萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 4.21

4.21

The Master said: Mugwort and weeds crave rain and dew; pines and cypresses endure wind and frost. 'Only when the year grows cold do we know that pine and cypress are the last to fade.' This is the principle of according with conditions without changing, the discourse on hairpins and tassels falling into poverty: only a great person of power can shoulder this task. 'Walking flat on clouds and mist, directly entering the Tathāgata's stage in a single leap'—this is already too late! Little do they know that an illustrious clan of hairpins and tassels is originally wealthy and noble. The Analects says: When Liuxia Hui was a judge, he was dismissed three times. People said, 'Can you not yet leave?' He said, 'Serving others with straight principles, where could I go and not be dismissed three times? If I served others with crooked principles, why would I need to leave the land of my parents?' Sima Xiangru, style Quanzi, lost his parents when young. At nine, he herded pigs for others. Hearing that Lin Xiangru had become a minister of state, he changed his name to Xiangru, abandoned the pigs, and went to study. The pig owner beat him with a staff. The teacher recognized his worth, kept him in a thatched hut outside the gate, and for ten years gave him no books to read before sending him away. Crossing the Bridge of Ascending Immortals, he wrote on a pillar: 'If I do not ride in a four-horse carriage, I will not cross this bridge.' Later he composed the 'Zixu Rhapsody.' General Yang Deyi stayed overnight in the palace and recited this rhapsody. The Emperor said, 'I regret not being of the same time as this person!' The general reported, 'He is currently in the land of Shu.' The Emperor ordered him summoned; riding a four-horse carriage, he crossed the bridge and was appointed Palace Attendant. Xiao He and Cao Shen established Emperor Gaozu's imperial enterprise in the Han; Chaofu and Xu You shunned Yao, washing their ears and watering their cattle. Laozi says, 'Favor and disgrace seem alarming: getting it is alarming, losing it is alarming.' The four pairs of eight matters above are each one line for old Mi, and one line for Dongshan. Wonderful was Guifeng's parable: for example, a member of the imperial clan falls into destitution and lowliness, and habits become second nature; later, when he is recommended and elevated, although he returns to his original rank, the three upright principles and six arts must be relearned and practiced anew before his power and functioning are complete. Even so, on Tiantong's part, it still falls into gradual stages. Have you not heard it said: 'Favor and disgrace seem alarming—having deep self-confidence; / With true feeling, one blends one's traces among fishermen and woodcutters'?