佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 8
English (machine translation) 8
- Language
- English
8.1
[Case 71] Baizhang also asked Wufeng: "Shutting tight the throat and lips, how will you speak?" (Aha! The arrow has passed beyond the kingdom of Silla.) / Wufeng said: "The venerable monk also must shut them tight." (Rushing the banners and seizing the drums. A single phrase cuts off the stream; myriad dynamic workings are silenced and erased.) / Baizhang said: "Where there is no one, I will shade my brow and look for you." (The land is broad and the people are few; those who meet are rare. This case should be read together with the gong'an at the end of Fascicle Seven.)
8.2
Guishan held fast to the territory; Wufeng cut off the myriad streams. This matter requires a person to bring it up directly to one's face, like wrestling in front of a horse, allowing no hesitation or deliberation, immediately using sharp, swift, and steep dynamic action, unlike Guishan's expansive and surging flow. Nowadays, Chan fellows only walk beneath the trestle; they cannot surpass others by a single head. Therefore it is said: "If you wish to obtain intimacy, do not bring a question to ask a question." The point of Wufeng's answer cut things off directly from the front, being exceptionally brisk and sharp. Baizhang said, "Where there is no one, I will shade my brow and look for you." Tell me, did he approve him or did he not approve him? Did he kill or did he give life? Seeing that he was turning smoothly like a wheel, he only gave him a touch. Xuedou's verse eulogy says:
8.3
[Xuedou's verse eulogy says:]
"The venerable monk also must shut them tight"— (Already prior to words. Cutting off the myriad streams.) / Look upon the strategy on the dragon-snake battle line. (One must be a Golden-Tooth before understanding how to keep the seven implements on one's person. An expert seasoned in battle.) / It makes one long remember General Li: (There are not many hands of wondrous skill. A single horse and a single spear, across a thousand li, ten thousand li, facing a thousand men, ten thousand men.) / Ten thousand li at the edge of the sky, a single osprey flies. (Does the great assembly see? Tell me, where does it fall? Hit! Striking, he said: It has flown past.)
8.4
"The venerable monk also must shut them tight"—within this single phrase, Xuedou pressed once, saying: "Look upon the strategy on the dragon-snake battle line." Like two battle arrays lined up, bursting in and bursting out, moving freely in all directions, he has the skill of a fighting general, a person of great strategy. With a single horse and a single spear, upon the dragon-snake battle line, he appears and disappears at will; how could you surround him? If not for such a person, how could one know there is such strategy? These three verse eulogies of Xuedou all describe the words from within in this manner. It is very much like General Li Guang's divine arrow: "Ten thousand li at the edge of the sky, a single osprey flies"—one arrow definitely brings down one vulture, never letting it escape. Xuedou eulogized the place of Baizhang's question as being like an osprey, and the place of Wufeng's answer as being like an arrow. This mountain monk has been exclusively praising Wufeng, without realizing that his whole body has entered the mud and water.
8.5
[72] Case: Baizhang also asked Yunyan, "Leaving aside throat, lips, and mouth, how will you speak?" (He comes out of a toad's cave. What does he say?)
Yunyan said, "Does the Venerable have it or not?" (Sticking to skin and clinging to bone. Dragging through mud and water. Having not reached the village ahead, nor overtaken the inn behind.)
Baizhang said, "I have lost my descendants." (Clearly there is such a thing; his answer misses both front and rear.)
8.6
Yunyan served as attendant at Baizhang for twenty years. Later he went with Daowu to Yaoshan. Yaoshan asked, "What did you do while in Baizhang's assembly?"
Yunyan said, "I broke through birth and death."
Yaoshan said, "And have you broken through or not?"
Yunyan said, "That one has no birth or death."
Yaoshan said, "Twenty years at Baizhang, and your habitual tendencies are still not purged!"
Yunyan took his leave and went to see Nanquan, and later returned to Yaoshan; only then did he tally with awakening. Look at how the ancients investigated and inquired for twenty years, yet remained half green and half yellow, sticking to skin and clinging to bone, unable to break out smartly. It may be so, yet he had not reached the village ahead, nor overtaken the inn behind. Have you not heard it said:
"If words do not leave the rut,
How can one escape covers and entanglements?
White clouds lie across the valley mouth;
How many people are misled from the source?"
In the Dongshan lineage this is called 'striking against and breaking through'; hence it is said:
"Opening out the celestial attendants at the Phoenix Tower,
People of the day shrank from uttering the reigning sovereign's name."
Therefore it is said that one must break through the thorn forest before one has it. If one does not break through, one will always be involved in minute quibbles and unable to cut them off. Just now I said: he had not reached the village ahead, nor overtaken the inn behind. Yunyan only knew to inspect what belonged to others. Baizhang, seeing him like this, took him and killed him off at once. Xuedou's verse says:
8.7
"Does the Venerable have it or not?" (The gong'an is ready-made. Following the waves and chasing the billows. Mixing with mud and blending with water.)
The golden-haired lion does not crouch on the ground. (Clearly. What use does it have? What a pity!)
In twos and threes they walk the old road; (Leaving aside throat, lips, and mouth, how will you speak? Turning the body and breathing out. Tripping past beneath his heels!)
At the foot of Mount Daxiong, he snaps his fingers in vain. (Once dead, he never revives. Pitiful and painful! Adding sorrow and suffering to the azure sky!)
8.8
"Does the Venerable have it or not?" Xuedou concludes the case according to the confession. It may be so, but it is just a golden-haired lion—alas, it does not crouch on the ground! When a lion catches prey, it conceals its teeth and hides its claws, crouches on the ground, and pounces; whether the prey is large or small, it always uses its full might, seeking to accomplish its work completely. Yunyan said, "Does the Venerable have it or not?" He was merely walking on the old road. Therefore Xuedou said that Baizhang snapped his fingers in vain at the foot of Mount Daxiong.
8.9
Pointer: One who expounds the Dharma has nothing to expound and nothing to reveal. One who listens to the Dharma has nothing to hear and nothing to attain. Since expounding is without expounding and without revealing, how could it match not expounding? Since listening is without hearing and without attaining, how could it match not listening? Yet having neither expounding nor listening is somewhat better. Just now, as you all listen to this mountain monk expounding here, how will you avoid this fault? Let those who possess the eye to break through the barrier try citing it!
8.10
[73] Case: A monk asked Master Ma, "Apart from the four propositions and detached from the hundred negations, please, Master, point directly to me the meaning of the Western Come-over." (Where did he get this topic? Where did he get this news?)
Master Ma said, "I am tired today and cannot speak for you. Go ask Zhizang." (Retreating three steps, he misses it without even knowing. Concealing the body while revealing the shadow. No harm in this old fellow passing it off to someone else.)
The monk asked Zhizang. (One should also press him a bit. He misses it without even knowing.)
Zhizang said, "Why not ask the Venerable?" (The singed-tail tiger comes out of the grass! What does he say? He simply ties himself up with grass rope; he is completely dead.)
The monk said, "The Venerable told me to come ask." (He likes other people's instructions. The first arrow was still light, but the second arrow went deep.)
Zhizang said, "I have a headache today and cannot speak for you. Go ask Brother Hai." (No harm in being eighty-four kalyāṇamitras; they all suffer from this same illness.)
The monk asked Brother Hai. (Passing it on again to someone else. Holding stolen goods and crying injustice!)
Hai said, "When I get to this point, I don't understand." (No need for chatter. Let it be pitch black for thousands and myriads of eons.)
The monk reported this to Master Ma. (This monk does have a bit of an eye.)
Master Ma said, "Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black." (The emperor's decree within the realm; the general's command beyond the frontier.)
8.11
Regarding this gong'an, in former days when this mountain monk was in Chengdu, I consulted Zhenjue. Zhenjue said, "You only need to look at Mazu's first sentence, and you will naturally understand it all at once." Tell me: did this monk come asking out of understanding, or did he come asking without understanding? This question is quite deep and far-reaching. Departing from the four propositions: existence, non-existence, neither existence nor non-existence, both existence and non-existence. Leaving these four propositions, cut off their hundred negations! You merely make up intellectual rationalizations, failing to recognize the topic, searching for the head but failing to see it. If it were this mountain monk, waiting until Mazu had spoken, I would then have spread my mat, made three prostrations, and seen what he had to say. If Master Ma at that time, seeing this monk come and ask, "Apart from the four propositions and detached from the hundred negations, please, Master, point directly to me the meaning of the Western Come-over," had taken his staff and struck him right across the spine, driving him out—let us see whether he would awaken or not! Master Ma merely engaged in entangling vines with him, so that this fellow missed it right before his eyes; he even sent him to ask Zhizang. Little did he know that Master Ma's incoming wind was keenly discerned. This monk was muddled and ran off to ask Zhizang. Zhizang said, "Why not ask the Venerable?" The monk said, "The Venerable told me to come ask." See how in these places, as soon as he is pressed, he turns; there is no leisure at all. Zhizang said, "I have a headache today and cannot speak for you. Go ask Brother Hai." This monk went again to ask Brother Hai. Brother Hai said, "When I get to this point, I don't understand." Tell me: why did one say he had a headache, while the other said he did not understand? Ultimately, how is it? This monk then returned and reported it to Master Ma. Master Ma said, "Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black." If you make conjectures along the path of intellectual understanding, you will call it deceiving each other. Some say they merely passed it off to one another. Others say all three recognized the source of his question and therefore did not answer. All of these are blind flailings, at once putting poison into the ancients' supreme flavor of ghee! Therefore Mazu said, "Wait until you swallow all the water of the West River in one gulp, and then I will speak to you." It is the same as this gong'an. If you can understand "Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black," you will understand the talk of the West River's water. This monk carried a shoulder-pole of muddle-headedness in exchange for disquiet, further troubling three venerable elders to enter the mud and water; in the end, this monk did not have a flash of insight. Even so, these three lineage masters were nevertheless seen through by a board-carrying fellow! Nowadays people only make a living on the words, saying, "White matches the bright side; black matches the dark side," merely boring and scheming. Little do they know that the ancient's single sentence cuts off the root of consciousness. You must look into the genuine lineage for yourself before you attain stability. Therefore it is said: "Only the final phrase reaches the impenetrable barrier; it blocks the vital crossing, barring both ordinary and holy." If we discuss this matter, it is like holding a sword before the gate: hesitate and you lose your body and life! It is also said: "Like throwing a sword through the empty air, do not discuss whether it hits or not; just understand it in the place that is exquisite on all eight sides." Have you not seen what the ancients said: "This lacquer tub!" or "Wild fox spirit!" or "Blind fellow!" Tell me: are these the same as or different from a blow or a shout? If you know that the myriad differences are just the same, you will naturally be able to face an enemy on all eight sides. Do you want to understand "Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black"? My late teacher Wuzu said, "Mister Fenghou." Xuedou's verse says:
8.12
Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black: (Half closed and half open. One hand lifts, one hand presses down. The sounding of gold and the vibrating of jade.)
Clear-eyed patch-robed monks cannot understand. (Even if you go on itinerant pilgrimage for thirty more years, in the end someone will pierce your nostrils. This mountain monk's mouth is indeed like a flat carrying pole!)
The colt trampled down everyone under heaven; (In the chan grove, one must indeed have this old fellow! Release this old fellow.)
Linji is still not a daylight robber! (A mangy fellow dragging companions along. Even if he were a master hand, he has been captured by someone.)
Apart from the four propositions, detached from the hundred negations: (What does he say? You must inspect it yourself. Dad is like father.)
In the heavens and among humans, only I know. (What use is 'I'? Snatching away the staff! Or if there is no person and no self, no gain and no loss, what will you use to know?)
8.13
"Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black." Tell me, what is the meaning? Over this point, the patch-robed monks of the world cannot leap. See how well Xuedou rounds it off at the end, saying that even a clear-eyed patch-robed monk cannot understand it. This news is called the secret formula of the immortals, not transmitted between father and son. When old Śākya expounded the teachings of his entire lifetime, at the very end he transmitted solely the mind-seal, called the Vajra King's precious sword, called the correct position. Such entangling vines were already a matter of having no alternative. The ancients slightly revealed a bit of dynamic sharpness; if you are one who breaks through, you will immediately have seven piercings and eight cavities, attaining great freedom. If you cannot break through, since you have no point of entry into awakening, the more you talk, the farther away you are. "The colt trampled down everyone under heaven." Prajñātāra of Western India prophesied to Bodhidharma: "Although the land of Cīna is vast, there is no other path; you must rely on your descendants walking beneath their feet. A golden rooster can take a single grain of millet in its beak to make offerings to the arhat monks of the ten directions." Furthermore, the Sixth Patriarch said to Venerable Rang, "Hereafter the Buddhadharma will go forth from your side; later a colt will emerge and trample down everyone under heaven." Afterward, his Dharma heir in Jiangxi spread throughout the world, known at the time as Mazu. Bodhidharma and the Sixth Patriarch both prophesied Mazu in advance. Looking at his maneuvers, they were indeed exceptional! Simply saying, "Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black," you immediately see the place where he tramples down everyone under heaven. This single phrase of black and white talk cannot be bitten through by thousands and myriads of people. "Linji is still not a daylight robber." One day Linji instructed the assembly, "On the lump of red flesh there is a true person of no rank, constantly going in and out through your face gates. Those who have not realized it, look, look!" At that time a monk came forward and asked, "What is the true person of no rank?" Linji came down from his meditation seat, seized him, and said, "Speak! Speak!" The monk was speechless. Linji pushed him away and said, "What dry lump of dung is this true person of no rank!" When Xuefeng later heard of this, he said, "Linji is very much like a daylight robber." Xuedou wanted to meet Linji; observing Master Ma's dynamic sharpness, it surpassed even Linji's. This is truly a daylight robber; Linji is still not a daylight robber! Xuedou pierced them all at once. Then he eulogized this monk, saying: "Apart from the four propositions, detached from the hundred negations; in the heavens and among humans, only I know." Do not make a living in a ghost cave! The ancients said, "The question is in the place of the answer; the answer is in the place of the question." This is already extraordinary. How will you leave the four propositions and cut off the hundred negations? Xuedou said, "This matter only I can know." Even the Buddhas of the three periods cannot spy it out. Since he alone knows, what more do you all come up here seeking? Zhenru of Dagui held this up and said, "The monk asked like that; Master Ma answered like that. Apart from the four propositions and detached from the hundred negations, neither Zhizang nor Brother Hai knew. Do you want to understand? Have you not heard it said: 'The colt trampled down everyone under heaven'?" (搊 [chōu]: pronunciation chū-yóu; meaning to seize.)
8.14
The pointer says: The sword Moye held across: before its blade it cuts off the nest of entangling vines. The bright mirror hung high: within the phrase it brings out the seal of Vairocana. In the place where the ground is firm and secure, wearing clothes and eating food; in the place of playful roaming with supernormal powers, how will you approach and anchor? Do you understand thoroughly? Look into the text below.
8.15
[Case 74] Case: Whenever it came to mealtime, Master Jinniu would personally bring the rice bucket, dance in front of the monks' hall, and with a great guffaw of laughter say, "Bodhisattva-children, come eat rice!" (The line and hook at the pole's tip: let you handle it as you will. Not stirring the clear waves, the meaning is distinct of itself. Ghee and poison administered at once. True enough, the seven treasures and eight jewels are all laid out at once; but alas, how few meet with it!) Xuedou said, "Although this is so, Jinniu did not have a good mind." (A thief recognizes a thief; an adept recognizes an adept. One who comes to speak of right and wrong is precisely the person of right and wrong.) A monk asked Changqing, "The ancient said, 'Bodhisattva-children, come eat rice!' What was the meaning?" (Well may you doubt it. All along he did not know where it landed. What did Changqing say?) Changqing said, "It is much like celebrating and praising on the occasion of a feast." (Matching the table, carrying out the order; settling the case based on the confession.)
8.16
Jinniu was a venerable elder under Master Ma. Whenever it came to mealtime, he would personally bring the rice bucket, dance in front of the monks' hall, and with a great guffaw of laughter say, "Bodhisattva-children, come eat rice!" He did this for twenty years. Tell me: where was his intention? If you call it merely eating rice, normally striking the wooden fish and beating the drum is also announcement enough. Why then would he further need to bring the rice bucket personally and perform so many antics? Could he be crazy? Could he be promoting and establishing [the teaching]? If he were promoting this matter, why not go to the precious flower-throne, strike the bench, and erect the whisk? What need was there to act like this? People today completely fail to realize that the ancients' meaning lay outside of words. Why not just look at what the topic of the ancestral master when he first came said? It clearly said: a special transmission outside the teachings, sole transmission of the mind-seal. The ancients' skillful means were only to have you directly undertake it. Later people rashly guess and calculate, saying, "Where are there so many things? When cold, face the fire; when hot, take the shade; when hungry, eat rice; when tired, take a nap." If you interpret and gloss it with ordinary sentiments and conceptual explanations in this way, Bodhidharma's single lineage is swept into the dust and finished. They do not know that the ancients, throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, thought after thought did not abandon it, wanting to clarify this matter. Xuedou said, "Although this is so, Jinniu did not have a good mind." Over just this one phrase, how many people have misunderstood! It is what is called: the supreme flavor of ghee, prized by the world; meeting with such people, it turns instead into poison. Since Jinniu entered the weeds for others' sake, why did Xuedou say, "He did not have a good mind"? For what reason did he speak like this? A patch-robed monk must possess living dynamic function to attain it. Today's people do not reach the ancients' ground; they only insist, "What mind is there to see? What Buddha is there?" If you form this view, you ruin old master craftsman Jinniu. You must examine it closely before you get it. If you only talk glibly today and tomorrow, there will never be an end. Later, Changqing ascended the hall, and a monk asked, "The ancient said, 'Bodhisattva-children, come eat rice!' What was the meaning?" Changqing said, "It is much like celebrating and praising on the occasion of a feast." Venerable elders are excessively compassionate; they leak not a little. True enough, it is "celebrating and praising on the occasion of a feast"; but tell me, what does he celebrate and praise? See Xuedou's verse, which says:
8.17
Within the shadows of white clouds, laughing with a great guffaw; / (In his laugh there is a knife. What are you raving feverishly about? The patch-robed monks of the world do not know where it lands.)
Holding it with both hands, he brings it and hands it over to them. / (How could there be such a thing? You had better not slander Jinniu. Can you call it a rice bucket? If he were a genuine patch-robed monk, he would not eat this kind of tea and rice.)
If he is a child of the golden-haired lion, / (He must be beyond the pattern before he gets it. I grant that he has eyes; I only fear his eyes are not true.)
From three thousand leagues away he sees the discrepancy. / (Not worth half a coin. A total leakage. Where is the discrepancy? Blind fellow!)
8.18
"Within the shadows of white clouds, laughing with a great guffaw." Changqing said, "Celebrating and praising on the occasion of a feast." Xuedou said, "Holding it with both hands, he brings it and hands it over to them." Tell me: is he merely giving them rice to eat, or is there something extraordinary? If in this place you know the reality, then you are a child of the golden-haired lion. If one is a child of the golden-haired lion, there is no need for Jinniu to bring the rice bucket, dance, and laugh loudly; directly from three thousand leagues away, one already knows his flaw. An ancient said, "Discernment precedes dynamic function; it does not take a single pinch." Therefore, patch-robed monks normally must act outside the pattern before they can be called proper lineage masters. If you only rely on verbal expressions, you will inevitably leak.
8.19
The pointer says: The miraculous blade and precious sword is ever exposed and manifest; it can kill people and it can give people life. Over there and over here, gaining together and losing together. If you want to hold it up, allow it to be held up freely; if you want to spread it out level, allow it to be spread out level freely. Now tell me: when it does not fall into host and guest, and is not constrained by reciprocal interchange, how is it? Try to cite it.
8.20
[Case 75] Case: A monk came from the assembly of the Venerable of Dingzhou to Wujiu. Wujiu asked, "What is the Dharma-way of Dingzhou like compared to here?" (There is resonance in his words; he wants to discern shallow and deep. A probing pole and shadow grass; he deceives people too much.) The monk said, "Not different." (Among dead fellows there is a living one; one or half, like an iron stake, treading on solid ground.) Wujiu said, "If not different, then turn back there!" and struck him. (Manifestly: the authentic imperative must be carried out.) The monk said, "The staff's head has eyes; you must not strike people carelessly!" (He must be this craftsman before he gets it; he is indeed a lion's cub.) Wujiu said, "Today I have hit one!" and struck him three more times. (What are you talking about hitting one? A thousand, ten thousand.) The monk thereupon went out. (Originally he is an insider; he could only suffer injustice. He merely acted seeing the dynamic.) Wujiu said, "An unjust blow—it turns out there was someone to take it." (A mute eating bitter melon. Releasing and gathering in again; having called him back, what can he be used for?) The monk turned around and said, "What can be done? The ladle handle is in the Venerable's hands." (As before, three hundred and sixty days; yet he is a clever patch-robed monk.) Wujiu said, "If you want it, this mountain monk will return it to you." (Who knows which one is ruler and which one is minister? Daring to stretch his body across the tiger's mouth; he exceedingly fails to know good from bad.) The monk stepped forward, snatched the staff from Wujiu's hand, and struck Wujiu three times. (He too must be a craftsman of a Chan guest before he gets it; host and guest interchange, releasing and snatching on the spur of the moment.) Wujiu said, "An unjust blow, an unjust blow!" (Called him. This old fellow—what deadly panic is he in?) The monk said, "There is someone to take it!" (Haha. How many ladle handles have ended up in this monk's hands?) Wujiu said, "I carelessly struck such a fellow!" (Not falling into the corner of Bing. Who knows who he is?) The monk thereupon bowed. (Not changing when facing danger: only then is he a manly hero.) Wujiu said, "Venerable, do you go off like this?" (Called him.) The monk laughed loudly and went out. (A craftsman of a Chan guest naturally possesses it. A fierce tiger must be followed by a cool breeze; only then do you know he is thorough from beginning to end. People of the world cannot grope him out.) Wujiu said, "Deserving of such, deserving of such!" (Pity he let him go! Why didn't he split his spine with the staff? Thinking he would run off where?)
8.21
A monk came from the assembly of the Venerable of Dingzhou to Wujiu. Wujiu was also a craftsman. If people here recognize these two men's one exiting and one entering: a thousand, ten thousand are just one. Acting as host is like this, acting as guest is like this; in the end the two join into one family. An episode of testing and examination, question and answer between host and guest: from beginning to end, both are craftsmen. See Wujiu asking this monk, "What is the Dharma-way of Dingzhou like compared to here?" The monk said, "Not different." At that time, if it were not Wujiu, it would have been hard to handle this monk. Wujiu said, "If not different, then turn back there!" and struck him. What can be done? This monk was a craftsman; he said, "The staff's head has eyes; you must not strike people carelessly!" Wujiu directly carried out the imperative, saying, "Today I have hit one!" and struck him three more times. The monk thereupon went out. Look at the two of them turning smoothly like wheels; both are craftsmen. To settle this matter, one must distinguish black from white and differentiate misfortune from fortune. Although this monk went out, this gong'an was not yet settled. From beginning to end, Wujiu wanted to verify his real place to see how he was. This monk seemed to prop up the door and brace the household, so one could not yet see through him. Wujiu instead said, "An unjust blow—it turns out there was someone to take it." This monk wanted to turn his body and exhale; yet not contending with him, he gently turned and said, "What can be done? The ladle handle is in the Venerable's hands." Wujiu was a lineage master possessing eyes in the crown of his head; daring to stretch his body across a fierce tiger's mouth, he said, "If you want it, this mountain monk will return it to you." This fellow was a fellow with a talisman beneath his elbow; as is said, "To see what is right and not do it is a lack of courage." Without any further hesitation, he stepped forward, snatched the staff from Wujiu's hand, and struck Wujiu three times. Wujiu said, "An unjust blow, an unjust blow!" Tell me: what was the meaning? At first he said, "An unjust blow—it turns out there was someone to take it." When it came to this monk striking him, he instead said, "An unjust blow, an unjust blow!" The monk said, "There is someone to take it!" Wujiu said, "I carelessly struck such a fellow!" At first he said, "Today I have hit one!" In the end, when taking the blows himself, why did he also say, "I carelessly struck such a fellow"? At that time, had this monk not stood tall and erect, he could not have handled him either. The monk thereupon bowed. This bow was the most poisonous; it too was not a good mind. If it were not Wujiu, he could not have seen through him either. Wujiu said, "Do you go off like this?" The monk laughed loudly and went out. Wujiu said, "Deserving of such, deserving of such!" Look at craftsmen meeting each other: from beginning to end, host and guest are distinct; severed, yet able to continue. In fact, it was just the dynamic function of reciprocal interchange. Reaching this point, he also did not say there is a place of reciprocal interchange. Naturally, these ancients had cut off emotional defilements and conceptual thoughts; each being a craftsman, neither said there was gain or loss. Although it was a momentary conversation, the two were actively alive and kicking, each having bloodlines and stitches. If you can see in this way, then throughout the twelve double-hours, it will also be distinctly clear. The monk going out was double releasing; from there down was double gathering—this is called reciprocal interchange. Just like this, Xuedou produced a verse:
8.22
Summoning is easy; / (The people of the world all doubt it. Smelly meat attracts flies. The patch-robed monks of the world totally do not know where it lands.)
Dismissing is hard. / (Exceedingly sharp and decisive; excellent and eminent on the sea.)
Examine closely the dynamic sharpness of reciprocal interchange: / (One exiting and one entering; both are craftsmen. One staff supported by two people. Tell me, on whose side is it?)
Though the kalpa-stone is solid, it can still be destroyed; / (How will you discern the golden mallet in the sleeve? The thousand sages do not transmit it.)
The deep place of the vast ocean instantly goes dry. / (Where will you arrange it? The staff's head has eyes; he alone is granted to attain it intimately.)
Old Wujiu! Old Wujiu! / (What a pity! This old fellow does not know good from bad.)
How manifold are his manners! / (He too is an unprovoked fellow; hundreds, thousands, myriads of layers.)
Giving him the ladle handle was too unprovoked! / (Already before words. Almost breaking through Caizhou. He deserves thirty blows of the staff. Tell me: where is his fault?)
8.23
"Calling is easy, sending away is hard." Equally, both involve descending into the weeds; Xuedou was exceedingly compassionate. It is commonly said: "Calling a snake is easy, but sending a snake away is hard." Now, when one blows through a gourd to call a snake, it comes easily; but when one wishes to drive it away, it is difficult. It is just like giving someone a staff being easy, while snatching the staff back from him and driving him off is difficult. One must possess genuine hands and feet to be capable of sending him away. Wujiu was an adept: he had the hands and feet to summon snakes, and also possessed the methods to dispatch snakes. Nor was this monk one who was asleep. When Wujiu asked, "How does the Dharma-way of Dingzhou compare to here?" that was calling him. When Wujiu struck him, that was sending him away. The monk said, "The head of the staff has eyes; you must not beat people carelessly." This turned back to the monk's side, which was calling [Wujiu] in. Wujiu said, "If you want it, this mountain monk will give it back to you." The monk then stepped forward, snatched the staff, and hit Wujiu three times; this was the monk sending [Wujiu] away. Up to the point where the monk laughed aloud and went out, and Wujiu said, "It is well worth such; it is well worth such"—this clearly shows that he sent him away just right. See how the two of them interchanged dynamic sharpness, thread coming and line going, blending into a seamless whole. From beginning to end host and guest were distinct: sometimes the host acted as the guest, and sometimes the guest acted as the host. Xuedou could not praise it enough, and therefore said: "Look carefully at the dynamic function of mutual interchange." "The kalpa-stone is solid, yet it can still be destroyed." This refers to the kalpa-stone that is forty li long, eighty-four thousand yojanas wide, and eighty-four thousand yojanas thick. Every five hundred years a heavenly being descends and brushes it once with the sleeve of a six-zhu robe; having done so, departs, and after five hundred years comes back to brush it again like this. When this stone is completely worn away by brushing, that constitutes one kalpa; this is called the "kalpa of brushing the stone with a light garment." Xuedou says: "The kalpa-stone is solid, yet it can still be destroyed." Though the stone is firm and solid, it can still be worn away entirely. The dynamic sharpness of these two will never be exhausted through thousands and myriads of kalpas. "Standing in the depths of the boundless ocean, it must instantly dry up." Even in the boundless ocean, with immense billows surging wide and white waves reaching the heavens, if you have these two men stand inside it, this ocean must also dry up completely. Reaching this point, Xuedou finished eulogizing all at once. At the end he further said: "Old Wujiu! Old Wujiu! How many kinds?" Capturing or releasing, killing or giving life—in the end, just how many kinds are there? "Handing him the handle of the ladle is utterly pointless!" This staff has been used by the Buddhas of the three periods, by the ancestral masters of past generations, and is used by the lineage masters. It pulls out nails and extracts wedges for people, dissolves stickiness and loosens bonds; how could it be lightly and casually handed over to another? Xuedou's intent was to use it exclusively. Fortunately, at that moment the monk only engaged him on level terms; had thunder suddenly burst from the dry ground, let us see how he would have stood against it. Wujiu passing the handle of the ladle to another—is that not utterly pointless?
8.24
The pointer says: Fine as rice flour, cold as ice and frost. It packs and fills heaven and earth, transcending brightness and cutting off darkness. Viewed in low places, it is more than enough; leveled in high places, it is not sufficient. Holding fast and letting go are entirely within this place; tell me, is there still a way of escape or not? To test, I cite [the case]: Look! (畐: pronounced pi-bi-qie, meaning 'full'.)
8.25
[76] Case: Danxia asked a monk, "Where do you come from?" (It is precisely true that one cannot have no place of origin at all. It is also not hard to know where he comes from.) / The monk said, "From the foot of the mountain." (Wearing straw sandals, he walks straight through your belly. But he just does not understand. The words have an echo; he came with implicit meaning. Who knows whether he is yellow or green?) / Danxia said, "Have you eaten your meal yet?" (Pouring out the first ladle of dirty water. Why must there be a fixed graduation on the steelyard? He wants to know the exact truth.) / The monk said, "I have eaten." (As expected, he bumped into an uncarved pillar. Instead, his nostrils have been pierced by a bystander. Turns out he is an iron hammer without a hole.) / Danxia said, "Does the person who brought the meal for you to eat still have eyes?" (Although this is using power to intimidate another, it is also concluding the case according to the confession. At that moment it would have been good to overturn the Chan seat. Why act so pointlessly?) / The monk had no words. (As expected, he could not get away. If this monk had been an adept, he would have said to him: "They are just like the Reverend's eyes.") / Changqing asked Baofu, "Giving food to someone to eat has a share in repaying gratitude; why did he not have eyes?" (He only managed to say half. The whole body is it; the pervasive body is it. One slash in two parts. One hand raises, one hand presses down.) / Baofu said, "The giver and the receiver are both blind men." (Acting according to the imperative. One phrase says it all. Rarely does one meet such a person.) / Changqing said, "If one exhausts his dynamic function, does he still turn out blind?" (What good and bad does he discern? He is still unwilling to agree. What bowl is he looking for?) / Baofu said, "Can you say that I am blind?" (Both are men in the grass. A dragon's head and a snake's tail. At that time, when he waited for him to say, "If one exhausts his dynamic function, does he still turn out blind?" he should have simply said to him: "Blind!" Even so, he only managed to say half. Both are adepts; why can they not reach the village in front, nor catch up with the inn behind?)
8.26
Chan Master Tianran of Danxia in Dengzhou was a man of unknown origins. At first he studied Confucian learning. When he was about to enter Chang'an to sit for the civil service examinations, while lodging at an inn, he suddenly dreamt that a white light filled his room. A diviner said, "An omen of understanding emptiness." A visiting Chan monk happened to ask him, "Where are you going, virtuous one?" He said, "To be chosen for official post." The Chan monk said, "How does being chosen for official post compare to being chosen as a Buddha?" Danxia said, "Where should one go to be chosen as a Buddha?" The Chan monk said, "Now in Jiangxi Master Ma has appeared in the world; that is the arena for being chosen as a Buddha. You may go there, virtuous one." He then went directly to Jiangxi. As soon as he saw Master Ma, he held up the flaps of his headwrap with both hands. Master Ma looked at him and said, "I am not your teacher; go to Shitou at Nanyue." He immediately went to Nanyue and presented himself with the same intention as before. Shitou said, "Go to the stable shed." The master bowed in thanks, entered the postulants' hall, and followed the assembly in working chores for three years. One day Shitou announced to the assembly, "Tomorrow we will cut the weeds in front of the Buddha hall." When the next day came, the assembly all prepared spades and hoes to cut weeds. Danxia alone filled a basin with water, washed his head, and knelt on his knees before the master. Shitou saw this and smiled, shaved his head, and was about to expound the precepts for him. Danxia covered his ears and walked out, immediately heading for Jiangxi to visit Mazu again. Before making his formal bows, he went into the monks' hall, climbed onto the neck of the Holy Monk statue, and sat down. At that time the assembly was startled and alarmed, and hurriedly reported it to Mazu. Mazu came in person into the hall, looked at him, and said, "My son is so Tianran (natural)!" Danxia then stepped down, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Master, for bestowing the Dharma-name." He was therefore named Tianran. The ancients were so naturally outstanding and free; this is what is meant by "being chosen for official post is not as good as being chosen as a Buddha." The words and phrases recorded of him in the *Chuandeng lu* (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp) are truly a thousand cubits of sheer cliff; every phrase has the hands and feet to pull out nails and extract wedges for people. Here, he asked this monk: "Where do you come from?" The monk said, "From the foot of the mountain." This monk did not disclose his origin; it seemed as though he had eyes and had turned around to examine the host. Had it not been Danxia at that time, it would have been hard to handle. Danxia then said, "Have you eaten your meal yet?" In the first instance it was not yet evident; this was testing him a second time. The monk said, "I have eaten." An ignorant fellow—it turned out he did not understand. Danxia said, "Does the person who brought the meal for you to eat still have eyes?" The monk had no words. Danxia meant: "What is the use of giving food to a fellow like you to eat?" If this monk had been an adept, he would have probed him with a thrust to see how he reacted. Even so, Danxia did not let you off. This monk merely blinked his eyes and was speechless. Baofu and Changqing were together under Xuefeng; they frequently brought up ancient gong'ans to discuss. Changqing asked Baofu, "Giving food to someone to eat has a share in repaying gratitude; why did he not have eyes?" One need not ask entirely about the matters in the gong'an; in general, he borrowed these words as a topic to test where he stood firm. Baofu said, "The giver and the receiver are both blind men." How delightful! Arriving here, one discusses only the matter at the crucial juncture; within one's own house there is a path of escape. Changqing said, "If one exhausts his dynamic function, does he still turn out blind?" Baofu said, "Can you say that I am blind?" Baofu meant: "I possess such eyes and have spoken it to you; can you still say that I am blind?" Even so, it was half closed and half open. Had it been this mountain monk at that time, when waiting for him to say, "If one exhausts his dynamic function, does he still turn out blind?" I would have simply said to him: "Blind!" What a pity! If Baofu had produced this word "blind" at that time, he would have spared Xuedou so many entangling vines. Xuedou also eulogized using merely this idea.
8.27
Exhausting the dynamic function does not result in blindness: (He only managed to say half. He also wanted to test his fault. The words are still in the ears.) / Pushing a cow's head down to eat grass. (Losing money and incurring punishment. Half south of the river, half north of the river. Little does he realize he wounds his edge and offends his hands.) / The four-seven and two-three ancestral masters: (Where there are branches, climb the branches; implicating the former sages. Not only implicating one person.) / When the precious vessel is brought out, it turns into a fault! (All people on the great earth wring their hands and beat their breasts. Return my staff! Implicating this mountain monk so that he cannot lift his head either.) / The fault is deep, (Extremely deep! The patch-robed monks of the world cannot leap out. Tell me, just how deep is it?) / Nowhere to be sought— (Right beneath your feet, yet you cannot search it out.) / In heaven and among men, drowned together on dry land! (The patch-robed monks of the world are buried in a single pit. Is there anyone alive? Letting pass one move. Blue heavens, blue heavens! / 廠: pronounced chi-liang-qie, a wall-less horse shed. / 眨: pronounced ze-qia-qie, movement of the eyes.)
8.28
"Exhausting the dynamic function does not result in blindness." Changqing said, "If one exhausts his dynamic function, does he still turn out blind?" Baofu said, "Can you say that I am blind?" This is just like pushing a cow's head down to eat grass: one must wait for it to eat by itself; where is there pushing its head down to make it eat? When Xuedou eulogizes like this, one naturally sees Danxia's meaning. "The four-seven and two-three ancestral masters: / When the precious vessel is brought out, it turns into a fault!" Not only does this drag down Changqing, but even the twenty-eight Indian patriarchs and the six patriarchs of this land are buried at once. Old Śākya, for forty-nine years, preached the great Tripiṭaka teaching, and at the very end only transmitted this precious vessel. Yongjia said, "It is not an empty display of outward marks; / It bears the personal traces of the Tathāgata's precious staff." If one adopts Baofu's view, bringing out the precious vessel turns entirely into a fault. "The fault is deep, nowhere to be sought." This cannot be explained to you; just go sit quietly and check it out within his phrase. Since the fault is deep, why is it nowhere to be sought? This is no small fault: it sinks the great matter of the ancestral masters all at once on dry land. Therefore Xuedou said, "In heaven and among men, drowned together on dry land!"
8.29
The pointer says: Turning upward, one can pierce the nostrils of the people of the world, like a falcon seizing a pigeon. Turning downward, one's own nostrils are in someone else's hands, like a turtle hiding in its shell. If someone suddenly steps out from within and says, "Originally there is neither upward nor downward; what is the use of turning?" I would simply say to him, "I also know you are making a living inside a ghost cave." Tell me, how do you distinguish black from white? After a long pause, he said: Where there are regulations, follow the regulations; where there are no regulations, follow precedent. To test, I cite [the case]: Look!
8.30
[77] Case: A monk asked Yunmen, "What is talk that transcends the Buddhas and surpasses the patriarchs?" (Open! A sudden thunderclap from the dry ground. Pressed!) / Yunmen said, "Sesame cake." (The tongue presses against the upper palate. It has passed!)
8.31
This monk asked Yunmen, "What are the words that transcend the Buddhas and go beyond the patriarchs?" Yunmen said, "Sesame cake." Do you feel your body hair standing on end yet? When patch-robed monks ask about the Buddhas and patriarchs, ask about Chan and the Way, ask about the transcendent and the descending, and having asked all they can, they have nothing left to ask, they then bring up a query, asking about "the words that transcend the Buddhas and go beyond the patriarchs." Yunmen is an adept; thus as the water rises the boat floats high, and where there is much clay the Buddha is big. So he answered, "Sesame cake." It can truly be said that his Way is not practiced in vain, and his labor is not wasted. Yunmen again instructed the assembly, saying, "You must not act [blindly]. Seeing someone speak of the ancestral master's intention, you immediately ask about the principle of words that transcend the Buddhas and go beyond the patriarchs. For now, what do you call 'Buddha'? What do you call 'patriarch', that you speak of words that transcend the Buddhas and go beyond the patriarchs? Then you ask about escaping the three realms. Take the three realms and look at them: what seeing, hearing, awareness, or knowing obstructs you? What sound and form, what Buddha-Dharma is there for you to resolve? What bowl are you resolving? What do you take to be divergent views? Those ancient sages could do nothing with you; they threw their bodies into the world for sentient beings, saying, 'The entire substance is completely real; thing after thing is directly manifest, unobtainable.' I say to you: right here, what matter is there? Already it has been buried away! If you understand these words, you will know the sesame cake." Wuzu said, "Donkey dung is compared to musk." As it is said, "Directly cutting off the source is what the Buddhas seal; plucking leaves and searching branches is what I cannot do." When you arrive here, if you wish to attain intimacy, do not bring questions to ask. Look at this monk asking, "What are the words that transcend the Buddhas and go beyond the patriarchs?" and Yunmen saying, "Sesame cake." Do you know shame yet? Do you perceive the leakage? There is a sort of person who fabricates, saying, "Yunmen released the hawk upon seeing the rabbit, and so said 'sesame cake.'" If one views sesame cake in this way as the words that transcend the Buddhas and go beyond the patriarchs, how could there be an active road? Neither understand it as sesame cake, nor understand it as transcending the Buddhas and going beyond the patriarchs—that is the active road. It is just like the "three pounds of hemp" and "knowing how to beat the drum." Although he only said "sesame cake," in truth it is hard to see. Later people mostly make theoretical sense of it, saying, "Coarse words and fine speech all return to the paramārtha." If you understand it in this way, you might as well go be a lecture master and win a lifetime of abundant knowledge and abundant understanding. Nowadays Chan fellows say, "When transcending the Buddhas and going beyond the patriarchs, all the Buddhas are trampled underfoot, and the ancestral masters are also trampled underfoot; therefore Yunmen merely said 'sesame cake' to him. Since it is a sesame cake, how could it transcend the Buddhas and go beyond the patriarchs?" Try investigating it and see! Across the various quarters, verses are extremely numerous, all making words around the question. Only Xuedou's verse eulogy is the best. Let us bring it up to see. The verse says:
8.32
"Questions about transcendent talk are especially numerous among Chan guests—(Each one comes out and holds such a view; like hemp, like millet.) / Can you see the cracks and seams splitting apart? (Already prior to words. It opens! He does not smell his own shit.) / The sesame cake crammed in, he still does not stop; (Exchanging your eyes for soapberries!) / To this day there is confusion throughout the world." (Drawing a circle, he says, "Could it be understood like this? Gnawing on others' words—when will there ever be an end to it? The vast earth stretches endlessly, grieving one to death!" Then he strikes.) / Crammed (pronounced zhù; meaning to plug or stuff).
8.33
"Questions about transcendent talk are especially numerous among Chan guests." Chan fellows are especially fond of asking this. Have you not seen Yunmen say: "All of you shoulder your staff horizontally, saying, 'I investigate Chan and study the Way,' and immediately look for the principle of transcending the Buddhas and going beyond the patriarchs. Let me ask you: in the twelve periods of the day, walking, standing, sitting, lying down, defecating, urinating, down to the maggots in the privy and the mutton stall in the market—is there still the principle of transcending the Buddhas and going beyond the patriarchs? Anyone who can speak, come forth! If not, do not hinder me from walking east and west." Then he stepped down from the seat. There are those who do not recognize good or bad, drawing a circle—adding mud to earth, adding cangues and locks. "Can you see the cracks and seams splitting apart?" Where he posed his question, how immensely great were the cracks and seams! Seeing where his question split apart, Yunmen therefore blocked and plugged it with "sesame cake." This monk was still unwilling to stop, and asked again. Therefore Xuedou says, "The sesame cake crammed in, he still does not stop; to this day there is confusion throughout the world." Nowadays Chan fellows merely try to understand it on the sesame cake, or else they concoct doctrines on transcending the Buddhas and going beyond the patriarchs. Since it is not in these two extremes, where ultimately is it? Thirty years from now, wait until this mountain monk changes his bones and comes forth, and then I will tell you.
First 33 of 48 passages. Read on
Linked texts (1)
- 佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 — Classical Chinese