潔灌。而復甦。遂潛遁在香嚴閑和尚會下。後剃度為沙彌。未受具戒。後與志閑遊方到廬山。因志閑題瀑布詩云。穿雲透石不辭勞。地遠方知出處高。閑吟此兩句佇思久之。欲釣他語脈看如何。大中續云。溪㵎豈能留得住。終歸大海作波濤。閑方知不是尋常人。乃默而識之。後到鹽官會中。請大中作書記。黃檗在彼作首座。檗一日禮佛次。大中見而問曰。不著佛求。不著法求。不著眾求。禮拜當何所求。檗云。不著佛求。不著法求。不著眾求。常禮如是。大中云。用禮何為。檗便掌。大中云。太麁生。檗云。這裏什麼所在。說麁說細。檗又掌。大中後繼國位。賜黃檗為麁行沙門。裴相國在朝。後奏賜斷際禪師。雪竇知他血脈出處。便用得巧。如今還有弄爪牙底麼。便打。

This verse of Xuedou is very much like a portrait eulogy for Huangbo, yet people must not understand it as a portrait eulogy. Beneath his lines there is an escape route. It clearly states: "Chilly and stern, the solitary wind does not boast of itself." When Huangbo addressed the assembly like this, he was not competing with others, nor belittling others, nor bragging and boasting of himself. If you understand this message, you are entirely free to stride horizontally and vertically in all directions: at times standing alone atop a solitary peak, at times lying across the bustling marketplace. How could one narrow-mindedly guard a single corner? The more you try to abandon it, the less it stops; the more you seek it, the less you see it; the more you take it on, the deeper you sink. The ancients said, "Without wings, one flies across the world; without a name, it is transmitted throughout the realm." Completely cast aside the principles of the Buddha Dharma, the mysterious, and the extraordinary; drop them all at once, and it will amount to something. Naturally, wherever you touch, it is ready-made.

Xuedou said, "Residing peacefully across the realm, he determines dragons and snakes." Whether a dragon or a snake, examine and test them as soon as they enter the gate; this is called the eye that determines dragons and snakes, the dynamic function that seizes tigers and rhinos. Xuedou also said, "In determining dragons and snakes, how upright is the eye! In seizing tigers and rhinos, the dynamic function is incomplete." He also said, "The Son of Heaven of Dazhong once lightly touched it, / And three times in person met with the baring of claws and fangs." Could it be that Huangbo only now possessed such rough hands and feet? He had always been like this.

As for the Son of Heaven of Dazhong, it is recorded in the Continued Biographies of Xiantong: Emperor Xianzong of the Tang had two sons, one named Muzong, and the other named Xuanzong. Xuanzong was Emperor Dazhong. At age thirteen, he was young and clever, and always loved to sit cross-legged. During Muzong's reign, after the morning court session ended, Dazhong playfully climbed onto the imperial dragon bed and made a gesture of bowing to the assembled ministers. When a high minister saw this, he considered it a mental ailment and reported it to Muzong. When Muzong saw him, he stroked him, sighed, and said, "My younger brother is truly an outstanding descendant of our clan!" Muzong passed away in the fourth year of Changqing. He had three sons: Jingzong, Wenzong, and Wuzong. Jingzong succeeded to his father's throne; after two years, palace officials conspired to replace him. Wenzong succeeded to the throne for fourteen years. When Wuzong ascended the throne, he regularly called Dazhong a foolish slave. One day Wuzong, resenting Dazhong's having playfully climbed onto his father's throne in the past, beat him to death and threw him into the back garden, pouring foul waste over him, but he revived. Thereupon he fled in secret to the assembly of Venerable Xiangyan Xian. Later, he was tonsured as a novice, but had not yet received the full precepts. Later, traveling on pilgrimage with Zhixian, they reached Mount Lu. Zhixian inscribed a poem on a waterfall, saying, "Piercing clouds and penetrating rock without begrudging toil, / Only from afar does one know its source is high." Xian recited these two lines and pondered for a long time, wishing to fish for his train of words to see how he would respond. Dazhong continued, "How could a ravine stream hold it back? / In the end it returns to the great sea to make waves." Only then did Xian realize he was no ordinary person, and silently noted it. Later, when he went to Yanguan's assembly, he invited Dazhong to serve as scribe. Huangbo was serving as head monk there.

One day, while Huangbo was paying homage to the Buddha, Dazhong saw him and asked, "Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Saṅgha, what do you seek in paying homage?"
Huangbo said, "Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Saṅgha—I always pay homage like this."
Dazhong said, "What is the use of paying homage?"
Huangbo immediately slapped him. Dazhong said, "Too coarse!"
Huangbo said, "What place is this to speak of coarse or refined?" and Huangbo slapped him again.

Later, when Dazhong succeeded to the imperial throne, he bestowed upon Huangbo the title "Coarse-Behaving Śramaṇa." When Prime Minister Pei was at court, he later memorialized to have him bestowed the title "Chan Master Duanji." Xuedou knew the lineage origin of this, so he applied it skillfully. Nowadays, is there anyone who bares claws and fangs? [He struck.]