佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 9.3

9.3

This gong'an is what the Dongshan lineage calls a "question borrowing an event," and also a "question distinguishing the host," used to clarify the dynamic occasion. Deer and elk are ordinarily easy to shoot; only the elk among elks, being the king among deer, is the most difficult to shoot. This elk constantly sharpens its horns on craggy rocks so that they are sharp as spear points; shielding the herd of deer with its own body, even tigers cannot approach. This monk also seemed sharp; he brought this forward to question Yaoshan, using it to clarify the primary dynamic. Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" As an adept lineage master, he was indeed extraordinary—like sparks struck from stone, like a flash of lightning. Have you not seen? When Sanping first visited Shigong, as soon as Shigong saw him coming, he assumed the posture of drawing a bow and said, "Watch the arrow!" Sanping parted his robes at the chest and said, "Is this a person-killing arrow or a person-reviving arrow?" Shigong twanged the bowstring three times, and Sanping made prostrations. Shigong said, "For thirty years, with one bow and two arrows, today I have only shot half a sage," and snapped his bow and arrows in two. Later, Sanping brought this up to Dadian. Dadian said, "If it was a person-reviving arrow, why did you discern it upon the bowstring?" Sanping was speechless. Dadian said, "Thirty years from now, to find someone who can bring up this topic will also be difficult." Fadeng composed a verse saying: / "Anciently there was Master Shigong, / Who sat with bow and arrows drawn. / For thirty years like this, / Not a single intimate knower appeared. / Sanping came and hit the bullseye; / Father and son joined in harmony. / When you reflect upon it carefully, / He was originally the shooting target." / Shigong's strategy was identical to Yaoshan's. Sanping had an eye in his forehead, hitting the mark beneath a single phrase, just as when Yaoshan said "Watch the arrow," the monk acted like the elk and let his body fall down. This monk also seemed like an adept, only he had a head but no tail. Since he set a snare wishing to entrap Yaoshan, how could it be helped that Yaoshan was an adept who pressed him straight on? Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out!"—just like deploying battle lines forward. That the monk thereupon ran off was well enough; it was indeed so, yet he was not unattached and nimble, but sticky in hands and feet. Therefore Yaoshan said, "What limit is there to a fellow playing with mud balls?" At that time, had Yaoshan lacked these later words, down through a thousand ages he would have suffered people's scrutiny. Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" and this monk fell down: but tell me, did he understand, or did he not understand? If you say he understood, why did Yaoshan then say, "A fellow playing with mud balls"? This point is the most sinister. It is just like when a monk asked Deshan, "What is it like when a student brandishes the Moyé sword and intends to take the master's head?" Deshan stretched out his neck, came forward, and cried, "Gah!" The monk said, "The master's head has fallen!" Deshan bowed his head and returned to the abbot's quarters. Also, Yantou asked a monk, "Where do you come from?" The monk said, "I come from the Western Capital." Yantou said, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve a sword?" The monk said, "I retrieved one." Yantou stretched out his neck, came forward, and cried, "Gah!" The monk said, "The master's head has fallen!" Yantou gave a hearty laugh. Gong'ans of this sort are all dynamics for trapping tigers, precisely of this class. It was just that Yaoshan paid him no heed; because he saw through him, he simply kept pressing forward. Xuedou said, "Though alive after three paces, this monk must die at five paces." Although this monk understood very well how to "watch the arrow" and let his body fall down, when Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out," the monk ran away. Xuedou said, he feared only that beyond three paces he would not be alive. At that time, if he had leaped out beyond five paces, no one in the world could have done anything to him. When adepts meet, guest and host must interchange from beginning to end without interruption; only then is there a share of unfettered freedom. Because this monk at that time could not carry it through from beginning to end, he suffered Xuedou's scrutiny. Afterward, [Xuedou] also used his words in his verse, saying: