佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 2.10

2.10

Xuedou saw through thoroughly; therefore, right from the start he said: 'The golden crow is swift; the jade rabbit is rapid.' This is not two different things from Dongshan's answer, 'Three pounds of hemp.' The sun rises and the moon sets; day after day it is like this. Many people form emotional interpretations, continually saying, 'The golden crow is the left eye; the jade rabbit is the right eye.' As soon as they are asked, they glare with wide eyes and say, 'What connection is there right here?' If understood like this, Bodhidharma's entire lineage is swept cleanly away. Therefore it is said: 'Lowering a hook into the four seas, one only angles for ferocious dragons; transcendent, mysterious dynamic function seeks out an intimate friend.' Xuedou was a man who had stepped outside the realm of the aggregates; how could he hold such a view? Xuedou gently knocked at the barrier and struck the rhythm, revealing just a little bit for you to see, and then added a footnote, saying: 'How could a skillful response ever touch upon things lightly?' Dongshan did not repay this monk lightly. Like a bell when struck, like a valley receiving an echo, responding in accordance with great or small, he dared not touch upon it lightly. In a single moment, Xuedou brought forth his heart, liver, and five viscera, presenting them to all of you. Xuedou had a verse on 'Quiet and Skillfully Responding':
'Presenting face to face does not depend on many turns;
Dragons and snakes are easy to tell apart, but a patch-robed monk is hard to deceive.
The shadow of the golden hammer moves; the light of the precious sword is cold.
It comes straight down! Hurry, look closely!'
When Dongshan first studied under Yunmen, Yunmen asked, 'Where have you come from recently?' Dongshan said, 'Zhadu.' Yunmen said, 'Where did you spend the summer retreat?' Dongshan said, 'Baoci in Hunan.' Yunmen said, 'When did you leave there?' Dongshan said, 'August twenty-fifth.' Yunmen said, 'I spare you three rounds of blows with the staff; go to the hall.' In the evening, the Master entered Yunmen's room, approached him, and asked, 'Where was my fault?' Yunmen said, 'You rice bag! Passing through Jiangxi and Hunan just like that!' At these words, Dongshan had a great, thorough awakening. He then said, 'Someday I will go to a place where there is no human smoke, set up a small hut, not store a single grain of rice, not plant a single stalk of greens, and constantly receive and host the great kalyāṇamitras coming and going from the ten directions. I will pull out all their nails and extract their wedges for them, take off their greasy caps, strip off their smelly robes, and make each one thoroughly clear and free, acting as someone with nothing to do.' Yunmen said, 'Your body is as big as a coconut, yet you can open such a big mouth!' Dongshan then bowed and took his leave. His awakening at that time was completely unconstrained and liberated; how could it be compared to small views? Later, when he appeared in the world and responded to dynamic function with the words 'Three pounds of hemp,' people in various quarters merely took it as an answer to the question about the Buddha: 'What is the Buddha? A staff of bamboo shoots from Mount Zhanglin,' or 'The Bingding Boy comes seeking fire.' They only make up conceptual theories about the Buddha. Xuedou said: 'If you interpret it as displaying matters and matching dynamic sharpness in this way, it is just like a lame turtle and a blind tortoise entering an empty valley—in what year or month will they find a way out?' 'Clustered flowers, clustered brocade'—this refers to a monk asking Venerable Zhimon, 'What was Dongshan's meaning in saying "Three pounds of hemp"?' Zhimon said, 'Clustered flowers, clustered brocade.' 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I do not.' Zhimon said, 'Bamboo of the south, wood of the north!' The monk returned and brought it up to Dongshan. Dongshan said, 'I will not speak for you; I will speak for the great assembly.' He then ascended the hall and said, 'Words do not display matters; speech does not match dynamic sharpness. Those who accept words are lost; those who stagnate in phrases are deluded.' Xuedou broke through people's emotional views, deliberately citing them in a single string in his verse. Yet later people turned around and generated emotional views, saying, 'Hemp is the mourning garment; bamboo is the mourning staff. Therefore it is said: "Bamboo of the south, wood of the north." "Clustered flowers, clustered brocade" refers to the flowers and grass painted on the front of a coffin.' Do you have any sense of shame? Little do they realize that 'Bamboo of the south, wood of the north' and 'Three pounds of hemp' are just like calling one's father 'Dad' and 'Papa.' When the ancients gave a turning word, their intention was definitely not like that. It is just like Xuedou saying, 'The golden crow is swift; the jade rabbit is rapid.' It is naturally of the same broad expansiveness. It is just that gold and brass are hard to distinguish, and fish and Lu get mixed up. Xuedou's grandmotherly heart was earnest; wishing to shatter your doubt, he further cited a dead fellow: 'One recalls Minister Lu of Changqing, / Who understood that one ought to laugh and not weep.' As for his verse, it was already completed all at once in the first three lines. Let me ask you: it was altogether just three pounds of hemp, yet why did Xuedou have so many entangling vines? It was simply because his compassion was exceedingly great; therefore he was like this. Minister Lu Gen served as the Surveillance Commissioner of Xuanzhou and studied under Nanquan. When Nanquan passed away, Gen heard the mourning, entered the monastery to offer sacrifice, and burst into hearty laughter. The director of the cloister said, 'The late master had the bond of master and disciple with you, Minister. Why do you not weep?' The Minister said, 'If you can say a word, I will weep.' The director was speechless. Gen wailed loudly and said, 'Blue sky, blue sky! The late master has departed far away!' Later Changqing heard of this and said, 'The Minister should have laughed, not wept.' Xuedou borrowed this general meaning to say: If you make such emotional interpretations, it is truly laughable, not something to weep over. Though that is so, the very last word is indeed awkward and difficult. He further said: 'Bah!' Can Xuedou wash himself clean of it?