萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 2.7

2.7

師云。脩山主與法眼。同參地藏。深得傍參切磋之力。這箇公案如折倒則監院悟頭一般。金陵報恩玄則禪師。法眼問。曾見什麼人來。恩云。見青峯和尚。眼云。有什麼言句。恩云。某甲曾問。如何是學人自己。峯云。丙了童子來求火。眼云。上座作麼生會。恩云。丙丁屬火。將火求火。如將自己求自己。眼云。與麼會又爭得。恩云。某甲只如此。未知和尚尊意如何。眼云。爾問我。我與爾道。恩云。如何是學人自己。眼云。丙丁童子來求火。恩於言下頓悟。法眼鉤錐在手。去則印住。住則印破。打破則監院情關。抽開脩山主識鎖。三祖信心銘。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。但不憎愛。洞然明白。毫厘有差。天地懸隔。法眼將此。問脩山主。作箇敲門瓦子。今時問著一千箇。一千箇作道理會。不然一向打在無事界裏。是他不落尋思。只道箇毫厘有差天地懸隔。也大曬有蘊藉。法眼方復不許。道恁麼又爭得。此所以為法眼一派之源也。萬松到此常令學人分身兩下看。前段脩山主恁麼道。為甚不許。後段法眼却為甚恁麼道。其間脩山主道。某甲只如此。和尚又如何。望箇斬新日月別作生涯。是他不蹉一絲。依前只道。箇毫厘有差天地懸隔。東禪齊云。山主恁麼祗對。為甚麼不肯。及乎再請益。法眼亦只恁麼道便得去。且道。誵訛在什麼處。若看得透。道上座有來由。萬松道。恁麼又爭得。所以道。只是舊時行底路。逢人說著便誵訛。脩便禮拜。得即得。情理難容。五祖戒代法眼。劈脊便打。萬松道。果然有本出法眼語云。山主徹也。萬松道。弄泥團漢二俱不了。萬松當時見法眼道恁麼又爭得。向道。久聞和尚有此機要。不然擺手便行。管取一時坐斷。待伊不信。試問天童。頌云。

The Master said: Hermitage Master Xiu and Fayan studied together under Dizang, thoroughly gaining the benefit of mutual polishing as fellow students. This gong'an is just like the breakthrough of Director Ze when he was defeated. When Zen Master Xuanze of Bao'en in Jinling [came], Fayan asked, 'Whom have you seen?' Ze said, 'I have seen Venerable Qingfeng.' Fayan said, 'What words were there?' Ze said, 'I once asked: "What is the student's self?" Feng said: "The Pingding Boy comes seeking fire."' Fayan said, 'How did the Elder understand it?' Ze said, 'Bing and ding belong to fire; using fire to seek fire is like using the self to seek the self.' Fayan said, 'How can it be gotten by understanding it like that?' Ze said, 'I am just like this; I do not know what the Venerable's revered meaning is.' Fayan said, 'You ask me; I will tell you.' Ze said, 'What is the student's self?' Fayan said, 'The Pingding Boy comes seeking fire.' Ze had an immediate awakening at these words. Fayan held the hook and awl in hand: when going, he stamped it fast; when staying, he stamped it open. He shattered Director Ze's emotional barrier and unlocked Hermitage Master Xiu's cognitive lock. The Third Patriarch's Inscription on Faith in Mind: 'The Great Way is not difficult; / It only avoids picking and choosing. / Only without hatred and love, / It is clearly and lucidly evident. / A hair's breadth of difference / Is as the distance between heaven and earth.' Fayan used this to ask Hermitage Master Xiu, making it a tile to knock on the door. Nowadays, if you ask a thousand people, a thousand understand it through conceptual reasoning; otherwise, they fall completely into the realm of doing nothing. Xiu did not fall into deliberation; he merely said, 'A hair's breadth of difference is as the distance between heaven and earth.' That too had plenty of substance! Only then did Fayan disallow it, saying, 'How can it be gotten like that?' This is how he was the source of the Fayan lineage. Reaching this point, Wansong often has students split themselves into two sides to observe: In the first part, when Hermitage Master Xiu spoke like that, why did he not approve? In the second part, why did Fayan himself speak like that? In between, Hermitage Master Xiu said, 'I am just like this; what about the Venerable?'—expecting a brand-new sun and moon, making a different livelihood. Yet Fayan did not err by a single hair; just as before, he merely said, 'A hair's breadth of difference is as the distance between heaven and earth.' Dongchan Qi said, 'When the Hermitage Master replied like that, why was he not approved? Yet when he asked for further instruction, Fayan merely spoke like that and it was acceptable. Tell me, where is the discrepancy? If you can see through it, say that the Elder has a basis.' Wansong says: How can it be gotten like that? Therefore it is said: 'It is merely the road travelled in olden days; / When spoken of to someone, it immediately turns into confusion.' Xiu then bowed: though he got it, emotionally and logically it is hard to tolerate. Wuzu Jie acted in Fayan's place, striking him right across the back. Wansong says: Indeed, there is an edition that adds Fayan's words: 'The Hermitage Master has penetrated through.' Wansong says: Those fellows playing with mud balls—neither understood. Had Wansong been there when Fayan said 'How can it be gotten like that?', I would have said to him, 'I have long heard that the Venerable possessed this critical mechanism.' Otherwise, I would have shaken my sleeves and walked away, ensuring it was cut off all at once. If you do not believe it, try asking Tiantong. The verse says: