萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 6.29

6.29

The Master said: Chan Master Guangren of Shushan in Fuzhou visited Dongshan and asked, 'Regarding words that have never yet existed, I invite the master to instruct me.' Dongshan said, 'Without consent, no one approves.' Shushan said, 'Can it still be cut off or not?' Dongshan said, 'Ācārya, right now can you still cut it off?' Shushan said, 'If it cannot be cut off, then there is nowhere to conceal it.' Later, when he was in Xiangyan's assembly, a monk asked Xiangyan, 'How is it when one does not admire the various sages, and does not hold one's own spirit in esteem?' Xiangyan said, 'Ten thousand mechanisms cease; a thousand sages do not accompany.' Shushan made a retching sound in the assembly and said, 'What kind of talk is this!' Xiangyan asked, 'Who is it?' The assembly said, 'The junior uncle.' Xiangyan said, 'Do you not consent to this mountain monk?' Shushan came out from the assembly and said, 'That is so.' Xiangyan said, 'Can you speak of it?' Shushan said, 'I can.' Xiangyan said, 'Try and speak.' Shushan said, 'If you have me speak, you must first render the etiquette of master and disciple.' Xiangyan then stepped down from his seat, prostrated, and repeating the earlier words, questioned him. Shushan said, 'Why did you not say: Consent and approval cannot be complete?' Xiangyan said, 'Consent, and consent to what? Approve, and approve of whom?' Shushan said, 'As for consenting, it is consenting to those thousand sages; as for approving, it is approving of oneself.' Xiangyan said, 'Even if you are like this, you will still have to suffer diarrhea for thirty years! If you stay on a mountain, there will be no firewood to burn; if you dwell by water, there will be no water to drink. Remember this clearly!' Later, when he resided at Shushan, it turned out just as Xiangyan had predicted. After twenty-seven years, his illness was cured, and he said to himself: 'Xiangyan predicted thirty years of diarrhea for me, and now three years are still lacking.' Whenever he finished eating, he would gouge his throat with his fingers to vomit, in order to fulfill Xiangyan's prediction. Shushan later asked Chan Master Daofu of Jingqing, ''Consent and approval cannot be complete'—how do you understand this?' Jingqing said, 'Completely returned to consent and approval.' Shushan said, 'What about when it cannot be complete?' Jingqing said, 'In that realm, there is no road of consent.' Shushan said, 'Only now does this accord with this sick monk's intention.' Guishan Lan'an was one of the Three Lazy Ones of the Chan school, also called Chan Master Da'an of Changqing. He instructed the assembly, saying: 'Phrases of existence and phrases of nonexistence are like wisteria leaning on a tree.' Shushan did not consider four thousand leagues too far, selling his cloth quilt to go and question him. Finding Guishan plastering a wall, he immediately asked, ''Phrases of existence and phrases of nonexistence are like wisteria leaning on a tree'—are these not the Venerable's words?' Guishan said, 'Yes.' Shushan said, 'What happens if suddenly the tree falls and the wisteria withers?' Guishan set down his plastering tray, laughed loudly, and returned to the abbot's quarters. Shushan followed behind him and said, 'I sold my cloth quilt and traveled four thousand leagues especially for this; how can the Venerable make fun of me?' Guishan called to the attendant to fetch money to repay him for the cloth quilt and send him away. He then instructed him: 'Hereafter, there will be a one-eyed dragon who will point it out and break it through for you.' Later, he was indeed enlightened by Mingzhao. Shushan sold his cloth quilt and traveled four thousand leagues especially for this topic. Nowadays, those who travel about visiting teachers should also keep their attention on the fundamental affair: simply establishing according to circumstances and mutually praising one another, one must not make retching sounds in the assembly like Shushan. This is not to say he had no other strengths, but destroying the karmavācanā, destroying the turning of the wheel of Dharma, and destroying the concordant saṅgha will surely bring retribution in this very life. Xiangyan's prediction and Shushan's gouging and vomiting to fulfill the prediction both serve as examples for later generations. Shushan was also a person in an unfathomable state! In customarily receiving students, Shushan held a wooden snake in his hand. A monk asked what object was in his hand, and Shushan held up the snake and said, 'The daughter of the Cao family.' Xuefeng had gone into the mountains, found a piece of wood shaped like a snake, and inscribed on its back: 'Naturally innate from the beginning, not requiring carving or chiseling,' and sent it to Guishan Da'an. Guishan said, 'A true dweller of the mountain, without any trace of knife or axe.' Since Shushan had met Guishan on account of this case, he also used a wooden snake; whether it was directly transmitted or an imitation cannot be known. Mingzhao also asked Shushan, 'A tigress gives birth to seven cubs—which one has no tail?' Shushan said, 'The seventh one has no tail.' Yunmen and State Preceptor Shao both studied under Shushan; the fame of the Short Junior Uncle thus surpassed past and present. Tiantong took merely Guishan's laughter, Shushan's seeing through it, and Mingzhao's bringing it up, and directly set it forth in verse. The verse says: