佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 4.13

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: