佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 1.2

1.2

The vital pulse of the supreme sages, the grand dynamic function of the successive ancestral masters, the efficacious prescription that transforms the bones, the wondrous art of nourishing the spirit—surely it was Chan Master Xuedou alone who possessed the true eye surpassing the tradition and transcending ordinary standards. He held high the authentic imperative without betraying his style, wielding the tongs and hammer that forge Buddhas and temper ancestral masters to eulogize in verse the transcendent hold of patch-robed monks. Silver mountain and iron wall: who dared bore through them? A mosquito biting an iron ox cannot find a place to sink its mouth. Had [the world] not encountered a great master craftsman, how could its abstruse subtleties have been known? There was the venerable Elder Foguo, who, while residing at Blue Cliff, had students confused and begging for further instruction. Moved by pity, the Elder extended his compassion: he lanced down to the deep springs, dissected the underlying truths, and pointed directly in the full light of day, without ever establishing views or cognition. The hundred gong'ans were strung through from beginning to end; a whole crowd of old fellows were appraised in order, one by one. One must realize that the Jade of Zhao was originally without flaw or blemish, and Lin Xiangru merely duped the King of Qin; the supreme Way is truly beyond words, but the lineage master extended compassion to remedy defects. If seen in this way, one will only then recognize his thoroughly grandmotherly heart; but if one clings to clauses and sinks into words, one will inevitably extinguish the Buddha-nature. I, Puzhao, have had the good fortune to attend the master's seat and hear what had not yet been heard. As Dharma friends compiled this into a volume, my clumsy self has set forth its origin and development. Respectfully prefaced by the bhikṣu Puzhao, follower of the teachings and inheritor of the ancestral masters, on the last day of late spring, the wushen year of the Jianyan era [1128].