萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 1.119

1.119

The Master said: Whenever Chan Master Dazhi of Mount Baizhang in Hongzhou ascended the seat, there was always an old man who listened to the Dharma. In the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, he had resided on this mountain; mistakenly answering a student with one turning word, he has to this day fallen into the body of a wild fox. This was truly because, leaning on walls and clinging to partitions himself, he sent others falling into pits and dropping into trenches. Seeing that Dazhi had the skill to pull out nails and extract pegs, he gave up himself to follow the other, asking Dazhi to give a turning word in his place. Dazhi displayed fearless eloquence and lightly turned it, saying: "He is not blind to cause and effect." The old man attained great awakening at these words. Speaking according to the truth, "not falling into cause and effect" is the nihilistic view of total denial; "not blind to cause and effect" is going along with the flow and attaining the subtle. Anyone with a slight understanding of the teachings sees it as soon as it is raised. Yet, even though he shed his coat of fur, he still wore scales and armor. Have you not heard that when Chan Master Daoyuan was in the assembly of Master Nan, he heard two monks raise this story? One monk said, "Even with 'not blind to cause and effect,' he still has not shed the body of a wild fox." One monk answered, "Even with 'not falling into cause and effect,' when did he ever fall into the body of a wild fox?" The master was startled and struck by their words. He hurriedly went up to Jicui Hermitage on Mount Huangbo; crossing a stream, he suddenly had a great awakening. He went to see Master Nan and recounted the event; before he finished, tears streamed down his cheeks. Master Nan told him to take a nap on the attendant's couch. Suddenly he got up and made a verse: "Neither falling nor blind: / For monks and laypeople originally there is no taboo. / A great man's spirit is like a king's; / How could he accept being trapped in a bag or covered by a quilt? / A single staff moves freely in all directions; / The wild fox leaps into the golden-maned pack." Master Nan laughed heartily. Looking at it this way, when he originally said, "Now I ask the Venerable to give a turning word in my place," he simply enjoyed saying "not falling into cause and effect" to prevent beginners from falling into the pit of conceptual understanding. In the evening, Baizhang went up to the hall and raised the previous circumstances. Huangbo then asked, "An ancient mistakenly answered with one turning word and fell into the body of a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. If one turns and turns without error, what should one become?" Zhang said, "Come closer, and I will tell you." Huangbo came forward and gave Zhang a slap. Zhang clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "I thought the fox's beard was red, but here is a red-bearded fox!" Yangshan said, "Baizhang attained the great dynamic; Huangbo attained the great function." The reputation was not gained in vain. Guishan raised this and asked Yangshan, "Did Huangbo always use this dynamic, or was it innate, or acquired from someone else?" Yang said, "It was both received through his master's transmission and thoroughly penetrated from his self-nature." Gui said, "So it is, so it is." Look at them, the father and son of Baizhang, roaming fearlessly like lion kings. How could they make a living in a wild fox's den? Wansong has already exposed his tailbone; now I let Tiantong show his claws and teeth. Look! The verse says: