佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 4
English (machine translation) 4
- Language
- English
4.1
The Pointer says:
When movement occurs, a shadow appears; when awareness arises, ice forms. But if one neither moves nor becomes aware, one cannot avoid falling into a wild fox's den. If you penetrate through completely and believe fully, without the slightest veil of obstruction, you will be like a dragon reaching the water, like a tiger leaning against the mountain. Let go, and even broken tiles and gravel shine; hold fast, and even pure gold loses its luster. In the gong'ans of the ancients, wordy entanglement was unavoidable. But tell me: what side of things are they discussing? Test this and see:
4.2
Case 31: Magu, holding his tin staff, went to Zhangjing. He circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff once, and stood there upright. (Poured straight out from the Caoxi mold! It truly shocks heaven and shakes earth.)
Zhangjing said, "Right, right." (Washing a lump of mud in mud. He misleads a whole boatload of people. What kind of talk is that? A hitching post for a donkey.)
Xuedou added the remark: "Wrong." (Letting it pass is not permissible. There is still a move left to play.)
Magu then went to Nanquan, circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff once, and stood there upright. (Just as before, washing a lump of mud in mud. Dragged out once again. A shrimp jumping cannot get out of the bushel.)
Nanquan said, "Wrong, wrong." (Why didn't he acknowledge it? Killing a person without blinking an eye. What kind of talk is that?)
Xuedou added the remark: "Wrong." (Letting it pass is not permissible.)
Magu then said, "Zhangjing said 'right'; why do you say 'wrong', Ven. Master?" (Where is the master of the house? It turns out this fellow grasps people's tongues. He has leaked and fallen into error.)
Nanquan said, "Zhangjing was right, but you are wrong." (Good, too! When killing a person you must see blood; when aiding a person you must be thorough. How many people has this fooled?)
"This is stirred up by the power of the wind; in the end it comes to ruin." (Sure enough, he was ensnared by him. What can he do about himself?)
4.3
When the ancients went on itinerant pilgrimage, traveling throughout the chan groves, they kept only this matter in mind, wanting to distinguish whether the old monk on the curved-wood chair possessed the eye or did not possess the eye. When a single word accorded with them, the ancients stayed; if a single word did not accord, they left. Look at Magu going to Zhangjing: he circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff once, and stood there upright. Zhangjing said, "Right, right." The sword that kills people, the sword that brings people to life—it takes an adept of the genuine standard! Xuedou said, "Wrong." He fell into both extremes. If you understand it in terms of the two extremes, you will not see Xuedou's meaning. He stood there upright—tell me: what was it about? Why did Xuedou instead say "Wrong"? Where was his error? Zhangjing said "Right"—where was the rightness? Xuedou was like one sitting and reading an indictment. Carrying the word "right" on his shoulders, Magu then went to see Nanquan. As before, he circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff once, and stood there upright. Nanquan said, "Wrong, wrong." The sword that kills people, the sword that brings people to life—it takes a lineage master of the genuine standard! Xuedou said, "Wrong." Zhangjing said "Right, right," while Nanquan said "Wrong, wrong." Are they the same or are they different? The previous said "right," so why was that also wrong? The latter said "wrong," so why was that also wrong? If you comprehend under Zhangjing's phrase, you cannot even save yourself; if you comprehend under Nanquan's phrase, you can serve as teacher to the ancestral masters and the buddhas. Even though it is like this, a patch-robed monk must personally verify it before it counts; do not merely grasp the verbal debates of others. Since his questioning was the same, why did one say "right" and the other say "wrong"? An adept who commands all quarters, a person who has attained great liberation, must have an extraordinary sphere of activity. If one does not forget the dynamic function and the object, one will definitely be bogged down in these two extremes. If you want to distinguish ancient and modern clearly and sit upon and cut off the tongues of everyone under heaven, you must clearly understand these two "wrongs" before you can. When it comes to Xuedou's verse later on, it also eulogizes only these two "wrongs." Xuedou wanted to bring out the lively and leaping dynamic; that is why he did so. If someone has blood under their skin, they naturally do not form an intellectual understanding within words and phrases, nor do they make up doctrines upon a donkey's hitching post. Some say, "Xuedou gave these two 'wrongs' on behalf of Magu." What connection is there? Little do they realize that the ancients' interlinear remarks bolt shut the essential passes: this side is right, and that side is right too—ultimately it does not reside in these two extremes. The Hall Master Qing said: "Holding the staff and circling the meditation seat—both 'right' and 'wrong' are errors." In fact, it does not reside in this either. Have you not seen? Yongjia went to Caoxi to see the Sixth Ancestor: he circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff once, and stood there upright. The Ancestor said, "Now, a śramaṇa is endowed with the three thousand deportments and the eighty thousand subtle practices. From where has the Great Worthy come, that he gives rise to such great arrogance?" Why did the Sixth Ancestor instead say that he gave rise to great arrogance? This does not say "right," nor does it say "wrong." Both "right" and "wrong" are hitching posts for donkeys. Only Xuedou's delivering two "wrongs" is somewhat better. Magu said, "Zhangjing said 'right'; why do you say 'wrong', Ven. Master?" This old fellow did not spare his eyebrows; his leaks and errors were not few. Nanquan said, "Zhangjing was right, but you are wrong." Nanquan can truly be called releasing the hawk upon sighting the hare. The Hall Master Qing said: "Nanquan was terribly clumsy! If he is wrong, that should be an end to it; why further point out his fault, saying: 'This is stirred up by the power of the wind; in the end it comes to ruin'?" The Scripture of Complete Enlightenment says: "My present body is a harmony of the four great elements: the hair, nails, and teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, and bones, marrow, brain, and bodily impurities all return to earth; saliva, snot, pus, and blood all return to water; warmth returns to fire; motion returns to wind. When the four great elements have each separated, where does this present false body remain?" Since Magu's holding the staff and circling the meditation seat is stirred up by the power of the wind and in the end comes to ruin, tell me: where ultimately does the matter of clarifying the mind's essential lineage reside? When coming to this, one must be a fellow cast of raw iron before one can succeed. Have you not seen the scholar-official Zhang Zhuo visiting Chan Master Xitang Zang? He asked, "Do the mountains, rivers, and the great earth exist or not? Do the buddhas of the three periods of time exist or not?" Zang said, "They exist." The scholar Zhang Zhuo said, "Wrong." Zang said, "Whom have you previously studied under, Sir?" Zhuo said, "I studied under the Ven. Master Jingshan. Whatever question I asked, Jingshan always said 'They do not exist.'" Zang said, "What family members do you have, Sir?" Zhuo said, "I have a mountain wife and two dull-witted children." He then asked in return, "What family members does Jingshan have?" Zhuo said, "Jingshan is an ancient buddha; you shouldn't slander him, Ven. Master!" Zang said, "Wait until you become like Jingshan, Sir, and then say 'They do not exist' to everything." Zhang Zhuo merely bowed his head. Generally, when an adept lineage master wishes to untie bonds and loosen fastenings for people, pulling out nails and prying out wedges, he cannot merely adhere to one side: turning them to the left and wheeling them to the right, turning them to the right and wheeling them to the left. Just see Yangshan going to Zhongyi to express gratitude for his precepts. When Zhongyi saw him coming, he clapped his hands from the meditation seat and said, "Ven. Master!" Yangshan immediately stood on the eastern side, then stood on the western side, and then stood in the center; after that, having expressed his gratitude for the precepts, he stepped back and stood. Zhongyi said, "Where did you obtain this samādhi?" Yangshan said, "I pulled it straight off Caoxi's seal!" Zhongyi said, "Tell me, whom did Caoxi receive with this samādhi?" Yangshan said, "He received the Overnight Enlightened One." Yangshan then asked Zhongyi in turn, "Where did you obtain this samādhi, Ven. Master?" Zhongyi said, "I obtained this samādhi from Mazu." With talk like this, is he not a fellow who infers the remaining three from a single instance, who sees the root and pursues the branches? Longya instructed the assembly, saying: "Those who study through contemplation must penetrate through the ancestral masters and buddhas before they can succeed." The Ven. Master Xinfeng said: "Only when you regard the ancestral masters' and buddhas' verbal teachings like mortal enemies do you begin to have a share in study through contemplation. If you cannot penetrate them, you will be fooled by the ancestral masters and buddhas." At that time a monk asked, "Do the ancestral masters and buddhas still have the mind to fool people, or not?" Longya said, "Tell me: do the rivers and lakes have the mind to obstruct people, or not?" He also said: "Although the rivers and lakes have no mind to obstruct people, people of the world themselves cannot cross them, and therefore the rivers and lakes end up obstructing people; you cannot say that the rivers and lakes do not obstruct people. Although the ancestral masters and buddhas have no mind to fool people, people of the world themselves cannot penetrate them, and so the ancestral masters and buddhas end up fooling people; you cannot say that the ancestral masters and buddhas do not fool people. If one penetrates through the ancestral masters and buddhas, this person surpasses the ancestral masters and buddhas. One must also embody the ancestral masters' and buddhas' intent; only then is one the same as the transcendent ancients. If one has not penetrated through, and by chance tries to emulate the buddhas and emulate the ancestral masters, then throughout myriad kalpas there will be no time of attainment." The monk also asked, "How can one avoid being fooled by the ancestral masters and buddhas?" Longya said, "You must directly awaken for yourself!" When arriving here, you must be like this before you can succeed. Why? When aiding a person you must be thorough; when killing a person you must see blood. Only people like Nanquan and Xuedou dare to handle and play with this. The verse says:
4.4
"This wrong, that wrong!" (Spare your eyebrows! Act according to the imperative. Above heaven and beneath heaven, I alone am the honored one.)
Be sure not to take them away. (Two iron hammers without holes. Even the Great Compassionate One with a Thousand Hands cannot lift them. If you were to take them away, you would take thirty blows of the staff, Ācārya!)
The waves of the four seas are calm; (No one under heaven dares to stir. A uniform family tradition across east, west, south, and north. Recently there has been much rain.)
The tides of the hundred streams subside. (Stark naked and clean-stripped. For the time being one attains one's own peace. Truly, the sea is tranquil and the rivers are clear.)
The ancient staff's lofty wind blows through the twelve gates; (What can compare to this? The tip of the staff has no eyes. Be sure not to make a living on the tip of the staff.)
At gate after gate there are paths, yet they are bleak and deserted. (Not a single thing exists. Deceiving your whole life. Look right at it, and you go blind.)
Not bleak and deserted! (Sure enough! Fortunately there is a place to turn oneself around. You are already blind! Strike!)
Adepts, it is good to seek medicine when free of disease. (Once dead, one does not revive. Why doze off during the twelve periods of the day? What are you doing fishing for the sky and groping for the earth?)
4.5
This verse is similar to the gong'an of Deshan meeting Guishan. First, taking the gong'an, [Xuedou] applied two turning phrases, stringing it together, and then eulogized it: "This wrong, that wrong! Be sure not to take them away." Xuedou's meaning is: a "wrong" here, and a "wrong" there—be sure not to take them away. If you take them away, it will be ruined. It must be like this! Applying these two "wrongs," he brought it about that "the waves of the four seas are calm; the tides of the hundred streams subside." How completely fresh like the clear wind and bright moon! If you understand under these two "wrongs," there will not be a single spark of a matter left: mountains are mountains, waters are waters; what is long is naturally long, what is short is naturally short; wind comes every five days, rain every ten days. Therefore it is said: "The waves of the four seas are calm; the tides of the hundred streams subside." Afterward, eulogizing Magu holding his staff, he says: "The ancient staff's lofty wind blows through the twelve gates." The ancients used a whip as a rod; patch-robed monks use a staff as a rod. (In the Zuting shiyuan: 'the ancient rod' cites the Khakkharaka Sūtra.) Above the Jade Pool of the Queen Mother of the West there are twelve vermilion gates. The "ancient staff" is just the walking staff; the clear wind at its tip is higher than the twelve vermilion gates. Where the Son of Heaven and Śakra reside, there are also twelve vermilion gates each. If you understand these two "wrongs," light shines forth from the tip of the walking staff, and the ancient staff is not even needed. An ancient said: "Understand the walking staff, and the matter of your whole life's study through contemplation is concluded." It is also said: "It is not an empty convention displaying outward form; it directly follows the traces of the Tathāgata's precious staff." It is of this sort. Arriving here, tumbling upside down and right side up, at all times one attains great sovereign ease. "At gate after gate there are paths, yet they are bleak and deserted." Although there are paths, they are merely bleak and deserted. Arriving here, Xuedou himself sensed the leak and error, and further smashed it open for you: nevertheless, although it is like this, there is also an aspect that is "not bleak and deserted." Even if one is an adept, while free of disease one must still first seek some medicine to take before it counts.
4.6
The pointer says: Blocking off the ten directions, a thousand eyes suddenly open. Cutting off the stream with a single phrase, myriad dynamic workings subside. Is there anyone sharing death and sharing life? When the ready-made gong'an cannot be cleared away, let us test and cite the ancients' entangling vines to examine.
4.7
[32] Case: Senior Monk Ding asked Linji, "What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" (How many people are bewildered upon reaching here? Still this remains. What are you playing the fool for?)
Linji came down from his meditation seat, seized him, gave him a slap, and then pushed him away. (Caught today! Deep grandmotherly heart. Patch-robed monks throughout the world cannot leap out.)
Ding stood still. (Already fallen into a demon's cave. He has missed it. Inevitably he loses his nostrils.)
A monk beside him said, "Senior Monk Ding, why do you not make prostrations?" (Someone observes from a cold spot. Ding relies entirely on his strength. When a person dies in the eastern house, those in the western house join in mourning.)
Ding was just making prostrations (Making up for clumsiness with diligence.)
when he suddenly had great awakening. (Like finding a lamp in the dark, like a pauper getting a treasure. Going along with the error to make it right. But tell me, what did Senior Monk Ding see that he made prostrations?)
4.8
Look at him acting like this, coming straight out and going straight in, moving straight forth and coming straight back: this is the authentic lineage of Linji, possessing such dynamic functioning. If you can penetrate through, you can overturn heaven and earth, finding application for yourself. Senior Monk Ding was such a fellow: slapped once by Linji, he got up from prostrating and immediately knew where it landed. He was a northerner, very simple and straightforward. After attaining it, he never came forth to appear in the world. Later, he made full use of Linji's dynamic function, which was quite outstanding. One day, he met Yantou, Xuefeng, and Qinshan on the road. Yantou asked, "Where do you come from?" Ding said, "From Linji." Yantou said, "May the Venerable be blessed." Ding said, "He has already passed away." Yantou said, "The three of us came specially to pay homage. Our karmic fortune is meager, and we have met with his passing. We wonder what words and phrases the Venerable had while he was alive? Please cite one or two for us to examine, Senior Monk." Ding then cited: One day Linji addressed the assembly, saying, "On the lump of red flesh there is a true person of no rank, constantly going in and out through the sense gates of each of you. Those who have not yet verified it, look, look!" At that time a monk came forward and asked, "What is the true person of no rank?" Linji seized him and said, "Speak! Speak!" The monk hesitated; Linji pushed him away, saying, "What dry shit-wiper is the true person of no rank?" and returned to his abbot's quarters. Yantou unconsciously stuck out his tongue. Qinshan said, "Why didn't you say, 'It is not a true person of no rank'?" Ding seized him and said, "How far apart are the true person of no rank and not a true person of no rank? Speak quickly! Speak quickly!" Qinshan was speechless; his face turned yellow and green. Yantou and Xuefeng stepped forward, bowed, and said, "This newly ordained monk does not know good from bad and has offended you, Senior Monk. We pray you be compassionate and let him off." Ding said, "Were it not for you two old fellows, I would have beaten this bed-wetting imp to death!" Again, when Ding was returning from a vegetarian feast in Zhenzhou, resting on a bridge, he met three lecturers. One asked, "What is the deep place of the Chan river? One must probe to the bottom." Ding seized him and was about to throw him off the bridge. The other two lecturers hurriedly pleaded, saying, "Stop, stop! He has offended you, Senior Monk. We pray you be compassionate." Ding said, "Were it not for you two lecturers, I would have let him probe straight to the bottom!" Look at such methods of his: completely the dynamic functioning of Linji. Further, look at Xuedou's verse eulogy:
4.9
Duanji's complete dynamic function continues the subsequent tracks; (The Yellow River was already turbid from its source. The son inherits the father's business.) / Why must upholding it require calm and leisure? (Where is it? Yet what can be done about such a person? Can a person without hands and feet catch him?) / Juling raising a hand does not take much, (Frightening people to death. Don't show off. Strike once with the whisk. No further testing.) / Cleaving Mount Hua into ten million layers. (The universe and the great earth are laid bare all at once. Fallen!)
4.10
Xuedou's verse says: "Duanji's complete dynamic function continues the subsequent tracks; / Why must upholding it require calm and leisure?" The great dynamic function and great dynamic activity of Huangbo—Linji alone continued his tracks. Bringing it forth allows no hesitation; if one deliberates, one falls into the realm of the skandhas. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: "As when I press my finger, the ocean-seal emits light; but as soon as you arouse your mind, the defilements arise first." "Juling raising a hand does not take much, / Cleaving Mount Hua into ten million layers." The spirit Juling possessed great spiritual power: with his hand he split Mount Taihua, letting the water flow into the Yellow River. Senior Monk Ding's mass of doubt was piled high like peaks; struck by Linji's slap, it instantly crumbled like tiles and melted like ice.
4.11
The pointer says: Not discerning east from west, not distinguishing south from north; from morning to evening, from evening to morning—do you say he is asleep? Sometimes his eyes are like shooting stars—do you say he is awake? Sometimes he calls south north—tell me, does he have mind or no mind? Is he a person of the Way or an ordinary person? If you can penetrate through here, only then will you know where it rests; only then will you know why the ancients acted thus or did not act thus. Tell me, what time is this? Try to cite it for examination.
4.12
[33] Case: Minister Chen Cao visited Zifu. When Fu saw him coming, he immediately drew a circle. (A spirit recognizes a spirit; a thief recognizes a thief. If one is not refined, how could one recognize this fellow? Do you see the diamond ring?) / Cao said, "For your disciple to come like this is already inappropriate; how much more so to draw another circle?" (Today he ran into a sleepy fellow. This old thief!) / Fu then shut the door of the abbot's quarters. (A thief does not burgle a pauper's house. Already entered into his snare.) / Xuedou said, "Chen Cao only possesses one eye." (Xuedou possesses an eye atop his crown. Tell me, where does his intent lie? It is also fine to give him a circle. Truly a dragon's head and snake's tail. At that time one should have given him a pressuring push, leaving him no door to advance and no road to retreat. But tell me, what kind of pressuring push should have been given him?)
4.13
Minister Chen Cao was contemporary with Pei Xiu and Li Ao. Whenever he saw a monk arrive, he would first treat him to a meal, offer three hundred cash, and definitely test and examine him. One day Yunmen came to see him; Cao then asked, "I do not ask about the Confucian texts; as for the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings, there are already lecturers for them. What is the patch-robed monk's business of itinerant pilgrimage?" Yunmen said, "How many people has the Minister asked before?" Cao said, "Right now I am asking you, Senior Monk." Yunmen said, "Set right now aside for a moment. What is the meaning of the teachings?" Cao said, "Yellow scrolls and red rollers." Yunmen said, "These are words and phrases; what is the meaning of the teachings?" Cao said, "The mouth seeks to speak, but words fail; the mind seeks to condition, but thoughts vanish." Yunmen said, "'The mouth seeks to speak, but words fail' corresponds to having words; 'the mind seeks to condition, but thoughts vanish' corresponds to deluded thoughts. What is the meaning of the teachings?" Cao was speechless. Yunmen said, "I hear that the Minister reads the Lotus Sūtra; is this so?" Cao said, "Yes." Yunmen said, "The sūtra says: 'All worldly affairs of production and livelihood are not contrary to the true mark.' Tell me, right now, how many beings have fallen from the Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception?" Cao was again speechless. Yunmen said, "Minister, do not be so hasty. We monks cast aside the Three Classics and Five Treatises to enter the chan groves for ten or twenty years, and yet we still cannot manage it. How could the Minister understand?" Cao bowed and said, "My transgression." Another day, while going up into a tower with several officials, Cao saw several monks approaching from afar. One official said, "Those coming are all Chan monks." Cao said, "They are not." The official said, "How do you know they are not?" Cao said, "Wait until they come near, and I will test them for you." When the monks reached the front of the tower, Cao suddenly called out, "Senior Monks!" The monks raised their heads. The Minister said to the officials, "Didn't I tell you?" Only Yunmen alone he could not test; he had trained under Muzhou. One day he went to call on Zifu. When Fu saw him coming, he immediately drew a circle. Zifu was an elder master under Guishan and Yangshan; he usually liked to guide people with evocative situations. Seeing Minister Chen Cao, he immediately drew a circle. But Cao was an adept, not one to be deceived by others; he was able to scrutinize himself and said, "For your disciple to come like this is already inappropriate; how much more to draw another circle?" Fu shut his door. Gong'ans of this kind are called discerning the target in speech and concealing dynamic sharpness in phrases. Xuedou says: "Chen Cao only possesses one eye." Xuedou may be called possessing an eye atop his crown. Tell me, where does his intent lie? It would also have been fine to give him a circle. If all were like this, how could patch-robed monks act for people? I ask you: if at that time any of you were Chen Cao, what phrase could you have uttered to avoid Xuedou saying that he only possessed one eye? Therefore, Xuedou overturned it and chanted in verse:
4.14
Round and round, pearls encircle and jades tinkle, (A three-foot staff stirs the Yellow River. It takes a blue-eyed barbarian monk to accomplish it. Cast of raw iron.) / Loaded onto horses and carried by donkeys onto an iron boat. (What use is so much? Is there any limit? Let the Venerable examine it.) / Entrusted to the idle guest of the ocean mountain, (There are those who do not want it. If one is an idle guest, one also has no need of it. One must be idle to begin with.) / When angling for the giant turtle, down goes a hoop. (Coming thus, going thus. All at once unable to get out. If it were a toad, what would it be good for? What can be done with shrimp, clams, snails, and mussels? One must angle for the giant turtle to begin with.)
4.15
Xuedou further said: "Patch-robed monks throughout the world cannot leap out!" (Including oneself within it. Buried in one pit. Can you leap out, Venerable?)
4.16
"Round and round, pearls encircle and jades tinkle, / Loaded onto horses and carried by donkeys onto an iron boat." Xuedou eulogizes it directly at the head, eulogizing only this circle. If you can understand it, it is like a tiger bearing horns. For this matter, the bottom of the bucket must fall out, and all mechanisms must be exhausted; gain and loss, right and wrong must be cast away all at once. Furthermore, do not understand it through rational principles, nor understand it through mysterious subtlety. Ultimately, how to understand it? For this, one must load it onto horses and carry it by donkeys onto an iron boat; only by observing it here can it be attained. In another place it cannot be entrusted; it must be taken and entrusted to the idle guest of the ocean mountain. If you have the slightest matter in your belly, you cannot undertake it. Here, it must be someone whom neither matters nor no-matters, neither adverse circumstances nor favorable realms, neither Buddhas nor ancestral masters can do anything with, before they can undertake it. If one has Chan to practice and thoughts and measures of the mundane and holy, one definitely cannot undertake his [teaching]. Having undertaken it, how to understand it? He says, "When angling for the giant turtle, down goes a hoop." For angling for the giant turtle, one must have a hoop to begin with. Therefore Fengxue said: "Accustomed to angling for whales and dolphins in the cleared expanse of the vast ocean, / I lament the frog-step grinding in the mud and sand." Again he said: "Let the giant turtle not carry off the three mountains, / I wish to walk atop Mount Penglai." Xuedou further said: "Patch-robed monks throughout the world cannot leap out." If one is a giant turtle, one never holds the view of a patch-robed monk; if one is a patch-robed monk, one never holds the view of a giant turtle.
4.17
[34] Case: Yangshan asked a monk, "Where have you recently come from?" (People throughout the world are the same. It is necessary to ask. Blowing on the fire as the wind allows; one cannot fail to follow the usual routine.)
The monk said, "From Mount Lu." (A sincere person is rare.)
Shan said, "Have you ever visited the Five Old Men Peaks?" (One may well swing one's arms while walking; when has it ever been missed?)
The monk said, "I have never been there." (Moved a step. A red face is not as good as straight speech. It seems like forgetting what was before and losing what was after.)
Shan said, "You have not visited the mountain, Ācārya." (Too meddlesome! Better to spare your eyebrows. What is this old fellow in such a rush for?)
Yunmen said, "These words were entirely for the sake of compassion, so there was talk of falling into the weeds." (The sword that kills people, the sword that brings people to life. Two or three. If you want to know the road on the mountain, you must be someone who has come and gone.)
4.18
Where one tests someone's genuineness, as soon as they speak one knows the sound. The ancients said, 'An immeasurable person turns away within the pulse of words.' If one has an eye on top of one's head, as soon as something is brought up one knows where it lands. Look at the questions and answers between them: distinctly and clearly apparent. Why then did Yunmen say, 'These words are all on account of compassion; they are talk that enters the grass'? When the ancients reached this place, it was like a bright mirror on its stand, a bright jewel in the palm: when a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears. Not even a single fly could slip past their reflection. Tell me, how is it 'on account of compassion, talk that enters the grass'? It does not hinder being precipitous either. Having reached this stage, it still requires such a fellow before it can be brought forth and held up. Yunmen took this up, saying, 'This monk came directly from Mount Lu. Why then did [Yangshan] say, "Acārya, you have not toured the mountain"?' One day Guishan asked Yangshan, 'If a monk comes from other regions, by what do you test him?' Yangshan said, 'I have a way to test.' Guishan said, 'Try to present it for me to see.' Yangshan said, 'Whenever I see a monk come, I just raise my whisk toward him and say, "Do other regions still have this?" Waiting for him to speak, I just say to him, "Leave this aside for a moment; what about that?"' Guishan said, 'These are the teeth and claws of a transcendent person.' Have you not seen? Mazu asked Baizhang, 'Where did you come from?' Baizhang said, 'From below the mountain.' Mazu said, 'Did you meet someone on the road?' Baizhang said, 'I did not.' Mazu said, 'Why did you not meet someone?' Baizhang said, 'If I had met someone, I would present it to the Venerable.' Mazu said, 'Where did you get this news?' Baizhang said, 'It is my fault.' Mazu said, 'Rather, it is this old monk's fault.' Yangshan questioning the monk was precisely similar to this. At that time, when he asked, 'Did you ever reach the Five Old Men Peaks?', if this monk had been a real fellow, he would only have said, 'Disaster!' Yet he said he had not reached them. Since this monk was not an adept, why did Yangshan not execute the imperative according to rule, avoiding the many entangling vines that followed? Instead, he said, 'Acārya, you have not toured the mountain.' Therefore Yunmen said, 'These words are all on account of compassion; they are talk that enters the grass.' If it were talk that leaves the grass, it would not be like this.
4.19
Leaving the grass, entering the grass, (Vast above the head, vast below the feet. Half open, half closed. He is thus, and I too am thus.) / Who knows how to seek and investigate? (Having an eye on top of the head. The acārya does not know how to seek and investigate.) / White clouds layer upon layer, (A thousand layers, a hundred coils. Adding a head on top of a head.) / The red sun shining brightly. (Ruptured. Blind! As soon as you raise your eyes, you are mistaken.) / Looking to the left, there is no flaw; (Blind fellow. As before, nothing is the matter. Why make so many contrivances?) / Glancing to the right, one has already grown old. (Ten thousand years pass in a single thought.) / Have you not seen Hanshanzi (A mangy child pulling a companion.) / Traveling too early? (Not early either.) / For ten years unable to return, (Right now, where is he? Clearly so.) / Forgetting the road by which he came. (That fellow attains freedom. Letting him off a move. Then strike! Do not do this forgetting what went before and losing what came after.)
4.20
'Leaving the grass, entering the grass, who knows how to seek and investigate?' Xuedou nevertheless knows where he lands. Arriving here, one hand lifts up and one hand presses down. 'White clouds layer upon layer, the red sun shining brightly' is very much like grass sprouting luxuriantly and mist veiling over. Arriving here, not a single hair belongs to the ordinary, not a single hair belongs to the sacred. Throughout the whole realm it has never been hidden; not one thing can cover it. This is what is called the realm of no-mind: in cold one does not sense cold, in heat one does not sense heat; altogether it is a great gate of liberation. 'Looking to the left, there is no flaw; glancing to the right, one has already grown old.' Master Lanzan lived in seclusion in a stone chamber on Mount Heng. Tang Dezong heard of his fame and sent an envoy to summon him. The envoy arrived at his chamber and proclaimed, 'The Son of Heaven has issued an edict. The Venerable should rise and give thanks for the imperial grace.' Lanzan was just then poking the cow-dung fire, looking for roasted taro to eat. Cold snot hung down to his chin, and he had not answered. The envoy smiled and said, 'May I advise the Venerable to wipe your snot?' Lanzan said, 'How could I have leisure to wipe my snot for a worldly person?' He did not rise at all. The envoy returned and reported this, and Dezong greatly admired and sighed over him. Such utter clarity and plain purity does not accept anyone's disposal; he truly holds fast, as if cast from raw iron. Take, for instance, Master Shandao: after suffering the purge, he never became a monk again, and people called him the Stone Chamber Postulant. Whenever he treaded the pestle, he forgot to move his feet. A monk asked Linji, 'What was the meaning of the Stone Chamber Postulant forgetting to move his feet?' Linji said, 'Drowned in a deep pit.' Fayan's verse on 'The Perfect and Complete Nature of Reality' says: 'When principle reaches its ultimate, affective notions are forgotten; / How could there be an analogy to match it? / In the end, under the frosty night moon, / It falls into the front creek according to conditions. / As the fruit ripens, the monkeys grow heavy; / The mountains are long, as if the path were lost. / Raising one's head, the lingering glow remains; / Originally it lies west of one's dwelling.' Xuedou says, 'Have you not seen Hanshanzi traveling too early? For ten years unable to return, forgetting the road by which he came.' Hanshanzi's poem says: 'If you wish to find a place to settle your body, / Cold Mountain can be preserved for long. / A subtle breeze blows through the secluded pines; / Listening close, the sound is even better. / Below sits a gray-haired man, / Murmuring as he reads Huang-Lao. / For ten years unable to return, / Forgetting the road by which he came.' Yongjia also says: 'The mind is the root, phenomena are the dust; / The two kinds are like marks on a mirror. / When marks and grime are exhausted, the light first appears; / When mind and phenomena are both forgotten, the nature is then true.' Arriving here, like an idiot or a stump, one only then sees this gong'an. If you do not reach this stage, merely running about within words, when will there ever be an end?
4.21
The pointer says: To determine dragons from snakes, to distinguish jade from stone, to separate black from white, and to resolve hesitation—if one does not have an eye on top of one's head and a talisman under one's elbow, one will often miss it right before one's face. Just now, seeing and hearing are not obscured, sounds and forms are pure and true: tell me, is it black or white, crooked or straight? Arriving here, how do you discern it?
4.22
[Case 35] Case: Mañjuśrī asked Wuzhuo, 'Where have you recently departed from?' (One cannot fail to ask. There is also this news.) / Wuzhuo said, 'The South.' (Poking his head out of a clump of grass. Why carry it on your eyebrows? The Great Square has no exterior; why then is there a South?) / Mañjuśrī said, 'How is the Buddha Dharma maintained in the South?' (If he asked someone else, disaster would arise. Still hanging on the lips and teeth.) / Wuzhuo said, 'Monks of the saddharma-vipralopa mostly observe the precepts and Vinaya but little.' (A truthful person is hard to find.) / Mañjuśrī said, 'How large are the assemblies?' (At that moment I would have given him a shout. Pressed down with a single squeeze.) / Wuzhuo said, 'Sometimes three hundred, sometimes five hundred.' (All are wild fox spirits. Indeed, a leakage!) / Wuzhuo asked Mañjuśrī, 'How is it maintained here?' (Being pressed, he turns his spearhead around.) / Mañjuśrī said, 'Ordinary and sacred dwell together; dragons and snakes are mixed.' (Many flaws and lapses. Truly makes hands and feet flustered.) / Wuzhuo said, 'How large is the assembly?' (Give me back the topic. He too cannot let it pass.) / Mañjuśrī said, 'The front three-three and the back three-three.' (Topsy-turvy words. Tell me, how many is that? Even the Great Compassionate One with a Thousand Hands cannot count them.)
4.23
Wuzhuo traveled to Mount Wutai. Reaching a desolate and remote place halfway along the road, Mañjuśrī manifested a temple to lodge him. [Mañjuśrī] then asked, 'Where have you recently departed from?' Wuzhuo said, 'The South.' Mañjuśrī said, 'How is the Buddha Dharma maintained in the South?' Wuzhuo said, 'Monks of the saddharma-vipralopa mostly observe the precepts and Vinaya but little.' Mañjuśrī said, 'How large are the assemblies?' Wuzhuo said, 'Sometimes three hundred, sometimes five hundred.' Wuzhuo then asked Mañjuśrī, 'How is it maintained here?' Mañjuśrī said, 'Ordinary and sacred dwell together; dragons and snakes are mixed.' Wuzhuo said, 'How large is the assembly?' Mañjuśrī said, 'The front three-three and the back three-three.' Then they drank tea. Mañjuśrī held up a glass cup and said, 'Does the South also have this?' Wuzhuo said, 'No.' Mañjuśrī said, 'What do they usually use to drink tea?' Wuzhuo had no words, and thereupon took his leave. Mañjuśrī ordered the youth Juntī to see him out the gate. Wuzhuo asked the youth, 'Just now he said "the front three-three and the back three-three"—how many is that?' The youth said, 'Great Worthy!' Wuzhuo responded, 'Yes?' The youth said, 'How many is it?' He also asked, 'What temple is this?' The youth pointed behind the vajra. Wuzhuo turned his head, and the manifested temple and youth all vanished from sight; there was only an empty valley. That place was later called the Vajra Cave. Later, a monk asked Fengxue, 'Who is the master within Mount Qingliang?' Fengxue said, 'In a single phrase, he gave no time for Wuzhuo to ask; / Down to the present he is still a monk wandering the wilds.' If you want to penetrate through plainly and solidly, stepping on solid ground, understand beneath Wuzhuo's words, and naturally, even dwelling in boiling caldrons or burning coals, you will not sense heat, and dwelling on cold ice, you will not sense cold. If you want to penetrate through so as to be solitary, precipitous, and steep, like the precious sword of the Vajra King, understand beneath Mañjuśrī's words, and naturally water cannot splash on you and wind cannot blow into you. Have you not seen? Dizang of Zhangzhou asked a monk, 'Where have you recently departed from?' The monk said, 'The South.' Dizang said, 'How is the Buddha Dharma there?' The monk said, 'Discussion is vast and billowing.' Dizang said, 'How could that compare to my tilling the fields here to earn rice to eat?' Tell me, compared with Mañjuśrī's answer, is this the same or different? Some say Wuzhuo's answer was wrong, while in Mañjuśrī's answer there were both dragons and snakes, both ordinary and sacred—what connection is there? Can you clearly discern 'the front three-three and the back three-three'? The first arrow was still light; the second arrow goes deep. Tell me, how many is it? If you can penetrate through here, a thousand phrases or ten thousand phrases are just a single phrase. If you can cut off and hold fast beneath this single phrase, in due course you will reach this realm.
4.24
A thousand peaks twist and turn, their color like indigo; (Do you still see Mañjuśrī?) / Who says Mañjuśrī is talking with him face to face? (Even if it were Samantabhadra, I would not look. Missed it!) / Ridiculous, how many are in the assembly at Qingliang? (Tell me, what is he laughing at? Already before the words.) / The front three-three and the back three-three. (Try to discern it beneath your feet. There are thorns in the soft mud. The bowl hits the ground, and the saucer breaks into seven pieces.)
4.25
"Thousand peaks coil and bend, blue like indigo. / Who says Mañjuśrī is opposite in dialogue?" Some say Xuedou merely brought it up again and never composed a verse on it. Just like when a monk asked Fayan, "What is a drop of water from the Cao source?" and Fayan said, "It is a drop of water from the Cao source." Also, a monk asked Venerable Jue of Langya, "Pure and inherently so, how do mountains, rivers, and the great earth suddenly arise?" and Jue said, "Pure and inherently so, how do mountains, rivers, and the great earth suddenly arise?" This cannot also be called merely bringing it up again. Mingzhao, the One-Eyed Dragon, also wrote a verse on this meaning, possessing dynamic function covering heaven and covering earth, which says: "Vast, encompassing sands of worlds, an exquisite saṅghārāma; / Full in view, Mañjuśrī is opposite in dialogue. / Falling short of opening the Buddha-eye at his words, / Turning the head, one sees only the emerald mountain crags." "Vast, encompassing sands of worlds, an exquisite saṅghārāma"—this points to the straw hut of the conjured temple, what is called having the dynamic function where provisional and real operate side by side. "Full in view, Mañjuśrī is opposite in dialogue. / Falling short of opening the Buddha-eye at his words, / Turning the head, one sees only the emerald mountain crags." Right at such a time, can it be called the realm of Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, or Avalokiteśvara? In the end it is not this principle. Xuedou merely altered Mingzhao's verse for his own use, yet he has exquisite needlework. "Thousand peaks coil and bend, blue like indigo"—moreover, it does not wound the sharp edge or blunder into the hand. Within the line are provisional and real, principle and phenomenon. "Who says Mañjuśrī is opposite in dialogue?" An entire night in dialogue opposite him, yet he did not know it was Mañjuśrī. Later, when Wuzhuo was tenzo on Mount Wutai, Mañjuśrī repeatedly appeared above the gruel pot; Wuzhuo would pick up the gruel-stirring ladle and strike him. Even though it was like this, it was also drawing the bow after the thief had gone. Back then, waiting until he said, "How is the Buddha Dharma maintained in the South?" a staff straight across his back would have been somewhat better. "Laughable indeed, Qingliang's many assemblies." Within Xuedou's laugh there is a blade. If you can comprehend this laugh, you will see his saying, "The former three-three and the latter three-three."
4.26
[Case 36] Case: One day Changsha went roaming in the mountains. Returning to the front gate, (All day today, just attending to going into the grass. Fore and aft, both are going into the grass.) the head monk asked, "Where has the Venerable come from?" (He also wants to test this old fellow. His head has passed through Silla.) Changsha said, "I come from roaming the mountains." (He must not go into the grass. Defeated and flawed in no small degree. A fellow in the grass.) The head monk said, "To what place did you go?" (Squeezing him. If there were a place reached, he could not avoid going into the grass. Pulling each other into the fire pit.) Changsha said, "At first I followed the fragrant grass away; / then I chased the falling flowers back." (Leaks and disclosures in no small measure. Originally he was just sitting in a briar patch.) The head monk said, "It is very much like spring's intent." (Following along he has come. Taking wrong as right. Raising with one hand, pressing down with one hand.) Changsha said, "It also surpasses autumn dew dripping on lotus blossoms." (Adding mud on top of dirt. The first arrow was light, but the second arrow was deep. What end will there ever be?) Xuedou added the remark: "Thanks for the answer." (A gang of fellows playing with mud balls. All three brought to account under one charge.)
4.27
Master Zhaoxian of Lu Yuan in Changsha was a Dharma heir of Nanquan, contemporary with Zhaozhou and Zihu. His dynamic sharpness was agile and swift. If someone asked about the teachings, he would expound the teachings for them; if they wanted verses, he would compose verses for them; if you wanted an adept's face-to-face encounter, he would present an adept's encounter for you. Usually Yangshan's dynamic sharpness was foremost. One day, while enjoying the moon together with Changsha, Yangshan pointed at the moon and said, "Everyone has this, yet they cannot use it." Changsha said, "Exactly so; then I employ you to use it." Yangshan said, "You try using it." Changsha kicked Yangshan down with a stomp. Yangshan got up and said, "Senior Uncle is just like a tiger!" Later people called him Tiger Cen. Because one day he returned from roaming the mountains, the head monk, who was also a man in his assembly, asked, "Where has the Venerable come from?" Changsha said, "I come from roaming the mountains." The head monk said, "To what place did you go?" Changsha said, "At first I followed the fragrant grass away; / then I chased the falling flowers back." One must be a person who sits through and cuts off the ten directions before this is possible. When the ancients came and went, they never failed to keep this matter in mind. Look at how host and guest exchanged places, hitting the mark right at the moment, cutting directly, neither sparing the other. Since he was roaming the mountains, why on the contrary did the head monk ask, "To what place did you go?" If it were the Chan fellows of today, they would immediately say, "I went to the Jiashan pavilion." Look at those ancients: not a hair's breadth of principle or calculation, nor any place of fixation. Therefore it is said: "At first I followed the fragrant grass away; / then I chased the falling flowers back." The head monk then followed his meaning and said to him, "It is very much like spring's intent." Changsha said, "It also surpasses autumn dew dripping on lotus blossoms." Xuedou says, "Thanks for the answer." It is a replacement for the final word. It also falls into the two sides, yet in the end it is not in these two sides. Formerly, the scholar Zhang Zhuo was reading the Sutra of the Names of the Thousand Buddhas, and then asked, "Regarding the hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, one only hears their names, but I do not know what lands they dwell in, and whether they still transform living beings or not?" Changsha said, "After Cui Hao inscribed his poem on the Yellow Crane Tower, did you ever inscribe one, Scholar?" Zhuo said, "I have not yet inscribed one." Changsha said, "When you have leisure, it would be good to compose a poem." Tiger Cen's lifelong teaching for others was truly like revolving pearls and turning jade, wanting people to understand immediately face to face. The verse says:
4.28
"The great earth is devoid of fine dust; (Throwing open the doors and windows, who is facing the porch? Not one under heaven can do without this. Universal peace.) / What person does not have their eyes open? (He must emit great light from the crown of his head before it works. Why scatter dirt and fling sand?) / At first following the fragrant grass away, (Leaks and disclosures in no small measure. It is not just once that he went into the grass. Luckily he had already said it earlier.) / Then chasing the falling flowers back. (Everywhere completely true. Rejoice for now that he has returned. The mud under his feet is three feet deep.) / A gaunt crane roosts on a winter tree; (Left and right. Adding another line, there are still many idle affairs.) / A wild monkey howls on an ancient terrace. (On the contrary, drawing energy anew. One cannot add a line, nor can one subtract a line.) / Changsha's boundless intent—" (He should be beaten. What does the final line say? Buried away in a single pit. Falling into the demon's cave. Bah! A fellow in the grass. Drawing the bow after the thief has gone. He must not be let off.)
4.29
Tell me, this gong'an, compared with Yangshan asking a monk, "Where have you recently left?" the monk saying, "Mount Lu," Yangshan saying, "Did you go to Five Elders Peak?" the monk saying, "I did not go," and Yangshan saying, "Acārya, you have not roamed the mountains"—distinguish black from white and see: are they the same or different? Arriving here, one must exhaust all contrivances and forget the thinking consciousness: mountains, rivers, the great earth, grass, chaff, people, and beasts—without the least seepage. If it is not like this, the ancients called it still being in a sublime realm. Do you not see Yunmen saying, "Even if the mountains, rivers, and great earth are free of the slightest defect, it is still shifting things; not seeing any form is only half the presentation; one must further know that there is a time of full presentation and a transcendent opening before one understands how to sit securely"? If you penetrate through, as of old, mountains are mountains and waters are waters, each dwelling in its own place, each fulfilling its original essence, just like a person who is completely blind. Zhaozhou said: "The cock crows in the chou hour. / Sorrowful to wake and find leakage once again. / Skirt and narrow tunic—not a single one; / The semblance of a kaṣāya is barely there. / Trousers without a crotch, pants without cuffs, / On my head three to five pecks of blue ashes. / Originally meant to cultivate practice and benefit people, / Who knew it would turn out so clumsy and dull?" If one truly arrives at this realm, what person does not have their eyes open? Let it tumble upside down in any way: every place is this realm, every time is this season. The ten directions have no walls; the four sides have no gates. Therefore it is said: "At first I followed the fragrant grass away; / then I chased the falling flowers back." Xuedou was quite ingenious: he just affixed a line to his left and affixed a line to his right, just like a poem: "A gaunt crane roosts on a winter tree; / A wild monkey howls on an ancient terrace." Xuedou, having led up to here, felt his own leak and abruptly said: "Changsha's boundless intent—bah!" It is like waking from a dream. Although Xuedou gave a shout, it did not manage to cut it off completely. If it were this mountain monk, it would not be so: "Changsha's boundless intent— / Dig the earth and bury it even deeper!"
First 29 of 51 passages. Read on
Linked texts (1)
- 佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 — Classical Chinese