佛祖歷代通載 18.19

18.19

（四）　汝州風穴禪師示寂。諱延沼。偽唐乾寧三年十二月。生於餘杭劉氏。少魁壘有英氣。於書無所不觀。然無經世意。父兄強之仕。一至京師即東歸。從開元寺智恭律師。剃髮受具。游講肆。玩法華玄義。修止觀定慧。宿師爭下之。棄去游名山。謁越州鏡清怤禪師。機語不契。北游襄沔間寓止華嚴。時僧守廓者。自南院顒公所來。華嚴升座曰。若是臨濟德山高亭大愚鳥窠船子下兒孫。不用如何若何便請單刀直入。廓出眾便喝。華嚴亦喝。廓又喝。華嚴亦喝。廓禮拜起。指以顧眾曰。這老漢一場敗缺。喝一喝歸眾。穴心奇之。因結為友。遂默悟三玄旨要。嘆曰。臨濟用處如是耶。廓使更見南院。問曰。入門須辯主。端的請師分。南院左拊其膝。穴便喝。院右拊其膝。穴亦喝。院曰。左邊一拍且止。右邊一拍作麼生。穴云。瞎。院反取主杖。穴笑云。有枷瞎棒。倒奪打和尚去。南院倚主杖曰。今日被黃面浙子鈍置。穴云。大似持鉢不得詐言不飢。院曰。子到此間乎。曰。是何言歟。院曰。好問汝。曰亦不可放過。便禮拜。南院喜賜之坐。問所與遊者何人。對曰。襄州與廓侍者同夏。院曰。親見作家。穴於是俯就弟子之列。從容承稟日聞智證。南院曰。汝乘願力來荷大法。非偶然也。問曰。汝聞臨濟將終時語不。曰聞。曰。臨濟云。誰知吾正法眼藏向這瞎驢邊滅却。渠平生如師子。見即殺人。及其將死何故屈膝妥尾如此。對曰。密付將終全主即滅。又問。三聖如何亦無語乎。曰親承入室之真子。不同門外之游人。院頷之。又問。四種料簡語料簡何法。對曰。凡語不滯凡情即墮聖解。學者大病。先聖哀之為施方便。如楔出楔。曰如何是奪人不奪境。曰新出紅爐金禪子。簉破闍黎銕面門。又問。如何是奪境不奪人。曰芻草乍分頭腦裂。亂雲初綻影猶存。又問。如何是人境俱奪。曰躡足進前須急急。促鞭當鞅莫遲遲。又問。如何是人境俱不奪。曰常憶江南三月裏。鷓鴣啼處百花香。又問曰。臨濟有三句。當日有問。如何是第一句。濟云。三要印開朱點窄。未容擬議主賓存。穴隨聲便喝。又曰。如何是第二句。濟云。妙解豈容無著問。漚和爭赴截流機。穴云。未問已前錯。又問曰。如何是第三句。濟曰。但看棚頭弄傀儡。抽牽全藉裏頭人。穴云。明破即不堪。於是南院以為可以支臨濟。幸不孤負興化先師所以付託之意。穴依止六年。乃辭去。後唐長興二年至汝水。見草屋數椽依山如逃亡人家。問田父此何所。田父曰。古風穴寺世以律居。僧物故。又歲飢眾棄之而去。餘佛像鼓鍾耳。穴云。我居之可乎。田父曰可。穴入留止。日乞村落。夜然松脂。單丁者七年。檀信為新之成叢林。偽晉天福二年。州牧聞其風盡禮致之。上元日開法嗣南院。偽漢乾祐二年。牧移宇郢州。穴又避寇往依之。牧館于郡齋。寇平汝州有宋太師者。施第為寶坊。號新寺。迎穴居焉。法席冠天下。學者自遠而至。升座曰。先師曰。欲得親切莫將問來問會麼。問在答處。答在問處。雖然如是。有時問不在答處答不在問處。汝若擬議。老僧在汝脚跟底。大凡參學眼目。直須臨機大用現前。勿自拘於小節。設使言前薦得。猶為滯殼迷封。句下精通。未免觸途狂見。應是向來依他作解。明昧兩岐與汝一切掃却。直教箇箇如師子兒吒呀地。對眾證據。哮吼一聲壁立千仞。誰敢正眼。覻覻著著即瞎却渠眼。又曰。若立一塵。家國興盛。野老顰頞。不立一塵。家國喪亡。野老安貼。於此明得闍黎無分。全是老僧於此不明。老僧即是闍闍黎黎。與老僧無別。亦能悟却天下人。亦能瞎却天下人。欲識闍黎麼。拊其左膝曰。這裏是。欲識老僧麼。拊其右膝曰。遮裏是。于時莫有善其機者。偽周廣順元年。賜寺名廣惠。二十有二年以宋開寶六年癸酉八月旦。登座說偈曰。道在乘時須濟物。遠方來慕自騰騰他年有叟情相似。日日香烟夜夜燈。至十五日跏趺而化。前一日手書別檀越。閱世七十有八。坐五十有九夏。有得法上首住汝州首山念禪師。

(Year four) Chan Master Fengxue of Ruzhou entered quiescence. His taboo name was Yanzhao. In the twelfth month of the third year of the Qianning era of the false Tang, he was born into the Liu clan of Yuhang. In his youth he was imposing and spirited, reading every kind of book; yet he had no interest in worldly management. His father and elder brothers pressed him to take office, but no sooner had he arrived at the capital than he returned east. Under Vinaya Master Zhigong of Kaiyuan Monastery, he shaved his head and received the full precepts. He frequented the lecture halls, relishing the *Profound Meaning of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka* and cultivating the concentration and wisdom of śamatha-vipaśyanā, so that senior masters vied to defer to him. Leaving this behind, he wandered famous mountains and called upon Chan Master Jingqing Fu of Yuezhou, but their encounter of words did not tally. Traveling north through Xiangyang and the Mian River region, he lodged at Huayan [Monastery]. At that time, a monk named Shoukuo had arrived from Master [Baoying] Yong of Nanyuan. Huayan ascended the seat and said, "If you are descendants under Linji, Deshan, Gaoting, Dayu, Niaoke, or Chuanzi, there is no need for 'how' or 'why'—please go straight in with a single blade!" Kuo came out from the assembly and immediately gave a shout. Huayan also shouted. Kuo shouted again. Huayan shouted again. Kuo bowed, rose, pointed at him, turned to the assembly, and said, "This old fellow has suffered a complete defeat!" He gave a shout and returned to the assembly. Fengxue marveled at this in his heart, and thus formed a friendship with him. He then silently awakened to the essential import of the three mysteries, sighing, "Is Linji's active functioning indeed like this?" Kuo urged him to go further and see Nanyuan. Fengxue asked, "Entering the gate, one must distinguish the host; / I truly ask the Master to determine it." Nanyuan slapped his left knee. Fengxue immediately shouted. Nanyuan slapped his right knee. Fengxue also shouted. Nanyuan said, "Setting aside for a moment the slap on the left side, what about the slap on the right side?" Fengxue said, "Blind!" Nanyuan turned to pick up his staff. Fengxue laughed and said, "A cangue-bearing, blind stick—wrenching it away, I'll go beat the Upādhyāya!" Nanyuan leaned on his staff and said, "Today I have been clumsily bested by a yellow-faced fellow from Zhejiang." Fengxue said, "You are much like one who fails to get anything in his alms bowl and falsely claims not to be hungry." Nanyuan said, "Have you arrived at this place?" Fengxue said, "What kind of talk is that?" Nanyuan said, "I was right to question you." Fengxue said, "Nor can you be let off," and promptly bowed. Delighted, Nanyuan granted him a seat and asked with whom he had traveled. Fengxue replied, "In Xiangzhou I spent the summer retreat with Attendant Kuo." Nanyuan said, "You have met an authentic master in person!" Fengxue thereupon humbled himself to join the ranks of disciples, calmly receiving instruction and daily hearing of wisdom and realization. Nanyuan said, "That you have come by the power of vows to shoulder the Great Dharma is no mere accident." He asked, "Have you heard the words Linji spoke when he was about to pass away?" Fengxue said, "I have." Nanyuan said, "Linji said, 'Who knew that my True Dharma Eye Treasury would be extinguished at the hands of this blind donkey?' In his life he was like a lion: seeing [someone], he would kill them. When he was about to die, why did he bend his knees and drop his tail like this?" Fengxue replied, "When the secret transmission is about to end, the complete master is extinguished." Nanyuan asked again, "Why was Sansheng also silent?" Fengxue said, "One who has personally entered the room is a true son, unlike casual visitors outside the gate." Nanyuan nodded in agreement. He asked again, "What dharma do the statements of the four evaluations evaluate?" Fengxue replied, "Whenever speech does not linger in ordinary sentiment, it falls into holy understanding. This is a great illness for students; out of pity, the ancient sages provided skillful means, like knocking out a wedge with another wedge." Nanyuan said, "What is taking away the person but not taking away the environment?" Fengxue said, / "Fresh from the red furnace, the golden Chan monk / Shatters the ācārya's iron face." / Nanyuan asked again, "What is taking away the environment but not taking away the person?" Fengxue said, / "The fodder is suddenly parted, the head splits open; / The scattered clouds just disperse, yet the shadow still remains." / Nanyuan asked again, "What is taking away both person and environment?" Fengxue said, / "Stepping forward, one must hasten; / Urging the whip on the breast harness, do not delay." / Nanyuan asked again, "What is taking away neither person nor environment?" Fengxue said, / "I constantly recall the third month south of the Yangtze: / Where the partridges cry, the hundred flowers are fragrant." / Nanyuan asked again, "Linji had three phrases. On that day someone asked, 'What is the first phrase?' Linji said, 'When the seal of the three essentials is imprinted, the vermilion dot is narrow; before hesitation is allowed, host and guest are established.'" Fengxue immediately shouted along with the words. Nanyuan said again, "What is the second phrase? Linji said, 'How could wondrous understanding permit the questioning of Asanga? How could skillful means rush into the mechanism of cutting off the flow?'" Fengxue said, "Even before asking, an error is made." Nanyuan asked again, "What is the third phrase? Linji said, 'Just watch the puppets operated on the stage; their pulling and tugging relies entirely on the person inside.'" Fengxue said, "Once made plain, it becomes unbearable." Thereupon Nanyuan deemed that he could sustain Linji's line, fortunately not betraying the purpose of the transmission entrusted by his late master Xinghua. Fengxue attended him for six years before taking his leave. In the second year of the Changxing era of the Later Tang, he arrived at the Ru River and saw a few thatch-roofed rooms clinging to the mountain, like an abandoned house. He asked a farmer what place it was. The farmer said, "It is the ancient Fengxue Monastery. Generations of Vinaya monks dwelt here, but the monks passed away, and in a year of famine the community abandoned it and left. Only the Buddha statues, drum, and bell remain." Fengxue said, "May I live here?" The farmer said, "You may." Fengxue entered and stayed, begging daily in the villages and burning pine resin by night. He remained alone for seven years, until faithful donors renovated it into a monastery. In the second year of the Tianfu era of the false Jin, the prefect heard of his reputation and invited him with full courtesy. On the Lantern Festival, he opened the Dharma hall as heir to Nanyuan. In the second year of the Qianyou era of the false Han, the prefect relocated his administrative seat to Yingzhou; Fengxue also fled bandits and went to rely on him. The prefect lodged him in the commandery residence. When the bandits were pacified, Grand Preceptor Song of Ruzhou donated his mansion as a precious monastery, called Xin Temple, and welcomed Fengxue to dwell there. His Dharma assembly surpassed all under heaven, and students arrived from afar. Ascending the seat, he said: "My late master said, 'If you wish to obtain intimacy, do not bring a question to ask.' Do you understand? The question is in the answer, and the answer is in the question. Even though this is so, there are times when the question is not in the answer and the answer is not in the question. If you hesitate, this old monk is right under your heels! In general, as the eyes of study and practice, the great functioning must directly appear before you in response to the moment; do not bind yourselves with minor details. Even if you attain it before speech, you are still trapped in shells and deluded by wrappings; even if you are thoroughly versed beneath phrases, you will not avoid wild views when encountering situations. Everything you have relied upon until now to form interpretations—both bright and dark, both forks of the road—I sweep away entirely for you, causing every single one of you to be like a lion cub rearing up and snapping, giving proof before the assembly, roaring with a single roar like a cliff standing ten thousand cubits high! Who dares to look directly at it? If you look, your eyes will be blinded!" He also said, "If a single speck of dust is established, the house and state flourish, while the old countryman knits his brows. If not a single speck of dust is established, the house and state perish, while the old countryman rests in peace. If you understand here, you ācāryas have no share in it, and it is entirely this old monk; if you do not understand here, this old monk is just you ācāryas, and there is no difference between you and this old monk. I can awaken the people of the world, and I can also blind the people of the world. Do you wish to know the ācāryas?" He slapped his left knee and said, "Here it is!" "Do you wish to know this old monk?" He slapped his right knee and said, "Here it is!" At that time, none could match his dynamic functioning. In the first year of the Guangshun era of the false Zhou, the monastery was bestowed the name Guanghui. After twenty-two years, on the first day of the eighth month of the guiyou year, the sixth year of the Kaibao era of the Song, he ascended the seat and spoke a verse: / "When the Way accords with the times, it must aid beings; / Those who come from afar in admiration surge like billows. / In future years there will be an old man of similar sentiment: / Day after day fragrant smoke, night after night a lamp." / When the fifteenth day arrived, he passed away sitting cross-legged. The day before, he had written a letter with his own hand bidding farewell to his patrons. He had seen seventy-eight years of worldly life and fifty-nine summer retreats. The foremost disciple who obtained his Dharma was Chan Master Nian, who resided at Mount Shou in Ruzhou.