釋氏稽古略 3.315

3.315

趙州　禪師。名從諗。曹州郝鄉人也。姓郝氏。童穉於本州扈通院從師披剃。未納戒抵池陽參南泉願禪師。泉器之。一日問泉曰。如何是道。泉曰平常心是道。師曰。還可趣向也無。泉曰擬向即乖。師曰。不擬爭知是道。泉曰道不屬知不屬不知。知是妄覺。不知是無記。若真達不疑之道。猶如太虛廓然蕩豁。豈可強是非耶。師於言下悟理。乃往嵩嶽瑠璃壇納戒。仍返南泉。久之眾請住趙州（隷真定路）觀音院。一曰東院道化甚盛。作十二時歌。偈頌機緣語錄流行於世。新到師問曰。曾到此間麼。僧曰未曾到。師曰。喫茶去。又問僧曰。曾到此間麼。僧曰曾到。師曰。喫茶去。院主問曰。為甚麼曾到也喫茶去。未曾到也喫茶去。師召院主。主應諾。師曰。喫茶去。時真定帥王鎔稱趙王。廬王節度使劉仁恭稱燕王。二王爭相重敬。至是乾寧四年十一月二日臥右脇而寂。壽一百二十歲。勅諡真際大師。嗣南泉願。願嗣馬祖（傳燈）。

Chan Master Zhaozhou was named Congshen. He was a native of Hao Village in Caozhou, of the Hao clan. In his childhood, he shaved his head under a master at the Hutong Cloister in his home prefecture. Before receiving the full precepts, he went to Chiyang to visit Chan Master Nanquan Yuan. Nanquan recognized his capacity. One day he asked Nanquan: "What is the Way?" Nanquan said: "The ordinary mind is the Way." The master said: "Can one still direct oneself toward it or not?" Nanquan 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?" Nanquan said: "The Way does not belong to knowing, nor does it belong to not knowing. Knowing is deluded perception; not knowing is neutrality. If you truly reach the doubt-free Way, it is like the great void, vast and boundlessly open. How could one arbitrarily impose 'right' and 'wrong' upon it?" At these words, the master awoke to the principle. He then went to the Vaidūrya Altar on Mount Song to receive the full precepts, and afterwards returned to Nanquan. After a long time, the assembly invited him to reside at the Guanyin Cloister in Zhaozhou (subordinate to Zhending Circuit), also called the Eastern Cloister, where his teaching and transforming greatly flourished. He composed the Song of the Twelve Hours, and his verses, encounter dialogues, and recorded sayings circulated widely in the world. When a newcomer arrived, the master asked him: "Have you been here before?" The monk said: "I have never been here." The master said: "Go have some tea." He also asked another monk: "Have you been here before?" The monk said: "I have been here." The master said: "Go have some tea." The director asked: "Why is it that both for the one who has been here and for the one who has not been here, you say 'Go have some tea'?" The master called out to the director. The director responded. The master said: "Go have some tea." At that time, Wang Rong, the Military Commander of Zhending, styled himself King of Zhao, and Liu Rengong, the Military Commissioner of the Prince of Lu, styled himself King of Yan. Both kings vied with each other in honoring and venerating him. When the fourth year of Qianning arrived, on the second day of the eleventh month, he lay down on his right side and passed into quiescence at the age of one hundred and twenty. He was imperially posthumously titled Great Master Zhenji. He was a dharma heir of Nanquan Yuan, and Yuan was a dharma heir of Mazu (Transmission of the Lamp).