佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 1.33

1.33

When Yunmen first studied under Muzhou, Muzhou’s dynamic function was like revolving lightning, truly hard to approach. Customarily, when receiving people, the moment they crossed the threshold he would seize them and say, “Speak! Speak!” If they hesitated, he would shove them out, saying, “The drill of the Qin dynasty!” Whenever Yunmen went to see him, on the third occasion, as soon as he knocked on the door, Muzhou asked, “Who is it?” Yunmen said, “Wenyan.” As soon as the door opened, he leapt in. Muzhou seized him and said, “Speak! Speak!” Yunmen hesitated, and was shoved out the door. One foot was still inside the door threshold when Muzhou quickly slammed the door, crushing and breaking Yunmen’s leg. Yunmen cried out in pain, and suddenly attained great awakening. Later, the style of his speech in receiving people was cast entirely from the mold of Muzhou.

Afterward, he stayed for three years at the residence of Minister Chen Cao. Muzhou directed him to go to Xuefeng’s place. When he arrived there, he came forward from the assembly and asked, “What is the Buddha?” Xuefeng said, “Do not talk in your sleep.” Yunmen then bowed; he stayed for three years. One day Xuefeng asked, “How is your insight?” Yunmen said, “My insight does not differ by the slightest hairsbreadth from that of all the sages from of old.”

For twenty years, Lingshu did not appoint a head monk, often saying, “My head monk is born.” Again he said, “My head monk is herding cattle.” Again he said, “My head monk is on itinerant pilgrimage.” Suddenly one day he ordered the bell struck to welcome the head monk in front of the three gates. The assembly was all astonished; Yunmen indeed arrived. He was then invited into the head monk’s quarters to unpack his bundle.

People called Lingshu the Chan Master Who Knows the Sage; he foreknew both past and future matters. One day, the Ruler of Guang, King Liu, was about to raise troops; he came in person to the cloister to ask the Master to determine good or bad fortune. Lingshu had already known beforehand; he serenely passed away sitting up. The Ruler of Guang said angrily, “When did the venerable monk fall ill?” The attendant replied, “The master was never ill. Just recently he sealed a box, instructing that it await the King’s arrival to be presented to him.” The Ruler of Guang opened the box and found a slip of paper that read, “The eye of humans and devas: the head monk in the hall.” The Ruler of Guang grasped the intent, and thereupon ceased military action. He invited Yunmen to appear in the world and reside at Lingshu. Only later did he reside at Yunmen.

When the Master opened the hall to expound the Dharma, Attendant Ju posed a question: “Is the fruit of Lingshu ripe yet or not?” Yunmen said, “In what year did you get the word that it was unripe?” He also cited the past conditions of King Liu having formerly been an incense merchant, and so forth. King Liu later posthumously conferred upon Lingshu the title Chan Master Who Knows the Sage. Lingshu never lost his supernormal powers lifetime after lifetime; Yunmen had been a king for three lifetimes, which is why he lost his supernormal powers.

One day King Liu summoned the Master to enter the palace to pass the summer, along with several venerable elders. All of them received inquiries from the palace attendants and expounded the Dharma; only the Master alone did not speak, nor did anyone approach him. An attendant of the palace wrote a verse and posted it in the Jade Palace, saying:

Cultivating with great wisdom is truly Chan;
The gate of Chan is suited to silence, not to clamor.
How can myriad clever speeches compare to reality?
They all lose to Yunmen, who does not speak at all.

Yunmen customarily liked to speak three-word Chan: “Look, examine, oh!” He also spoke one-word Chan. A monk asked, “If one kills one's father and kills one's mother, one repents before the Buddha. If one kills the Buddha and kills the patriarch, where does one repent?” Yunmen said, “Exposed.” Again a monk asked, “What is the treasury of the true Dharma eye?” Yunmen said, “Universal.” Truly he did not allow hesitation. When it came to level ground, he would also scold people. If he brought down a word, it was just like an iron stake.

Later there emerged four adepts: Dongshan Chu, Zhimon Kuan, Deshan Mi, and Xianglin Yuan. All were great lineage masters. Xianglin served as attendant for eighteen years; whenever Yunmen received him, he merely called, “Attendant Yuan!” Yuan would say, “Yes?” Yunmen would say, “What is it?” Like this for eighteen years, until one day he finally awakened. Yunmen said, “From now on, I will not call you anymore.”

Yunmen customarily received people using mostly Muzhou’s methods; they were simply hard to approach. He had the pliers and hammer that draw out nails and pull out wedges. Xuedou said, “I love the newly settled dynamic of Shaoyang; all his life he drew out nails and pulled out wedges for people.”

He brought forth a question to instruct the assembly, saying: “I do not ask you about before the fifteenth day. After the fifteenth day, bring a phrase forth!” Cutting off myriad differences, permitting neither ordinary nor holy. He spoke in place [of the assembly], saying, “Every day is a good day.” “Before the fifteenth day”—this phrase has already cut off myriad differences. “After the fifteenth day”—this phrase has also cut off myriad differences. It was that he did not say tomorrow is the sixteenth. Later people merely follow the words to produce interpretations—what connection is there? For Yunmen to establish this house style, there had to be a place to help people. Having brought forth the phrase, he then spoke in their place, saying, “Every day is a good day.” This phrase penetrates past and present; from before to after, it cuts them off all at once. For this mountain monk to speak like this is also to follow words and produce interpretations. “Better to kill oneself than to be killed by another.” As soon as you make principles, you fall into a pit and plunge into a trench.

Within one phrase of Yunmen, the three phrases are completely equipped. It is because his family’s essential doctrine is like this. In bringing forth a phrase, one must return to the source; if not like this, it is merely fabricated. In this matter there is not much discussion, yet those who have not penetrated must have it like this. If you can penetrate it, you will see the ancient’s intended meaning. Look at Xuedou spinning entangling vines.