佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 4.13

4.13

陳操尚書。與裴休李翱同時。凡見一僧來。先請齋。襯錢三百。須是勘辨。一日雲門到相看便問。儒書中即不問。三乘十二分教。自有座主。作麼生是衲僧家行脚事。雲門云。尚書曾問幾人來。操云。即今問上座。門云。即今且置。作麼生是教意。操云。黃卷赤軸。門云。這箇是文字語言。作麼生是教意。操云。口欲談而辭喪。心欲緣而慮亡。門云。口欲談而辭喪。為對有言。心欲緣而慮亡。為對妄想。作麼生是教意。操無語。門云。見說尚書看法華經是否。操云是門云。經中道。一切治生產業。皆與實相不相違背。且道非非想天。即今有幾人退位。操又無語。門云。尚書且莫草草。師僧家拋却三經五論來入叢林。十年二十年。尚自不奈何。尚書又爭得會。操禮拜云。某甲罪過。又一日與眾官登樓次。望見數僧來。一官人云。來者總是禪僧。操云。不是。官云。焉知不是。操云。待近來與爾勘過。僧至樓前。操驀召云。上座。僧舉頭。書謂眾官云。不信道。唯有雲門一人。他勘不得。他參見睦州來。一日去參資福。福見來。便畫一圓相。資福乃溈山仰山下尊宿。尋常愛以境致接人。見陳操尚書便畫一圓相。爭奈操却是作家。不受人瞞。解自點檢云。弟子恁麼來早是不著便。那堪更畫一圓相。福掩却門。這般公案謂之言中辨的句裏藏機。雪竇道。陳操只具。一隻眼。雪竇可謂頂門具眼。且道意在什麼處。也好與一圓相。若總恁麼地。衲僧家如何為人。我且問爾。當時若是諸人作陳操時。堪下得箇什麼語。免得雪竇道他只具一隻眼。所以雪竇踏翻頌云。

Minister Chen Cao was contemporary with Pei Xiu and Li Ao. Whenever he saw a monk arrive, he would first treat him to a meal, offer three hundred cash, and definitely test and examine him. One day Yunmen came to see him; Cao then asked, "I do not ask about the Confucian texts; as for the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings, there are already lecturers for them. What is the patch-robed monk's business of itinerant pilgrimage?" Yunmen said, "How many people has the Minister asked before?" Cao said, "Right now I am asking you, Senior Monk." Yunmen said, "Set right now aside for a moment. What is the meaning of the teachings?" Cao said, "Yellow scrolls and red rollers." Yunmen said, "These are words and phrases; what is the meaning of the teachings?" Cao said, "The mouth seeks to speak, but words fail; the mind seeks to condition, but thoughts vanish." Yunmen said, "'The mouth seeks to speak, but words fail' corresponds to having words; 'the mind seeks to condition, but thoughts vanish' corresponds to deluded thoughts. What is the meaning of the teachings?" Cao was speechless. Yunmen said, "I hear that the Minister reads the Lotus Sūtra; is this so?" Cao said, "Yes." Yunmen said, "The sūtra says: 'All worldly affairs of production and livelihood are not contrary to the true mark.' Tell me, right now, how many beings have fallen from the Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception?" Cao was again speechless. Yunmen said, "Minister, do not be so hasty. We monks cast aside the Three Classics and Five Treatises to enter the chan groves for ten or twenty years, and yet we still cannot manage it. How could the Minister understand?" Cao bowed and said, "My transgression." Another day, while going up into a tower with several officials, Cao saw several monks approaching from afar. One official said, "Those coming are all Chan monks." Cao said, "They are not." The official said, "How do you know they are not?" Cao said, "Wait until they come near, and I will test them for you." When the monks reached the front of the tower, Cao suddenly called out, "Senior Monks!" The monks raised their heads. The Minister said to the officials, "Didn't I tell you?" Only Yunmen alone he could not test; he had trained under Muzhou. One day he went to call on Zifu. When Fu saw him coming, he immediately drew a circle. Zifu was an elder master under Guishan and Yangshan; he usually liked to guide people with evocative situations. Seeing Minister Chen Cao, he immediately drew a circle. But Cao was an adept, not one to be deceived by others; he was able to scrutinize himself and said, "For your disciple to come like this is already inappropriate; how much more to draw another circle?" Fu shut his door. Gong'ans of this kind are called discerning the target in speech and concealing dynamic sharpness in phrases. Xuedou says: "Chen Cao only possesses one eye." Xuedou may be called possessing an eye atop his crown. Tell me, where does his intent lie? It would also have been fine to give him a circle. If all were like this, how could patch-robed monks act for people? I ask you: if at that time any of you were Chen Cao, what phrase could you have uttered to avoid Xuedou saying that he only possessed one eye? Therefore, Xuedou overturned it and chanted in verse: