佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 1.24

1.24

Jiashan added three checking marks. Do all of you understand? Sometimes one blade of grass is used as the sixteen-foot golden body; sometimes the sixteen-foot golden body is used as a blade of grass. Deshan was originally a doctrinal lecturer. In western Shu he lectured on the Diamond Sūtra. Because in the teachings it says, 'Vajra symbolizes samādhi; in post-attainment wisdom, for a thousand kalpas one studies the Buddha's deportment and for ten thousand kalpas one studies the Buddha's fine conduct, and only then does one attain Buddhahood,' yet those southern devil-spawn went about saying, 'This very mind is Buddha.' Thereupon he grew indignant, shouldered his commentaries, and went on itinerant pilgrimage straight toward the south to overthrow this band of devils. Seeing him so indignant, he was indeed a fierce and keen fellow! When he first arrived in Lizhou, on the road he saw an old woman selling fried cakes. So he set down his commentaries to buy some snacks [literally: 'point of mind'] to eat. The old woman asked, 'What is that you are carrying?' Deshan said, 'Commentaries on the Diamond Sūtra.' The old woman said, 'I have one question. If you can answer it, I will give you fried cakes as snacks. If you cannot answer, go buy them elsewhere.' Deshan said, 'Just ask.' The old woman said, 'The Diamond Sūtra says, "Past mind cannot be grasped, present mind cannot be grasped, future mind cannot be grasped." Which mind does the Acārya wish to refresh [point to]?' Deshan was speechless. The old woman then directed him to go call upon Longtan. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, he asked, 'I have long heard of Longtan [Dragon Pool], but having arrived here, no pool is seen, nor does a dragon appear.' Reverend Longtan, drawing himself forward from behind a folding screen, said, 'You have personally arrived at Longtan.' The Master then made prostrations and retired. When night came, he entered the room and stood in attendance until late in the night. Longtan said, 'Why not go down?' Deshan then said farewell, lifted the curtain, and went out. Seeing that it was dark outside, he turned back and said, 'It is dark outside the door.' Longtan then lit a paper candle and handed it to Deshan. Just as Deshan took it, Longtan blew it out. Deshan had a sudden great enlightenment, and at once bowed down. Longtan asked, 'What have you seen that makes you bow?' Deshan said, 'From this day forward, I will never again doubt the tongue-tips of the old reverends under heaven.' The next day, Longtan went up to the hall and said, 'Among you there is a fellow whose fangs are like a forest of swords, whose mouth is like a blood bowl; strike him with a staff and he does not turn his head. Someday in the future, upon a solitary peak, he will establish my path.' Deshan then took his commentaries, brought a torch before the Dharma Hall, held it up, and said, 'Exhausting all profound eloquence is like placing a single hair in the great void; using up all worldly mechanisms is like casting a single drop into a vast chasm.' He then burned them. Later, hearing of the flourishing teaching at Guishan, he went straight to Guishan to meet him as an adept. Without even unpacking his bundle, he went straight into the Dharma Hall, crossed from east to west and from west to east, looked around and said, 'Nothing, nothing,' and immediately went out. Now tell me, what was his intention? Could he have been mad? Most people misunderstand and take this as establishing something; in truth, it has no connection whatsoever. Seeing him act like this, it is truly extraordinary! Therefore it is said: 'To emerge from the crowd requires an outstanding hero; to conquer the opponent relies on a lion's cub. In choosing Buddhas, if one lacks such an eye, even after a thousand ages, what would be the use?' Arriving here, one must be an adept of comprehensive ways before one can begin to see it. Why? In the Buddha Dharma there are not so many affairs; where could emotional views find a foothold? In his mind's workings, how could there be so much fuss? Therefore Xuansha said, 'Directly like the moon's reflection in an autumn pool, or the bell's chime in the quiet night: it responds to the striking without deficiency, and touches the waves without dispersing.' This is still an affair on the shore of birth and death. Arriving here, there is neither gain nor loss, neither right nor wrong, nor is there anything extraordinary, mysterious, or abstruse. Since there is nothing extraordinary, mysterious, or abstruse, how do you understand his crossing from east to west and from west to east? Now tell me, what was his meaning? Old Guishan did not pay him any mind either. Were it not for Guishan, he would have been frustrated and broken down by him. Look at old adept Guishan meeting him: he simply sat and watched the outcome. If he had not deeply discerned the incoming breeze, how could he have acted like this? Xuedou's interlinear remark says, 'Checked and exposed!'—just like an iron stake. In the assembly it is called an interlinear remark: although it stands on both sides, it does not abide on either side. How do you understand his saying, 'Checked and exposed'? Where is the place he checked and exposed? Tell me, did he check and expose Deshan, or did he check and expose Guishan? Deshan then went out to the gate, but wanting to eradicate the root, said to himself, 'I must not be careless.' He wanted to turn out his five viscera, heart, and liver to engage Guishan in a Dharma battle. Having fully arrayed his deportment again, he returned to meet him. While Guishan was sitting, Deshan held up his sitting mat and said, 'Reverend!' Guishan moved to take up his whisk. Deshan then gave a shout and, flicking his sleeves, went out. Exceedingly extraordinary! Many in the assemblies say Guishan was afraid of him—what connection does that have? Guishan was in no hurry either. Therefore it is said, 'He whose wisdom surpasses birds catches birds; he whose wisdom surpasses beasts catches beasts; he whose wisdom surpasses humans catches humans.' When one has penetrated such Chan, even if the entire great earth, the myriad phenomena, heaven and hell, grass, mustard seeds, humans, and beasts all let out a shout at once, he would pay no mind; even if someone overturned the meditation platform and shouted the great assembly to dispersal, he would not give it a glance. It is as high as the heavens, as deep as the earth. If Guishan lacked the skill to cut off the tongues of everyone under heaven, it would have been very difficult to test him at that time. Were he not a kalyāṇamitra of fifteen hundred people, when it came to this point, he could not have sorted it out either. Guishan devised strategies in his command tent to secure victory a thousand leagues away. Deshan turned his back on the Dharma Hall, put on his straw sandals, and went straight out. Now tell me, what was his meaning? Do you say Deshan won or lost? Did Guishan's acting like this mean winning or losing? Xuedou's interlinear remark says, 'Checked and exposed!' It was because he applied effort and saw through the ancient's stubborn, paradoxical, and ultimate point that he was able to do this. It is truly extraordinary. Netang said, 'Xuedou applied two