[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [景德傳燈錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076) › 19.22 # 景德傳燈錄 19.22 景德傳燈錄 19.22 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [19.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.19.22) 韶州雲門山文偃禪師。姑蘇嘉興人也。姓張氏。初參睦州陳尊宿發明大旨。後造雪峯而益資玄要。因藏器混眾。于韶州靈樹敏禪師法席居第一座。敏將滅度遺書於廣主。請接踵住持。師不忘本以雪峯為師。開堂日廣主親臨曰。弟子請益。師曰。目前無異路（法眼別云。不可無益於人）師云。莫道今日謾諸人好抑不得。已向諸人道遮裏作一場狼藉。忽遇明眼人見謂之一場笑具。如今亦不能避得也。且問爾諸人。從上來有什麼事。欠少什麼。向爾道無事亦是謾爾也。須到遮田地始得。亦莫趁口頭亂問。自己心裏黑漫漫地。明朝後日大有事在。爾若是根性遲迴。且向古人建化門庭東覻西覻看。是箇什麼道理。汝欲得會麼。都緣是汝自家無量劫來妄想濃厚。一期聞人說著便生疑心。問佛問祖。向上向下求覓解會。轉沒交涉。擬心即差。況復有言。莫是不擬心麼。更有什麼事。珍重。師上堂云。我事不獲已。向爾諸人道直下無事。早是相埋沒了也。爾諸人更擬進步。向前尋言逐句求覓解會。千差萬巧廣設問難。只是贏得一場口滑。去道轉遠有什麼休歇時。此箇事若在言語上。三乘十二分教豈是無言語。因什麼更道教外別傳。若從學解機智得。只如十地聖人說法如雲如雨。猶被呵責。見性如隔羅縠。以此故知。一切有心天地懸殊。雖然如此若是得底人。道火不可燒。口終日說事不曾掛著脣齒。未曾道著一字。終日著衣喫飯。未嘗觸一粒米掛一縷線。雖然如此猶是門庭之說也。須實得恁麼始得。若約衲僧門下。句裏呈機徒勞佇思。直饒一句下承當得。猶是瞌睡漢。師云。三乘十二分教橫說竪說。天下老和尚縱橫十字說。與我捻針鋒許說底道理來看。恁麼道死馬醫。雖然如此且有幾箇到此境界。不敢望汝言中有響句裏藏鋒。瞬目千差風恬浪靜。伏惟尚饗珍重。師上堂云。諸兄弟。盡是諸方參尋知識決擇生死。到處豈無尊宿垂慈方便之詞。還有透不得底句麼。出來舉看。老漢大家共爾商量。時有僧出來禮拜擬舉次師云。去去西天路迢迢十萬餘。問學人簇簇地商量箇什麼。云。大眾久立。師云。舉一則語。教汝直下承當。早是撒尿著汝頭上。直饒捻一毫頭。盡大地一時明得。也是剜肉作瘡。雖然如此汝亦須實到遮箇田地始得。若未切不得掠。虛却須退步向自己根脚下推尋看。是箇甚麼道理。實無絲髮與汝作解會與汝作疑惑。汝等各各且當人一段事大用現前。更不煩汝一毫頭氣力。便與祖佛無別。自是諸人信根淺薄惡業濃厚。突然起得許多頭角。擔鉢囊千鄉萬里受屈。且汝諸人有什麼不足處。大丈夫漢阿誰無分。觸目承當得猶是不著便。不可受人欺謾取人處分。才見老和尚動口。便好把特石驀口塞。便是屎上青蠅相似鬪競接將去。三箇五箇聚頭地商量。苦屈。兄弟。他古德一期為爾諸人不奈何。所以方便垂一言半句通汝入路。遮般事拈放一邊。獨自著些子筋骨。豈不是有少許相親處。快與快與。時不待人出息不保入息。更有什麼身心別處閑用。切須在意在意珍重。師云。盡乾坤把一時將來著汝眼睫上。爾諸人聞恁麼道。不敢望爾出來性𭟡把老漢打一摑。且緩緩子細看。是有是無。是箇什麼道理。直饒向遮裏明得。若遇衲僧門下好搥折兩脚。汝若是箇人。聞說道什麼處有老宿出世。便好驀面唾污我耳目。汝若不是箇脚手。才聞人舉便當荷得早落第二機也。汝且看。他德山和尚才見僧上來拽拄杖便打趁。睦州和尚才見入門來。便云。且放汝三十棒。或時云見成公案自餘之輩合作麼生。若是一般掠虛漢。食人涎唾記得一堆。一擔骨董到處逞。驢脣馬嘴誇我解問十轉五轉話。饒爾從朝問到夜論劫。恁麼還曾夢見也未。什麼處是與人著力處。似遮般底。有人屈衲僧齋。也道我得飯喫。堪什麼共語。他日閻羅王面前不取爾口解說。諸兄弟。若是得底人他家依眾遣日。若也未得切莫容易。過時。大須子細。古人大有葛藤相為處。即如雪峯和尚道。盡大地是汝。夾山云。百草頭識取老僧。市門頭認取天子。樂普云。一塵才舉大地全收。一毛師子全身。總是汝把取翻覆思量日久歲深。自然有箇入路。此事無爾替代處。莫非各在當人分上。老和尚出世只是為爾證明。汝若有少許來由。且昧爾亦不得。爾若實未得方便撥汝。則不可兄弟一等是蹋破草鞋。拋却師僧父母行脚。直須著些子精彩始得實。若有箇入頭處遇著一個咬猪狗脚手。不惜性命入泥入水相為。有可咬嚼。劄上眉毛高掛鉢囊。拗折拄杖。十年二十年擬取徹頭。莫愁不成辦。直是今生未得徹頭。來生亦不失人身。向此箇門中亦乃省力。不虛孤負平生。亦不孤負師僧父母十方施主。直須在意。莫空遊州獵縣橫擔柱杖一千二千里走趁。遮邊經冬那邊過夏。好山水堪取性。多齋供易得衣鉢。苦屈圖他一粒米。失却半年糧。如此行脚有什麼利益。信心檀越把菜粒米作麼生消得。直須自看。時不待人。忽然一日眼光落地到來前頭將什麼抵擬。莫一似落湯螃蟹手脚忙亂。無爾掠虛說大話處。莫將等閑空過時光。一失人身萬劫不復。不是小事。莫據目前。古人尚道朝聞道夕死可矣。況我沙門。日夕合履踐箇什麼事。大須努力。努力珍重。師云。汝等沒可恁麼了見人道著祖意。便問箇超佛越祖之談。汝且喚那箇為佛那箇為祖。且說箇超佛越祖底道理。問箇出三界。爾把將三界來看。有什麼見聞覺知隔礙著爾有什麼聲色可與爾了了什麼椀。以阿那箇為差殊之見。他古聖不奈何。橫身為物道箇舉體全真物物覿體不可得。我向爾道。直下有什麼事。早是相埋沒了也。爾若實未有入頭處。且中私獨自參詳。除却著衣喫飯屙屎送尿。更有什麼事。無端起得許多妄想作什麼。更有一般底。恰似等閑相似。聚頭學得箇古人話路。識性記持妄想卜度。道我會佛法了也。只管說葛藤取性過時。更嫌不稱意。千鄉萬里拋却老爺孃師僧和尚。作遮去就遮般打約野禿有什麼死急行脚去。師上堂云。故知時運澆漓迨于像季。近日師僧北去禮文殊。南去遊衡嶽。若恁麼行脚名字比丘徒消信施。苦哉苦哉。問著黑似漆相似。只管取性過時。設使有三箇兩箇。枉學多聞記持話路。到處覓相似言語印可老宿。輕忽上流作薄福德業。他日閻羅王釘爾之時。莫道無人向爾說。若是初心後學。直須著精神莫空記人說。情多虛不如少實。向後只是自賺。有什麼事近前。師上堂大眾雲集。師以拄杖指面前云。乾坤大地微塵諸佛總在裏許。爭佛法各覓勝負。還有人諫得麼。若無人諫得。待老漢與爾諫。時有僧出云。便請和尚諫。師云。遮野狐精。師云。汝諸人傍家行脚。皆是河南海北各各盡有生緣。所在還自知得麼。試出來舉看。老漢與汝證明。有麼有麼出來。汝若不知老漢謾爾去也。汝欲得知若生緣在北。北有趙州和尚。五臺山有文殊。總在遮裏。若生緣在南。南有雪峯臥龍西堂鼓山。總在遮裏。汝欲得識麼。欲得識向遮裏識取。若不見亦莫掠虛。見麼見麼。且看老僧騎佛殿出去也。珍重。師上堂云。天親菩薩無端變作一條楖𣗖木杖。乃畫地一下云。塵沙諸佛盡向遮裏葛藤。便下堂。師云。我看爾諸人二三機中不能覯得。空披衲衣何益。汝還會麼。與汝注破。久後諸方若見老宿舉一指竪一拂子云是禪是道。拽拄杖打破頭便行。若不如此。盡是天魔眷屬壞滅吾宗。汝若不會。且向葛藤社裏看。我尋常向汝道。微塵剎土三世諸佛。西天二十八祖唐土六祖。盡在拄杖頭上說法。神通變現聲應十方。一任縱橫。爾還會麼。若不會且莫掠虛。然雖據實實是諦見也未。直饒到此田地。未曾夢見衲僧。沙彌在三家村裏不逢一人。師驀起以拄杖劃地一下云。總在遮裏。又劃一下云。總從遮裏出去也珍重。師上堂云。和尚子。衲僧直須明取衲僧鼻孔。且作麼生是衲僧鼻孔。眾皆無對。師云。摩訶般若波羅蜜大普請下去。師上堂云。諸和尚子。饒爾道有什麼事。猶是頭上著頭。雪上加霜。棺木裏瞠眼。炙瘡瘢上著艾燋。遮箇一場狼藉不是小事。爾合作麼生各自覓取箇托生處。好莫空遊州獵縣。只欲捉搦閑話。待老和尚口動。便問禪問道向上向下如何若何。大卷抄了塞在皮袋裏卜度。到處火鑪邊三箇五箇聚頭。口喃喃舉更道。遮箇是公才語。遮箇是從裏道出語。遮箇是就事上道底語。遮箇是體語體。爾屋裏老爺老孃。噇却飯了只管說夢便道我會佛法了也。將知爾行脚驢年得箇休歇麼。更有一般底。才聞人說箇休歇處。便向陰界裏閉眉合眼。老鼠孔裏作活計。黑山下坐鬼趣裏。體當便道得箇入頭路。夢見麼。似遮般底殺一萬箇。有什麼罪過。喚作打底。不遇作家。至竟只是箇掠虛漢。爾若實有箇見處。試捻來看共爾商量。莫空不識好惡矻矻地聚頭說閑葛藤。莫教老漢見捉來勘不相當搥折脚。莫道不道。爾還皮下有血麼。以拄杖一時趁下。問如何是佛法大意。師曰。春來草自青。師問新羅僧。將什麼物過海。曰草賊敗也。師引手曰。汝為什麼在我遮裏。曰恰是。師曰。更𨁝跳。問牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。家家觀世音。曰見後如何。師曰。火裏蟭蟉吞大蟲。問如何是雲門一句。師曰。獵月二十五。問如何是雪嶺泥牛吼。師曰。天地黑。曰如何是雲門木馬嘶。師曰。山河走。問從上來事請師提綱師曰。朝看東南暮看西北。曰便恁麼領會時如何。師曰。東屋裏點燈西屋裏暗坐。問十二時中如何即得不空過。師曰。向什麼處著此一問。曰學人不會請師舉。師曰。將筆硯來。僧乃取筆硯來。師作一頌曰。 > Chan Master Wenyan of Mount Yunmen in Shaozhou was a native of Jiaxing in Gusu, with the surname Zhang. He first trained under the Venerable Chen of Muzhou, clarifying the great import. Later he approached Xuefeng, further augmenting the dark essentials. Concealing his capacity, he mingled with the assembly, serving as the head seat in the dharma hall of Chan Master Min of Lingshu in Shaozhou. When Min was about to enter extinction, he left a letter to the Governor of Guang\[zhou\], requesting that \[Wenyan\] succeed him as abbot. The Master did not forget his roots, considering Xuefeng his teacher. On the day the hall was opened, the Governor arrived in person and said, "Your disciple requests instruction." The Master said, "Before your eyes there is no different path." (Fayan said as an alternative: "One must not fail to benefit people.") > > The Master said: "Do not say I am deceiving you today; I simply cannot hold back. I have already told you that this place is a total mess. If a person with clear eyes happens to see it, they will call it a laughingstock. Now, one cannot avoid it either. Let me ask you all: from antiquity onwards, what matter is there? What is lacking? If I tell you there is nothing the matter, that is also deceiving you. You must actually reach this ground before you can know. Do not just chatter away asking questions at random with pitch darkness inside your own mind; in the days to come, there will be serious matters indeed. If your faculties are slow and hesitant, look toward the ancient masters' established teachings, looking east and west to see what principle this is! Do you wish to understand? It is entirely because your own delusive thoughts over immeasurable kalpas are dense and thick. The moment you hear someone mention it, doubt arises; you ask about buddhas and ask about patriarchs, seeking understanding above and below, getting further and further disconnected. Intentional thinking is already error, how much more so with words? Could it be that having no intentional thoughts is it? What else is there? Take care!" > > The Master entered the hall and said: "Out of helplessness, I tell you all that directly here, there is nothing the matter—already this is burying you alive. If you all still intend to take a step forward, pursuing words and chasing phrases to seek understanding, devising thousands of distinctions and countless contrivances to set up interrogations, you merely gain a slippery tongue, getting farther from the Way. When will there be rest? If this matter lay in words, does the twelve-division canon of the three vehicles lack words? Why would one speak of a separate transmission outside the teachings? If it could be attained through learned understanding and intellectual cunning, why were the holy ones of the tenth stage, preaching the Dharma like clouds and rain, still rebuked because their seeing of nature was as if veiled by thin silk? From this we know that between all minds with conceptual intent and \[the Way\], heaven and earth are vastly separated. Although it is like this, if someone has attained it, they say fire cannot burn them; though they speak of things all day long, it has never brushed past their lips and teeth, nor have they ever uttered a single word; though they wear clothes and eat food all day long, they have never touched a single grain of rice or hung a single thread of thread. Although it is like this, this is still talk within the courtyard. One must truly attain it in this way before it counts. If judged by the standards of the patch-robed monk, revealing one's function within a phrase is a wasted effort of contemplation; even if one takes charge under a single phrase, one is still a sleepyhead." > > The Master said: "The twelve-division canon of the three vehicles preaches across and preaches up; old monks throughout the land speak this way and that in every direction. Show me a principle spoken fine as the point of a needle! Speaking like this is trying to cure a dead horse. Although it is like this, just how many have reached this realm? I dare not expect you to have reverberation in your words, edges concealed within phrases, a thousand distinctions at a blink of the eye, or wind calmed and waves stilled. Humbly I offer this: take care!" > > The Master entered the hall and said: "Brothers! You have all traveled in every quarter seeking spiritual friends to resolve life and death. Wherever you go, how could there be an absence of the compassionate, skillful words of venerable elders? Are there still phrases you cannot penetrate? Come forward and raise them! The old fellow will deliberate them together with you." At that time, a monk came forward, bowed, and was about to bring up a question, when the Master said: "Away, away! The road to the Western Heaven is more than a hundred thousand li distant!" > > A monk asked: "What is the student assembly crowded together deliberating?" The Master said: "The assembly has stood for a long time." The Master said: "Raising a single phrase to have you take charge directly is already pissing on your head. Even if one twirls the tip of a fine hair and the entire great earth is simultaneously illuminated, it is still like gouging into healthy flesh to make a wound. Although it is like this, you must genuinely reach this ground before you can know. If you have not yet, you must never lay claim to empty space; instead, you must step back and investigate beneath your own heels to see what principle this is! Truly, not the slightest thread or hair is provided for you to form an understanding or entertain doubts. Each and every one of you has your own matter, its great function manifesting right before you, requiring not the slightest ounce of effort on your part; it is no different from the patriarchs and buddhas. It is just that your roots of faith are shallow, and your bad karma is dense, so that you suddenly sprout so many horns, shouldering your almsbowl and travel pack across thousands of villages and tens of thousands of miles, taking on grief. And what do you lack? For a great hero, who has no share? Even directly grasping it upon sight is still not getting it right; you must not suffer people's deceit or accept their orders. The moment you see an old monk move his mouth, you should immediately plug it with a rock; like blowflies over dung, you vie to snap it up, three or five putting their heads together in discussion. What bitter grief! Brothers, those ancients acted out of helplessness for your sakes; therefore, through skillful means, they let drop half a phrase to open an entry path for you. Put these matters aside, muster a bit of your own sinew and bone—would there not be a slight intimacy then? Be swift! Be swift! Time waits for no one; the out-breath does not guarantee the in-breath. What other idle use is there for mind and body? You must be attentive! Take care!" > > The Master said: "Taking the entire cosmos all at once and putting it on your eyelashes—hearing this said, I dare not expect you to come forth fiercely and give this old fellow a slap; just look slowly and carefully: is it there or not? What kind of principle is it? Even if you illuminate it here, if you encounter the patch-robed monks' school, your two legs ought to be broken. If you are a real person, the moment you hear of some old master appearing in the world, you should spit right in his face, saying, 'You defile my ears and eyes!' If you lack such capability, the moment you hear someone cite something and take it upon yourself, you have already fallen into the secondary mode. Look: the moment Master Deshan saw a monk come up, he raised his staff to strike and drive him away; the moment Master Muzhou saw someone enter the door, he said, 'I'll spare you thirty blows for now,' or sometimes, 'It is an accomplished public case!' What should the rest of the lot do? If you are just ordinary pretenders, swallowing others' spittle and remembering a whole heap, toting a load of curiosities to show off everywhere, bragging with donkey lips and horse mouths, 'I know how to ask five or ten rounds of questions'—even if you ask from morning to night for kalpas, have you ever even dreamed of it? Where is there any real effort given to people? For people like this, when invited to a monk's vegetarian meal, they also say, 'I got some rice to eat.' Are they fit to speak with? On a future day before King Yama, he won't accept your clever explanations! Brothers, if one is a person who has attained, they stay among the assembly passing the days; if you have not attained, do not take it lightly or pass the time in vain. You must be extremely careful. The ancients had plenty of tangled vine-talk to help you. For instance, Master Xuefeng said: 'The entire great earth is you.' Jiashan said: 'Recognize the old monk at the tip of the hundred grasses; discern the Son of Heaven at the market gate.' Lepu said: 'As soon as a dust mote is raised, the great earth is completely gathered in; a single hair of the lion is the entire body.' All of these you should take up, turn over, and contemplate; after long days and years, an entry path will naturally appear. In this matter, no one can substitute for you; it is entirely within each person's own allotment. An old monk's appearing in the world is merely to bear witness for you. If you have the slightest basis, one cannot obscure you; if you truly have not attained it, skillful means to deflect you cannot be used. Brothers, equally having worn out straw sandals, having cast aside masters and parents to go on pilgrimage, you must summon some spirit before you succeed! Truly, if there is an entry point, when you encounter a capable person who bites pigs and dogs, who does not begrudge life and enters mud and water to help you, there is something to chew on. Pin up your eyebrows, hang up your almsbowl high, snap your staff, and resolve to see it through for ten or twenty years; do not worry that it will not be accomplished. Even if you do not see it through in this life, in the next life you will not lose a human body. In this gate, it is effortless; you will not have lived this life in vain, nor will you fail your masters, parents, and the donors of the ten directions. You must pay attention! Do not wander emptily through prefectures and hunt through counties, carrying your staff horizontally and rushing about for one or two thousand li, spending winter over here and summer over there, indulging yourself because the scenery is pleasant, easily obtaining robes and bowls because offerings are abundant. How bitter and tragic! Seeking a single grain of his rice, you lose half a year's provisions! What benefit is there in such pilgrimage? How can you digest the vegetables and grains of faithful donors? You must look into yourself! Time waits for no one. Suddenly one day the light of your eyes falls to the ground; when that comes before you, what will you resist it with? Do not be like a crab dropped in boiling water, flailing your limbs in confusion, with nowhere to pretend or talk big. Do not pass the time idly in vain. Once the human body is lost, it cannot be recovered for ten thousand kalpas; it is no small matter. Do not just cling to the present moment. The ancients said, 'If in the morning one hears the Way, in the evening one may die content.' How much more so for us śramaṇas—what matter should we be treading day and night? You must make great effort! Make effort! Take care!" > > The Master said: "You are utterly helpless. Seeing someone speak of the ancestral intent, you ask about speech that transcends the buddhas and patriarchs. Just tell me, what do you call a buddha, and what do you call a patriarch? Speak a principle that transcends buddhas and patriarchs! You ask about leaving the three realms—bring the three realms here for me to see! What perception, hearing, awareness, or knowing obstructs you? What sound or form is there for you to be lucid about? What bowl is that? What do you consider a discriminatory view? The ancient sages, out of helplessness, gave themselves up for living beings and said, 'The entire body is wholly real; phenomenal things in their very manifestation cannot be grasped.' If I tell you that directly there is nothing the matter, already this is burying you alive. If you truly have no entry point, then investigate secretly on your own: apart from putting on clothes, eating food, defecating, and urinating, what other matter is there? Why needlessly generate so much delusive thinking? There is also another sort, as if casually, who gather together to learn the conversational style of the ancients, using their intellectual consciousness to remember and their delusive thoughts to calculate, saying, 'I understand the Buddhadharma!' They merely talk entangled vines, indulging themselves to pass the time; what is more, they complain when things do not suit them. Traveling thousands of villages and tens of thousands of miles, casting aside their aging fathers and mothers, their masters and monks—acting like this, what urgent matter of life and death sent such wild baldies on pilgrimage?" > > The Master entered the hall and said: "Therefore we know that the fortune of the times is degenerate and shallow, reaching the final Semblance age. Recently, monks go north to pay homage to Mañjuśrī and go south to tour Mount Heng. If they go on pilgrimage like this, they are nominal bhikṣus who consume the faithful's alms in vain. How bitter! How bitter! When questioned, they are dark as lacquer; they merely indulge themselves to pass the time. Even if there are two or three who uselessly study much learning and memorize lines of talk, seeking similar words everywhere to get the seal of approval from old masters, they look down upon their superiors and create karma of depleted blessings and virtue. On a future day when King Yama nails you down, do not say no one spoke to you! If you are a beginner or a later student, you must gather your energy and not memorize what others say in vain. Much sentiment and falsehood is not as good as a little reality; afterward, you will only have cheated yourself. If you have any matter, step forward!" > > The Master entered the hall, and the great assembly gathered like clouds. The Master pointed his staff before them and said: "The cosmos, the great earth, and the fine-dust buddhas are all inside here, contending over the Buddhadharma, each seeking victory or defeat. Is there anyone who can arbitrate? If no one can arbitrate, wait for this old fellow to arbitrate for you!" At that time, a monk stepped forward and said: "Then please, Upādhyāya, arbitrate!" The Master said: "This wild fox spirit!" > > The Master said: "All of you go about on pilgrimage, coming from south of the River or north of the Sea, each having the place of your birth and conditions. Do you know where that place is? Try coming forward to present it; the old fellow will bear witness for you. Is there anyone? Is there anyone? Come forward! If you do not know, the old fellow will deceive you. If you wish to know: if the conditions of your birth are in the north, in the north there is Upādhyāya Zhaozhou, and on Mount Wutai there is Mañjuśrī—all are right here. If the conditions of your birth are in the south, in the south there is Xuefeng, Wolong, Xitang, and Gushan—all are right here. Do you wish to know them? If you wish to know them, recognize them right here! If you do not see, do not pretend either. Do you see? Do you see? Watch as this old monk rides the Buddha hall out! Take care!" > > The Master entered the hall and said: "Bodhisattva Vasubandhu for no reason transformed into a staff of mountain-peach wood." Then, drawing a line on the ground, he said: "The buddhas as numerous as sands of dust all engage in vine-tangle talk right here." Then he stepped down from the hall. > > The Master said: "I see that you cannot catch on within two or three moves; what benefit is there in wearing the patch-robed garment in vain? Do you understand? I will explain it thoroughly for you: in the future, if you see an old master in any quarter raise a finger or erect a whisk, saying, 'This is Chan, this is the Way,' grab his staff, break his head, and walk away! If you do not do so, you are entirely belonging to the retinue of the heavenly māras, destroying our school! If you do not understand, then look inside the society of tangled vines. I usually tell you: the fine-dust lands, the buddhas of the three periods, the twenty-eight patriarchs of India, and the six patriarchs of the Tang land all preach the Dharma on the tip of the staff, their spiritual penetrations and transformations resounding through the ten directions, freely active in every way. Do you understand? If you do not understand, do not pretend! However, even if based on fact, is it truly seen clearly? Even if you reach this ground, you have not yet dreamed of the patch-robed monk. A śrāmaṇera in a three-house village encounters no one." The Master suddenly rose, drew a line on the ground with his staff, and said: "All are right here." He drew another line and said: "All go out from right here! Take care!" > > The Master entered the hall and said: "Venerable ones! A patch-robed monk must clarify a patch-robed monk's nostrils. Now, what is a patch-robed monk's nostrils?" The assembly had no reply. The Master said: "Mahāprajñāpāramitā! General work duty—down you go!" > > The Master entered the hall and said: "Venerable ones! Even if you say there is nothing the matter, it is still adding a head on top of a head, adding frost onto snow, staring with eyes wide open inside a coffin, applying moxa over a cauterized scar. This mess is no small matter. What should you do? Each of you should find a place to settle your life; do not wander emptily through prefectures and hunt through counties, merely wishing to seize idle talk, waiting for the old master to move his mouth, then asking about Chan, asking about the Way, how is