[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) › 18.39 # 佛祖歷代通載 18.39 佛祖歷代通載 18.39 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [18.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.18.39) （十五）　首山念禪師。萊州人。生狄氏。幼棄家得度於南禪寺。為人簡重有精識。行頭陀行日誦法華。叢林畏敬之。目以為念法華。至風穴隨眾作止。無所參扣。然終疑教外有別傳之法不言也。風穴每念。大仰有讖。臨濟一宗至風而止。懼當之。熟視座下堪任法道。無如念者。一日升座曰。世尊以青蓮目顧迦葉。正當是時。且道箇什麼。若言不說說。又成埋沒先聖。語未卒念便下去。侍者進曰。念法華無所言而去何也。穴曰。渠會也。明日念與真上座俱詣方丈。穴問真曰。如何是世尊不說說。真曰。鵓鳩樹上鳴。穴云。汝作許多癡福何用。乃顧念曰。如何。師曰。動容揚古路。不墮峭然機。穴謂真曰。何不看渠語。又一日升座顧視大眾。念便下去。穴即歸方丈。自是聲名重諸方。首山在汝州城外荒遠處。而念居之終身焉。登其門者皆叢林精練衲子。念必勘驗之。留者纔二十餘輩。天下稱法席之冠。必指首山。甞問僧。不從人薦得的事。試道看。僧便喝。曰好好相借問。惡發作麼僧又喝念曰。今日。放過即不可。僧擬議。念喝之。甞謂眾曰。佛法無多子。只是汝輩自信不及。若能自信。千聖出頭來無柰汝何。何故為向汝面前無開口處。只為汝自信不及向外馳求。所以到這裏。假如便是釋迦佛。也與汝三十棒。然雖如是。初機後學。憑箇什麼道理。且問汝輩。還得與麼也未。良久云。若得與麼方名了事。甞作綱宗偈曰。咄哉拙郎君。巧妙無人識。打破鳳林關。穿靴水上立。咄哉巧女兒。攛梭不解織。看他鬪鷄人。水牛也不識。淳化三年十二月初四日。留僧過歲。作偈曰。吾今年邁六十七。老病相依且過日。今朝記取明年事。明年記著今年日。至次年十二月初四日。升座。辭眾曰。諸子謾波波。過却幾恒河。觀音指彌勒。文殊不柰何。良久曰。白銀世界金色身。情與無情共一真。明暗盡時都不照。日輪午後示全身。日午後泊然而化。塔于首山。嫡嗣汾陽。昭禪師（餘如本傳）。 > (15 \[991 CE\]) Chan Master Nian of Shoushan was a native of Laizhou, born to the Di clan. In his youth he renounced the family and was ordained at Nanchan Temple. In character he was concise and grave, possessing refined discernment; he practiced dhūta austerities and daily recited the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka. The monastery feared and respected him, calling him 'Nian of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka.' Arriving at Fengxue, he followed the assembly in working and resting without interrogating or inquiring. However, he always harboured a doubt that there was a separate transmission outside the teachings, though he did not speak of it. Fengxue constantly recalled Dayang's prophecy: 'The Linji school will cease at Feng.' Fearing that it would fall upon him, he carefully observed those seated below who could bear the Dharma-way, and found none like Nian. One day Fengxue ascended the hall and said, 'The Bhagavān looked upon Kāśyapa with blue lotus eyes. Right at that very moment, tell me, what was said? If you say he spoke without speaking, this again buries the ancient sage.' Before he finished speaking, Nian immediately stepped down. The attendant stepped forward and said, 'Nian of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka left without saying anything—why?' Fengxue said, 'He understands.' The next day Nian and Senior Monk Zhen both went to the Abbot's quarters. Fengxue asked Zhen, 'What is the Bhagavān speaking without speaking?' Zhen said, 'A wood pigeon cries atop the tree.' Fengxue said, 'What is the use of creating so much foolish merit?' He then turned to Nian and said, 'How about you?' The master said, 'Moving one's demeanor manifests the ancient path; / One does not fall into steep mechanics.' Fengxue said to Zhen, 'Why do you not look at his words?' Another day, \[Fengxue\] ascended the hall and looked at the assembly; Nian immediately stepped down, and Fengxue returned to the Abbot's quarters. From then on, his reputation was esteemed across the various regions. Shoushan was in a desolate and remote place outside the city of Ruzhou, and Nian dwelled there for the rest of his life. Those who entered his gate were all refined and experienced patch-robed monks of the monastery; Nian would certainly test them, and those who remained were merely twenty or so. When the world praised the pinnacle of Dharma seats, it inevitably pointed to Shoushan. He once asked a monk, 'Try saying something about the matter that is not received through another's recommendation.' The monk immediately shouted. Nian said, 'I ask you courteously; why this outburst of anger?' The monk shouted again. Nian said, 'Today, letting you off will not do.' The monk hesitated; Nian shouted at him. He once said to the assembly: 'The Buddha-Dharma does not have much to it; it is simply that you people have insufficient faith in yourselves. If you can have faith in yourselves, even if a thousand sages were to appear, they could do nothing to you. Why? Because before your faces, there is no place to open the mouth. It is merely because you have insufficient faith in yourselves and run outside seeking, that you have arrived here. Even if Śākyamuni Buddha were here, he too would give you thirty blows of the staff. Even so, what principle do beginners and later learners rely upon? Let me ask you all: have you attained such a state yet?' After a long pause, he said, 'Only when you have attained such a state can it be called having settled the matter.' He once composed a verse on the essentials of the lineage: 'Alas, clumsy young master! / His ingenuity is known to none. / Breaking through the Fenglin Pass, / He puts on boots and stands upon the water. / Alas, clever maid! / Casting the shuttle, she knows not how to weave. / Look at those cockfighters— / They do not even recognise a water buffalo.' On the fourth day of the twelfth month of the third year of Chunhua \[992 CE\], he detained the monks to spend the end of the year, composing a verse: 'This year I am aged sixty-seven; / Old age and illness companion each other as I pass the days. / Today, note down next year's affairs; / Next year, remember today's date.' Arriving at the fourth day of the twelfth month of the following year, he ascended the hall, took leave of the assembly, and said: 'All of you vainly rush around; / Crossing how many Ganges? / Guanyin points to Maitreya; / Mañjuśrī can do nothing.' After a long pause, he said: 'A world of white silver, a body of golden colour; / Sentient and insentient share the single reality. / When light and dark are exhausted, neither shines; / After noon, the sun wheel reveals the entire body.' After noon, he serenely passed away. A stupa was erected at Shoushan. His direct heir was Chan Master Zhao of Fenyang. (The rest is as in his principal biography.) > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 18.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.18.38) - [Next: 18.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.18.40) - [Up: 18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.18) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036~en-mt.18.39) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [虛堂和尚語錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2000.2.50) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.18.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.18.39) · Pramāṇa