佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 9.50

9.50

"A stretch of empty clarity, cutting off words and emotions." With this single line, Xuedou eulogizes it well; naturally one sees the ancient's intention. When the six sense faculties are clear and still, what is it? Just this stretch of empty brightness and concentrated stillness—there is no need to seek it in heaven, nor is there any need to ask for it from another. Naturally the constant light manifests before you; this place stands steep as a thousand-fathom cliff. "Words and emotions" means cutting off spoken words and the dust of emotions. Fayan's *Verse on the Perfectly Accomplished Nature* says:
"When principle reaches its limit, one forgets emotional words; / How could any metaphor equal it? / In the end, on a frosty night, the moon / Naturally sinks into the stream before us. / The fruit is ripe and weighs down the gibbon; / The mountains are distant, as if the path were lost. / Raising my head, the lingering glow remains; / Originally it resided in the west."
Therefore it is said: "The mind is the root, phenomena are the dust; both are like smudges on a mirror. When the dirt and grime are gone, the light first appears; when mind and phenomena are both forgotten, nature is truly realized." It is also said: "I have always lived in a three-room thatched hut; a single beam of divine light, the ten thousand realms at ease. Do not come to judge me by right and wrong; the contrivances of this fleeting life have nothing to do with it." In this verse too, one sees: "A stretch of empty clarity, cutting off words and emotions."
"From this, humans and devas see Subhūti." Have you not heard: when Subhūti sat quietly in his cave, the devas rained down flowers in praise. The Venerable One asked, "Who is this raining down flowers and praising from the sky?" The deva said, "I am Brahmā." The Venerable One asked, "Why do you praise me?" The deva said, "I revere the Venerable One for skillfully expounding the Prajñāpāramitā." The Venerable One said, "I have never spoken a single word about prajñā; why do you praise me?" The deva said, "The Venerable One has had no speech, and I have had no hearing. No speech and no hearing—this is true prajñā." And again the earth shook and flowers rained down. Look at how Subhūti skillfully expounded prajñā, not even speaking of substance and function. If you perceive it here, then you can perceive Zhimen's "The clam holds the bright moon; the rabbit conceives." Although the ancient's intention did not reside in the words and phrases, how can it be helped that his answer contained a deep, deep principle? This provoked Xuedou to say, "The clam holds the dark rabbit—a deep, deep intent." When it comes to this point: "Which once stirred up warfare for the Chan family." Monks throughout heaven and earth discuss it in an uproar, yet not a single person has ever even dreamt of it. If you want to participate together with Zhimen and Xuedou, you too must apply your own eye before you can attain it.