佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 7.27

7.27

大凡挑囊負鉢。撥草瞻風。也須是具行脚眼始得。這僧眼似流星。也被巖頭勘破了一串穿却。當時若是箇漢。或殺或活。舉著便用。這僧砑郎當。却道收得。似恁麼行脚。閻羅老子問爾。索飯錢在。知他踏破多少草鞋。直到雪峯。當時若有些子眼筋。便解瞥地去。豈不快哉。這箇因緣。有節角誵訛處。此事雖然無得失。得失甚大。雖然無揀擇。到這裏。却要具眼揀擇。看他龍牙行脚時。致箇問端。問德山。學人仗鏌鎁劍。擬取師頭時如何。德山引頸近前云。㘞。龍牙云。師頭落也。山便歸方丈。牙後舉似洞山。洞山云。德山當時道什麼。牙云。他無語。洞山云。他無語則且置。借我德山落底頭來看。牙於言下大悟。遂焚香遙望德山禮拜懺悔。有僧傳到德山處。德山云。洞山老漢。不識好惡。這漢死來多少時也。救得有什麼用處。這箇公案。與龍牙底一般。德山歸方丈。則暗中最妙。巖頭大笑。他笑中有毒。若有人辨得。天下橫行。這僧當時若辨得出。千古之下。免得檢責。於巖頭門下。已是一場蹉過。看他雪峯老人是同參。便知落處。也不與他說破。只打三十棒趕出院。可以光前絕後。這箇是拈作家衲僧鼻孔。為人底手段。更不與他如之若何。教他自悟去。本分宗師為人。有時籠罩。不教伊出頭。有時放令死郎當地。却須有出身處。大小大巖頭雪峯倒被箇喫飯禪和勘破。只如巖頭道。黃巢過後還收得劍麼。諸人且道。這裏合下得什麼語。免得他笑。又免得雪峯行棒趕出。這裏誵訛。若不曾親證親悟。縱使口頭快利。至究竟透脫生死不得。山僧尋常教人覰這機關轉處。若擬議則遠之遠矣。不見投子問鹽平僧云。黃巢過後。收得劍麼。僧以手指地。投子云。三十年弄馬騎。今日却被驢子撲。看這僧。也不妨是箇作家。也不道收得。也不道收不得。與西京僧。如隔海在。真如拈云。他古人。一箇做頭。一箇做尾定也。雪竇頌云。

Generally speaking, shoulder-pole carrying the bag and bowl, parting the grasses to gaze for the wind, one must also be equipped with the eye of itinerant pilgrimage to begin with. This monk's eyes were like shooting stars, yet he was thoroughly examined and pierced through on a single string by Yantou. At that time, if he had been a true fellow, whether killing or giving life, he would have applied it as soon as it was raised. But this monk was clumsy and careless, responding instead, "I retrieved it." Wandering on pilgrimage like this, Old Yama will interrogate you and demand payment for your food! Who knows how many straw sandals he wore out until he reached Xuefeng? If at that time he had had a bit of an eye, he would have understood how to catch a glimpse—would that not have been delightful? In this case, there are jagged joints and deceptive entanglements. Although this matter has no gain or loss, the gain and loss are exceedingly great; although there is no choosing, when it comes to this, one must possess the eye to choose. Look at when Longya was on pilgrimage: he raised a question, asking Deshan, "When a student brandishes the Moyeda sword and intends to take the master's head, what then?" Deshan stretched his neck forward and said, "Heh!" Longya said, "Master, your head has fallen." Deshan then returned to the abbot's quarters. Later, Longya recounted this to Dongshan. Dongshan said, "What did Deshan say at that time?" Longya said, "He had no words." Dongshan said, "Setting aside his having no words for the moment, lend me Deshan's fallen head to look at." Upon these words, Longya had a great awakening; he then burned incense, faced Deshan from afar, bowed, and repented. A monk reported this to Deshan. Deshan said, "That old fellow Dongshan does not know good from bad. That fellow has been dead for how long now? What is the use of reviving him?" This gong'an is just like Longya's. Deshan's returning to the abbot's quarters is most wondrous in secret. Yantou laughed heartily, and in his laughter there was poison. If someone can discern it, they can stride freely throughout the world. If that monk had discerned it at that time, he would have avoided being checked and blamed for a thousand ages. At Yantou's gate, it was already a total miss. Look at that old man Xuefeng: being fellow trainees, he immediately knew where he landed; he did not lay it bare for him either, but only struck him thirty blows and drove him out of the monastery. This can illumine the past and surpass the future! This is the technique of grabbing the nostrils of an adept patch-robed monk for the sake of helping someone. He did not bother debating with him at all, but caused him to awaken for himself. When a lineage master of the proper measure acts for someone, sometimes he covers them over, not allowing them to poke their head out; sometimes he lets them fall stone-dead, yet they must have a place of escape. Great, immense Yantou and Xuefeng were, on the contrary, examined and seen through by a rice-eating Chan monk! But tell me: when Yantou said, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve the sword?" what words should have been spoken here to avoid his laughter, and also to avoid Xuefeng applying the staff and driving him out? Here it is deceptive and entangled: if one has not personally experienced and personally awakened to it, even if one's mouth is sharp and nimble, in the end one cannot break through and escape birth and death. I usually instruct people to look closely at the turning point of this mechanism; if you deliberate, you are far, far away. Have you not seen: Touzi asked a monk from Yanping, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve the sword?" The monk pointed to the ground with his finger. Touzi said, "For thirty years I have ridden horses, yet today I am thrown by a donkey!" Look at this monk: he was indeed an adept. He neither said he retrieved it nor said he did not retrieve it. Compared to the monk from the Western Capital, they are separated as if by an ocean. Zhenru commented: "Those ancients—one acted as the head, and the other definitely acted as the tail." Xuedou's verse says: