大明高僧傳 5.24

5.24

釋智才舒州施氏子。早歲服勤於佛鑑。及遊方謁黃龍死心。翌日入室。死心問曰。會得最初句便會末後句。會得末後句便會最初句。最初末後拈放一邊。百丈野狐話作麼生會。才曰。入戶已知來見解。何須更舉轢中泥。心曰。新長老死在上座手裏也。才曰。語言雖有異至理且無差。心曰。如何是無差底事。才曰。不扣黃龍角焉知頷下珠。心便打。才初住嶽麓。次遷龍牙。三十載以清苦蒞眾。故衲子畏敬之。又遷雲溪。紹興戊午八月望俄集眾付寺事。書偈曰。戊午中秋之日。出家住持事畢。臨行自己尚無有。甚虛空可覓。每日垂訓如常。至二十三日再示眾曰。涅槃生死盡是空花佛。及眾生並為增語。汝等諸人合作麼生。眾皆下語不契。才喝曰。苦苦。復曰。白雲湧地明月當天。言訖囅然而逝。火浴獲設利五色。塔寺西北隅。

Shi Zhicai was a native of the Shi family of Shuzhou. In his early years, he served diligently under Fojian. When he wandered to various places, he visited Sixin of Huanglong. The next day, he entered the room. Sixin asked, 'If you comprehend the first phrase, you comprehend the last phrase; if you comprehend the last phrase, you comprehend the first phrase. Putting the first and the last aside, how do you comprehend Baizhang's talk of the wild fox?' Cai said, 'Entering the door, I already knew the view you brought; what need is there to bring up again the mud within the ruts?' Sixin said, 'The new elder has died under the hands of the senior monk.' Cai said, 'Although the words differ, the ultimate principle does not diverge.' Sixin said, 'What is that which does not diverge?' Cai said, 'If one does not knock against the horn of Huanglong, how can one know the pearl under his chin?' Sixin then struck him. Cai first resided at Yuelu, and then moved to Longya. For thirty years, he oversaw the assembly with purity and hardship; hence the patch-robed monks feared and revered him. He also moved to Yunxi. In the eighth month of the wuwu year of the Shaoxing reign, on the full moon, he suddenly gathered the assembly to entrust the monastery's affairs, writing a verse: / 'On this day of mid-autumn in the wuwu year, / The affairs of leaving home and being abbot are finished. / When about to depart, my own self does not even exist; / What empty space is there to seek?' / Daily, his instructions were as usual. When it reached the twenty-third day, he again instructed the assembly, saying, 'Nirvāṇa and birth-and-death are completely sky-flowers; Buddha and sentient beings are both redundant words. What should all of you do?' The assembly all offered phrases that did not tally. Cai shouted, 'Bitter! Bitter!' and further said, 'White clouds surge from the earth; the bright moon is in the sky.' Having spoken, he smiled and passed away. His body was cremated, and five-colored śarīra were obtained. A stūpa was built at the northwest corner of the monastery.