萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 2.15

2.15

The Master said: 'A dog's buddha-nature: yes. A dog's buddha-nature: no.' Two different passages are brought out together, just as Xuedou said: 'One has many kinds; two are of no different sort.' Tiantong wanted to meet Zhaozhou, so he versified it like this. Yingtian Zhen said, 'A straight hook catches a fierce dragon; a curved hook catches a toad.' Later people, chasing smells and hunting for scents, are like hunting hounds, clamoring and bickering; what juice is there on dry bones? Although Zhaozhou opened a large shop, after all it was only a flat-out discussion. Tiantong unties Zhaozhou's wrist: 'Do not blame me for not being cautious at the start.' Guizong asked a scholar, 'What classics and histories do you specialize in?' The scholar said, 'I understand the calligraphic styles of twenty-four masters.' Guizong made a dot in the air and said, 'Do you understand?' The scholar said, 'No.' Guizong said, 'Yet you say you understand the calligraphic styles of twenty-four masters, but you don't even know the eight strokes of the character yong!' Prefect Li Bo asked, 'I do not ask about the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teaching; what is the meaning of the Ancestral Master's coming from the West?' Guizong also held up a fist and said, 'Do you understand?' Li said, 'No.' Guizong said, 'This pedant doesn't even recognize a fist!' Wansong says: Let everyone watch the lion turn its body! Not only when it comes to saying 'has' or 'has not' regarding the dog's buddha-nature, but just this 'knowingly and deliberately transgressing' and 'the nature of karmic consciousness remaining' also greatly look before and after, cautious at the start and guarded at the end. The Records of the Grand Historian states that King Hui of Zhao obtained the jade disk of the He clan of Chu. King Zhao of Qin offered fifteen cities in exchange for it. Lin Xiangru brought the jade disk in. The King of Qin was delighted and passed it around to show his beauties and attendants; the attendants all shouted 'Ten thousand years!' Xiangru, seeing that the king had no intention of ceding the cities, stepped forward and said, 'The jade has a flaw; please let me show it to you.' The king handed him the jade. Xiangru thereupon held it and stood up, leaning against a pillar, his hair bristling against his cap in anger, saying, 'The King of Zhao fasted for five days and sent his subject bearing the jade disk to present the letter in court, out of respect for the majesty of a great state to cultivate reverence. Now I see that Your Majesty's etiquette is very arrogant. Having obtained the jade, you passed it around to show your beauties, as if trifling with me, with no intention of ceding the cities. Therefore I have taken back the jade. If you must press me, my head and the jade will both shatter against the pillar!' The king apologized and checked the map to cede the cities, and also fasted for five days. Xiangru had his attendant wear coarse clothes, conceal the jade in his bosom, and return to Zhao by a shortcut. Zhaozhou first lets go and then snatches away; he has Xiangru's method. Tiantong elsewhere had a verse: 'Zhaozhou says yes, Zhaozhou says no; / concerning the dog's buddha-nature, the whole world makes distinctions. / A red face is not as good as straight speech; / a true heart must have rough words. / An old Zen elder of seven hundred and sixty years— / meeting people, he trades donkey dung for their eyeballs.' Zhaozhou's true heart and straight speech are precisely the straight hook that originally seeks a fish that will surrender its life. When King Wen of Zhou went hunting, he saw Jiang Ziya in the Pan stream valley, three feet above the water, fishing with a straight hook. The king marveled and said, 'How can you catch fish with a straight hook?' Ziya said, 'I only seek fish that will surrender their lives.' 'Meeting people, he trades donkey dung for their eyeballs'—this is like Xiangru taking back the jade disk. Fojian held out a soapberry rosary and said, 'Do you all see it?' After a long pause, he said, 'This is what this old monk got in exchange when he came to the capital. All of you, go back to the hall and feel around!' Fojian used soapberries, Zhaozhou used donkey dung. Since Wansong has no use for them, he has not made any exchange. If you can fully believe it, your eyes remain under your eyebrows as before.