佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 2.48

2.48

Xuedou closes the case according to the confession. Although he wrote such a eulogy, tell me, where is his meaning? Where is 'having no eyes'? Where is 'in dead water'? Arriving here, one must have adaptability before one gets it. Therefore it is said: 'In a clear pool, the azure dragon is not permitted to coil; how could there be a fierce dragon in dead water?' Have you not heard it said: 'Dead water does not harbor dragons'? If it is a live dragon, it must go where great billows are vast and white waves surge to the sky. This says that Longya ran into dead water; being struck by someone, he instead said: 'As for striking, strike as you will; nevertheless, there is no meaning of the ancestral master's coming from the West'—thus incurring Xuedou's remark: 'How could dead water ever rouse the ancient style?' Even though it is like this, tell me: was Xuedou upholding him, or diminishing his awe-inspiring radiance? Many people misunderstand, saying: 'Why "They should only be handed over to Lord Lu"?' Little do they realize that it was Longya who was handed over to someone. In general, in visiting and consulting masters, one must discern directly upon the dynamic; only then will one see where the ancients met one another. 'The meditation board and cushion could not be used'—Cuiwei said: 'Pass me the meditation board.' Longya passed it to him. Is this not making a living in dead water? It was clearly presenting him with an azure dragon, yet he did not know how to ride it; this is 'could not be used.' 'They should only be handed over to Lord Lu'—people often call this the Sixth Patriarch, which is wrong. They were not handed over to another person. If one says they were handed over to someone who wanted to use them to strike people, what would that come to? Formerly, Xuedou called himself Lord Lu. In inscribing his poem 'Concealing Traces, Bequeathed to Myself,' he wrote: 'In painting, in years past, I loved Dongting; in the heart of the waves, seventy-two peaks were green. Now lying high, I recall former times, adding Lord Lu leaning against the stone screen.' Xuedou wanted to walk atop Longya's head; yet fearing that people would misunderstand, he made another eulogy to cut off people's doubts and interpretations. Xuedou brought it up again, saying: