[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛祖歷代通載](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036) › 17.49 # 佛祖歷代通載 17.49 佛祖歷代通載 17.49 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [17.49](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.17.49) （十五）　乾寧四年趙州從諗禪師示寂閱歲一百二十。師曹州人。姓郝氏。落髮未具戒。便造南泉。泉一見深器之。一日問。如何是道。泉云。平常心是道。師曰。還可趣向不。曰擬向即乖。師曰。不擬如何知是道。泉云。道不屬知不屬不知。知是妄覺。不知是無記。若真達不疑之地。猶如太虛廓然虛豁。豈可強是非耶。師於言下大悟。自是周旋南泉之門。凡二十年。次遍歷諸方。後歸北地。眾請住趙州觀音古剎。示眾曰。如明珠在掌。胡來胡現。漢來漢現。老僧有時將一枝草作丈六金身用。有時把丈六金身作一枝草用。佛是煩惱。煩惱是佛。問曰。未審佛是誰家煩惱。師曰。與一切人煩惱。僧云。如何免得。師云。用免作麼。問師還入地獄不。答云。老僧末上入。僧云。大善知識為什麼却入地獄。師云。若不入阿誰教化汝。真定帥王公携諸子入院。師坐而問曰。大王會麼。王云。不會。師云。自小持齋今已老。見人無力下禪床。王公加禮而去。一日示眾曰。金佛不度爐。木佛不度火。泥佛不度水。真佛屋裏坐。菩提涅槃真如佛性盡是貼體衣服。亦名煩惱。不問即無煩惱。且實際理地什麼處著得。一心不生萬法無咎。汝但究理坐看三二十年。若不會道截取老僧頭去。夢幻空花何勞把捉。心若無異萬境一如。既不從外得。更拘執作什麼。如羊相似。拾物安向口裏。老僧見藥山和上道。有人問著便交合取狗口。老僧亦交合却口。師之玄言天下推為宗門妙唱云。 > (\[Year\] 15) In the fourth year of Qianning, Chan Master Congshen of Zhaozhou entered nirvāṇa at the age of one hundred and twenty. The master was a native of Caozhou whose lay surname was Hao. Before receiving the full precepts after shaving his head, he went directly to Nanquan. As soon as \[Nan\]quan saw him, he regarded him as an extraordinary vessel. One day \[Congshen\] asked, "What is the Way?" Quan said, "The ordinary mind is the Way." The master said, "Can one direct oneself toward it, or not?" \[Quan\] said, "To intend toward it is to deviate from it." The master said, "Without intending toward it, how can one know it is the Way?" Quan said, "The Way does not belong to knowing, nor does it belong to not-knowing. Knowing is deluded perception; not-knowing is neutral obliviousness. If you truly reach the realm without doubt, it is like the vast sky, expansive and empty: how could one forcibly assert right and wrong within it?" At these words the master was greatly enlightened. From then on he remained among Nanquan's followers for fully twenty years. Next he traveled through various quarters, and later returned to the North. The assembly invited him to reside at the ancient Guanyin Monastery in Zhaozhou. He instructed the assembly, saying: "It is like a bright pearl in the palm of one's hand: when a foreigner comes, a foreigner appears; when a Chinese comes, a Chinese appears. I sometimes take a blade of grass and use it as a sixteen-foot golden body; I sometimes take a sixteen-foot golden body and use it as a blade of grass. Buddha is defilement; defilement is Buddha." \[A monk\] asked, "I wonder whose defilement Buddha is?" The master said, "He brings defilement to all people." The monk said, "How can one avoid it?" The master said, "What is the use of avoiding it?" \[A monk\] asked, "Will the master also enter hell, or not?" He replied, "I will enter first of all." The monk said, "Why should a great good spiritual friend enter hell?" The master said, "If I do not enter, who will teach and transform you?" Commander Lord Wang of Zhending brought his sons to visit the monastery. The master remained seated and asked, "Does the Great King understand?" The Prince said, "I do not understand." The master said, "I have maintained the fast since youth and am now old; when seeing guests, I lack the strength to get down from the meditation seat." Lord Wang showed him all the more respect and departed. One day he instructed the assembly, saying: "A gold Buddha does not survive the furnace; a wood Buddha does not survive fire; a clay Buddha does not survive water. The true Buddha sits inside the house. Bodhi, nirvāṇa, true thusness, and Buddha-nature are all nothing but undergarments next to the body; they are also called defilements. If you do not ask, there are no defilements. Furthermore, where can anything be placed in the ground of ultimate truth? When a single mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault. You need only investigate the principle and sit observing it for twenty or thirty years; if you do not understand the Way, cut off this old monk's head! Why labor to grasp at dreams, phantoms, and flowers in the sky? If the mind does not differentiate, the myriad realms are as one. Since it is not obtained from outside, why attach to and cling to it further? You are just like sheep, picking up things and putting them straight into your mouths. I heard Upādhyāya Yaoshan say, 'If anyone asks, just make him shut his dog mouth!' I, too, make you shut your mouths." The master's profound sayings were praised throughout the world as the marvelous melodies of the ancestral school. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 17.48](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.17.48) - [Next: 17.50](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.17.50) - [Up: 17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.17) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036~en-mt.17.49) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [無門關](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2005.1.119) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.17.49](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.17.49) · Pramāṇa