佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 5.3

5.3

趙州問投子。大死底人却活時如何。投子對他道。不許夜行。投明須到。且道是什麼時節。無孔笛撞著氈拍版。此謂之驗主問。亦謂之心行問。投子趙州諸方皆美之得逸群之辯。二老雖承嗣不同。看他機鋒相投一船。投子一日為趙州。置茶筵相待。自過蒸餅與趙州。州不管。投子令行者過胡餅與趙州。州禮行者三拜。且道他意是如何。看他盡是向根本上。提此本分事為人。有僧問。如何是道。答云。道。如何是佛。答云。佛。又問。金鎖未開時如何。答云。開。金雞未鳴時如何。答云。無這箇音響。鳴後如何。答云。各自知時。投子平生問答總如此。看趙州問。大死底人却活時如何。他便道。不許夜行。投明須到。直下如擊石火。似閃電光。還他向上人始得。大死底人。都無佛法道理玄妙得失是非長短。到這裏只恁麼休去。古人謂之平地上死人無數。過得荊棘林是好手。也須是透過那邊始得。雖然如是。如今人到這般田地。早是難得。或若有依倚有解會。則沒交涉。喆和尚謂之見不淨潔。五祖先師。謂之命根不斷。須是大死一番。却活始得。浙中永光和尚道。言鋒若差鄉關萬里。直須懸崖撒手。自肯承當。絕後再甦。欺君不得。非常之旨。人焉廋哉。趙州問意如此。投子是作家。亦不辜負他所問。只是絕情絕迹。不妨難會。只露面前些子。所以古人道。欲得親切。莫將問來問。問在答處。答在問處。若非投子。被趙州一問。也大難酬對。只為他是作家漢。舉著便知落處。頌云。廋（所留反匿也）。

Zhaozhou asked Touzi, "When a person of the Great Death comes back to life, how is it?" Touzi answered him, saying, "Night travel is not permitted; one must arrive by dawn." Tell me, what sort of moment is this? A fluteless flute colliding with a felt clapper. This is called a host-testing question, and also a question of mental activity. In all quarters, Touzi and Zhaozhou were both praised for possessing eloquence that outstripped the herd. Though the two elders came from different lines of succession, look at how their dynamic sharpness harmonized like two in the same boat! One day, Touzi prepared a tea feast to receive Zhaozhou. He personally handed a steamed bun to Zhaozhou, but Zhaozhou paid no attention. Touzi ordered an attendant to hand a sesame flatbread to Zhaozhou, and Zhaozhou bowed three times to the attendant. Tell me, what was his meaning? Look at how both of them consistently drew upon the fundamental root, bringing up this proper matter of one's own lot for the sake of others. A monk asked, "What is the Dao?" He replied, "The Dao." "What is Buddha?" He replied, "Buddha." Again he asked, "How is it before the gold lock is unlocked?" He replied, "Unlocked." "How is it before the gold rooster crows?" He replied, "There is no such sound." "How is it after it crows?" He replied, "Each knows its own time." Touzi's questions and answers throughout his life were always like this. Look at Zhaozhou asking, "When a person of the Great Death comes back to life, how is it?" and Touzi immediately saying, "Night travel is not permitted; one must arrive by dawn." Directly appearing like spark struck from flint or a flash of lightning, one must be a transcendent person before this is possible. A person of the Great Death has no Buddhist principles, wondrous mysteries, gains, losses, right, wrong, long, or short whatsoever; arriving here, one simply lets it rest like this. The ancients said, "Countless are the dead on flat ground; the one who can pass through the bramble forest is an adept." One must also penetrate through to the other side before it works. Even though it is like this, for people nowadays to reach this kind of stage is already rare. If there is any reliance or understanding, there is no connection. Venerable Zhe called it "impure vision." My late master, Wuzu, called it "the life-root not being severed." One must undergo the Great Death once, and only then come back to life. Venerable Yongguang of Zhejiang said, "If the dynamic point of words errs, one's homeland is ten thousand leagues away. You must directly let go your hands at the cliff's edge, personally take responsibility and bear it. Reviving after complete extinction—you cannot be deceived. An extraordinary purport: how can a person conceal it?" Zhaozhou's intent in asking was like this. Touzi was an adept, and did not fail his question either; it is just that he severed emotionality and traces, which is indeed hard to understand, merely revealing a little bit before him. Therefore the ancients said, "If you wish to be intimate, do not bring a question to question; the question lies in the answer, and the answer lies in the question." Were it not for Touzi, being asked this question by Zhaozhou, it would have been very difficult to reply. It was only because he was an adept that as soon as it was raised, he knew where it fell. The verse says: (廋 [pronounced sōu]: to conceal).