佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 4.3

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: