佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 6

English (machine translation) 6

Language: English

6.1

A pointer says: As soon as right and wrong arise, confusingly one loses one's mind. Not falling into stages, there is again nothing to get a handle on. Tell me, is letting go right, or is holding fast right? Arriving here, if there is the slightest path of intellectual understanding, one is still lingering in verbal explanations and still bound to dynamic objects; this is all leaning on grasses and clinging to trees. Even if you reach the place of solitary liberation, you cannot avoid gazing toward your home village from ten thousand miles away. Can you grasp it? If you have not yet grasped it, just attend to a gong'an that is already complete in principle. Please cite it for examination.

6.2

Case 51: When Xuefeng was living in a hermitage, two monks came to pay respects. (What are they doing? One indictment accepted.) / Seeing them coming, Xuefeng pushed open the hermitage door with his hand, stepped out, and said, "What is it?" (Ghostly eyes. A hole-less flute. Brandishing a head and bearing horns.) / The monks also said, "What is it?" (A mud pill, a felt clapper. Arrow points meeting head-on.) / Xuefeng lowered his head and returned to his hermitage. (There are thorns in the soft mud. Like a dragon without feet, like a snake with horns. Within this it is difficult to deal with.) / Later, the monks went to Yantou. (He still had to question them thoroughly before knowing. Only those of the same path know.) / Yantou asked, "Where did you come from?" (One must indeed be an expert. This fellow often admits defeat. If not for a fellow practitioner, he would almost have let them off.) / The monk said, "We came from Lingnan." (What news did you bring? You must also communicate some news. Did you still see Xuefeng?) / Yantou said, "Did you ever go to Xuefeng?" (He saw through them long ago. You cannot say you did not go.) / The monk said, "We went." (An honest person is hard to find. Broken into two halves.) / Yantou said, "What words did he have?" (Going off like this!) / The monk related the previous story. (Going off like this! Admitting defeat over and over.) / Yantou said, "What did he say?" (He should be struck across the mouth right away. He has lost his nostrils.) / The monk said, "Without a word, he lowered his head and returned to his hermitage." (Again admitting defeat. Tell me, what was he?) / Yantou said, "Alas! Back then I regretted that I did not say the last word to him. (Boundless billows, white waves surging to heaven.) / If I had spoken it to him, no one in the world could do anything to Old Xue!" (A leper dragging along a companion. No need. Even Mount Meru must be smashed to powder. Tell me, where is his trap?) / At the end of the summer, the monk brought up the previous story again to ask for instruction. (Already not sharp. The real thief has been gone for a long time. Drawing the bow after the thief has passed.) / Yantou said, "Why didn't you ask earlier?" (He should overturn the meditation seat. An error!) / The monk said, "I did not dare take it lightly." (This blow should originally have been taken by this monk. Piercing his nostrils. Detaining a prisoner increases his wisdom. Already a double gong'an.) / Yantou said, "Although Xuefeng was born on the same bough as me, he will not die on the same bough as me. (Spreading a net over heaven and earth.) / If you want to know the last word, just this is it." (Deceiving a whole boat of people to death. I do not believe it either. He almost could not explain it away.)

6.3

Generally speaking, to uphold and establish the ancestral school, one must distinguish the right moment, understand advancing and retreating, right and wrong, and be clear about killing and giving life, seizing and releasing. If one's eyes are dim and confused, asking whenever meeting someone who asks, answering whenever meeting someone who answers, one fails utterly to realize that one's nostrils are in the hands of others. Consider Xuefeng and Yantou: both studied under Deshan. When this monk went to Xuefeng, his understanding went only this far; when he met Yantou, he still accomplished nothing at all. He vainly troubled those two venerable elders in asking and answering, seizing and releasing, right down to the present day, causing people everywhere to fall into complications and confusion without being able to clarify them. Tell me, where does this complication lie? Although Xuefeng had traveled everywhere, only later at Mount Ao Inn, when Yantou provoked him, was he able to achieve complete, thorough enlightenment. Later, during the persecution of Buddhism, Yantou became a ferryman on a lake. On each bank he hung a wooden board; when someone wanted to cross, they struck the board once. Yantou would say, 'Do you want to cross to that side?' and come rowing out from the reeds, dancing his oar. Xuefeng returned south of the mountains to live in a hermitage. This monk was also a veteran practitioner. When Xuefeng saw him coming, he leaned on the hermitage door with his hands, pushed himself forward, and said, 'What is this?' Nowadays there are those who, when questioned like this, immediately go chew on his words. This monk too was peculiar: he merely said to him, 'What is this?' Xuefeng lowered his head and returned to his hermitage. People often understand this as his being speechless; thus this monk had nowhere to grasp him. Some say that Xuefeng, challenged by this monk's single question, was rendered speechless and went back to his hermitage. They utterly fail to realize that Xuefeng's intent held a lethal poison. Although Xuefeng gained the upper hand, what can be done about hiding the body while exposing the shadow? Later, taking leave of Xuefeng, this monk brought this gong'an to Yantou for judgment. Arriving there, Yantou asked, 'Where have you come from?' The monk said, 'From south of the mountains.' Yantou said, 'Have you been to Xuefeng?' If one wishes to see Xuefeng, one had better look closely at this single question. The monk said, 'I have.' Yantou said, 'What words were there?' These words were not spoken in vain either. The monk did not understand; he just followed the flow of his words and turned. Yantou said, 'What did he say?' The monk said, 'He lowered his head, said nothing, and returned to his hermitage.' This monk completely failed to realize that Yantou, wearing straw sandals, had already walked around inside his belly several times. Yantou said, 'Alas! I regret that in the beginning I did not tell him the last word. If I had told him, no one in the world could have done anything about old Xue.' Yantou also supported the strong and did not support the weak. The monk remained in pitch darkness as before, not distinguishing black from white, harboring a bellyful of doubt, truly thinking that Xuefeng did not understand. Toward the end of the summer, he brought up the former words again to ask Yantou for instruction. Yantou said, 'Why didn't you ask earlier?' This old fellow was hatching a scheme! The monk said, 'I did not dare take it lightly.' Yantou said, 'Although Xuefeng was born on the same branch as me, he will not die on the same branch as me. If you wish to know the last word, it is just this.' Yantou was extremely sparing of his eyebrows. In the end, how do all of you understand this? When Xuefeng was serving as the head cook under Deshan, one day the noon meal was late. Deshan, carrying his bowl, came down to the Dharma hall. Xuefeng said, 'The bell has not yet rung, the drum has not yet sounded; where is this old fellow going with his bowl?' Deshan lowered his head in silence and returned to the abbot's quarters. Xuefeng related this to Yantou. Yantou said, 'Great Master Deshan does not understand the last word.' When Deshan heard of this, he had an attendant summon Yantou to the abbot's quarters and asked, 'Do you not approve of this old monk?' Yantou secretly whispered his meaning. The next day, when Deshan took the high seat, it was unlike usual. In front of the Monks' Hall, Yantou clapped his hands and laughed loudly, saying, 'How wonderful that the old fellow understands the last word! From now on, no one in the world can do anything about him. Even so, it will last only three years.' In this gong'an, when Xuefeng saw Deshan speechless, he thought he had gained the upper hand, not knowing he had been robbed. Because Deshan had once been robbed, later he also knew how to be a robber. Therefore the ancients said, 'Only when you reach the last word do you arrive at the secure barrier.' Some say Yantou surpassed Xuefeng, but that is a mistaken understanding. Yantou often used this dynamic function to instruct the assembly, saying, 'A person with clear eyes has no fixed patterns; rejecting objects is superior, pursuing objects is inferior.' Even if one had personally seen the ancestral master, one still could not grasp this last word. The meal was late, and old Deshan carried his bowl down to the Dharma hall himself. Yantou said, 'Great Master Deshan does not yet understand the last word.' Xuedou brought this up and said, 'I once heard talk of a one-eyed dragon, but turns out he only possesses one eye.' He utterly failed to realize that Deshan was a toothless tiger; had Yantou not seen through him, how could one know that yesterday was different from today? Do all of you wish to understand the last word? It is permitted only for the old barbarian to know, not for the old barbarian to understand. From antiquity to the present, gong'ans have had thousands of distinctions and myriad differences, resembling a forest of brambles. If you can penetrate through them, no one in the world can do anything to you, and the Buddhas of the three periods of time will stand downwind. If you cannot penetrate through, Yantou said, 'Although Xuefeng was born on the same branch as me, he will not die on the same branch as me.' In this single phrase there is naturally a way of escape. Xuedou's verse eulogy says:

6.4

"The last word / spoken for you — / A time when brightness and darkness are both twofold. / Born on the same branch, they know each other; / Not dying on the same branch is even more extraordinary. / Truly extraordinary! / The yellow-headed and the blue-eyed must make a distinction. / North, south, east, west: come back! / Late at night, looking together at the snow on a thousand peaks."

6.5

"'The last word spoken for you' — Xuedou's eulogy on this last word has an intention that descends into the weeds on your behalf. The verse is indeed a verse, but it only eulogizes a bit of its outward sheen; if you wish to see all the way through, you are not there yet. What is more, he dares to open his big mouth and say, 'A time when brightness and darkness are both twofold,' opening a path of a thread for you, while also striking you dead with a single phrase. Afterwards, he further adds notes and explanations for you. Just consider: Zhaoqing one day asked Luoshan, 'Yantou said, "So, so; not so, not so." What was his meaning?' Luoshan called out, 'Great Master!' The master answered. Luoshan said, 'Both bright and both dark.' Zhaoqing bowed in gratitude and left. Three days later he asked again, 'The other day I received your compassion, Venerable, but I still cannot see through it.' Luoshan said, 'I told you everything without reserve.' Zhaoqing said, 'The Venerable is walking holding a fire.' Luoshan said, 'If so, bring forth your doubts and ask!' Zhaoqing said, 'What does "both bright and both dark" mean?' Luoshan said, 'Born together and dying together.' Thereupon Zhaoqing bowed in gratitude and left. Later a monk asked Zhaoqing, 'What is it like when born together and dying together?' Zhaoqing said, 'Shut your dog's mouth.' The monk said, 'Great Master, take back your mouth to eat rice.' That monk then went to ask Luoshan, 'What is it like when born together but not dying together?' Luoshan said, 'Like an ox without horns.' The monk said, 'What is it like when born together and dying together?' Luoshan said, 'Like a tiger bearing horns.' The last word is precisely this principle. A monk in Luoshan's assembly used this meaning to pose a question to Zhaoqing. Zhaoqing said, 'Both know. Why? If I utter a phrase in Pūrvavideha, Aparagodānīya also knows; if I utter a phrase in the heavens, the human realm also knows. Mind and mind know each other; eye and eye reflect each other.' Being born on the same branch is still easy to see; not dying on the same branch is truly extraordinary. Even Śākya and Bodhidharma cannot grasp it. 'North, south, east, west: come back!' There is a bit of a good realm here. 'Late at night, looking together at the snow on a thousand peaks' — tell me, is this both bright and both dark, is it being born on the same branch, or is it dying on the same branch? Monks with the true eye, try to make a distinction and see!

6.6

[52] Case: A monk asked Zhaozhou, 'For a long time I have heard of the stone bridge of Zhaozhou, but having arrived here, I only see a single-log bridge.' / Zhou said, 'You only see the single-log bridge, and do not see the stone bridge.' / The monk said, 'What is the stone bridge?' / Zhou said, 'It ferries donkeys, it ferries horses.' / (Lüe: pronounced like shi-ruo).

6.7

In Zhaozhou there is a stone bridge, built by Li Ying, which is famous throughout the world to this day. A 'lüeyue' is a single-log bridge. That monk deliberately diminished its grandeur and asked him, 'For a long time I have heard of the stone bridge of Zhaozhou, but having arrived here, I only see a single-log bridge.' Zhaozhou immediately said, 'You only see the single-log bridge, and do not see the stone bridge.' Looking at where he asked, it was merely like ordinary speech; Zhaozhou used it to angle for him. The monk truly took the hook, and immediately followed up by asking, 'What is the stone bridge?' Zhou said, 'It ferries donkeys, it ferries horses.' Truly, within his words there is naturally a way of escape. Zhaozhou was not like Linji or Deshan, who wielded the staff and the shout; he killed and gave life purely through words and phrases. Looking carefully at this gong'an, it seems like an ordinary exchange of dynamic sharpness; even so, it is truly difficult to approach. One day Zhaozhou was looking at the stone bridge with the head monk. Zhou asked the head monk, 'Who built this?' The head monk said, 'Li Ying built it.' Zhou said, 'When it was being built, where did he begin?' The head monk had no reply. Zhou said, 'People constantly speak of the stone bridge, yet when asked where work began, they do not even know.' Another day, while Zhou was sweeping the ground, a monk asked, 'The Master is a kalyāṇamitra; why is there dust?' Zhou said, 'It comes from outside.' The monk asked again, 'In a pure saṅghārāma, why is there dust?' Zhou said, 'There is another speck.' Another monk asked, 'What is the Way?' Zhou said, 'What is outside the wall.' The monk said, 'I am not asking about this way; I am asking about the Great Way.' Zhou said, 'The Great Way leads to Chang'an.' Zhaozhou exclusively made use of this dynamic function. When he reached an even, stable ground, in helping people he did not blunt their points or wound their hands, yet was naturally solitary and precipitous. He used this dynamic function most wonderfully. Xuedou's verse eulogy says:

6.8

"When the solitary and precipitous is not established, the Way is truly lofty; / Entering the sea, one must angle for the giant turtle. / Laughable is his contemporary, old Guanxi, / Whose boast of 'splitting the arrow' was also in vain."

6.9

"When the solitary and precipitous is not established, only then is the Way lofty." Xuedou's verse eulogizes Zhaozhou's ordinary way of dealing with people: he did not establish the mysterious and wondrous, nor did he establish the solitary and precipitous. He was not like those in other quarters who say, "smash empty space," "shatter Mount Meru," "dust rises from the ocean floor," or "Mount Meru stirs up waves," only after which they call it the Way of the ancestral masters. Therefore Xuedou said, "When the solitary and precipitous is not established, only then is the Way lofty." Standing like a wall ten thousand cubits high demonstrates that the Buddhadharma is extraordinary and efficacious; yet though solitary, precipitous, steep, and towering, it does not compare to not establishing the solitary and precipitous at all, but just turning smoothly and naturally in ordinary life. Not establishing, it naturally stands; not lofty, it is naturally lofty. Only when dynamic function emerges from the solitary and precipitous is the mysterious and wondrous seen. Therefore Xuedou said, "To enter the sea one must fish for the giant turtle." Look at how that lineage master with the eye casually lets fall a word and uses a dynamic function: he does not fish for shrimp, clams, snails, or mussels, but goes straight to fish for the giant turtle. He can indeed be called an adept. This phrase is used to illuminate the previous gong'an. / "Laughable is old Guanxi of the same era:" Have you not seen the monk who asked Guanxi, "I have long heard of Guanxi (Rushing Stream), but having arrived here, I only see a hemp-soaking pond." Xi said, "You only see the hemp-soaking pond, and do not see Guanxi." The monk said, "What is Guanxi?" Xi said, "As swift as a shot arrow." Another monk asked Huanglong, "I have long heard of Huanglong (Yellow Dragon), but having arrived here, I only see a red-spotted snake." Long said, "You only see the red-spotted snake, and do not see Huanglong." The monk said, "What is Huanglong?" Long said, "Slithering along." The monk said, "What if suddenly encountering the Garuḍa bird?" Long said, "Life cannot be preserved." The monk said, "Then one would be devoured by it!" Long said, "Thank you, son, for the offering." All of this is establishing the solitary and precipitous. While it is true [to Chan], it cannot avoid wasting effort; in the end it does not compare to what Zhaozhou routinely used. Therefore Xuedou said, "To explain it as 'swift as a shot arrow' is also in vain." Setting aside Guanxi and Huanglong for a moment, when Zhaozhou says, "It crosses donkeys, it crosses horses"—how will you understand this? Try to discern it and see!

6.10

The Pointer says: Throughout the entire realm it is unhidden; the total dynamic function is uniquely exposed. Touching upon situations without obstruction, step by step there is the dynamic function of escape. Beneath words there is no partiality; on every side there is the intent to kill people. Tell me: where after all did the ancients rest? To test, I cite this:

6.11

[Case 53] Case: Master Ma was walking with Baizhang, when they saw wild ducks flying past. (Two fellows fallen into the grass, rolling in the weeds. Why look suddenly?) / The Master said, "What is that?" (The Reverend should know. This old fellow does not even know his own nostrils.) / Zhang said, "Wild ducks." (His nostrils are already in someone else's hands. He merely gives a confession. The second ladle of foul water is even more poisonous.) / The Master said, "Where have they gone?" (The first arrow was still light, the second arrow is deep. The second peck; he too should know for himself.) / Zhang said, "They have flown past." (He merely turns following after him. Missing it right to his face.) / The Master then twisted Baizhang's nose. (The nostrils born of father and mother are now in someone else's hands! He turns the spear-tip around; the nostrils are ripped back!) / Zhang cried out in pain. (It is right here! Can you still call them wild ducks? Do you still know pain and itch?) / The Master said, "When have they ever flown away?" (Better not deceive people. This old fellow originally only made a living inside a ghost cave.)

6.12

Viewed with the true eye, it was actually Baizhang who possessed the correct cause, while Master Ma was stirring up waves where there was no wind. If you people want to be teachers to buddhas and ancestors, investigate Baizhang; if you want to be unable to save yourselves, investigate Master Mazu. Look at how the ancients, throughout the twelve periods of the day, were never not inside this. In his youth Baizhang left worldly dust and thoroughly practiced the three trainings. When Daji (Mazu) expounded the transformation in Nanchang, he inclined his heart to rely on him, serving as his attendant for twenty years. When it came to inquiring a second time, only under a shout did he attain great awakening for the first time. Nowadays there are those who say, "Originally there is no place of awakening; one merely sets up a gate of awakening to establish this matter." Such an understanding is like a worm inside a lion's body, eating the lion's own flesh. Have you not seen the ancients say: "Where the source is not deep, the stream does not flow far; where wisdom is not great, vision does not reach far." If you understand it as an establishment, how could the Buddhadharma have reached down to the present day? / Look at Master Ma and Baizhang walking together, seeing wild ducks fly past. How could the Master not know they were wild ducks? Why then did he ask like that? Tell me, where did his intention fall? Baizhang merely followed after him, so Mazu then twisted his nostrils; Zhang cried out in pain, and Mazu said, "When have they ever flown away?" Baizhang was instantly awakened. / Nowadays there are those who misunderstand: the moment they are asked, they cry out in pain—happily they cannot leap free! A lineage master's dealing with people must carry through completely; seeing that he did not understand, he could not avoid nicking his blade and injuring his hands, simply wanting to make him understand this matter. Therefore it is said: "If you understand, there is application along the way; if you do not understand, it circulates as conventional truth." If Mazu had not twisted him back then, it would merely have become conventional truth circulating. One must also, encountering environments and meeting conditions, deftly bring them home to oneself, so that throughout the twelve periods of the day there is no gap—this is called having the nature-ground clearly illumined. If you merely lean on grass and attach to trees, recognizing things in front of donkeys and behind horses, what use is that? Look at how Mazu and Baizhang functioned in this way: though seemingly brightly alert and spiritually clear, they did not abide in the place of being brightly alert and spiritually clear. Baizhang cried out in pain: if you see it in this way, throughout the entire realm it is unhidden, manifest on every side. Therefore it is said, "When one place penetrates, a thousand places, ten thousand places all penetrate at the same time." / The next day, Mazu ascended the hall; the assembly had just gathered when Baizhang came forward and rolled up the bowing mat. Mazu then descended from his seat. Returning to the Abbot's quarters, he asked Baizhang, "I just went up to the hall and had not yet preached the Dharma; why did you immediately roll up the mat?" Zhang said, "Yesterday my nostrils were twisted by the Reverend until they hurt." Zu said, "Where did you keep your mind yesterday?" Zhang said, "Today my nose does not hurt anymore." Zu said, "You deeply understand today's matter." Zhang then bowed and returned to the attendants' quarters weeping. His fellow attendant asked him, "Why are you weeping?" Zhang said, "You go ask the Reverend." The attendant then went to ask Mazu. Zu said, "You go ask him yourself and see." The attendant returned to the quarters and asked Baizhang. Zhang then broke into a loud laugh. The attendant said, "You were weeping just now; why are you laughing now?" Zhang said, "Just now I was weeping; now I am laughing." Look at how, after his awakening, he turned smoothly and freely—he could not be caught in a cage, being naturally luminous and open. Xuedou's verse says:

6.13

"Wild ducks— (Forming flocks and bands, and yet another one.) / where do they know to go? (What is the use of them? Like hemp, like millet.) / Mazu saw them coming and spoke with him, (Entangling vines—when will they ever end? What are they saying? Only Mazu recognizes an outstanding one.)
exhausting completely the sentiments of mountain clouds and ocean moon. (The eastern house's ladle handle is long; the western house's ladle handle is short. Who knows how many entangling vines he has made?)
As before, not understanding, they still fly away: (Aha! Do not say he does not understand words. Flown past where?)
about to fly away, (The nostrils are in someone else's hands. Already a footnote has been added for him.)
he pulls him back: (His grandmotherly heart is earnest. What more does he say?)
'Speak! Speak!'" (What "speak"? You cannot make this mountain monk speak, nor can you make the cry of a wild duck. Blue heaven, blue heaven! Under his heels, give him thirty blows of the staff. I do not know where he went.)

6.14

Right at the start Xuedou versifies: "Wild ducks—where do they know to go?" Tell me, how many are there? "Mazu saw them coming and spoke with him:" this versifies Mazu asking Baizhang, "What is that?" and Zhang saying, "Wild ducks." "Exhausting completely the sentiments of mountain clouds and ocean moon:" this versifies asking Baizhang again, "Where have they gone?" Master Ma, for his sake, naturally shed his skin and bones. Baizhang, as before, did not understand, but said, "They have flown past"—a twofold blunder. "About to fly away, he pulls him back:" Xuedou concludes the case according to the confession. He also says, "Speak! Speak!" This is Xuedou's place of turning the body. Tell me: how to speak? If you make the sound of enduring pain, you are wrong; if you do not make the sound of enduring pain, how do you understand it? Although Xuedou has versified it very wondrously, what can he do? He too cannot leap free.

6.15

The Pointer says: Penetrating birth and death, turning the dynamic mechanism, casually cutting through iron and severing nails, everywhere covering heaven and covering earth. Tell me: whose sphere of action is this? To test, I cite this:

6.16

[Case 54] Case: Yunmen asked a monk, "Where have you recently left?" (You must not also say Xishan. A probing pole and shadowing grass. You must not say east, west, south, north.) / The monk said, "Xishan." (Sure enough. Extremely honest. At that moment he should have been given his proper measure of fodder.) / Men said, "What words and phrases have there been at Xishan recently?" (I would cite them, but I fear startling the Reverend. Deeply discerning the incoming wind. It is also like the Reverend's sleep-talking.) / The monk spread both hands. (Ruined! Colluding with bandits and destroying the household. It certainly arouses people's suspicion.) / Men struck him a blow with his palm. (Acting according to the authentic imperative. A good blow. Such speed is rare to encounter.) / The monk said, "I have words to say!" (Do you want to overturn the confession? It seems you have the skill to seize the flag and take the drum.) / Men then spread both hands. (Perilous! He gives him the azure dragon, but he cannot ride it.) / The monk was speechless. (A pity!) / Men then struck him. (He must not let him off. This blow of the staff should have been taken by Yunmen. Why? If you do not sever when it is time to sever, on the contrary you invite disorder. How many should the Ācārya have received? Let him off by one move. If not letting him off, what should be done?)

6.17

Yunmen asked this monk, "Where have you recently left?" The monk said, "Xishan." This was speech face-to-face, like a flash of lightning. Men said, "What words and phrases have there been recently?" This too was just ordinary talk. This monk was certainly an adept; turning around to test Yunmen, he immediately spread both hands. If an ordinary person had met with this test, you would see him flustered in hands and feet; but Yunmen had the dynamic function of flint-sparks and lightning-flash, and immediately struck him a blow with his palm. The monk said, "To strike is indeed so, but what about the fact that I have words to say?" This monk had a place of turning his body, so Yunmen opened up and in turn spread both hands. The monk was speechless, and Men struck him. Look at Yunmen: he is naturally an adept, knowing with each step where he sets his foot down, able to look ahead and also understanding how to look behind, never losing his trail. This monk only understood looking ahead and could not look behind. The verse says:

6.18

"The tiger's head and the tiger's tail are gathered up at once: (The sword that kills people, the sword that brings people to life. It took this monk to achieve this. A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but one general is hard to seek.)
his imposing authority chills the four hundred prefectures! (Sitting and cutting off the tongues of everyone under heaven. Covering heaven and covering earth.)
Yet asking, he did not know it was so perilous— (You cannot wield a blind flail and a sightless staff. Xuedou originally did not know it yet. The Ācārya will soon get it.)
the Master said, 'Letting him off by one move.'" (If not letting him off, what then? Everyone under heaven all at once loses their footing! He struck the meditation bench once.)

6.19

Xuedou's verse eulogy on this case is extremely easy to understand. Its overall meaning merely eulogizes Yunmen's dynamic sharpness. Therefore he says: "Grasping the tiger's head and the tiger's tail at once." An ancient said: "Holding the tiger's head, gathering in the tiger's tail; beneath the very first phrase, the ancestral purpose is made clear." Xuedou merely decides the case on the basis of the confession; he loves how Yunmen can hold the tiger's head and can also gather in the tiger's tail. When the monk spread his two hands, Yunmen immediately struck him—this is holding the tiger's head. When Yunmen spread his two hands and the monk had nothing to say, Yunmen struck him again—this is gathering in the tiger's tail. Gathering in both head and tail together, his eyes are like shooting stars; naturally it is like striking sparks from flint, like a flash of lightning. It directly brings about: "An awe-inspiring prestige across four hundred prefectures," making the wind howl soughingly throughout the great earth and the worlds. "Asking in return, who knows why it was so precipitous?" It indeed contains a precipitous point. Xuedou says: "Letting him pass this once." But tell me, nowadays when one does not let him pass, what then? Everyone on the great earth must take a beating with the staff. Nowadays Chan fellows all say: "Wait until he spreads his hands, and then return him his proper measure of fodder." It seems like it, but though it seems so, it is not yet right. It cannot be that Yunmen simply taught you to leave it at that; there must certainly be something else going on.

6.20

The pointer says: To be secure, concealed, completely genuine, and directly realize testimony on the spot; to wade into the flow and transform things, directly taking personal charge beneath [one's feet]; within the striking of flint-sparks and the flash of lightning, to cut off dispute; at the place of grasping the tiger's head and gathering in the tiger's tail, to stand like a wall a thousand fathoms high—letting that be for now, if a thread of a path is opened, is there still a way to help people or not? Consider the following:

6.21

[Case 55] Case: Daowu and Jianyuan arrived at a family's home to offer condolences. Yuan patted the coffin and said, "Is it alive or dead?" (What are you saying? So un-awake! This fellow is still caught between the two extremes.)
Wu said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." (A dragon chants and mists arise; a tiger roars and winds spring up. Measuring the head to buy a hat. A heart of grandmotherly kindness.)
Yuan said, "Why won't you say?" (Blundered past it. Indeed, a mistaken understanding.)
Wu said, "I won't say! I won't say!" (Foul water poured right over his head. The first arrow was still light, but the second arrow went deep.)
On the way back (Too wide awake),
Yuan said, "Preceptor, tell me quickly! If you don't tell me, I will strike you, Preceptor!" (Now getting a little bit somewhere. Rarely encountering an ear-pierced foreigner; mostly meeting people carving marks on a boat. Such an un-clever fellow enters hell as swift as an arrow.)
Wu said, "Strike me if you will, but as for telling, I won't say!" (Again and again one must treat the matter with gravity. Plundering on his very body. This old fellow is covered in mud and water; his initial mind remains unchanged.)
Yuan then struck him. (A good strike! But tell me, why did he strike him? A wrongful beating, after all, found someone to take it.)
Later, when Daowu passed away, Yuan went to Shishuang and recounted the previous conversation. (Knowingly committing an offense. Who knows whether it is right or not? If it is right, that too is extraordinary.)
Shishuang said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." (Exceedingly fresh! Such fare has indeed found someone to eat it.)
Yuan said, "Why won't you say?" (Though the words are the same, the intention is not twofold. But tell me, is it the same as or different from his previous questioning?)
Shishuang said, "I won't say! I won't say!" (Above heaven and below heaven. The waves of Caoxi seem similar. Countless ordinary people have been drowned on dry land.)
Yuan had an awakening upon these words. (Blind fellow! Don't try to deceive this mountain monk!)
One day, Yuan took a spade into the Dharma Hall, pacing from east to west and from west to east. (This too is finding life within death. Good to vent spleen on behalf of the late master! Don't ask him; just watch this fellow make a total fool of himself.)
Shishuang said, "What are you doing?" (Following behind with entangling clutter.)
Yuan said, "I am looking for the holy relics of the late master." (Hanging a medicine bag behind the hearse. Regretting not being cautious at the beginning. What are you saying?)
Shishuang said, "Vast billows billowing, white waves surging to the heavens—what holy relics of the late master are you looking for?" (One must grant him to be an adept to understand this. What are you doing flocking in crowds?)
Xuedou added the remark: "Blue heavens! Blue heavens!" (Too late! Drawing the bow after the thief has passed. It would be good to bury them all in one pit.)
Yuan said, "Just the right time to apply effort!" (And tell me, where does this land? What did the late master once say to you? This fellow, from beginning to end right up to now, cannot make his escape.)
Taiyuan Fu said, "The late master's holy relics are still present!" (Does the great assembly see? Like a flash of lightning! What kind of broken straw sandal is this? Still, it gets a little bit closer.)

6.22

Daowu and Jianyuan arrived at a family's home to offer condolences. Yuan patted the coffin and said, "Is it alive or dead?" Wu said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." If one can enter right beneath the phrase and know where to return upon the words, this very thing is the crucial pivot for breaking through and escaping birth and death. If not, one frequently blunders right past it on the spot. Look at how the ancients, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, constantly kept this matter in mind. As soon as they reached the house to offer condolences, Jianyuan patted the coffin and asked Daowu, "Is it alive or dead?" Daowu did not shift a single hair's breadth; he replied to him, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." Jianyuan blundered past it face-to-face; chasing after his words, he went further and said, "Why won't you say?" Wu said, "I won't say! I won't say!" Daowu could be called utterly sincere, going along with the error to rectify the error. Yuan was still not awake. On the way back, he said again, "Preceptor, tell me quickly! If you don't tell me, I will strike you, Preceptor!" Does this fellow know what is good or bad? As it is said, good intentions meet with no good reward. Daowu, still with a grandmotherly heart, said to him further, "Strike me if you will, but as for telling, I won't say!" Yuan then struck him. Although it was like this, Yuan nevertheless won a point. Daowu was dripping blood for him like this; how could Jianyuan be so uncomprehending? After Daowu was struck by him, he said to Jianyuan, "You must leave for now. I fear that if the temple administrators find out, they will bring trouble upon you." He secretly sent Jianyuan away. Daowu was excessively compassionate! Later, Yuan went to a small cloister and heard a postulant reciting the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra: "To those who should be liberated by the body of a monk, he immediately manifests the body of a monk to preach the Dharma for them." He suddenly had a great awakening and said, "At that time I blamed the late master wrongly; how was I to know that this matter does not lie in words and phrases?" An ancient said, "Great people of immeasurable capacity are spun around inside the veins of speech." There are those whose emotional understanding says: "Daowu's saying 'I won't say, I won't say' was precisely telling him." This is called turning a back-flip, making people unable to get a handle on it. If you understand it like this, how can you attain peace and stability? If one's feet tread on solid ground, there is not a hair's breadth of separation. Have you not seen the seven virtuous women visiting the Śītavana charnel ground? One pointed to a corpse and asked, "The corpse is here; where is the person?" The eldest sister said, "What? What?" The entire assembly together realized the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. And tell me, how many were there? A thousand, ten thousand—they are just one. Later, Jianyuan went to Shishuang and recounted the previous dialogue. Shishuang, just as before, said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead." Yuan said, "Why won't you say?" Shuang said, "I won't say! I won't say!" Yuan was awakened then and there. One day, carrying a spade, he walked from east to west and from west to east in the Dharma Hall, intending to present his understanding. As expected, Shuang asked, "What are you doing?" Yuan said, "I am looking for the late master's holy relics." Shuang immediately cut off his heels, saying, "Here, vast billows billow, white waves surge to the heavens—what holy relics of the late master are you looking for?" Since he was looking for the late master's holy relics, why did Shishuang speak like this? At this point, if you can grasp it upon the words "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead," only then will you know that from beginning to end it is the dynamic function in its entirety that one employs. If you construct logical principles, speculating and deliberating, it is truly difficult to see. Jianyuan said, "Just the right time to apply effort!" See how naturally extraordinary his words are after awakening! A piece of Daowu's parietal bone was golden in color, and when struck it made a metallic sound like copper. Xuedou's added remark says, "Blue heavens! Blue heavens!" Its meaning falls into both extremes. Taiyuan Fu said, "The late master's holy relics are still present!" Naturally, he spoke steadily and securely. Setting this entanglement aside for a moment, tell me: what is the crucial point? Where is effort to be applied? Have you not heard it said: "Penetrating one place, a thousand places, ten thousand places are penetrated all at once." If you can penetrate at the place of "I won't say, I won't say," you will then sit upon and cut off the tongues of everyone under heaven. If you cannot penetrate, you must personally investigate and personally awaken; you must not let the days pass easily, wasting such precious time. Xuedou's verse says:

6.23

Hares and horses have horns; (斩—Exceedingly extraordinary! Exceedingly fresh!)
Oxen and sheep have no horns. (斩—What form does this take? Deceiving others might work.)
Not a single strand of hair, not a single hair-tip; (Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am the honored one. Where can you grope for it?)
Like mountains, like peaks. (Where is it? Raising waves on level ground. It pokes right into your nostrils!)
The golden holy relics are still present now; (Cutting off the tongue! Stuffing up the throat! Setting it aside, one only fears no one recognizes him.)
White waves surging to the heavens—where can they be placed? (Letting him pass this once. Blundered past right under his heels! It cannot be accommodated in the eyes or the ears.)
Nowhere to place them! (Indeed. It gets a little bit closer; indeed drowning in a deep pit.)
Returning to the West with a single sandal, it was once lost. (The ancestor was not finished with it, implicating his descendants. Striking, he says: Why is it right here?)

6.24

Xuedou is particularly adept at appending annotations. He is a descendant under Yunmen; in every single phrase he is equipped with the tongs and hammer of the three phrases. At the place difficult to speak of, he speaks it out; at the place that cannot be cleared away, he clears it away. Going to its critical point, he versifies it, saying directly: "Hares and horses have horns; oxen and sheep have no horns." And tell me, why do hares and horses have horns, while oxen and sheep have no horns? If you can penetrate the preceding dialogue, only then will you know that Xuedou has a way of helping people. There are those who mistakenly understand, saying: "Not speaking is precisely speaking; having no phrase is having a phrase; hares and horses have no horns, yet he says they have horns; oxen and sheep have horns, yet he says they have no horns." This has no connection whatsoever! Little do they know that the ancients underwent thousands of transformations and manifested such spiritual powers solely to shatter your ghost-cave of phantoms. If you can penetrate it, it does not take even the single word "complete." "Hares and horses have horns; oxen and sheep have no horns. Not a single strand of hair, not a single hair-tip; like mountains, like peaks." These four lines are just like a single wish-fulfilling jewel; Xuedou has spat it out entirely whole before you. The concluding parts all decide the case on the basis of the confession: "The golden holy relics are still present now; white waves surging to the heavens—where can they be placed?" This versifies the words of Shishuang and Taiyuan Fu. Why is there nowhere to place them? "Returning to the West with a single sandal, it was once lost." A spiritual turtle dragging its tail—this is where Xuedou turns about to help people. An ancient said, "He investigates living phrases, not dead phrases." Since it was lost, why did that crowd of them vie with one another?

6.25

The pointer says: The Buddhas have never appeared in the world, nor have they given a single dharma to people. The ancestral masters never came from the West, nor have they ever transmitted anything with the mind. It is simply that worldly people fail to comprehend and chase outside seeking. Little do they know that beneath their own heels, there is a piece of the Great Matter of Cause and Condition that a thousand sages cannot grope for. Right now, seeing or not seeing, hearing or not hearing, speaking or not speaking, knowing or not knowing—from what place does it come? If you are not yet able to penetrate thoroughly, for now comprehend it within the den of entangling vines. Consider the following:

6.26

[56] Case: Chan traveler Liang asked Qinshan, "What about when a single arrowhead breaks through the three passes?" (Precipitous! It is remarkably extraordinary; he is indeed a fierce general.) Qinshan said, "Let the master inside the pass out so we may see him!" (Right in the face! Everyone needs to know this: the main mountain is high, the table mountain is low.) Liang said, "Then knowing my error, I must correct it." (Acting on seeing the dynamic opportunity; already fallen into the secondary.) Qinshan said, "What other time are you waiting for?" (There is capturing and releasing; when the wind moves, the grass bends.) Liang said, "A good arrow shot with nowhere to hit!" and straightaway walked out. (Indeed! Was he aiming to recant his confession? A second staff strike does not hurt.) Qinshan called, "Come here a moment, ācārya!" (Easy to call, hard to dismiss. What good is it to call him and have him turn his head?) Liang turned his head. (Indeed, he could not hold his ground. Hit!) Qinshan seized him and said, "Let alone a single arrowhead breaking through the three passes—for Qinshan's sake, try shooting an arrow and let me see!" (Flings his body into the tiger's mouth; a wave against the current. Seeing what is right and not doing it is a lack of courage.) Liang hesitated. (Indeed, he could not find a hold. Striking, he said: What a pity!) Qinshan struck him seven blows with the staff and said, "Just let this fellow doubt for thirty years!" (The imperative should be executed like this. Having a beginning and having an end, head straight and tail straight. It was Qinshan who ought to have taken this staff.)

6.27

Chan traveler Liang was truly a battle general. In Qinshan's hands, he wheeled left and circled right, dropping his whip and flashing his stirrups. At the very end, what a pity—his bow broke and his arrows were exhausted. Even though this was so, General Li has his own glorious reputation; failing to be enfeoffed as a marquis is also of no account. In this gong'an, one exit and one entry, one capture and one release: responding directly to the dynamic function face to face, swift and immediate face to face, falling neither into existence nor nonexistence, gain nor loss—this is called the profound dynamic. With the slightest lack of power, there is an immediate stumble. This monk was also an extraordinarily sharp patch-robed monk: in putting forward a question, he startled the assembly. Qinshan, being an adept lineage master, immediately knew where his question landed. A "barb" means an arrowhead. "What about when one arrow pierces through three passes?" Qinshan's meaning was: Setting aside your shooting through them, try letting out the master within the pass and let us see. Liang said, "Then knowing my error, I must correct it"—this was also quite extraordinary. Qinshan said, "What other time are you waiting for?" Look at how he responded: Qinshan's interrogation left not the slightest gap. Afterward, Chan traveler Liang instead said, "A good arrow shot with nowhere to hit," shook his sleeves, and walked out. The moment Qinshan saw him speak like this, he called out, "Come here a moment, ācārya!" Chan traveler Liang indeed could not hold his ground, and turned his head. Qinshan seized him and said, "Let alone a single arrowhead breaking through the three passes—for Qinshan's sake, try shooting an arrow and let me see!" Liang hesitated. Qinshan then struck him seven blows with the staff and furthermore recited an incantation after him, saying, "Just let this fellow doubt for thirty years!" Nowadays meditation monks all say, "Why did he not hit him eight times, nor hit him six times, but only hit him seven times? Otherwise, waiting until he asked 'try shooting an arrow for Qinshan's sake and let me see', he struck." It may seem like it, but it is not yet it. For this gong'an, your breast must harbor not the slightest intellectual calculation; transcending speech and words, only then can you break through the three passes in a single phrase and have a place to release the arrow. If you retain right and wrong, you will never grasp it. At that time, had this monk been a real man, Qinshan would also have been in great peril. Since he could not execute this command, he could not help running backward. Tell me: who, ultimately, is the master within the pass? Look at Xuedou's verse, which says:

6.28

"I bring out the master within the pass for you— (Hit! Missed right in front. Fall back! Fall back!) / You who shoot arrows, do not be reckless! (Once dead, never revived again. A huge blunder.) / Take an eye, and the ear must be deafened; (The left eye is half a pound. Letting a move pass. The left does not advance, the right does not fall back.) / Abandon an ear, and both eyes go blind. (The right eye is eight ounces. There is only one path: stepping forward drops into a pit and moat; stepping back, a fierce tiger bites your heel.) / How pitiable: a single arrowhead breaks through the three passes! (What about when the whole dynamic comes forth like this? What did he say? Broken! Fallen!) / Distinct and clear is the path behind the arrow. (A dead fellow. Bah! Striking, he says: Do you still see?) / Do you not see: (A leper dragging a companion along; off he goes making entangling vines.) / Xuansha has words: (Which one is not Xuansha?) / 'The great man takes what precedes Heaven as the ancestor of mind!'" (One phrase cuts off the flow; the myriad dynamics are laid to rest. The nostrils are in my hands. Before heaven, earth, and the world existed, where did you settle your body and establish your life?)

6.29

Several lines of this verse take words from Guizong's verse. In the past, because Guizong composed this verse, it was titled "Guizong"; within the lineage it is called the exposition of the ancestral tenets. Later Tong'an heard of it and said, "Liang was very capable of shooting arrows, but he did not understand how to hit the mark." A monk then asked, "How does one hit the mark?" Tong'an said, "Who is the master within the pass?" Later a monk related this to Qinshan; Qinshan said, "If Liang were like that, he would still not escape Qinshan's mouth." Even so, Tong'an did not have good intentions. Xuedou says, "I bring out the master within the pass for you"—open your eyes and hit it, close your eyes and hit it; whether with form or without form, all are severed into three pieces. "You who shoot arrows, do not be reckless": if you are skilled in shooting arrows, you will not be reckless; if you are not skilled in shooting, your recklessness can well be known. "Take an eye, and the ear must be deafened; abandon an ear, and both eyes go blind": tell me, why is it that taking an eye deafens the ear, and abandoning an ear blinds both eyes? Only with words that neither take nor abandon can you penetrate this; if there is taking and abandoning, it is difficult to see. "How pitiable: a single arrowhead breaks through the three passes! Distinct and clear is the path behind the arrow." Chan traveler Liang asked, "What about when a single arrowhead breaks through the three passes?" Qinshan said, "Let the master inside the pass out so we may see him!" all the way down to Tong'an's gong'an at the end—all are the path behind the arrow. Ultimately, how is it? "Do you not see: Xuansha has words: 'The great man takes what precedes Heaven as the ancestor of mind!'" Usually, mind is taken as the ancestral root and ultimate standard; why here does what precedes the birth of heaven and earth still act as the ancestor of this mind? If you see through this juncture, only then will you recognize the master within the pass. Distinct and clear is the path behind the arrow: if you wish to hit the mark, behind the arrow there is clearly a path. Tell me: what is the path behind the arrow? You must summon your own spirit before you can attain it. "The great man takes what precedes Heaven as the ancestor of mind"—Xuansha often showed this phrase to the assembly. This was originally Guizong's verse; Xuedou mistakenly took it as Xuansha's words. Nowadays practitioners, if they take this mind as the ancestral master, even if they practice until Maitreya Buddha descends to be born, they will still not understand. If one is a great man, mind is still a descendant; before heaven and earth divided is already the secondary. Tell me, right at such a moment, what is it that precedes heaven and earth?

First 29 of 52 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 — Classical Chinese