萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 3.21

3.21

The Master said: Luopu took leave of Linji. Ji said, 'Under the gates of Linji there is a red-tailed carp who, shaking its head and wagging its tail, goes off to the south.' To be thoroughly without reliance and know how to turn oneself around—this is an affair of Linji's lineage; it is not entirely identical with shifting one's position or turning over merit. The *Extensive Record of Linji* says: 'Only the person of the Way who listens to the Dharma without reliance is the mother of all buddhas. Therefore, buddhas are born from non-reliance. If you awaken to non-reliance, even buddhahood is ungraspable.' One who sees like this possesses genuine understanding. Wansong says: If Luopu could not turn himself around, how could he shout at Jiashan? If you say he did turn around, why was he wordless at the very end? Try to evaluate and see. Tiantong grants that he had eyes and skill, and Jiashan also did not lack his ability to cut off the tongues of everyone in the world, being well able to wield the command. It was only a matter of teaching a tongueless person how to speak. The nostrils facing heaven were gently hauled back. When Foguo saw Jiashan speaking like chanting an incantation, he added a turning phrase: 'Where did he get this string of entanglements?' Wansong says: This very thing is precisely Jiashan teaching the tongueless person how to speak. Foguo lacked this string of entanglements; he could only cut off the tongues of everyone in the world. Even granting that there is elsewhere a place to turn oneself around and vent one's breath, it is not necessarily the speech of a tongueless person. Tell me, what is this person's realm? The verse says: 'Outside the night-glowing curtain, wind and moon are like broad daylight; / Before the withered-tree crag, flowers and herbs are perpetual spring.' This is the tongueless person's enjoyment. Emperor Ming of Han built the Hall of Radiant Light, using pearls and gems as curtain screens, with golden thresholds and jade stairs, radiant day and night. Tong'an Cha said, 'Before the withered-tree crag, divergent paths are many.' Dongshan said, 'You must sprinkle a few flowers on the withered tree.' This verse shows that beneath the stick and shout there is no lack of solitary steepness. Having reached the top of the hundred-foot pole, one must take yet another step; only then can one make the tongueless person speak. Thus we know that the words uttered by the tongueless person are precisely the complete presentation of the correct command, a single phrase that hits home. Arriving here, one's eyes look above the four seas, walking alone throughout the realm. Later, Luopu said, 'Let everyone in the world rejoice merrily; I alone do not agree.' Even if everyone in the world willingly lets their tongues be cut off by him, Jiashan said, 'Transcendently, there is still an opening.' What is the transcendent opening? When the tongueless person knows how to speak, he will tell you.