佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 10.42

10.42

Siming previously called upon Dajue, and later inherited the lineage of the former Baoshou. One day he asked, "What is it like when one has trodden down and smashed the conjured city?" Shou said, "A sharp sword does not cut down a dead fellow." Ming said, "Cut!" Shou immediately struck him. Siming said "Cut!" ten times, and Shou struck him ten times, saying, "What urgent need for death does this fellow have, using a corpse to withstand his painful staff?" He then shouted him out. / At that time, there was a monk who asked Baoshou, "The monk who asked a question just now had great principle; the Venerable should receive him with expedient means." Baoshou also struck and drove this monk out. And tell me, when Baoshou also drove this monk out, was it only because he spoke of right and wrong, or was there another principle? What was the intention? Later, both inherited the lineage of Baoshou. / One day, Siming went out to see Nanyuan. Yuan asked him, "Where have you come from?" Ming said, "I come from Xuzhou." Yuan said, "What have you brought?" Ming said, "I have brought a Jiangxi razor to offer to the Venerable." Yuan said, "Since you come from Xuzhou, why on the contrary do you have a Jiangxi razor?" (Ming gave Yuan's hand a pinch. Yuan said, "Attendant, take it." Siming shook his sleeve once and walked away. Yuan said, "A-la-la!") / "A-la-la!" Tianping had formerly called upon Master Jinshan. Because he had gone to various quarters and studied a bit of turnip-head Chan into his belly, wherever he went he flippantly opened his big mouth and said, "I understand Chan, I understand the Dao," and would often say, "Do not say you understand the Buddhadharma; you cannot even find anyone who can quote a saying!" The stench of feces fumigated people, and he merely engaged in flippancy. But consider: before the Buddhas appeared in the world, before the ancestral masters came from the West, before there were questions and answers, before there were gong'ans, was there still Chan and the Dao? When the ancients could not do otherwise, they gave pointers in response to the dynamic. Later people called these gong'ans. Because the Bhagavat held up a flower, Kāśyapa smiled. Later Ānanda asked Kāśyapa, "Besides the golden robe, what other Dharma did the Bhagavat transmit?" Kāśyapa called, "Ānanda!" Ānanda replied, "Yes?" Kāśyapa said, "Knock down the flagpole in front of the gate!" Just consider: before the flower was held up, before Ānanda asked, from where could gong'ans be obtained? People just let themselves be stamped tight by the winter-melon seals of the various quarters, and then say, "My understanding of the Buddhadharma is extraordinary; don't let anyone know!" / Tianping was precisely like this. When called over by Xiyuan, who consecutively uttered two "wrongs", he was utterly flustered, terrified, and unable to explain himself—not reaching the village ahead, and not catching up to the inn behind. Some say, "When one speaks of the 'meaning of the coming from the West', already it is wrong." Little do they know the place where these two "wrongs" of Xiyuan land. Tell me, all of you: in what place do they land? Therefore it is said, "He studies living phrases; he does not study dead phrases." / When Tianping raised his head, already he had fallen into the second and the third. Xiyuan said, "Wrong!" Tianping, however, did not recognize the function right in front of him; he only thought, "I have Chan in my belly—pay no heed to him!" He walked forward two or three paces again. Xiyuan said again, "Wrong!" Yet it was pitch black as before. Tianping came forward; Xiyuan said, "These two 'wrongs' just now—was Xiyuan wrong, or was the elder wrong?" Tianping said, "Congyi was wrong." How delightful that it has no connection! Already this was the seventh and eighth head. Xiyuan said, "Stay here for the summer, to wait and deliberate these two 'wrongs' together with you, elder." Tianping then left immediately. Resemble he did, but right he was not yet. It is not that one says he was not right; he just could not catch up. Even though it was like this, he still had a bit of patch-robed monk flavor. / Later, residing in a monastery, Tianping said to the assembly: "When I was on itinerant pilgrimage originally, blown by the wind of karma to the place of Master Siming, he consecutively uttered two 'wrongs', and further wanted to keep me for the summer to wait and deliberate together with me. I did not say it was wrong at such a time; when I set my feet toward the South, I already knew that it was wrong!" This fellow talks a great deal, but he only falls into the seventh and eighth head; completely without connection. Nowadays when people hear him say, "When I set my feet toward the South, I already knew that it was wrong," they then go and speculate, saying, "Before going on itinerant pilgrimage, one naturally does not have so much Buddhadharma, Chan, and Dao. When it comes to itinerant pilgrimage, one is deceived and blinded by the various quarters. Surely before going on itinerant pilgrimage, one did not call earth heaven, or call mountains water! Fortunately there was not a single speck of business." If all of you form such common, vulgar views, why not buy a cap, wear it, and pass the time together? What use would that be? The Buddhadharma is not this kind of principle. / If we discuss this matter, how could there be so many varieties of entangling vines? If you say, "I understand, others do not understand," shouldering a carrying-pole of Chan and running all over the world, once you are checked and exposed by someone with clear eyes, not a single bit of it can be put to use. Xuedou versifies it precisely like this: