佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 6.29

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?