佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 2.5

2.5

This verse of Xuedou is very much like a portrait eulogy for Huangbo, yet people must not understand it as a portrait eulogy. Beneath his lines there is an escape route. It clearly states: "Chilly and stern, the solitary wind does not boast of itself." When Huangbo addressed the assembly like this, he was not competing with others, nor belittling others, nor bragging and boasting of himself. If you understand this message, you are entirely free to stride horizontally and vertically in all directions: at times standing alone atop a solitary peak, at times lying across the bustling marketplace. How could one narrow-mindedly guard a single corner? The more you try to abandon it, the less it stops; the more you seek it, the less you see it; the more you take it on, the deeper you sink. The ancients said, "Without wings, one flies across the world; without a name, it is transmitted throughout the realm." Completely cast aside the principles of the Buddha Dharma, the mysterious, and the extraordinary; drop them all at once, and it will amount to something. Naturally, wherever you touch, it is ready-made.

Xuedou said, "Residing peacefully across the realm, he determines dragons and snakes." Whether a dragon or a snake, examine and test them as soon as they enter the gate; this is called the eye that determines dragons and snakes, the dynamic function that seizes tigers and rhinos. Xuedou also said, "In determining dragons and snakes, how upright is the eye! In seizing tigers and rhinos, the dynamic function is incomplete." He also said, "The Son of Heaven of Dazhong once lightly touched it, / And three times in person met with the baring of claws and fangs." Could it be that Huangbo only now possessed such rough hands and feet? He had always been like this.

As for the Son of Heaven of Dazhong, it is recorded in the Continued Biographies of Xiantong: Emperor Xianzong of the Tang had two sons, one named Muzong, and the other named Xuanzong. Xuanzong was Emperor Dazhong. At age thirteen, he was young and clever, and always loved to sit cross-legged. During Muzong's reign, after the morning court session ended, Dazhong playfully climbed onto the imperial dragon bed and made a gesture of bowing to the assembled ministers. When a high minister saw this, he considered it a mental ailment and reported it to Muzong. When Muzong saw him, he stroked him, sighed, and said, "My younger brother is truly an outstanding descendant of our clan!" Muzong passed away in the fourth year of Changqing. He had three sons: Jingzong, Wenzong, and Wuzong. Jingzong succeeded to his father's throne; after two years, palace officials conspired to replace him. Wenzong succeeded to the throne for fourteen years. When Wuzong ascended the throne, he regularly called Dazhong a foolish slave. One day Wuzong, resenting Dazhong's having playfully climbed onto his father's throne in the past, beat him to death and threw him into the back garden, pouring foul waste over him, but he revived. Thereupon he fled in secret to the assembly of Venerable Xiangyan Xian. Later, he was tonsured as a novice, but had not yet received the full precepts. Later, traveling on pilgrimage with Zhixian, they reached Mount Lu. Zhixian inscribed a poem on a waterfall, saying, "Piercing clouds and penetrating rock without begrudging toil, / Only from afar does one know its source is high." Xian recited these two lines and pondered for a long time, wishing to fish for his train of words to see how he would respond. Dazhong continued, "How could a ravine stream hold it back? / In the end it returns to the great sea to make waves." Only then did Xian realize he was no ordinary person, and silently noted it. Later, when he went to Yanguan's assembly, he invited Dazhong to serve as scribe. Huangbo was serving as head monk there.

One day, while Huangbo was paying homage to the Buddha, Dazhong saw him and asked, "Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Saṅgha, what do you seek in paying homage?"
Huangbo said, "Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Saṅgha—I always pay homage like this."
Dazhong said, "What is the use of paying homage?"
Huangbo immediately slapped him. Dazhong said, "Too coarse!"
Huangbo said, "What place is this to speak of coarse or refined?" and Huangbo slapped him again.

Later, when Dazhong succeeded to the imperial throne, he bestowed upon Huangbo the title "Coarse-Behaving Śramaṇa." When Prime Minister Pei was at court, he later memorialized to have him bestowed the title "Chan Master Duanji." Xuedou knew the lineage origin of this, so he applied it skillfully. Nowadays, is there anyone who bares claws and fangs? [He struck.]