佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 6.22

6.22

道吾與漸源。至一家弔慰。源拍棺木云。生邪死邪。吾曰生也不道。死也不道。若向句下便入得。言下便知歸。只這便是透脫生死底關鍵。其或未然。往往當頭蹉過。看他古人行住坐臥。不妨以此事為念。纔至人家弔慰。漸源便拍棺問道吾云。生邪死邪。道吾不移易一絲毫。對他道。生也不道。死也不道。漸源當面蹉過。逐他語句走更云。為什麼不道。吾云。不道不道。吾可謂赤心片片。將錯就錯。源猶自不惺惺。回至中路又云。和尚快與某甲道。若不道。打和尚去也。這漢識什麼好惡。所謂好心不得好報。道吾依舊老婆心切更向他道。打即任打。道即不道。源便打。雖然如是。却是他贏得一籌。道吾恁麼血滴滴地為他。漸源得恁麼不瞥地。道吾既被他打。遂向漸源云。汝且去。恐院中知事探得。與爾作禍。密遣漸源出去。道吾忒殺傷慈。源後來至一小院。聞行者誦觀音經云。應以比丘身得度者即現比丘身而為說法。忽然大悟云。我當時錯怪先師。爭知此事。不在言句上。古人道。沒量大人。被語脈裏轉却。有底情解道。道吾云。不道不道。便是道了也。喚作打背翻筋斗。教人摸索不著。若恁麼會。作麼生得平穩去。若脚踏實地。不隔一絲毫。不見七賢女遊屍陀林。遂指屍問云。屍在這裏。人在什麼處。大姊云。作麼作麼。一眾齊證無生法忍。且道有幾箇。千箇萬箇。只是一箇。漸源後到石霜。舉前話。石霜依前云。生也不道。死也不道。源云。為什麼不道。霜云。不道不道。他便悟去。一日將鍬子。於法堂上。從東過西。從西過東。意欲呈己見解。霜果問云。作什麼。源云。覓先師靈骨。霜便截斷他脚跟云。我這裏洪波浩渺白浪滔天。覓什麼先師靈骨。他既是覓先師靈骨。石霜為什麼却恁麼道。到這裏。若於生也不道。死也不道處。言下薦得。方知自始至終全機受用。爾若作道理。擬議尋思。直是難見。漸源云。正好著力。看他悟後道得自然奇特。道吾一片頂骨如金色。擊時作銅聲。雪竇著語云。蒼天蒼天。其意落在兩邊。太原孚云。先師靈骨猶在。自然道得穩當。這一落索。一時拈向一邊。且道作麼生是省要處。作麼生是著力處。不見道。一處透千處萬處一時透。若向不道不道處透得去。便乃坐斷天下人舌頭。若透不得。也須是自參自悟。不可容易過日。可惜許時光。雪竇頌云。

Daowu and Jianyuan arrived at a family's home to offer condolences. Yuan patted the coffin and said, "Is it alive or dead?" Wu said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." If one can enter right beneath the phrase and know where to return upon the words, this very thing is the crucial pivot for breaking through and escaping birth and death. If not, one frequently blunders right past it on the spot. Look at how the ancients, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, constantly kept this matter in mind. As soon as they reached the house to offer condolences, Jianyuan patted the coffin and asked Daowu, "Is it alive or dead?" Daowu did not shift a single hair's breadth; he replied to him, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." Jianyuan blundered past it face-to-face; chasing after his words, he went further and said, "Why won't you say?" Wu said, "I won't say! I won't say!" Daowu could be called utterly sincere, going along with the error to rectify the error. Yuan was still not awake. On the way back, he said again, "Preceptor, tell me quickly! If you don't tell me, I will strike you, Preceptor!" Does this fellow know what is good or bad? As it is said, good intentions meet with no good reward. Daowu, still with a grandmotherly heart, said to him further, "Strike me if you will, but as for telling, I won't say!" Yuan then struck him. Although it was like this, Yuan nevertheless won a point. Daowu was dripping blood for him like this; how could Jianyuan be so uncomprehending? After Daowu was struck by him, he said to Jianyuan, "You must leave for now. I fear that if the temple administrators find out, they will bring trouble upon you." He secretly sent Jianyuan away. Daowu was excessively compassionate! Later, Yuan went to a small cloister and heard a postulant reciting the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra: "To those who should be liberated by the body of a monk, he immediately manifests the body of a monk to preach the Dharma for them." He suddenly had a great awakening and said, "At that time I blamed the late master wrongly; how was I to know that this matter does not lie in words and phrases?" An ancient said, "Great people of immeasurable capacity are spun around inside the veins of speech." There are those whose emotional understanding says: "Daowu's saying 'I won't say, I won't say' was precisely telling him." This is called turning a back-flip, making people unable to get a handle on it. If you understand it like this, how can you attain peace and stability? If one's feet tread on solid ground, there is not a hair's breadth of separation. Have you not seen the seven virtuous women visiting the Śītavana charnel ground? One pointed to a corpse and asked, "The corpse is here; where is the person?" The eldest sister said, "What? What?" The entire assembly together realized the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. And tell me, how many were there? A thousand, ten thousand—they are just one. Later, Jianyuan went to Shishuang and recounted the previous dialogue. Shishuang, just as before, said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." Yuan said, "Why won't you say?" Shuang said, "I won't say! I won't say!" Yuan was awakened then and there. One day, carrying a spade, he walked from east to west and from west to east in the Dharma Hall, intending to present his understanding. As expected, Shuang asked, "What are you doing?" Yuan said, "I am looking for the late master's holy relics." Shuang immediately cut off his heels, saying, "Here, vast billows billow, white waves surge to the heavens—what holy relics of the late master are you looking for?" Since he was looking for the late master's holy relics, why did Shishuang speak like this? At this point, if you can grasp it upon the words "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead," only then will you know that from beginning to end it is the dynamic function in its entirety that one employs. If you construct logical principles, speculating and deliberating, it is truly difficult to see. Jianyuan said, "Just the right time to apply effort!" See how naturally extraordinary his words are after awakening! A piece of Daowu's parietal bone was golden in color, and when struck it made a metallic sound like copper. Xuedou's added remark says, "Blue heavens! Blue heavens!" Its meaning falls into both extremes. Taiyuan Fu said, "The late master's holy relics are still present!" Naturally, he spoke steadily and securely. Setting this entanglement aside for a moment, tell me: what is the crucial point? Where is effort to be applied? Have you not heard it said: "Penetrating one place, a thousand places, ten thousand places are penetrated all at once." If you can penetrate at the place of "I won't say, I won't say," you will then sit upon and cut off the tongues of everyone under heaven. If you cannot penetrate, you must personally investigate and personally awaken; you must not let the days pass easily, wasting such precious time. Xuedou's verse says: