景德傳燈錄 18.3

18.3

福州玄沙宗一大師法名師備。福州閩縣人也。姓謝氏。幼好垂釣。泛小艇於南臺江狎諸漁者。唐咸通初年甫三十。忽慕出塵乃棄釣舟。投芙蓉山靈訓禪師落髮。往豫章開元寺道玄律師受具。布衲芒屨食才接氣。常終日宴坐眾皆異之。與雪峯義存本法門昆仲而親近若師資。雪峯以其苦行呼為頭陀。一日雪峯問曰。阿那箇是備頭陀。對曰。終不敢誑於人。異日雪峯召曰。備頭陀何不遍參去。師曰。達磨不來東土二祖不往西天。雪峯然之。暨登象骨山乃與師同力締構。玄徒臻萃。師入室咨決罔替晨昏。又閱楞嚴經發明心地。由是應機敏捷與修多羅冥契。諸方玄學有所未決必從之請益。至若與雪峯和尚徵詰亦當仁不讓。雪峯曰。備頭陀其再來人也。一日雪峯上堂曰。要會此事猶如古鏡當臺胡來胡現漢來漢現。師曰。忽遇明鏡來時如何。雪峯曰。胡漢俱隱。師曰。老和尚脚跟猶未點地。師上堂時久。大眾盡謂不說法。一時各歸。師乃呵云。看總是一樣底。無一箇有智慧。但見我開遮兩片皮。盡來簇著覓言語意度。是我真實。為他却總不知。看恁麼大難大難。師有時云。諸禪德汝諸人盡巡方行脚來。稱我參禪學道。為有奇特去處。為當只恁麼東問西問。若有試通來我為汝證明是非。我盡識得還有麼。若無當知只是趁謴（古困切）是汝既到遮裏來。我今問汝。汝諸人還有眼麼。若有即今便合識得。還識得麼。若不識便被我喚作生盲生聾底人還是麼。肯恁麼道麼。禪德亦莫自屈。是汝真實何曾是恁麼人。十方諸佛把汝向頂上著。不敢錯誤著一分子。只道此事唯我能知。會麼。如今相紹繼盡道承他釋迦。我道釋迦與我同參。汝道參阿誰會麼。大不容易。知莫非大悟始解得知。若是限劑所悟亦莫能覯。汝還識大悟麼。不可是汝向髑髏前認他鑒照。不可是汝說空說無說。遮邊那邊有世間法。有一箇不是世間法。和尚子虛空猶從迷妄幻生。如今若是大肯去何處有遮箇稱說。尚無虛空消息。何處有三界。業次父母緣生與汝樁立前後。如今道無尚是誑語。豈況是有知麼。是汝多時行脚和尚子。稱道有覺悟底事。我今問汝。只如巔山巖崖逈絕人處。還有佛法麼。還裁辨得麼。若辨不得卒未在。我尋常道。亡僧面前正是觸目菩提。萬里神光頂後相。若人覯得。不妨出。得陰界。脫汝髑髏前意想。都來只是汝真實人體。何處更別有一法解蓋覆。汝知麼。還信得麼。解承當得麼。大須努力。師又云。我今問汝諸人。且承得箇什麼事。在何世界安身立命。還辨得麼。若辨不得恰似揑目生華。見事便差。知麼。如今現前見有山河大地色空明暗種種諸物。皆是狂勞華相。喚作顛倒知見。夫出家人識心達本。故號沙門。汝今既已剃髮披衣為沙門相。即合有自利利他分。如今看著盡黑漫漫地。如黑汁相似。自救尚不得。爭解為得他人。仁者佛法因緣事大。莫當等閑相聚頭亂說雜話趁謴過時。光陰難得。可惜許大丈夫兒。何不自省察看是什麼事。只如從上宗風。是諸佛頂族。汝既承當不得。所以我方便勸汝。但從迦葉門接續頓超去。此一門超汝凡聖因果。超他毘盧妙莊嚴世界海。超他釋迦方便門。直下永劫不教有一物與汝作眼見。何不急急究取。未必道我且待三生兩生久積淨業。仁者。汝宗乘是什麼事。不可由汝身心用工莊嚴便得去。不可他心宿命便得法。會麼。只如釋迦出頭來。作如許多變弄說十二分教。如瓶灌水。大作一場佛事向汝。此門中用一點不得。用一毛頭伎倆不得。知麼如同夢事。亦如寱語。沙門不應得出頭來。蓋為識得知麼。識得即是大出脫大出頭。所以道超。凡越聖出生離死離因離果超。毘盧越釋迦。不被凡聖因果所謾。一切處無人識得汝。知麼莫只長戀生死愛網。被善惡業拘將去無自由分。饒汝鍊得身心同空去。饒汝得到精明湛不搖處。不出他識陰。古人喚作如急流水。流急不覺妄為澹淨。恁麼修行盡不出他輪迴際。依前被輪轉去。所以道。諸行無常。直是三乘功果。如是可畏若無道眼亦不為究竟。何如從今日博地凡夫。不用一毫工夫。便頓超去。解省心力麼。還願樂麼。勸汝我如今立地待汝覯去。不用汝加功練行。如今不恁麼更待何時還肯麼。還肯麼。師有時上堂謂眾曰。是汝真實如是。又有時云。達磨如今現在。汝諸人還見麼。師云。是諸人見有險惡。見有大蟲刀劍諸事逼汝身命。便生無限怕怖。如似什麼。恰如世間畫師。一般自畫作地獄變相。作大蟲刀劍了。好好地看了。却自生怕怖。汝今諸人亦復如是。百般見有。是汝自幻出自生怕怖。亦不是別人與汝為過。汝今欲覺此幻惑麼。但識取汝金剛眼睛。若識得不曾教汝有纖塵可得露現。何處更有虎狼刀劍解愶嚇得汝。直至釋迦如是伎倆。亦覓出頭處不得。所以我向汝道。沙門眼把定世界函蓋乾坤不漏絲髮。何處更有一物為汝知見知麼。如是出脫。如是奇特。何不究取。師云。汝諸人如似在大海裏坐。沒頭水浸却了。更展手問人乞水喫。還會麼。夫學般若菩薩是大根器有大智慧始得。若有智慧即今便得出脫。若是根機遲鈍。直須勤苦忍耐日夜忘疲失食如喪考妣相似。恁麼急切盡一生去。更得人荷挾剋骨究實。不妨亦得覯去。且況如今誰是堪任受學底人。仁者莫只是記言記語恰似念陀羅尼相似。蹋步向前來。口裏哆哆啝啝地。被人把住詰問。著沒去處便瞋道。和尚不為我答話。恁麼學事大苦。知麼。有一般坐繩床和尚。稱為善知識。問著便動身動手點眼吐舌瞪視。更有一般便說。昭昭靈靈靈臺智性能見能聞。向五蘊身田裏作主宰恁麼為善知識大賺人。知麼我今問汝。汝若認昭昭靈靈。是汝真實為什麼。瞌睡時又不成昭昭靈靈。若瞌睡時不是為什麼有昭昭時。汝還會麼。遮箇喚作認賊為子。是生死根本妄想緣氣。汝欲識此根由麼。我向汝道。汝昭昭靈靈。只因前塵色聲香等法而有分別。便道此是昭昭靈靈。若無前塵汝此昭昭靈靈同於龜毛兔角。仁者。真實在什麼處。汝今欲得出他五蘊身田主宰。但識取汝祕密金剛體。古人向汝道。圓成正遍遍周沙界。我今少分為汝智者。可以譬喻得解。汝見此南閻浮提日麼。世間人所作興營養身活命種種心行作業。莫非承他日光成立。只如日體還有多般及心行麼。還有不周遍處麼。欲識此金剛體亦如是。只如今山河大地十方國土色空明暗及汝身心。莫非盡承汝圓成威光所現。直是天人群生類所作業次受生果報有性無情。莫非承汝威光。乃至諸佛成道成果接物利生。莫非盡承汝威光。只如金剛體還有凡夫諸佛麼。有汝心行麼。不可道無便得當去也。知麼汝既有如是奇特。當陽出身處何不發明取。便隨他向五蘊身田中鬼趣裏作活計。直下自謾却去。忽然無常殺境到來。眼目譸張。身見命見恁麼時大難枝荷。如生脫龜箇相似大苦。仁者莫把瞌睡見解便當却去。未解蓋覆得毛頭許。汝還知麼。三界無安猶如火宅。且汝未是得安樂底人。只大作群隊干他人世。遮邊那邊飛走野鹿相似。但知求衣為食。若恁麼爭行他王道知麼國王大臣不拘汝。父母放汝出家。十方施主供汝衣食。土地龍神護汝。也須具慚愧知恩始得。莫孤負人好。長連床上排行著地銷將去。道是安樂。未在皆是粥飯將養得。汝爛冬瓜相似變將去。土裏埋將去。業識茫茫無本可據。沙門因什麼到恁麼地。只如大地上蠢蠢者。我喚作地獄劫住。如今若不了。明朝後日看變入驢胎馬肚裏。牽犁拽杷銜鐵負鞍。碓擣磨磨水火裏燒煮。去大不容易。受大須恐懼。好是汝自累知麼。若是了去直下永劫不曾教汝有遮箇消息。若不了此煩惱惡業因緣。未是一劫兩劫得休。直與汝金剛齊壽知麼。南際長老到雪峯。雪峯令訪于師。師問曰。古人道。此事唯我能知長老作麼生。南際曰。須知有不求知者（歸宗柔別拊掌三下）師曰。山頭和尚喫許多辛苦作麼。雪峯因普請畬田。見一蛇以杖挑起召眾曰。看看以刀芟為兩段。師以杖拋於背後更不顧視。眾愕然。雪峯曰俊哉。師一日隨侍雪峯遊山。雪峯指一片地曰。此處造得一所無縫塔。師曰。高多少雪峯乃顧視上下。師曰。人天依報即不如和尚。若是靈山受記大遠在。雪峯曰。世界闊一尺古鏡闊一尺。世界闊一丈古鏡闊一丈。師指火鑪曰。火鑪闊多少。雪峯曰。如古鏡闊。師曰。老和尚脚跟未點地。師初受請住梅谿場普應院。中間遷止玄沙山。自是天下叢林海眾皆望風而賓之。閩帥王公請演無上乘。待以師禮。學徒餘八百室戶不閉。師上堂良久謂眾曰。我為汝得徹困也還會麼。僧問。寂寂無言時如何師曰。寱語作麼。曰本分事請師道。師曰。𥋙睡作麼。曰學人即𥋙睡和尚如何。師曰。爭得恁麼不識痛痒。又曰。可惜如許大師僧。千道萬里行脚到遮裏。不消箇𥋙睡寱語便屈却去。問如何是學人自己。師曰。用自己作麼。僧問。從上宗門中事。師此間如何言論。師曰。少人聽。僧曰請和尚直道。師曰。患聾作麼又曰。仁者。如今事不獲已。教我抑下如是威光。苦口相勸。百千方便道如此如彼。共汝相知聞盡成顛倒知見。將此咽喉脣吻。只成得箇野狐精業謾汝我。還肯麼。只如有過無過唯我自知。汝爭得會。若是恁麼人出頭來甘伏呵責。夫為人師匠大不易。須是善知識始得知。我如今恁麼方便助汝。猶尚不能覯得。可中純舉宗乘。是汝向什麼處措。還會麼。四十九年是方便。只如靈山會有百萬眾。唯有迦葉一人親聞。餘盡不聞。汝道迦葉親聞事作麼生。不可道如來無說說迦葉不聞聞。便得當。不可是汝修因成果。福智莊嚴底事。知麼且如道。吾有正法眼付囑大迦葉。我道猶如話月。曹谿豎拂子如還指月。所以道。大唐國內宗乘中事。未曾見有一人舉唱。設有人舉唱。盡大地人失却性命。如無孔鐵槌相似。一時亡鋒結舌去。汝諸人賴遇我。不惜身命。共汝顛倒知見。隨汝狂意。方有申問處。我若不共汝恁麼有聞去。汝向什麼處得見我。會麼大難。努力珍重。乃有偈曰。

Great Master Zongyi of Xuansha in Fuzhou, whose Dharma name was Shibei, was a native of Min County in Fuzhou. His surname was Xie. In his youth he was fond of angling, drifting in a small skiff on the Nantai River in company with the various fishermen. Early in the Xiantong reign period of the Tang, when he had just turned thirty, he suddenly longed to leave the dust [of the world], so he abandoned his fishing boat and went to Chan Master Lingxun of Mount Furong to have his head shaved. He went to Vinaya Master Daoxuan at Kaiyuan Monastery in Yuzhang to receive full ordination. In a hemp robe and straw sandals, his food only just kept him breathing, and he would often sit in tranquil meditation all day long, so that everyone was amazed by him. He and Xuefeng Yicun were originally brothers in the Dharma, yet they were as close as master and disciple. Xuefeng called him an ascetic (dhūta) on account of his austere practices. One day Xuefeng asked, "Which one is Ascetic Bei?" He replied, "To the end I would not dare deceive anyone." On another day Xuefeng called out, "Ascetic Bei, why do you not go on an extensive pilgrimage?" The Master said, "Bodhidharma did not come to the Eastern Land; the Second Patriarch did not go to the Western Heavens." Xuefeng approved of this. When [Xuefeng] ascended Mount Xianggu, [the Master] joined forces with him to establish [the monastery]. Students of the profound gathered like clouds. The Master entered [Xuefeng's] room to resolve doubts without interruption morning and night. Furthermore, upon reading the Śūraṅgama-sūtra, he clarified his mind-ground. From this, his responsiveness to situations was swift and keen, in silent accord with the sūtras. Whenever students of the profound from all quarters had unresolved questions, they invariably sought instruction from him. When it came to inquiring and challenging Upādhyāya Xuefeng, he also did not defer even to his teacher. Xuefeng said, "Ascetic Bei is a person who has returned [from a past life]."

One day Xuefeng ascended the hall and said, "If you want to understand this matter, it is like an ancient mirror on its stand: when a foreigner comes, a foreigner appears; when a Han person comes, a Han person appears." The Master said, "What happens when the clear mirror suddenly arrives?" Xuefeng said, "Both foreigner and Han person are concealed." The Master said, "The old upādhyāya's heels have not yet touched the ground."

The Master sat in the hall for a long time; the assembly all thought he would not preach the Dharma, and all at once each returned [to their quarters]. The Master then scolded them, saying: "Look! They are all of one kind—not a single one has wisdom. As soon as they see me open these two flaps of skin, they all crowd around seeking words and mental calculations. What is my reality, for their sake they never know at all. See how exceedingly difficult, how exceedingly difficult it is!"

The Master sometimes said: "Virtuous Chan monks, you all travel about on pilgrimage and claim, 'I practice Chan and study the Path.' Is it because there is some extraordinary place, or is it just wandering about asking here and there? If you have something, try to present it; I will verify right and wrong for you. I know all of it—do you still have anything? If not, you should know you are merely pursuing amusement. Since you have come here, I now ask you: do all of you have eyes? If you do, right now you ought to recognize [it]. Do you recognize it? If you do not recognize it, then when I call you people born blind and born deaf, is that so? Do you agree with this statement? Virtuous Chan monks, do not put yourselves down either! In your reality, when were you ever such people? The Buddhas of the ten directions place you upon the crowns of their heads, not daring to err by the slightest fraction. They only say, 'This matter only I can know.' Do you understand? Nowadays those who succeed one another all claim to inherit from Śākyamuni. I say Śākyamuni is a fellow practitioner with me. Who do you say he practiced with? Do you understand? It is not at all easy! Know that only with great awakening can one begin to understand and know it. If it is an awakening of defined limits, one cannot see it either. Do you recognize great awakening? It certainly cannot be that you recognize its reflection before a skull! It certainly cannot be your speaking of emptiness, speaking of nonexistence, speaking of this side or that side, of mundane dharmas, or of something that is not a mundane dharma! O monks, space itself is still phantom-born from delusion and error; if you now truly accept [the real], where would there be such designations? When there is not even any news of space, where are the three realms? The sequence of karma, the conditions of parents, birth, and setting you up before and after—to speak of nonexistence now is still deceptive speech, how much more so [to speak of] existence, you know? You monks who have been on pilgrimage for a long time claim that there is a matter of awakening. I now ask you: on the summit of a mountain or a sheer cliff, in a place completely cut off from human beings, is there still the Buddha Dharma? Can you still discern it? If you cannot discern it, you are not there yet. I usually say: directly before a deceased monk, that is right where bodhi meets the eye, the sign behind the crown shining with spiritual light for ten thousand leagues. If a person can see it, they can effortlessly emerge from the realm of the aggregates and cast off the mental concepts before their skull. In the end, it is merely your true person. Where else could there be another separate dharma capable of covering it? Do you know? Do you still have faith? Can you take charge of it? You must make great effort!"

The Master also said: "I now ask you people: for now, what matter have you undertaken? In what world have you settled your body and established your life? Can you discern it? If you cannot discern it, it is just like pressing the eyes and producing flowers—whatever you see is mistaken. Do you know? Right now, seeing before you the mountains, rivers, the great earth, form, emptiness, light, darkness, and all various things—these are all the marks of flowers of wild agitation, called inverted knowledge and views. Now, one who leaves the household life recognizes the mind and penetrates the root, therefore they are called a śramaṇa. Now that you have already shaved your head, donned the robes, and taken on the appearance of a śramaṇa, you ought to have a share in benefiting oneself and benefiting others. Look at you now: all pitch-black, resembling black ink! You cannot even save yourselves; how can you understand how to act for others? Worthy ones, the cause and conditions of the Buddha Dharma are a great matter. Do not take it lightly, gathering your heads together, talking wildly and chattering, wasting time in pursuit of amusement! Time is hard to regain; what a pity for great men! Why do you not examine yourselves and see what matter this is? Take the ancestral tradition from of old: it is the crown clan of all Buddhas. Since you cannot take charge of it, therefore I use skillful means to urge you: just continue through Kāśyapa's gate and transcend suddenly! This one gate transcends your ordinary and sacred, cause and effect; it transcends his ocean of the wondrously adorned worlds of Vairocana; it transcends his skillful means gate of Śākyamuni; directly, for eternal eons, it does not allow a single thing to become an object seen by your eyes. Why do you not urgently investigate it? You must not say, 'Let me wait for two or three lifetimes to accumulate pure karma for a long time.' Worthy ones, what matter is your ancestral vehicle? It cannot be attained by your physical and mental effort and adornment; the Dharma cannot be attained through knowledge of other minds or recollection of past lives. Do you understand? Take Śākyamuni's emergence [in the world]: he performed so many transformations and taught the twelve divisions of the canon, like pouring water into a vase, performing a great Buddha-work for your sake. In this gate, not a bit of it can be used; not a hair's breadth of artifice can be used. Do you know? It is like a dream event, also like talking in one's sleep. A śramaṇa should not have to show his head—it is precisely because he recognizes and knows it! Do you know? Recognizing it is the great release, the great showing of one's head. Therefore it is said: transcending the ordinary and surpassing the sacred, emerging from birth and departing from death, departing from cause and departing from effect, transcending Vairocana and surpassing Śākyamuni, not deceived by ordinary, sacred, cause, or effect; in all places no one recognizes you. Do you know? Do not merely harbor long-standing longing for the net of love of birth and death, dragged along by good and bad karma with no share of freedom! Even if you refine your body and mind to be equal to empty space, even if you reach the place where pristine clarity is settled and unmoving, you still do not emerge from his aggregate of consciousness. The ancients called it like rushing water: flowing so swiftly that one is unaware, mistakenly taking it to be clear and still. Such cultivation never emerges from his boundary of saṃsāra; as before, one is spun around by it. Therefore it is said: 'All conditioned things are impermanent.' Even the fruits of practice of the three vehicles are fearsome like this; if one lacks the eye of the Path, it is also not ultimate. How much better from this day, as an ordinary person tied to the ground, without using a fraction of effort, to simply transcend suddenly! Do you understand how to save mental energy? Do you still wish and delight in it? I urge you: right now I am standing here waiting for you to see it; it does not require you to add effort and practice austerities. If not right now, what other time are you waiting for? Do you agree? Do you agree?"

