釋氏稽古略 3.278

3.278

曹洞宗　江西瑞州洞山禪師。名良价。為越州會稽俞氏。幼歲出家。從師念般若心經。至無眼耳鼻舌身意處。忽以手捫面問其師曰。某甲有眼耳鼻舌等。何故言無。其師駭異曰。吾非汝師。指其往五洩山禮默禪師披剃。年二十一詣嵩山具戒。遊方首謁南泉。次參溈山。溈山指之曰。此去豐陵攸縣石室相連。有雲巖道人。若能撥草瞻風必為子之所重。由是徑造雲巖便問。無情說法甚麼人得聞。巖曰無情得聞。師曰。和尚聞否。巖曰我若聞汝即不聞吾說法也。師曰。某甲為甚麼不聞。巖竪起拂子曰還聞麼。師曰。不聞。巖曰我說法汝尚不聞。豈況無情說法乎。師曰。無情說法該何典教。巖曰豈不見。彌陀經云水鳥樹林悉皆念佛念法。師於此有省。乃述偈曰。也大奇也大奇。無情說法不思議。若將耳聽終難會。眼處聞時方得知。辭去。宣宗大中末年。於新豐山接誨學侶。盛化豫章高安之洞山。權開五位。善接三根。大闡一音。廣弘萬品。橫抽寶劒剪諸見之稠林。妙叶弘通截萬端之穿鑿。又得曹山深明的旨妙唱嘉猷道合君臣偏正回互。由是洞上玄風播於天下。故諸方宗匠咸共推尊之曰曹洞宗。至是咸通十年二月入寂。壽六十三。臘四十二。勅諡悟本禪師。塔曰慧覺（傳燈）。

The Caodong School: Chan Master Dongshan of Ruizhou in Jiangxi was named Liangjie. He belonged to the Yu family of Kuaiji in Yuezhou. He left home in his childhood. Following his master, he recited the Prajñāpāramitā Heart Sūtra. When he reached the passage, "no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind," he suddenly touched his face with his hand and asked his master, "I have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and so on; why does it say there are none?" His master was astonished and said, "I am not your teacher." He directed him to go to Mount Wuxie to be tonsured by Chan Master Lingmo. At the age of twenty-one, he went to Mount Song to receive the full precepts. In traveling to various regions, he first called on Nanquan, and next visited Weishan. Weishan directed him, saying, "From here, in You County of Fengling, there is a series of stone chambers where the Daoist of Yunyan resides. If you can part the grass and gaze at the wind, he will surely be esteemed by you." Thereupon he went directly to Yunyan and at once asked, "Who is able to hear insentient beings preaching the Dharma?" Yunyan said, "Insentient beings can hear it." The master asked, "Does the Venerable Abbot hear it?" Yunyan said, "If I heard it, you would not hear my preaching of the Dharma." The master said, "Why do I not hear it?" Yunyan raised his fly-whisk and said, "Do you hear it yet?" The master said, "I do not hear it." Yunyan said, "When I preach the Dharma you still do not hear it, how much less the Dharma preached by insentient beings!" The master said, "What scriptural teaching encompasses insentient beings preaching the Dharma?" Yunyan said, "Have you not seen the Amitābha Sūtra, which says that water, birds, and grove of trees all recite the Buddha and recite the Dharma?" At this, the master had an awakening, and thereupon composed a verse: / 'How wonderful! How wonderful! / Insentient beings preaching the Dharma is inconceivable. / If one listens with the ears, it is ultimately hard to comprehend; / Only when heard through the eyes does one come to know it.' / He took his leave and departed. In the late years of the Dazhong reign of Xuanzong, he received and instructed students on Mount Xinfeng, and flourished in transforming beings at Dongshan in Gao'an, Yuzhang. Provisionally he opened the five ranks, skillfully receiving people of the three spiritual capacities; he widely proclaimed the single sound, extensively propagating the myriad categories. Drawing across the precious sword, he cut down the dense forest of various views; in wondrous accord and broad penetration, he severed the myriad kinds of far-fetched interpretations. Furthermore, he obtained Caoshan, who deeply understood the explicit meaning, singing wondrously of auspicious principles; their Dao harmonized as ruler and minister, the partial and the absolute interchanging. Because of this, the profound tradition of Dongshan spread throughout the realm. Therefore, the masters of the school across all quarters unanimously honored it, naming it the Caodong School. Reaching this point, in the second month of the tenth year of Xiantong, he entered nirvāṇa. His age was sixty-three; his monastic age was forty-two. By imperial decree he was posthumously titled Chan Master Wuben, and his stupa was named Huijue (Transmission of the Lamp).