景德傳燈錄 16.36

16.36

澧州樂普山元安禪師鳳翔麟遊人也。姓淡氏。丱年出家。依本郡懷恩寺祐律師披削具戒通經論。首問道于翠微臨濟。臨濟常對眾美之曰。臨濟門下一隻箭誰敢當鋒。師蒙許可。自謂已足。尋之夾山卓庵。後得夾山書發而覽之。不覺竦然乃棄庵。至夾山禮拜端身而立。夾山曰。雞棲鳳巢非其同類出去。師問曰。自遠趨風請師一接。夾山曰。目前無闍梨夾山無老僧。師曰。錯也夾山曰。住住闍梨且莫草草怱怱。雲月是同雞山各異。闍梨坐却天下人舌頭即不無。爭教無舌人解語。師茫然無對。夾山遂打。師因茲服膺數載（興化代云。但知作佛莫愁眾生）師一日問夾山。佛魔不到處如何體會。夾山曰。燭明千里像。闇室老僧迷。又問。朝陽已昇夜月不現時如何。夾山曰。龍銜海珠游魚不顧。夾山將示滅。垂語於眾曰。石頭一枝看看即滅矣。師對曰。不然。夾山曰。何也。曰。自有青山在。夾山曰。苟如是即吾道不墜矣。暨夾山順世。師抵于涔陽遇故人。因話武陵事。故人問曰。倏忽數年何處逃難。師曰。只在闤闠中曰何不無人處去。師曰。無人處有何難。曰闤闠中如何逃避。師曰。雖在闤闠中人且不識。故人罔測。又問曰。承西天有二十八祖。至於此土人傳一人。且如彼此不垂曲者如何。師曰。野老門前不話朝堂之事。曰合譚何事。師曰。未逢別者終不開拳。曰。有不從朝堂來相逢還話否。師曰。量外之機徒勞目擊。僧無對。師尋之澧陽樂普山卜于宴處。後遷止朗州蘇谿。四方玄侶憧憧奔湊。師示眾曰。末後一句始到牢關。鎖斷要津不通凡聖。欲知上流之士。不將祖佛見解貼在額頭如靈龜負圖。自取喪身之本。又曰。指南一路智者知疏。問瞥然便見時如何。師曰。曉星分曙色爭似太陽輝。問恁麼來不立恁麼去不泯時如何。師曰。鬻薪樵子貴衣錦道人輕。問經云。飯百千諸佛不如飯一無修無證者。未審百千諸佛有何過。無修無證者有何德。師曰。一片白雲橫谷口。幾多歸鳥夜迷巢。問日未出時如何。師曰。水竭滄溟龍自隱。雲騰碧漢鳳猶飛。問如何是本來事。師曰。一粒在荒田不耘苗自秀。曰若一向不耘莫草裏埋沒却也無。師曰。肌骨異芻蕘。稊稗終難映。問不傷物命者如何。師曰。眼華山影轉迷者謾彷徨問不譚今古時如何。師曰。靈龜無掛兆空殼不勞鑽。問不掛明暗時如何。師曰。玄中易舉意外難提。問不生如來家不坐華王座時如何。師曰。汝道火鑪重多少。問祖意與教意是一是二。師曰。師子窟中無異獸。象王行處絕狐蹤。問行到不思議處如何。師曰。青山常舉足白日不移輪。問枯盡荒田獨立事如何。師曰。鷺倚雪巢猶可辨。烏投漆立事難分。問如何是賓主雙舉。師曰。枯樹無橫枝鳥來難措足。問終日朦朧時如何。師曰。擲寶混沙中識者天然異。曰恁麼即展手不逢師也。師曰。莫將鶴唳誤作鸎啼。問圓伊三點人皆重。樂普家風事若何。師曰。雷霆一震布鼓聲銷。問停午時如何。師曰。停午猶虧半烏沈始得圓。問如何是西來意。師曰。颯颯當軒竹經霜不自寒。僧擬再問。師曰。只聞風擊響不知幾千竿。師上堂謂眾曰。孫賓收鋪去也有卜者出來。時有僧出曰。請和尚一掛。師曰。汝家爺死。僧無語（法眼代拊掌三下）問如何是西來意。師敲禪床曰。會麼。曰不會。師曰。天上忽雷驚宇宙。井底蝦蟇不舉頭。問佛魔不到處如何辨得。師曰。演若頭非失鏡中認取乖。問如何是救離生死。師曰。執水苟延生不聞天樂妙。問四大如何而有。師曰。湛水無波漚因風擊。曰漚滅歸水時如何。師曰。不渾不濁魚龍任躍。問生死事如何。師曰。一念忘機太虛無點。問如何是道。師曰。存機猶滯迹去兀却通途。問如何是一藏收不得者。師曰。雨滋三草秀片玉本來輝。問一毫吞盡巨海於中更復何言。師曰。家有白𤢟之圖必無如是妖怪（保福別云。家無白𤢟之圖亦無如是之怪）問凝然時如何。師曰。時雷應節震嶽驚蟄。曰千般運動不異箇凝然時如何。師曰。靈鶴翥空外鈍鳥不離巢。曰如何。師曰。白首拜少年舉世人難信。問諸聖恁麼來將何供養。師曰。土宿雖持錫不是婆羅門。問祖意與教意是同是別。師曰。日月並輪空誰家別有路。曰恁麼即顯晦殊途事非一概也。師曰。但自不亡羊。何須泣岐路。問學人擬歸鄉時如何。師曰。家破人亡子歸何處。曰恁麼即不歸去也。師曰。庭前殘雪日輪消。室中遊塵遣誰掃。問動是法王苗。寂是法王根。根苗即不問。如何是法王。師舉拂子。僧曰。此猶是法王苗。師曰。龍不出洞誰人奈何。師二山開法語播諸方。唐光化元年戊午秋八月誡主事曰。出家之法長物不留。播種之時切宜減省。締構之務悉從廢停。流光迅速大道深玄。苟或因循曷由體悟。雖激勵懇切。眾以為常略不相儆。至冬師示有微疾。亦不倦參請。十二月一日告眾曰。吾非明即後也。今有一事問。汝等若道遮箇是。即頭上安頭。若道遮箇不是。即斬頭求活。時第一坐對曰。青山不舉足。曰下不挑燈。師曰。遮裏是什麼時節。作遮箇語話。時有彥從上坐。別對曰。離此二途請和尚不問。師曰。未在更道。曰彥從道不盡。師曰。我不管汝盡不盡。曰彥從無侍者祇對和尚。師乃下堂。至夜令侍者喚彥從入方丈。曰闍梨今日祇對老僧甚有道理。據汝合體先師意旨。先師道。目前無法意在目前。不是目前法非耳目之所到。且道那句是主句。若擇得出分付鉢袋子。曰彥從不會。師曰。汝合會但道。曰彥從實不知。師喝出乃曰。苦苦（玄覺云。且道從上坐實不會。是怕見鉢袋子粘著伊）二日午時別僧舉前語問師。師自代曰。慈舟不棹清波上。劍峽徒勞放木鵝。便告寂壽六十有五。臘四十六。塔于寺西北隅。

Chan Master Yuan'an of Mount Lepu in Lizhou was a native of Linyou in Fengxiang. His family name was Dan. He left home in his youth and, relying on Vinaya Master You of Huai'en Monastery in his home prefecture, was shaved, received the full precepts, and became well versed in the sūtras and treatises. He first inquired about the Way with Cuiwei and Linji. Linji often praised him before the assembly, saying, 'A single arrow under Linji’s gate—who dares face its point?' Having received this recognition, the Master considered himself already satisfied. Soon after, he went to Mount Jiashan and built a hermitage. Later, he received a letter from Jiashan, opened it, and read it; he was unknowingly struck with awe, whereupon he abandoned his hermitage. Arriving at Jiashan, he paid homage and stood upright. Jiashan said, 'A chicken roosting in a phoenix's nest is not of the same kind—get out!' The Master asked, 'Having come from afar pursuing your wind, I ask the master to receive me once.' Jiashan said, 'Before my eyes there is no ācārya; at Jiashan there is no old monk.' The Master said, 'A mistake!' Jiashan said, 'Stop, stop! Ācārya, do not be so hasty and hurried. The clouds and the moon are the same; the valleys and mountains are distinct. You may well sit on the tongues of everyone under heaven, but how will you make a tongueless person understand speech?' The Master was at a loss and had no reply. Jiashan then struck him. Because of this, the Master submitted wholeheartedly and served him for several years. (Xinghua said in his place, 'Just know how to become a Buddha; do not worry about sentient beings.')
One day, the Master asked Jiashan, 'How can one realize the place where neither Buddha nor Māra reaches?' Jiashan said, 'A candle illuminates images for a thousand miles; in a dark room, the old monk is bewildered.' He asked again, 'How is it when the morning sun has already risen and the night moon does not appear?' Jiashan said, 'The dragon holding the ocean pearl pays no heed to swimming fish.'
When Jiashan was about to show his passing away, he addressed the assembly, saying, 'Look, look—the single branch of Shitou is about to perish!' The Master replied, 'Not so.' Jiashan said, 'Why?' The Master said, 'The green mountain remains of itself.' Jiashan said, 'If it is so, then my Way will not fall to the ground.'
When Jiashan passed away, the Master arrived at Cenyang and met an old friend. Conversing about matters in Wuling, the friend asked, 'In the twinkling of an eye several years have passed—where did you flee from trouble?' The Master said, 'Right in the bustling marketplace.' The friend said, 'Why did you not go to an uninhabited place?' The Master said, 'In an uninhabited place, what trouble is there?' The friend asked, 'How do you escape in the bustling marketplace?' The Master said, 'Though in the bustling marketplace, people do not recognize me.' The friend could not fathom it. The friend asked again, 'It is said that the Western Heavens had twenty-eight patriarchs, down to this land transmitting from person to person. But what about when neither accommodates the other?' The Master said, 'Before an old rustic's gate, one does not speak of affairs of the imperial court.' The friend asked, 'What should one discuss?' The Master said, 'Unless meeting someone exceptional, one never opens one's fist.' The friend asked, 'If meeting someone who does not come from the imperial court, would you speak then?' The Master said, 'A capacity beyond measurement—it is in vain to seek direct recognition.' The monk had no reply.
Soon after, the Master went to Mount Lepu in Liyang to divine a place of retreat. Later he moved to Suxi in Langzhou. Dark companions from the four directions hurried and converged in great numbers.
The Master instructed the assembly, saying, 'Only with the final word does one reach the firm pass; it locks off the vital crossing, allowing passage to neither ordinary nor sage. If you wish to know an adept of the superior stream: he does not paste the views of patriarchs and Buddhas upon his forehead like the sacred tortoise carrying the chart, thereby bringing about the cause of his own demise.'
He also said, 'The single road pointing south—the wise know its remoteness.'
A monk asked, 'How is it when one sees it in an instant?' The Master said, 'The morning star divides the dawn's hues, but how can it rival the brilliance of the sun?'
He asked, 'How is it when coming thus is not established, and going thus is not annihilated?' The Master said, 'The firewood-selling woodcutter is prized; the brocade-robed man of the Way is slighted.'
He asked, 'A sūtra says: "Feeding hundreds of thousands of Buddhas is not as good as feeding one who has nothing to cultivate and nothing to realize." I wonder, what fault do the hundreds of thousands of Buddhas have, and what virtue does the one with nothing to cultivate and nothing to realize possess?' The Master said, 'A patch of white cloud lies across the valley mouth; how many returning birds lose their nests in the night?'
He asked, 'How is it before the sun has risen?' The Master said, 'When the waters of the vast ocean run dry, the dragon conceals itself; when clouds soar into the azure sky, the phoenix still flies.'
He asked, 'What is the original matter?' The Master said, 'A single grain in a desolate field—without weeding, the sprouts grow lush of themselves.' The monk said, 'If one never weeds at all, wouldn't it be buried away in the grass?' The Master said, 'Its flesh and bone are different from common weeds; darnel and tare can never overshadow it.'
He asked, 'What about one who does not harm living beings?' The Master said, 'With blurred vision, the mountain shadows turn; the confused wander aimlessly in vain.'
He asked, 'How is it when not discussing the past or the present?' The Master said, 'The sacred tortoise has no omen to hang; on an empty shell, one wastes labor in drilling.'
He asked, 'How is it when not hanging onto light or dark?' The Master said, 'Within the mystery it is easy to raise; beyond thought it is difficult to bring up.'
He asked, 'How is it when not born into the Tathāgata's household and not sitting on the Flower King's throne?' The Master said, 'Tell me, how much does the fire-brazier weigh?'
He asked, 'Are the patriarch's intention and the teaching's intention the same or different?' The Master said, 'In the lion's den there are no other beasts; where the elephant king treads, the fox's tracks vanish.'
He asked, 'How is it when one walks to the inconceivable place?' The Master said, 'The green mountain constantly lifts its feet; the white sun does not shift its wheel.'
He asked, 'How is the matter of standing alone in a completely withered, barren field?' The Master said, 'An egret resting against a snowy nest can still be discerned; a raven plunging into lacquer is hard to distinguish.'
He asked, 'What is the simultaneous raising of guest and host?' The Master said, 'A withered tree has no horizontal branches; when a bird comes, it is hard to set its feet.'
He asked, 'How is it when it is dim all day long?' The Master said, 'A jewel cast amidst sand—to the discerning, it is naturally distinct.' The monk said, 'If so, then extending one's hand, one does not meet the master.' The Master said, 'Do not mistake the crane's call for the oriole's warble.'
He asked, 'All people revere the three dots of the letter I. What about the house style of Lepu?' The Master said, 'A single clap of thunder, and the sound of the cloth drum dies out.'
He asked, 'How is it at high noon?' The Master said, 'At high noon it is still half deficient; only when the crow sinks does it become round.'
He asked, 'What is the meaning of the Western Ancestor's coming?' The Master said, 'Rustling before the porch, the bamboo does not feel cold through the frost.' The monk was about to ask again, but the Master said, 'You only hear the sound of the wind striking, not knowing how many thousands of stalks there are.'
The Master ascended the hall and said to the assembly, 'Sun Bin has packed up his shop; is there a diviner who will step forward?' At that time a monk came forward and said, 'I ask the upādhyāya for a divination.' The Master said, 'Your father is dead.' The monk was speechless. (Fayan clapped his hands three times in his place.)
A monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the Western Ancestor's coming?' The Master tapped his meditation bed and said, 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I do not.' The Master said, 'A sudden clap of thunder in the heavens startles the universe, but the frog at the bottom of the well does not raise its head.'
He asked, 'How can one discern the place where neither Buddha nor Māra reaches?' The Master said, 'Yajñadatta's head was never lost; seeking to recognize it in a mirror is an error.'
He asked, 'What is rescue and departure from birth and death?' The Master said, 'Clinging to water to prolong life for a while, one does not hear the marvelous celestial music.'
He asked, 'How do the four great elements come to exist?' The Master said, 'Clear water has no waves; foam arises from being struck by the wind.' The monk asked, 'How is it when the foam is destroyed and returns to the water?' The Master said, 'Neither turbid nor muddy, fish and dragons leap as they please.'
He asked, 'What is the matter of birth and death?' The Master said, 'A single thought forgets machinations, and the great void is without a speck.'
He asked, 'What is the Way?' The Master said, 'Retaining machinations still obstructs the traces; shedding stagnation opens the thoroughfare.'
He asked, 'What cannot be contained within the entire canon?' The Master said, 'Rain nourishes the three types of grass to bloom; a piece of jade is naturally radiant from the beginning.'
He asked, 'A single hair swallows the vast ocean whole—what more can be said about this?' The Master said, 'A household that has a picture of the White Ze will surely be free from such monsters.' (Baofu said differently: 'A household that has no picture of the White Ze also has no such monsters.')
He asked, 'How is it when one is completely still?' The Master said, 'The seasonal thunder responds to the period, shaking the mountains and awakening the hibernating insects.' The monk asked, 'How is it when a thousand kinds of activities are not different from that very stillness?' The Master said, 'The numinous crane soars beyond the sky; the dull bird does not leave its nest.' The monk said, 'How is that?' The Master said, 'A white-haired elder bowing to a youth—people throughout the world can hardly believe it.'
He asked, 'When the holy ones come thus, what should one offer to them?' The Master said, 'Though the earth star holds a monk's staff, he is not a brāhmaṇa.'
He asked, 'Are the patriarch's intention and the teaching's intention identical or distinct?' The Master said, 'The sun and moon together wheel across the sky; whose house has a separate road?' The monk said, 'If so, then manifestation and concealment take different paths, and the matter is not uniform.' The Master said, 'Just do not lose your sheep yourself; what need is there to weep at the fork in the road?'
He asked, 'How is it when a student intends to return home?' The Master said, 'The house is ruined and the family dead—where will you return, child?' The monk said, 'If so, then I shall not return.' The Master said, 'The remaining snow before the courtyard is melted by the sun's wheel; who will be dispatched to sweep the floating dust in the room?'
He asked, 'Movement is the sprout of the Dharma King; stillness is the root of the Dharma King. Leaving aside the root and sprout, what is the Dharma King?' The Master raised his whisk. The monk said, 'This is still the sprout of the Dharma King.' The Master said, 'If the dragon does not emerge from its cave, who can do anything with it?'
The Master opened the Dharma at two mountains, and his words spread to all quarters. In the eighth month, autumn of the first year of the Guanghua era of the Tang dynasty (a wuwu year), he admonished the administrators, saying, 'In the method of leaving home, no surplus possessions should be kept. At sowing time, one must strictly cut down and economize. All tasks of construction and building are to be suspended. The flowing light is swift, and the Great Way is profound and subtle. If one continues in routine, how can one experience awakening?' Though his exhortations were earnest, the assembly considered them customary and paid them little heed.
When winter came, the Master manifested a slight illness, yet did not tire of answering inquiries. On the first day of the twelfth month, he told the assembly, 'I will pass either tomorrow or the day after. Now I have a matter to ask you all: If you say this is it, that is placing a head on top of a head. If you say this is not it, that is cutting off your head to seek life.'
At that time the head monk replied, 'The green mountain does not lift its feet; under the sun, one does not light a lamp.' The Master said, 'What time and season is this here to speak such words?'
At that time Sthavira Yancong replied separately, saying, 'Apart from these two paths, I ask the upādhyāya not to inquire.' The Master said, 'Not yet—speak further.' Yancong said, 'Yancong cannot say it completely.' The Master said, 'I do not care whether you complete it or not.' Yancong said, 'Yancong has no attendant to reply to the upādhyāya.' The Master then left the hall.
When night came, he had an attendant summon Yancong into the abbot's quarters and said, 'Ācārya, your reply to this old monk today had great reason in it. According to this, you should realize the late master's meaning. The late master said: "Before the eyes there are no phenomena; the intention is before the eyes. It is not a phenomenon before the eyes; it is not reached by ears or eyes." Tell me, which phrase is the primary phrase? If you can discern it, I will transmit the bowl-bag to you.' Yancong said, 'Yancong does not understand.' The Master said, 'You should understand—just speak!' Yancong said, 'Yancong truly does not know.' The Master shouted him out and said, 'Bitter, bitter!' (Xuanjue said, 'Tell me: did Sthavira Cong truly not understand, or was he afraid of seeing the bowl-bag stick to him?')
At noon on the second day, another monk brought up the previous words and asked the Master. The Master replied in his own place, saying, 'The boat of compassion is not rowed upon clear waves; through the Sword Gorges, it is in vain to release a wooden goose.' Thereupon he announced his passing away. His age was sixty-five; his monastic age was forty-six. His stupa was erected at the northwest corner of the monastery.