The Master sometimes ascended the hall and addressed the assembly, saying: "Your reality is just like this." At other times he also said: "Bodhidharma is present right now. Do you all see him?"

The Master said: "You people see dangers and evils, see tigers, knives, and swords, all sorts of things threatening your life, and immediately boundless fear arises. What is it like? It is just like a painter in the world who paints an image of hell, and paints tigers, knives, and swords; after finishing, he looks closely at it and then becomes afraid of it himself! You people right now are also like this: seeing all kinds of things as existent, they are phantoms you produced yourselves, and you generate fear yourselves. It is also not another person's fault. Do you now wish to awaken from this phantom delusion? Just recognize your diamond eye! If you recognize it, it has never allowed a speck of dust to be exposed. Where would there still be tigers, wolves, knives, and swords capable of terrifying you? Even with such artifices as Śākyamuni had, he also could not find a way to show his head. Therefore I say to you: the eye of a śramaṇa holds the world fast, enclosing heaven and earth, not leaking a single hair. Where is there still a single thing to be your knowledge and perception? Do you know? Such release! Such wonder! Why do you not investigate it?"

The Master said: "You people are like someone sitting in the great ocean, submerged over your head in water, yet still stretching out a hand to beg people for water to drink. Do you understand? Now, a bodhisattva who studies prajñā must be of great capacity and have great wisdom before they succeed. If you have wisdom, right now you can find release. If your capacity is sluggish, you must endure toil and hardship day and night, forgetting fatigue and neglecting food, just like mourning deceased parents. Being so earnest and urgent throughout a whole lifetime, and further having someone to carry and guide you, investigating the truth to the marrow of your bones, you may also come to see it. What is more, nowadays who is a person capable of undertaking study? Worthy ones, do not merely memorize phrases and words just like reciting dhāraṇīs, stepping forward with mouths chattering away, and when held fast and questioned by someone, having nowhere to turn, you become angry and say, 'The upādhyāya does not answer my questions!' Studying things like this is great suffering! Do you know? There is a sort of upādhyāya sitting on a rope chair, claimed to be a kalyāṇamitra; when questioned, he immediately moves his body and hands, winks his eyes, sticks out his tongue, and stares blankly. There is another sort who says, 'Luminous and spiritual, the intellect of the spiritual terrace can see and hear, acting as the master within the bodily field of the five aggregates.' To be a kalyāṇamitra like this greatly misleads people! Do you know? I now ask you: if you recognize what is luminous and spiritual to be your reality, why is it that when you are asleep, it does not become luminous and spiritual? If it is not so when you are asleep, why is there a time when it is luminous? Do you understand? This is called 'mistaking a thief for one's son'—it is the root of birth and death, the conditioned breath of deluded thoughts. Do you wish to know this source? I tell you: your luminosity and spirituality only arise from distinguishing previous sense data such as form, sound, and fragrance, and then you say, 'This is luminous and spiritual.' If there were no preceding sense data, this luminosity and spirituality of yours would be the same as the horns of a hare or the hairs of a tortoise. Worthy ones, where is reality? If you now wish to emerge from that master within the bodily field of the five aggregates, just recognize your secret diamond body! An ancient said to you: 'Perfected, correct, and pervasive, it pervades the sand-realms.' Now I shall explain a little for you wise people, so that you may understand through a metaphor. Do you see this sun of Jambudvīpa? The enterprises, nourishment of the body, livelihoods, and various mental activities and deeds performed by worldly people—are they not all established relying on its sunlight? But does the body of the sun itself have diverse kinds and mental activities? Is there any place it does not pervade? If you wish to know this diamond body, it is also like this. Right now, the mountains, rivers, the great earth, the lands of the ten directions, form, emptiness, light, darkness, and your body and mind—are they not all manifested relying on your perfected, awesome light? Even the karmic sequence of gods and humans, the various kinds of living beings receiving birth and retribution, both sentient and insentient—are they not all relying on your awesome light? Even the Buddhas realizing the Path and attaining the fruit, receiving beings and benefiting living creatures—are they not all relying on your awesome light? But does the diamond body have ordinary people and Buddhas? Does it have your mental activities? You cannot just say 'there is none' and have it suffice! Do you know? Since you have such wonder, why do you not realize and clarify the place where you show yourself in plain sight? Instead, you follow along within the bodily field of the five aggregates making a livelihood in the ghost realm, directly deceiving yourselves. Suddenly, when the killing realm of impermanence arrives, with eyes wide in terror, clinging to body and clinging to life, at such a time it will be exceedingly difficult to withstand, just like a turtle having its shell stripped off alive—great suffering! Worthy ones, do not just treat sleepy views as sufficient; they cannot cover even a hair's breadth! Do you know? The three realms have no peace, just like a burning house. Moreover, you are not people who have attained peace and happiness; you merely gather in great herds to meddle in the mundane world, like wild deer running here and there, only knowing how to seek clothing and food. If you are like this, how can you practice the royal way? Do you know? Kings and great ministers do not constrain you; parents allow you to leave the household; donors of the ten directions provide you with food and clothing; the earth spirits and dragon gods protect you. You must have a sense of shame and know gratitude before you are worthy! Do not disappoint people. Sprawled out on the long platform beds, letting time waste away, saying, 'This is peace and happiness'—not at all! It is all nourished by gruel and rice; you will rot away like rotten winter melons, buried away in the soil, your karmic consciousness boundless with no root to rely upon. For what reason have śramaṇas reached such a state? Take the wriggling creatures on the great earth: I call them dwelling in the eon of hell. If you do not resolve it now, tomorrow or the next day, see yourselves transformed into the womb of a donkey or the belly of a horse, pulling plows and rakes, holding the iron bit and bearing the saddle, pounded in mortars and ground in mills, burned and boiled in fire and water—going there is not at all easy! Suffering it requires great dread. It is your own burden, you know! If you resolve it, directly and for eternal eons you will never be allowed to have news of this. If you do not resolve the causes and conditions of these afflictions and evil karma, it will not cease after one eon or two eons—it will last as long as your diamond [nature]! Do you know?"

Elder Nanjie arrived at Xuefeng's place. Xuefeng instructed him to visit the Master. The Master asked, "An ancient said, 'This matter only I can know.' What do you say, Elder?" Nanjie said, "One must know there is one who does not seek to know." (Guizong Rou offered an alternative by clapping three times.) The Master said, "Why does the upādhyāya at the peak of the mountain undergo so much hardship?"

Xuefeng, while doing communal labor clearing fields, saw a snake. Raising it with his staff, he called to the assembly, "Look! Look!" and cut it into two pieces with a blade. The Master tossed his staff behind his back and did not even look back. The assembly was astonished. Xuefeng said, "How sharp!"

One day, while accompanying Xuefeng on a walk in the mountains, Xuefeng pointed to a patch of ground and said, "A seamless stūpa could be built here." The Master said, "How tall would it be?" Xuefeng looked up and down. The Master said, "As for the dependent retribution of humans and gods, it is not as good as the upādhyāya; but as for receiving the prophecy on Vulture Peak, you are still far from it."

Xuefeng said, "When the world is one foot wide, the ancient mirror is one foot wide; when the world is ten feet wide, the ancient mirror is ten feet wide." The Master pointed to the brazier and said, "How wide is the brazier?" Xuefeng said, "As wide as the ancient mirror." The Master said, "The old upādhyāya's heels have not touched the ground."

The Master first accepted an invitation to dwell at the Puying Cloister at the Meixi salt-tax office. Later, he moved to Mount Xuansha. From then on, the monastic assemblies of the forests throughout the world all looked up to his reputation and submitted to him. Wang, the Military Commissioner of Min, invited him to expound the unsurpassed vehicle and treated him with the etiquette due a master. His students numbered over eight hundred, and the doors of the rooms were never closed.

The Master ascended the hall. After remaining silent for a long time, he addressed the assembly, saying: "I have exhausted myself to the utmost for your sakes; do you still understand?"

A monk asked, "What is it like when all is quiet and without words?" The Master said, "Why talk in your sleep?" The monk said, "Please, Master, speak of the fundamental matter." The Master said, "Why doze off?" The monk said, "I am dozing off; what about the upādhyāya?" The Master said, "How can you be so oblivious to pain and itch?" He also said: "What a pity for such great master-monks, traveling on pilgrimage for thousands and tens of thousands of miles to come here, yet unable to withstand a bit of dozing and sleep-talk, and so they give in!"

[A monk] asked, "What is the student's self?" The Master said, "What use do you have for a self?"

A monk asked, "Regarding the matter of the ancestral school from of old, what are the Master's words here?" The Master said, "Few listen." The monk said, "Please speak directly, Upādhyāya." The Master said, "Why suffer from deafness?"

He also said: "Worthy ones, nowadays matters leave me no choice, making me hold down such awesome light, earnestly advising you with bitter mouth, using hundreds of thousands of skillful means to say this and that. When I share knowledge and hearing with you, it all turns into inverted knowledge and views. Using this throat, lips, and mouth only results in the wild-fox karma of deceiving you. Do you agree? Whether there is fault or no fault, only I myself know; how could you understand? If such a person steps forward, they willingly submit to rebuke. Being a teacher and model for people is not at all easy; one must be a kalyāṇamitra before one can know it. Now, when I help you with such skillful means, you still cannot see it; if I were to uphold the ancestral vehicle purely, where would you place yourselves? Do you understand? The forty-nine years were skillful means. Take the assembly at Vulture Peak: there were a million in the assembly, yet only Kāśyapa alone personally heard it; all the rest did not hear. What do you say Kāśyapa personally heard? You cannot say that the Tathāgata's teaching without words was what Kāśyapa heard without hearing, and have it suffice! It certainly cannot be the matter of your cultivating causes to achieve results, adorned with blessings and wisdom! Do you know? Take the statement, 'I have the correct Dharma eye, which I entrust to Mahākāśyapa'—I say it is like talking about the moon. Caoqi raising the whisk was like pointing to the moon. Therefore it is said: in the realm of the Great Tang, regarding the matter of the ancestral vehicle, I have never seen a single person proclaim it. If someone were to proclaim it, everyone in the whole world would lose their lives, just like an iron hammer without a hole, all losing their sharpness and their tongues tied at once. You people are fortunate to have met me, who, disregarding body and life, share inverted knowledge and views with you and follow your wild ideas, so that you only then have a place to bring questions. If I did not have such hearing in common with you, where would you be able to see me? Do you understand? It is exceedingly difficult! Strive on! Take care!"

He then delivered a verse, saying: