佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 7.33

7.33

"Not lodging his body at Twin Trees, / He rather stirred up dust and dirt in the land of Liang." Mahāsattva Fu and that old fellow without teeth were met with in just the same way. When Bodhidharma first arrived in Jinling, he met Emperor Wu. The Emperor asked: "What is the paramārtha of the holy truths?" Bodhidharma said: "Vast and empty, with nothing holy." The Emperor said: "Who is facing Us?" Bodhidharma said: "I know not." The Emperor did not connect with him, so [Bodhidharma] crossed the Yangtze River into Wei. Emperor Wu brought this up and asked Baozhi about it. Baozhi said: "Does Your Majesty recognize this man or not?" The Emperor said: "I know him not." Baozhi said: "This is the Mahāsattva Guanyin, transmitting the Buddha mind-seal." The Emperor was full of regret, and forthwith dispatched an envoy to bring him back. Baozhi said: "Do not say just Your Majesty sending an envoy to bring him back—even if everyone in the entire country went, he would still not return." Therefore Xuedou says: "Had he not had old Baozhi at the time, / He too would have been an exile hurried from the realm." At that time, had it not been for Baozhi standing up for Mahāsattva Fu, he would also have had to be driven out of the realm. Once Baozhi became talkative, Emperor Wu was taken in and hoodwinked by him instead. Xuedou's general idea is: there was no need for him to come to the land of Liang to lecture on the sūtra and strike the lectern. Therefore it is said: why didn't he lodge his body at Twin Trees, eating congee and eating rice, passing the time according to his lot? Yet he came to the land of Liang, gesturing and explaining like this, striking the lectern once and stepping down from the seat—that was precisely where he stirred up dust and dirt. If one wants to be supreme, one's eyes look to the clouds and sky: above, one does not see any Buddha; below, one does not see any sentient beings. But if one speaks of the matter of world-transcending, one cannot avoid getting ash on the head and mud on the face, turning nothing into something, turning something into nothing, taking right as wrong, turning the coarse into the fine, going through fish markets and wine shops, picking things up crosswise and applying them upside down, causing all people to understand this matter. If one did not let go and give free rein in this way, even until Maitreya descends to be born, there would not be even one or half a person [awakened]. Since Mahāsattva Fu was dragging in mud and dripping with water, fortunately he had an understanding companion. Had he not had old Baozhi, he would almost have been driven out of the realm. Now tell me: where is he right now?