佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 3.38

3.38

Old Śākya appeared in the world: for forty-nine years, he never spoke a single word. From the radiant land at the beginning to the river Bhadrikā at the end, between these two he never spoke a single word. Speaking like this—tell me, was he speaking or not speaking? Today the dragon palaces are filled and the ocean treasuries are brimmed: how is this not speaking? Have you not seen Master Xiu of the Mountain say: "The Buddhas did not appear in the world; / For forty-nine years he spoke. / Bodhidharma did not come from the west; / Shaolin has wonderful secrets." And again he said: "The Buddhas never appeared in the world, nor gave a single dharma to humanity; they only observed the minds of sentient beings, responding to conditions and treating illnesses, dispensing medicine and applying prescriptions. Hence there are the three vehicles and the twelve divisions of teaching. In reality, from antiquity down to the present, ancestors and Buddhas have never spoken for people." Just this "not for people" is precisely worth investigating. I often say: if one adds a phrase as sweet as honey, when looked at closely, it is pure poison. But if one applies the staff across the back, strikes directly across the mouth, and shoves [the student] out—only then is there intimate care for people. "Patch-robed monks through past and present run headlong in rivalry": wherever they go, they ask whether it is or isn't, they ask about Buddhas, they ask about ancestors, they ask about the transcendent and about the downward. Although it is like this, if you have not arrived at this realm, it cannot be omitted. "As a bright mirror on its stand distinguishes varied images"—it takes only a single phrase to discern clearly. An ancient said: "The myriad phenomena and dense array / Are imprinted by a single dharma." And again: "The dense array and myriad phenomena / Are altogether completely round within it." Great Master Shenxiu said: "The body is the bodhi tree, / The mind like a bright mirror stand; / Time and again diligently wipe it, / Do not let it gather dust." Daman said: "He is only outside the gate." Since Xuedou speaks like this, tell me, is he inside the gate or outside the gate? Every one of you has an ancient mirror: the dense array and myriad phenomena, long and short, square and round, each and every one manifest within it. If you go toward length and shortness to understand it, in the end you will never touch it. Therefore Xuedou said: "As a bright mirror on its stand distinguishes varied images, / One must face south to look at the Northern Dipper." Since one faces south, why then look at the Northern Dipper? If you can understand in this way, only then will you see the place where Baizhang and Nanquan met each other. These two lines eulogise the place where Baizhang pressed and greeted him. Zhang said: "I am not a great kalyāṇamitra; how would I know whether there is speaking or not speaking?" When Xuedou reached this point in his eulogy, he dropped into dead water; fearing people would misunderstand, he held it up himself, saying: "Right now before your eyes the Dipper handle hangs down; / Where else will you go to search?" You have just caught hold of the nostrils and lost the mouth; you caught hold of the mouth and lost the nostrils.