佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 5.48

5.48

Earlier, Xuedou versified Yunmen's phrase "A statement in response to the one" by saying: "A statement in response to the one is too solitary and precipitous; on a hole-less iron hammer, he wedges again." Later, he also versified Mazu's phrase "Separated from the four propositions and cut off from the hundred negations" by saying: "Head-of-the-treasury is white, head-of-the-ocean is black; clear-eyed patch-robed monks cannot understand it." If you can penetrate this gong'an, you will see this verse. At the very outset Xuedou says: "Rice in the bowl, water in the bucket;" within the words is resonance, and within the phrase is dynamic function presented. "Even a loquacious master finds it hard to open his mouth"—immediately following he adds an annotation for you. If you seek mysterious and wondrous principles here, it becomes even harder to open your mouth through your calculating thought. Even if Xuedou had stopped right here, it would have been enough; he liked to firmly hold down the lead in this way, fearing that someone in the assembly with eyes would see through it. Coming to the latter part, he had to let down a move, condescending for the sake of beginners, opening it up and versifying it to let people see. The Northern Dipper is as before in the north; the Southern Stars are as before only in the south. Therefore it says: "The Northern Dipper and Southern Stars do not differ in position; / White waves surging to heaven rise from the level ground." If billows suddenly rise on the level ground, what then? If you look at it in terms of phenomena, it is easy; if you search for it under the mental faculty, you can never get a handle on it. This is like an iron stake: it cannot be shaken, and a mouth cannot be inserted into it. If you hesitate, wishing to understand yet not understanding, ceasing yet not ceasing, randomly displaying your blind bag—you are precisely "each and every one a trousers-less elder's son." Hanshan's poem says: "The six extremities are constantly afflicted with suffering; the nine boundaries are debated in vain. Having talent, one is abandoned in the marshes; lacking influence, one's bramble gate is shut. The sun rises, yet the crags are still dark; the mist clears, yet the valleys are still murky. Among them, the elders' sons—each and every one of them is completely trousers-less."