the transcendental, how is the worldly, transcribing large scrolls to stuff into your leather bag and speculate over. Everywhere by the hearth, three or five gather their heads together, muttering and raising questions, saying: 'This is an expression of public talent; this is an expression spoken from within; this is an expression spoken according to phenomena; this is the expression of essence.' Essence your aging father and mother at home! Having gulped down your rice, you just talk dreams and say, 'I understand the Buddhadharma!' When in the Year of the Donkey will your pilgrimage find rest? There is also another sort: the moment they hear of a resting place, they close their brows and shut their eyes in the realm of the aggregates, making a living in a rat's hole, sitting under the dark mountain in the ghost realm, and speculating, they say they have found an entry path. Have they dreamed of it? For those like this, even if ten thousand were killed, what sin would there be? They are called blind beaters; not having met a master of the craft, in the end they are merely pretenders. If you truly have a perspective, try presenting it so I can deliberate with you. Do not blindly ignore good and bad, stubbornly putting your heads together to speak idle vine-tangles! Do not let this old fellow catch you, interrogate you, and finding you inadequate, break your legs! Do not say I did not warn you! Do you still have blood under your skin?" Using his staff, he drove them all down at once. > > A monk asked: "What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?" The Master said: "When spring comes, the grass turns green by itself." > > The Master asked a monk from Silla: "With what thing did you cross the sea?" The monk said: "The grass bandits are defeated." The Master extended his hand and said: "Why are you here in my place?" The monk said: "Just so." The Master said: "Jump again!" > > A monk asked: "How was it before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch?" The Master said: "Every household has Avalokiteśvara." The monk said: "How was it after he met him?" The Master said: "In the fire, a midge swallows a tiger." > > A monk asked: "What is Yunmen's single phrase?" The Master said: "The twenty-fifth of the twelfth month." > > A monk asked: "What is the mud ox bellowing on the snowy peak?" The Master said: "Heaven and earth are dark." The monk said: "What is Yunmen's wooden horse neighing?" The Master said: "Mountains and rivers flee." > > A monk asked: "Regarding the matter from antiquity onwards, please, Master, present the essentials." The Master said: "In the morning, look southeast; in the evening, look northwest." The monk said: "What about when one understands it just so?" The Master said: "Lighting a lamp in the eastern room; sitting in the dark in the western room." > > A monk asked: "Throughout the twelve periods of the day, how can one avoid passing the time in vain?" The Master said: "Where do you place this question?" The monk said: "The student does not understand; please, Master, cite it." The Master said: "Bring the brush and inkstone." The monk then brought the brush and inkstone. The Master composed a verse: > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 19.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.19.21) - [Next: 19.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.19.23) - [Up: 19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.19) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076~en-mt.19.22) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.19.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.19.22) · Pramāṇa