萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 1.169

1.169

The Master said: This gong'an lies entirely in the place of 'is' and 'is not'. People of the day all say that Magu was toyed with by Zhangjing and Nanquan. Only Dawei Zhe said, 'When Zhangjing said "It is," he also fell into Magu's trap; when Nanquan said "It is not," he likewise fell into Magu's trap.' Like a vajra jewel placed under the sun, its radiance and colours are unfixed. Tiantong says, 'Look closely at the snare.' Now, did Magu fall into the snare, or did Nanquan fall into the snare? 'Seeming to suppress, seeming to extol; / Hard to choose between the elder and younger brother.' Tiantong says: Viewed at first glance, it seems to suppress and seems to extol; upon close examination, they are hard to tell apart as elder and younger brother. In the Eastern Han, Chen Yuanfang's son Changwen—namely Chen Qun—and Jifang's son Xiaoguang each debated the merits and virtues of their respective fathers, arguing without resolution, and inquired of [the Magistrate of] Taiqiu. Taiqiu was Chen Shi, father to Yuanfang and Jifang. Taiqiu said, 'It is difficult for Yuanfang to be the elder brother, and difficult for Jifang to be the younger brother.' This means Zhangjing's left eye is half a pound, and Nanquan's right eye is eight ounces. 'The gold staff once shaken is so singularly aloft'—Yongjia's Song of Enlightenment also says, 'It is not an empty formal badge of outward practice; / It is following directly in the traces of the Tathāgata's precious staff.' Xuedou said, 'The ancient staff, its wind high through the twelve gates; / At gate after gate there is a path, desolate and empty.' The Staff Sūtra says: 'The twelve rings are for mindfully recollecting the twelve links of conditioned origination and cultivating the twelve gates of dhyāna.' The twelve links are easily understood; the twelve gates are the four dhyānas, the four immeasurables, and the four formless absorptions. 'The ancient staff, its wind high'—this is 'so singularly aloft'. The Sixth Patriarch also said, 'Now a śramaṇa is endowed with three thousand deportments and eighty thousand fine conducts; from where has the Great Worthy come to give rise to such great conceit?' Tiantong's meaning is: It is neither an outward mark nor conceit. 'Thrice circling the rope-seated chair, a leisurely playful sport.' Zhangjing said, 'It is'; Nanquan said, 'It is not.' Running about amid the clamour of right and wrong in the monasteries—if one lacks the eye that holds firm the universe, it is all seeing ghosts before a skull. Have you not seen: A monk asked Jiufeng, 'What is the eye that holds firm the universe?' Feng said, 'The universe is inside.' The monk said, 'Where is the eye of the universe?' Feng said, 'It is precisely the eye of the universe.' The monk said, 'Why did you say just now that the universe is inside?' Feng said, 'If not so, one sees countless ghosts before a skull.' Wansong has an exorcist here; striking once with his staff, he says: 'Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances!'