佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 8.23

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?