萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 6.11

6.11

The Master said: Chan Master Juzhi of Mount Jinhua in Wuzhou originally lived in a hermitage on Tiantai. There was a nun named Shiji who arrived wearing a rain-hat and holding a staff. She circled the Master three times and said, "If you can speak, I will take off my hat." Asked three times, Zhi had no answer at all. Shiji then went to leave. Zhi said, "It is getting late; stay overnight." Shiji said, "If you can speak, I will stay." Zhi again had no answer. After Shiji left, Zhi lamented to himself, "Though I have the form of a man, I lack the spirit of a man." He planned to abandon his hermitage and go around visiting teachers. That night, a mountain deity told him, "Master, you need not leave this mountain; a great bodhisattva will come to expound the Dharma for you." Indeed, after ten days Venerable Tianlong arrived. The Master welcomed him with full sincerity, made prostrations, and related the prior events in detail. Tianlong held up a finger to show him, and Zhi was greatly enlightened on the spot. From then on, whenever a monk came, he would only raise one finger and gave no other exposition. A boy he kept was once asked by someone outside, "What essential Dharma does the Master teach?" The boy held up a finger. Returning, he related this to Zhi. Zhi cut off his finger with a knife. The boy ran out screaming; Zhi called out to him once, and as the boy turned his head, Zhi held up a finger. The boy was suddenly enlightened. When Zhi was about to pass away, he said to the assembly, "I obtained Tianlong's one-finger Chan, and in an entire lifetime I have not exhausted its use." Having said this, he passed into extinction. Wansong says: Better to cut off his finger too. Changqing said in his place, "Fine food is not suitable for a full person to eat." Wansong says: Not coveting the taste of fragrant bait, he can truly be called a dragon in the green pool. Xuansha said, "If I had seen him at that time, I would have snapped his finger." Wansong says: Not only would that clear the boy's grievance, but it would also vent the anger of later people. Xuanjue said, "Tell me, when Xuansha speaks like this, what is his meaning?" Wansong says: Sure enough, he doubts it. Yunju Xi said, "Just like Xuansha speaking like this—did he approve of him or not approve of him? If he approved, why did he speak of snapping his finger? If he did not approve, where was Juzhi's fault?" Wansong says: The fault lies in approving or not approving. Former Caoshan said, "The place where Juzhi undertook it was crude; he only recognized one dynamic and one realm. It is like clapping and slapping hands; this was his peculiarity in the South Garden." Wansong says: To separate milk from water requires the king of geese. Xuanjue also said, "Tell me, did Juzhi awaken or not? If he awakened, why is it said that the place where he undertook it was crude? If he did not awaken, why did he say that he had not exhausted the use of the one-finger Chan? Tell me, where was Caoshan's intention?" Wansong says: The tune is high and few join the chorus; he hopes to meet an intimate friend. Later, Chan Master Lai of Jiashan was at West Tianning in Zhenfu. Someone asked, "Where is the pagoda of Venerable Tie'niu?" Shan pointed with his finger and suddenly was awakened, whereupon he composed a verse: 'Tie'niu, Tie'niu, / Seek nothing else besides! / If someone asks me, / I hold up a finger.' Wansong says: Although the undertaking was crude, crucially he did not borrow it from elsewhere. Have you not seen: The One-Eyed Dragon of Mingzhao asked Chan Master Shen of Guotai, "The ancients said that Juzhi only recited a three-line dhāraṇī and was able to have his name surpass all people. How do you take away the three-line dhāraṇī?" Tai held up a finger. Zhao said, "If not for today, how could I have recognized this guest from Guazhou?" Wansong says: Even if the symptoms of illness differ, one must first cure their root. The Sandōkai says: 'Holding to words, you must understand the source; do not set up your own rules.' This can be called recognizing the road by which one came in the deep of night, and passing through the barrier before dawn. Foguo's verse says: 'How could encounters of questions and answers be easy to match? / Without money, it is hard to make a fine display of elegance. / Having something in mind that cannot be spoken, / Only amidst bustle does he hold up a finger.' If you want to make a fine display of elegance and speak of the matter in mind, inquire further of Venerable Tiantong. The verse says: