萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 2.19

2.19

The Master said: National Teacher Yuantong Shan said, 'Everywhere they discuss this gong'an: some say that as soon as he asked like that, he had already given rise to a thought, and the fault was like Mount Sumeru; some say it is like Mount Sumeru, which the eight winds cannot move, eternally settled and ever secure; some say it is difficult for people to penetrate, like Mount Sumeru. Discussing it like this, after all, they have not yet understood Yunmen's intention. If the bottom of the pail falls out and the red silk thread snaps, only then will you know that it is not like that at all.' Have you not heard it said: 'Three phrases illumine one phrase; one phrase illumines three phrases. Three and one do not interfere with each other—clearly the path beyond.' Foguo said, 'Yunmen's answers often stir up people's conscious emotions.' Wansong says: To dispel conscious emotions with conscious emotions—unless one has great means for people's sake, one cannot match up to it. This Mount Sumeru cannot be covered by heaven, cannot be supported by earth; the wind cannot blow into it, water cannot splash onto it. Only the vajra eye, seeing through it in a single glance, immediately sees seven piercings and eight cavities, right down to being shattered into fine dust; and then, right on the eyebrows and eyelashes, it is solitary, remote, steep, and towering! Chan Master Baiyun Duan's verse says: 'Mount Sumeru fills the universe; / even the Thousand-Handed Great Compassionate One cannot see through it. / Unless you know for yourself how to ride the ox backward, / all your life you will not avoid trailing behind others.' Wansong says: Raising the face, alone lifting the eyebrows; turning the head, clapping one's own hands. Venerable Qishan Zhi's verse says: 'With nothing to do, he throws himself upon another seeking a crime; / on the spot he is seized and loses his whole body. / Of those scurrying about without having confessed their deeds, / who knows how many people there are outside the gate?' Tiantong alone is not confined to this. The verse says: