佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 5.17

5.17

Heshan gave an instruction, saying: 'Practicing study is called hearing; abandoning study is called proximity. Surpassing these two is true surpassing.' These words come from the *Baozang lun*. To study until there is nothing left to study is called abandoning study. Therefore it is said: 'Hearing shallowly and awakening deeply; hearing deeply and not awakening—this is called abandoning study.' The One-Night Enlightened One said: 'In my early years I accumulated learning, and also searched through commentaries and sought out sūtras and treatises.' When practicing study is exhausted, one is called a relaxed person of the Way who has abandoned study and is free of contrived activity. Only upon reaching the abandonment of study does one first come close to the Way. To go directly beyond these two kinds of study is called true surpassing. That monk was quite sharp; he immediately took up these words to question Heshan. Heshan said: 'I know how to beat the drum.' This is what is meant by tasteless words and flavorless speech. If you wish to clarify this gong'an, you must be a transcendent person to be able to see that these words do not touch upon rational principles, nor is there any room for discussion. If you understand it directly, like the bottom falling out of a bucket, only then is it the secure place of a patch-robed monk, and only then do you accord with the ancestral master's intention in coming from the West. Therefore Yunmen said: 'Xuefeng rolls balls, Heshan beats the drum, the National Master's water bowl, Zhaozhou drinking tea—all of these are transcendent bringings-forth.' The monk also asked: 'What is the ultimate truth?' Shan said: 'I know how to beat the drum.' In ultimate truth, not a single phenomenon is established. As for conventional truth, the myriad things are fully present. That ultimate and conventional are non-dual is the supreme truth of the noble ones. He asked again: 'Leaving aside "mind itself is Buddha," what is "neither mind nor Buddha"?' Shan said: 'I know how to beat the drum.' 'Mind itself is Buddha' is easy to seek; when it comes to 'neither mind nor Buddha,' it is difficult, and few people reach it. He asked again: 'When a transcendent person comes, how do you receive them?' Shan said: 'I know how to beat the drum.' A transcendent person is one who is thoroughly liberated and unrestrained. The various quarters regard these four phrases as essential principles, calling them 'Heshan's four beatings of the drum.' Consider when a monk asked Jingqing: 'At the start of the New Year, is there still the Buddhadharma or not?' Qing said: 'There is.' The monk said: 'What is the Buddhadharma at the start of the New Year?' Qing said: 'The primary season inaugurates good fortune, and the myriad things are completely renewed.' The monk said: 'Thank you, Master, for answering my question.' Qing said: 'Today this old monk suffered a loss.' In answers like this, there are eighteen kinds of loss. Again, a monk asked Master Jingguo: 'How is it when a crane stands on a solitary pine?' Guo said: 'A scene of mortification underfoot.' He also asked: 'How is it when snow blankets a thousand mountains?' Guo said: 'A scene of mortification after the sun comes out.' He also asked: 'During the Huichang suppression, where did the Dharma-protecting spirits go?' Guo said: 'The two fellows outside the triple gate were a scene of mortification.' The various quarters call these the 'three scenes of mortification.' Again, Baofu asked a monk: 'What Buddha is inside the hall?' The monk said: 'Master, determine it and see.' Fu said: 'Old man Śākya.' The monk said: 'It would be better not to deceive people.' Fu said: 'Rather, it is you who are deceiving me.' He also asked a monk: 'What is your name?' The monk said: 'Xianze [Salty Marsh].' Fu said: 'What happens when you encounter drought?' The monk said: 'Who is the dried-up one?' Fu said: 'I am.' The monk said: 'Master, it would be better not to deceive people.' Fu said: 'Rather, it is you who are deceiving me.' He also asked a monk: 'What deed did you perform to eat yourself so big?' The monk said: 'Master, you are not small either.' Fu assumed a crouching posture. The monk said: 'Master, it would be better not to deceive people.' Fu said: 'Rather, it is you who are deceiving me.' He also asked the bath manager: 'How wide is the bath cauldron?' The manager said: 'Please measure it and see, Master.' Fu made a gesture of measuring. The manager said: 'Master, it would be better not to deceive people.' Fu said: 'Rather, it is you who are deceiving me.' The various quarters call these 'Baofu's four deceptions of people.' There are also Xuefeng's four tubs of black lacquer. All of these are ancestral lineage masters, each putting forth a profound and subtle intention to dynamically engage and receive people. Below, Xuedou adduces a long string of entanglements, and relying on Yunmen's instruction to the assembly, produces a verse on this gong'an.