萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 5.81

5.81

師云。天童得超方三昧。略去庵主緊抱竿頭。不敢轉動處。撥動若一向恁麼去。法堂上草深一丈。優波毱多。有著身見者。求度於祖。祖曰。求度之法。要信吾言。不違吾教。人曰。既來投師。固當聞命。祖乃化一險崖。山聳喬木。令其上樹。又於樹下。化作大坑深廣千肘。祖令放脚。其人受教即放二脚。令放一手。便放一手。令復放手。其人答言。若復放手便墮坑死。祖曰。先約受教。云何違我。是時其人身愛即滅。放手而墮。不見樹坑。即證道果。長沙朗州山澧州水。謂之善用險崖之句。若非玉人夢破別有生涯。爭得四海五湖斬新日月。毛詩習習谷風。催之驚蟄。春分後一候。雷乃發聲。漢書。李廣傳贊。桃李無言下自成蹊。宗鏡云。既蘊德行。不言而信。若桃李之自成蹊也。又朗州山澧州水。此語乃拕泥帶水邊事。三聖在會下。令秀上座問沙。南泉遷化向甚麼處去。沙云。石頭作沙彌時參見六祖。秀云。不問石頭作沙彌時參見六祖。南泉遷化向甚麼處去也。沙云。教汝尋思去。秀云和尚只有千尺寒松。且無抽條石笋。沙不對。秀云。謝師答話。沙亦不對。秀舉似三聖。聖曰。若實恁麼猶勝臨濟七步。聖親上方丈云。和尚早來答話。可謂光前絕後。沙不答。聖云。我從來疑著這漢。佛印頌云。客見長沙陌路同。令人依約探家風。須彌萬仞磨今古。折草量天枉用功。古人把定處放得行竿頭進步。放行時把得定壁立千仞。為甚麼如此自由自在。湖南城裏好養民。米賤柴多足四隣。

The Master said: Tiantong obtained the samādhi of transcending the bounds; he brushed aside the place where the Hermit tightly hugged the pole-top and dared not stir. Stirring it—if one went on entirely like that, the grass in the Dharma hall would grow ten feet deep. In the case of Upagupta, there was someone attached to the view of self who sought deliverance from the Patriarch. The Patriarch said, 'The method for seeking deliverance requires believing my words and not disobeying my instructions.' The man said, 'Having come to take refuge with the Master, I must certainly heed your command.' The Patriarch then magically created a perilous cliff with a tall tree rising on the mountain, and ordered him to climb the tree. Beneath the tree, he also magically created a great pit a thousand cubits deep and wide. The Patriarch ordered him to let go of his feet; the man received the instruction and immediately let go of both feet. He ordered him to let go of one hand, and he immediately let go of one hand. He ordered him to let go of the other hand as well; the man replied, 'If I let go of the other hand, I will fall into the pit and die.' The Patriarch said, 'We agreed beforehand that you would receive my instructions; why do you disobey me?' At that moment, the man's love of the body was extinguished; he let go of his hand and fell, seeing neither tree nor pit, and immediately realized the fruit of the Way. Changsha's 'mountains of Langzhou, waters of Lizhou' is called a phrase that skillfully uses the perilous cliff. Were it not for the jade person's dream broken into a distinct livelihood, how could the four seas and five lakes have a brand-new sun and moon? The Mao Shi says, 'Gently blows the valley wind,' urging the awakening of insects; the first period after the spring equinox, thunder sounds forth. The Hanshu, in the appraisal of the biography of Li Guang, says: 'Peaches and plums speak not, yet beneath them a path is formed naturally.' The Zongjing says: 'Having accumulated virtuous conduct, one is trusted without words, just as peaches and plums naturally form a path.' Moreover, 'the mountains of Langzhou, the waters of Lizhou'—these words are matters on the side of dragging through mud and water. When Sansheng was in his assembly, he had Senior Monk Xiu ask Sha, 'Where did Nanquan go after his passing?' Sha said, 'When Shitou was a novice, he visited the Sixth Patriarch.' Xiu said, 'I did not ask about Shitou visiting the Sixth Patriarch when he was a novice; where did Nanquan go after his passing?' Sha said, 'I bid you go ponder.' Xiu said, 'The Venerable only has a thousand-foot cold pine, and lacks a sprouting stone bamboo shoot.' Sha did not reply. Xiu said, 'Thank you, Master, for answering the question.' Sha also did not reply. Xiu brought this up to Sansheng. Sheng said, 'If it is really like that, he is still seven paces ahead of Linji.' Sheng went up to the abbot's quarters in person and said, 'The Venerable's answer to the question earlier may be called surpassing the past and without match in the future.' Sha did not reply. Sheng said, 'I have always had doubts about this fellow.' Foyin's verse says: 'A guest sees Changsha, their paths being the same; / Causing people to vaguely probe his family style. / Mount Sumeru, myriad cubits high, grinds away past and present; / Breaking a blade of grass to measure heaven is a futile effort.' Where the ancients held fast, they could let go and take a step at the top of the pole; when letting go, they could hold fast, standing like a wall a thousand cubits high. Why so free and unconstrained? In Hunan city, it is easy to sustain the people; / Rice is cheap, firewood is plentiful, satisfying all four neighbors.