佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 8.23

8.23

呼即易遣即難。一等是落草。雪竇忒殺慈悲。尋常道。呼蛇易遣蛇難。如今將箇瓢子吹來。喚蛇即易。要遣時即難。一似將棒與他却易。復奪他棒。遣去却難。須是有本分手脚。方能遣得他去。烏臼是作家。有呼蛇底手脚。亦有遣蛇底手段。這僧也不是瞌睡底。烏臼問。定州法道何似這裏。便是呼他。烏臼便打。是遣他。僧云。棒頭有眼。不得草草打人。却轉在這僧處。便是呼來。烏臼云。汝若要山僧回與汝。僧便近前奪棒。也打三下。却是這僧遣去。乃至這僧大笑而出。烏臼云。消得恁麼消得恁麼。此分明是遣得他恰好。看他兩箇機鋒互換。絲來線去。打成一片。始終賓主分明。有時主却作賓。有時賓却作主。雪竇也讚歎不及。所以道。互換之機。教人且子細看。劫石固來猶可壞。謂此劫石。長四十里。廣八萬四千由旬。厚八萬四千由旬。凡五百年乃有天人下來。以六銖衣袖拂一下。又去至五百年。又來如此拂。拂盡此石。乃為一劫。謂之輕衣拂石劫。雪竇道。劫石固來猶可壞。石雖堅固。尚爾可消磨盡。此二人機鋒。千古萬古。更無有窮盡。滄溟深處立須乾。任是滄溟。洪波浩渺白浪滔天。若教此二人。向內立地。此滄溟也須乾竭。雪竇到此。一時頌了。末後更道。烏臼老烏臼老。幾何般。或擒或縱。或殺或活。畢竟是幾何般。與他杓柄太無端。這箇拄杖子。三世諸佛也用。歷代祖師也用。宗師家也用。與人抽釘拔楔。解粘去縛。爭得輕易分付與人。雪竇意要獨用。賴值這僧當時只與他平展。忽若旱地起雷。看他如何當抵。烏臼過杓柄與人去。豈不是太無端。

"Calling is easy, sending away is hard." Equally, both involve descending into the weeds; Xuedou was exceedingly compassionate. It is commonly said: "Calling a snake is easy, but sending a snake away is hard." Now, when one blows through a gourd to call a snake, it comes easily; but when one wishes to drive it away, it is difficult. It is just like giving someone a staff being easy, while snatching the staff back from him and driving him off is difficult. One must possess genuine hands and feet to be capable of sending him away. Wujiu was an adept: he had the hands and feet to summon snakes, and also possessed the methods to dispatch snakes. Nor was this monk one who was asleep. When Wujiu asked, "How does the Dharma-way of Dingzhou compare to here?" that was calling him. When Wujiu struck him, that was sending him away. The monk said, "The head of the staff has eyes; you must not beat people carelessly." This turned back to the monk's side, which was calling [Wujiu] in. Wujiu said, "If you want it, this mountain monk will give it back to you." The monk then stepped forward, snatched the staff, and hit Wujiu three times; this was the monk sending [Wujiu] away. Up to the point where the monk laughed aloud and went out, and Wujiu said, "It is well worth such; it is well worth such"—this clearly shows that he sent him away just right. See how the two of them interchanged dynamic sharpness, thread coming and line going, blending into a seamless whole. From beginning to end host and guest were distinct: sometimes the host acted as the guest, and sometimes the guest acted as the host. Xuedou could not praise it enough, and therefore said: "Look carefully at the dynamic function of mutual interchange." "The kalpa-stone is solid, yet it can still be destroyed." This refers to the kalpa-stone that is forty li long, eighty-four thousand yojanas wide, and eighty-four thousand yojanas thick. Every five hundred years a heavenly being descends and brushes it once with the sleeve of a six-zhu robe; having done so, departs, and after five hundred years comes back to brush it again like this. When this stone is completely worn away by brushing, that constitutes one kalpa; this is called the "kalpa of brushing the stone with a light garment." Xuedou says: "The kalpa-stone is solid, yet it can still be destroyed." Though the stone is firm and solid, it can still be worn away entirely. The dynamic sharpness of these two will never be exhausted through thousands and myriads of kalpas. "Standing in the depths of the boundless ocean, it must instantly dry up." Even in the boundless ocean, with immense billows surging wide and white waves reaching the heavens, if you have these two men stand inside it, this ocean must also dry up completely. Reaching this point, Xuedou finished eulogizing all at once. At the end he further said: "Old Wujiu! Old Wujiu! How many kinds?" Capturing or releasing, killing or giving life—in the end, just how many kinds are there? "Handing him the handle of the ladle is utterly pointless!" This staff has been used by the Buddhas of the three periods, by the ancestral masters of past generations, and is used by the lineage masters. It pulls out nails and extracts wedges for people, dissolves stickiness and loosens bonds; how could it be lightly and casually handed over to another? Xuedou's intent was to use it exclusively. Fortunately, at that moment the monk only engaged him on level terms; had thunder suddenly burst from the dry ground, let us see how he would have stood against it. Wujiu passing the handle of the ladle to another—is that not utterly pointless?