佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 9.22

9.22

Under the school of Daxiong, four hut masters emerged: Damei, Baiyun, Huxi, and Tongfeng. Look at how the eyes of those two were so intimate and their hands so discerning; yet tell me, where was the mistake? The dynamic function and dynamic realm, the one word and one phrase of the ancients, although appearing on the spur of the moment, if their eyes are upright and true, are naturally lively and leaping with vitality. Xuedou brought this forward to teach people to distinguish the crooked from the upright, to discern gain and loss. Even so, on the part of an attained person, though dwelling amidst gain and loss, there is no gain or loss. If you view those ancients through gain and loss, you have no connection at all. People today must individually penetrate to the place where there is neither gain nor loss, and only then discern others through gain and loss. If you focus your mind wholly on picking and choosing among words and phrases, when will you ever be done? Have you not seen Great Master Yunmen say: 'You itinerant pilgrims, do not merely wander aimlessly through prefectures and hunt through districts, only wanting to take hold of idle chatter. Waiting for the old venerable's mouth to move, you immediately ask about Chan and ask about the Dao, about what is transcendent and what is directed downward, how and what; copying it down in great scrolls, cramming it into your bellies to calculate and reckon. Everywhere by the fireside, three or five of you gather your heads and open your mouths, chattering away, saying, "This is an expression of public talent; this is an expression struck out from oneself; this is an expression spoken on the basis of facts; this is an expression within the essence." Essence your father and mother at home! Having gulped down your rice, you do nothing but speak of dreams, and then say, "I understand the Buddha-dharma." You should know that with such itinerant pilgrimages, even in the year of the donkey you will find no rest.' When the ancients briefly brought things forward and toyed with them, how could they have had views of victory and defeat, gain and loss, right and wrong? Tongfeng saw Linji; at that time he had erected a hut deep in the mountains. This monk arrived there and asked: 'If you suddenly encounter a tiger here, what then?' Feng then made the sound of a tiger. It would have been good to act directly on the matter at hand. This monk also knew how to make the best of a mistake, and immediately made a posture of fear. The hut master laughed heartily: 'Ha, ha!' The monk said: 'You old thief!' Feng said: 'What can you do about this old monk?' True, both left it unsettled, and throughout a thousand ages they have met with people's critique. Therefore Xuedou said: 'True, they are two malicious thieves, but they only know how to cover their ears to steal the bell.' Though both were thieves, when faced with the dynamic moment they did not employ it; therefore, they covered their ears to steal the bell. These two old fellows were like lining up an army of a million, yet only fighting with brooms. If you discuss this matter, you must have the methods of someone who kills people without blinking an eye. If you wholly release without capturing, or wholly kill without giving life, you will inevitably invite the ridicule of others. Even so, those ancients did not have so many concerns. Look at how the two of them acted; it was entirely acting upon seeing the dynamic moment. Wuzu said: 'The samādhi of playing with supernatural powers, the samādhi of the torch of wisdom, the samādhi of the majestic king.' It is simply that the heels of later people do not touch the ground; they only go about critiquing the ancients and saying, 'There is gain, there is loss.' Some say: 'It is obvious that the hut master fell from grace.' This has no connection whatsoever. Xuedou said: 'When the two met, both had places where they let things pass.' The monk said: 'If you suddenly encounter a tiger here, what then?' Feng made the sound of a tiger; this was letting it pass. Even up to saying: 'What can you do about this old monk?'—this too was letting it pass. Move after move, they fell into the second dynamic. Xuedou said: 'If you want to use it, use it!' When people today hear such words, they say that at that moment one should have carried out the authentic imperative. But do not use blind cangues and sightless staffs! Just like Deshan giving a blow of the staff as soon as someone enters the gate, or Linji giving a shout as soon as someone enters the gate—tell me, what was the ancients' intention? At the end, Xuedou simply versified it in this way. But tell me, after all, how can one avoid covering one's ears to steal the bell? The verse says: