佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 8.26

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.