萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 1.83

1.83

師云。般若多羅甞囑達磨大師曰。吾滅後六十七載。當往震旦設大法藥直指上根。慎勿速行衰於日下。又汝到時。南方勿住。彼唯好有為功德。不見佛理。汝縱到彼。不可久留。果有游梁涉魏鈍滯九年之事。近代磁州衣法付人山。山曰。某甲不是恁麼人。州曰。不是恁麼人。自不殃及伊。山以法乳情深。俛仰而受。州復曰。汝既如是。第一不得容易出世。若躁進輕脫。中間必有轗軻。此與多羅三囑達磨九年。彼此一時也。霅溪頌云。不惜過秋霜。圖教滋味長。縱然生摘得。終是不馨香。可以為來者之誡。若是本色道人。出處自知時節。武帝雖不契。置箇問端。不妨𠜾剞。至今諸方。開堂白槌。尚云法筵龍象眾當觀第一義。只如第一義諦。還許觀麼。還許武帝達磨問答麼。萬松道。第一義且置。爾要聖諦作麼。天皇道。但盡凡情。別無聖解。楞嚴道。若作聖解。即受群邪。只這達磨道廓然無聖。石火電光中。不妨手親眼辦。武帝頑涎不退。更問對朕者誰。於他梁王分上。也是好心。殊不知。達磨分上。劈面被唾相似。不免更奉箇不識。早是花嬌易謝。那堪雪上加霜。達磨見伊眼目定動。即時轉身。別行一路。古人或出或處。或默或語。皆為佛事。後來武帝果然過後思君子。自撰碑文云。見之不見。逢之不逢。今之古之。悔之恨之。朕雖一介凡夫。敢師之於後。自武帝蒙塵之後。達磨西歸以來。第一義諦無人舉著。賴有天童。為眾拈出。頌云。

The Master said: Prajñātāra once instructed Great Master Bodhidharma: "Sixty-seven years after my demise, you should go to China to administer the great Dharma medicine and directly point to those of superior root. Take care not to proceed hastily and decline under the sun. Furthermore, when you arrive, do not stay in the south; they only prefer active merit and do not perceive the principle of the Buddha. Even if you reach there, you must not remain long." There was indeed the business of traveling through Liang and entering Wei, remaining sluggish for nine years. In recent times, Cizhou gave the robe and Dharma to Renshan. Shan said, "I am not such a person." Cizhou said, "If you are not such a person, it will naturally not bring harm to you." Because the sentiment of Dharma milk was deep, Shan bowed his head and accepted it. Cizhou said again: "Since you are like this, above all you must not easily emerge in the world. If you advance rashly and act heedlessly, there will certainly be misfortune in between." This is contemporaneous with Prajñātāra's threefold instruction and Bodhidharma's nine years. Zhaxi's verse says: "Not begrudging passage through autumn frost, / Hoping to let the flavor grow long. / Even if plucked raw, / In the end it is not fragrant." This can serve as an admonition for those who come after. If one is a person of the Way in true colors, in emerging or staying secluded one naturally knows the season. Although Emperor Wu did not connect, setting up a beginning of inquiry did not prevent carving and chiseling. Down to the present day, when striking the gavel at the opening of the hall in all quarters, they still say: "The assembly of dragons and elephants at the Dharma feast should observe the primary meaning." Just like the primary truth: is it permitted to be observed? Are Emperor Wu and Bodhidharma's question and answer permitted? Wansong says: Set aside the primary meaning for now; what do you want with the holy truths? Tianhuang said: "Simply exhaust ordinary sentiment; there is no separate holy understanding." The Śūraṅgama says: "If one forms a holy understanding, one falls subject to all manner of demons." Just this Bodhidharma saying "Vast and empty, nothing holy"—in the sparks of flint and flash of lightning, he did not fail to have hands ready and eyes open. Emperor Wu's stubborn slobber did not recede, and he further asked, "Who is facing Us?" On the Liang King's part, it was also a good intention; little did he realize that on Bodhidharma's part, it was like being spat upon right in the face. Inevitably he further offered a "Do not know." Already the delicate flower easily withers; how can it bear adding frost on top of snow? Bodhidharma saw that his eyes were fixed and wavering, and immediately turned around to take another path. For the ancients, whether emerging or staying secluded, whether silent or speaking, all were Buddha works. Later, Emperor Wu indeed thought of the noble man after he had passed, and personally composed an inscription stating: "Seeing him, yet not seeing him; meeting him, yet not meeting him; past and present, regretting it and lamenting it! Although We are an ordinary man, We dare to take him as Our teacher in the future." Ever since Emperor Wu covered himself in dust and Bodhidharma returned to the West, no one has raised the primary truth. Fortunately there is Tiantong, who raises it for the assembly. The verse says: