佛祖歷代通載 17.7

17.7

(4. Bingxu) Chan Master Yixuan of Linji in Zhenzhou was a native of Nanhua in Caozhou, surnamed Xing. He studied under Chan Master Yun of Huangbo. He asked, 'What is the cardinal meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' Before his voice had ceased, Huangbo struck him. Three times he raised this question, and three times he was struck. Thereupon he took his leave to go down the mountain. Huangbo directed him to go to Dagu in Gao'an. When the master reached Dagu, Dagu asked, 'What words and phrases has Huangbo had recently?' The master said, 'I asked three times about the cardinal meaning of the Buddha Dharma, and three times I was struck. I do not know if I had a fault or not.' Dagu said, 'Huangbo had such grandmotherly kindheartedness, yet you still ask if you had a fault or not!' Thereupon the master attained great enlightenment and said, 'After all, Huangbo's Buddha Dharma is nothing much!' Dagu grabbed him and said, 'You bed-wetting demon! Just now you asked whether you had a fault or not, and now you say Huangbo's Buddha Dharma is nothing much! What did you see?' The master struck Dagu's ribs with three punches. Dagu pushed him away and said, 'Your master is Huangbo; it has nothing to do with me.' Because of this, the master returned again to Huangbo, and master and disciple intimately accorded. His great capacity and great functioning were outstanding, unmatched in his time. Later he returned to his home region, acceding to the invitation of the people of Zhao, and took up residence at the Linji Chan Cloister south of the city. Students rushed there in flocks. The master instructed the assembly, saying: 'Upon the lump of red flesh, there is a true person of no rank, constantly entering and exiting through the gates of your faces. Those who have not realized it, look!' At that time, a monk asked, 'What is the true person of no rank?' The master stepped down from his meditation seat, grabbed him, and said, 'Speak! Speak!' The monk hesitated. The master pushed him away and said, 'What dry shit-wiper is this true person of no rank!' The master asked Lepu, 'From ancient times, one master used the staff, while another used the shout; which one was intimate?' Lepu answered, 'Neither was intimate.' The master said, 'What is the intimate point like?' Lepu shouted, and the master struck him. The master asked the Upādhyāya Mukou, 'What is the white ox on open ground?' Mukou said, 'Hūṃ.' The master said, 'Mute!' Mukou said, 'How about you, elder brother?' The master said, 'This beast!' When Dajue arrived to visit, the master raised his whisk. Dajue spread his sitting cloth. The master threw down the whisk. Dajue folded up his sitting cloth and entered the monks' hall. The monks said, 'Could this be an old friend of the master? He neither bowed nor received a blow of the staff.' When the master heard this, he ordered the newly arrived monk to be summoned. Dajue then stepped forward. The master said, 'The assembly says you have not paid respects to the Elder.' Dajue said, 'Pardon me,' and returned to the assembly on his own. Magu came to call and spread his sitting cloth. He asked, 'Which face of the Twelve-Faced Avalokiteśvara is the real one?' The master stepped down from his rope seat; with one hand he gathered the sitting cloth and with the other he grabbed Magu, saying, 'Where has the Twelve-Faced Avalokiteśvara gone?' Magu turned around and was about to sit on the rope seat. The master picked up his staff to strike him. Magu caught it, and holding each other, they entered the abbot's quarters. The master entered the hall and said, 'Assembly! Those who act for the Dharma do not shrink from losing life and limb. At Venerable Huangbo's place, I received the staff three times, which felt like being brushed by artemisia twigs. Today, I think of receiving another beating—who can lay a hand on me?' At that time, a monk said, 'I can lay a hand on you. How many strikes should the Venerable receive?' The master handed him his staff. As the monk reached to take it, the master struck him. A monk asked, 'What is the first phrase?' The master said, 'The seal of the three essentials opens, the vermilion dot is sharp; allowing no hesitation, host and guest are clearly divided.' The monk asked, 'What is the second phrase?' The master said, 'How could wondrous understanding permit Asanga's inquiries? How could expedients oppose the mechanism of cutting through the stream?' The monk asked, 'What is the third phrase?' The master said, 'Look at the puppeteer operating puppets atop the stage; pulling the strings entirely depends on the person inside.' The master also said: 'Every single phrase must possess the three mysterious gates; each mysterious gate must possess the three essentials; there are provisional applications and practical functionings. How do all of you understand this?' On the tenth day of the fourth month in the bingxu year, the seventh year of the Xiantong era of the Tang, the master, about to manifest his demise, spoke a verse for transmitting the Dharma: / 'Flowing incessantly along the stream, one asks how it is; / Boundless true illumination, explained to resemble it. / If you do not adopt detachment from marks and names, / Having used the hair-severing sword, you must hasten to sharpen it.' / The verse concluded, he passed away sitting upright. By imperial edict, he was granted the posthumous title Great Master Huizhao ('Illumination of Wisdom'), and his pagoda was named Chenggling ('Clear Spirit') (detailed as in the Transmission of the Lamp).