佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 5.3

5.3

Zhaozhou asked Touzi, "When a person of the Great Death comes back to life, how is it?" Touzi answered him, saying, "Night travel is not permitted; one must arrive by dawn." Tell me, what sort of moment is this? A fluteless flute colliding with a felt clapper. This is called a host-testing question, and also a question of mental activity. In all quarters, Touzi and Zhaozhou were both praised for possessing eloquence that outstripped the herd. Though the two elders came from different lines of succession, look at how their dynamic sharpness harmonized like two in the same boat! One day, Touzi prepared a tea feast to receive Zhaozhou. He personally handed a steamed bun to Zhaozhou, but Zhaozhou paid no attention. Touzi ordered an attendant to hand a sesame flatbread to Zhaozhou, and Zhaozhou bowed three times to the attendant. Tell me, what was his meaning? Look at how both of them consistently drew upon the fundamental root, bringing up this proper matter of one's own lot for the sake of others. A monk asked, "What is the Dao?" He replied, "The Dao." "What is Buddha?" He replied, "Buddha." Again he asked, "How is it before the gold lock is unlocked?" He replied, "Unlocked." "How is it before the gold rooster crows?" He replied, "There is no such sound." "How is it after it crows?" He replied, "Each knows its own time." Touzi's questions and answers throughout his life were always like this. Look at Zhaozhou asking, "When a person of the Great Death comes back to life, how is it?" and Touzi immediately saying, "Night travel is not permitted; one must arrive by dawn." Directly appearing like spark struck from flint or a flash of lightning, one must be a transcendent person before this is possible. A person of the Great Death has no Buddhist principles, wondrous mysteries, gains, losses, right, wrong, long, or short whatsoever; arriving here, one simply lets it rest like this. The ancients said, "Countless are the dead on flat ground; the one who can pass through the bramble forest is an adept." One must also penetrate through to the other side before it works. Even though it is like this, for people nowadays to reach this kind of stage is already rare. If there is any reliance or understanding, there is no connection. Venerable Zhe called it "impure vision." My late master, Wuzu, called it "the life-root not being severed." One must undergo the Great Death once, and only then come back to life. Venerable Yongguang of Zhejiang said, "If the dynamic point of words errs, one's homeland is ten thousand leagues away. You must directly let go your hands at the cliff's edge, personally take responsibility and bear it. Reviving after complete extinction—you cannot be deceived. An extraordinary purport: how can a person conceal it?" Zhaozhou's intent in asking was like this. Touzi was an adept, and did not fail his question either; it is just that he severed emotionality and traces, which is indeed hard to understand, merely revealing a little bit before him. Therefore the ancients said, "If you wish to be intimate, do not bring a question to question; the question lies in the answer, and the answer lies in the question." Were it not for Touzi, being asked this question by Zhaozhou, it would have been very difficult to reply. It was only because he was an adept that as soon as it was raised, he knew where it fell. The verse says: (廋 [pronounced sōu]: to conceal).