無門關 1.34

1.34

百丈和尚。凡參次有一老人。常隨眾聽法。眾人退老人亦退。忽一日不退。師遂問。面前立者復是何人。老人云。諾某甲非人也。於過去迦葉佛時。曾住此山。因學人問。大修行底人還落因果。也無。某甲對云。不落因果。五百生墮野狐身。今請和尚。代一轉語貴。脫野狐遂問。大修行底人還落因果。也無。師云。不昧因果。老人於言下大悟。作禮云。某甲已脫野狐身。住在山後。敢告和尚。乞依亡僧事例。師令維那白槌告眾。食後送亡僧。大眾言議。一眾皆安涅槃堂。又無人病。何故如是。食後只見師領眾。至山後巖下。以杖挑出一死野狐。乃依火葬。師至晚上堂。舉前因緣。黃蘗便問。古人錯祇對一轉語。墮五百生野狐身。轉轉不錯。合作箇甚麼。師云。近前來與伊道。黃蘗遂近前。與師一掌。師拍手笑云。將謂。胡鬚赤更有赤鬚胡。

Whenever Upādhyāya Baizhang held an assembly, there was an old man who would regularly follow the crowd to listen to the Dharma. When the crowd withdrew, the old man also withdrew. Suddenly one day he did not withdraw. The master then asked: "Who is the person standing before me?" The old man said: "Indeed, I am not a human being. In the past, in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, I once resided on this mountain. Because a student asked, 'Does even a person of great cultivation fall into cause and effect, or not?', I answered him saying, 'They do not fall into cause and effect.' For five hundred lifetimes, I fell into the body of a wild fox. Now I beg the upādhyāya to give a turning word on my behalf, so that I may be released from the wild fox." He then asked: "Does even a person of great cultivation fall into cause and effect, or not?" The master said: "They are not blind to cause and effect." At these words, the old man experienced great awakening. He made obeisance and said: "I have already been released from the body of a wild fox, and am staying behind the mountain. I make bold to inform the upādhyāya, and beg that I be treated according to the precedent for a deceased monk." The master ordered the karmadāna to strike the gavel and announce to the assembly that after the meal they would send off a deceased monk. The assembly discussed among themselves: "The whole community is well, and in the nirvana hall no one is sick; why is it like this?" After the meal, they only saw the master leading the assembly to the crag behind the mountain, where he poked out a dead wild fox with his staff and then cremated it according to the rites. In the evening, the master went up to the hall and brought up the previous circumstances. Huangbo then asked: "The ancient gave one wrong response with a turning word and fell into a wild fox's body for five hundred lifetimes. If turn after turn he had not been wrong, what would he have become?" The master said: "Come forward, and I will tell you." Huangbo then came forward and gave the master a slap. The master clapped his hands and laughed, saying: "I thought the barbarian had a red beard, but here is a red-bearded barbarian!"