佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 3.29

3.29

Xuedou saw through thoroughly; only then did he put it into verse. A heavenly colt covers a thousand leagues in a day, moving horizontally and striding vertically, running like flight—only then is it called a heavenly colt. Xuedou praises Baizhang: in the realm of ancestral masters, running east to west, running west to east, coming and going, seven纵 and eight横, entirely without the slightest obstruction, like a heavenly colt well able to gallop to and fro; only then is freedom seen. This naturally came from receiving Master Ma's great dynamic function and great application. Don't you see a monk asking Master Ma: "What is the cardinal meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" Master Ma struck him and said: "If I did not strike you, people under heaven would laugh at me." The monk also asked: "What is the meaning of the Ancestral Master's coming from the West?" Master Ma said: "Come closer and I will tell you." When the monk came closer, Master Ma slapped him beside the ear, saying: "Six ears cannot plot together." Look at how he attained great sovereignty! Within the gate of establishing and teaching, sometimes rolling up, sometimes unfolding: at times unfolding is not in the place of rolling up; at times rolling up is not in the place of unfolding; at times neither rolling up nor unfolding is present. Therefore it is said: same path, different ruts. This eulogises Baizhang having this kind of hands and feet. Xuedou said: "Amid flash of lightning and spark of flint, dynamic shifts are preserved"—eulogising this monk, like striking flint, like a flash of lightning, staying right at that slight point of dynamic shift. Yantou said: "Rejecting things is superior; pursuing things is inferior." If we discuss battle, each person stands at the turning point. Xuedou said: "Before the dynamic wheel has turned; if it turns, it must run to both ends." If one cannot turn, of what use is it? A great man must understand a bit of dynamic shift before it will do. Nowadays people just keep confessing their crimes, having their nostrils pierced by others—when will there ever be an end? This monk, amid lightning flash and flint spark, was able to preserve the dynamic shift and bowed. Xuedou said: "One can laugh at a person coming to pluck the tiger's whiskers." Baizhang was like a great tiger; one can laugh at this monk going to pluck the tiger's whiskers.