景德傳燈錄 21.5

21.5

福州臥龍山安國院慧球寂照禪師（第二世住亦曰中塔）泉州莆田人也。龜洋山出家。玄沙室中參訊居首。因問。如何是第一月。玄沙曰。用汝箇月作麼。師從此悟入。梁開平二年玄沙將示滅。閩帥王氏遣子至問疾。仍請密示繼踵說法者誰乎。玄沙曰。球子得。王氏默記遺旨乃問鼓山國師曰。臥龍法席孰當其任。鼓山舉城下宿德。具道眼者十有二人。皆堪出世。王氏亦默之。至開堂日官寮與僧侶俱會法筵。王氏忽問眾曰。誰是球上座。於是眾人指出師。王氏便請陞座。師良久謂眾曰。莫嫌寂寞。莫道不堪。未詳涯際作麼生論量。所以尋常用其音響。聊撥一兩下助他機發道。盡十方世界覓一人為伴侶不可得。僧問。佛法大意從何方便頓入。師曰。入是方便。問雲自何山起風從何㵎生。師曰。盡力施為不離中塔。師上堂謂眾曰。我此間粥飯因緣為兄弟舉唱終是不常。欲得省要。却是山河大地與汝發明。其道既常亦能究竟。若從文殊門入者。一切無為土木瓦礫助汝發機。若從觀音門入者。一切音響蝦蟇蚯蚓助汝發機。若從普賢門入者。不動步而到。我以此三門方便示汝。如將一隻折箸攪大海水。令彼魚龍知水為命。會麼。若無智眼而審諦之。任汝百般巧妙不為究竟。僧問。學人近入叢林不明己事乞師指示。師以杖指之曰。會麼。曰不會。師曰。我恁麼為汝却成抑屈人。還知麼。若約當人分上。從來底事不論初入叢林。及過去諸佛不曾乏少。如大海水。一切魚龍初生及至老死。所受用水悉皆平等。問不謬正宗請師真實。師曰。汝替我道。僧曰。或有不辨者作麼生。師曰。待不辨者來。問諸佛還有師否。師曰有。僧曰。如何是諸佛師。師曰。一切人識不得。師上堂良久。有僧出禮拜。師曰。莫教髑髏拶損。問如何是靈山會上事。師曰。少得靈利底。僧曰。忽遇靈利底作麼生。師曰。遮懵懂師上堂示眾曰。諸人若要商量。向髑髏後通取消息來相共商量。遮裏不曾障人光明。問從上宗乘事如何。師良久。僧再問。師便喝出。問如何是大庾嶺頭事。師曰。料汝承當不得。僧曰。重多少。師曰。遮般底論劫不奈何。師問了院主。只如先師道。盡十方世界是真實人體。爾還見僧堂麼。了曰。和尚莫眼花。師曰。先師遷化肉猶暖在。師梁乾化三年癸酉八月十七日不疾而逝。

Chan Master Huiqiu Jizhao of Anguo Monastery on Mount Wolong in Fuzhou (the second generation abbot, also called Zhongta) was a native of Putian in Quanzhou. He left home at Mount Guiyang. In Xuansha's quarters, he ranked foremost among those who inquired into the Dharma. Once he asked, "What is the first moon?" Xuansha said, "What do you use your moon for?" From this the Master had an awakening. In the second year of Kaiping of the Liang dynasty, when Xuansha was about to manifest extinction, the military commissioner of Min, Lord Wang, sent his son to inquire after his illness, and further requested him to secretly indicate who should succeed him in preaching the Dharma. Xuansha said, "Qiu has it." Lord Wang silently bore in mind the bequeathed instructions, and then asked National Master Gushan, "For the Dharma seat at Wolong, who should undertake that responsibility?" Gushan brought forward twelve senior and virtuous monks from beneath the city walls who possessed the eye of the Way, all capable of appearing in the world. Lord Wang also remained silent about this. When the day came to open the hall, government officials and monks all gathered at the Dharma assembly. Lord Wang suddenly asked the assembly, "Who is Sthavira Qiu?" Thereupon the assembly pointed out the Master. Lord Wang then invited him to ascend the seat. The Master remained silent for a good while, and then addressed the assembly, saying, "Do not dislike loneliness; do not say it is unbearable. When the limit is not yet clear, how can you debate and measure it? Therefore, normally I use sounds and echoes, giving a poke or two merely to help trigger their awakening, saying: 'Search through the worlds of the ten directions for a single person to be a companion, and none can be found.'" A monk asked, "Through what skillful means may one suddenly enter the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?" The Master said, "Entering is the skillful means." [The monk] asked, "From what mountain do clouds arise? From what ravine is the wind born?" The Master said, "Exerting all effort in action does not depart from Zhongta." The Master ascended the hall and addressed the assembly, saying, "My expounding of the conditions of gruel and rice here for you brethren is ultimately not eternal. If you wish to attain what is essential, it is rather the mountains, rivers, and the great earth that will illuminate it for you. Since that Way is eternal, it can also be ultimate. If you enter through the gate of Mañjuśrī, all unconditioned earth, wood, tiles, and rubble will help trigger your awakening. If you enter through the gate of Avalokiteśvara, all sounds, echoes, toads, and earthworms will help trigger your awakening. If you enter through the gate of Samantabhadra, you arrive without moving a step. I use the skillful means of these three gates to show you, like taking a single broken chopstick to stir the water of the great ocean, making those fish and dragons know that water is their life. Do you understand? If you lack the eye of wisdom to examine it thoroughly, no matter your hundred kinds of cleverness, it will not be ultimate." A monk asked, "I have recently entered the monastery and am not clear about my own affair; I beg the Master's instruction." The Master pointed at him with his staff and said, "Do you understand?" [The monk] said, "I do not understand." The Master said, "My acting like this for you has instead ended up doing you an injustice. Do you know that? If we consider the person's own share, the fundamental matter is never lacking, regardless of whether one has just entered the monastery or is a Buddha of the past. It is like the water of the great ocean: from when they are first born until they grow old and die, the water enjoyed by all fish and dragons is completely equal." [A monk] asked, "Without deviating from the correct lineage, please, Master, speak the truth." The Master said, "You speak for me." The monk said, "If there is someone who cannot discern it, what then?" The Master said, "Wait until someone who cannot discern it comes." [A monk] asked, "Do the Buddhas still have a teacher?" The Master said, "They do." The monk said, "Who is the teacher of the Buddhas?" The Master said, "No one can recognize him." The Master ascended the hall and remained silent for a good while. A monk came forward and bowed. The Master said, "Do not let your skull be crushed." [A monk] asked, "What was the affair at the assembly on Vulture Peak?" The Master said, "Few are those who are sharp-witted." The monk said, "If one suddenly encounters a sharp-witted one, what then?" The Master said, "This muddled fellow!" The Master ascended the hall and instructed the assembly, saying, "If you people wish to deliberate, send word from behind the skull and then come deliberate together. Here, people's radiance has never been obstructed." [A monk] asked, "How is the matter of the ancestral vehicle from of old?" The Master remained silent for a good while. The monk asked again. The Master then shouted him out. [A monk] asked, "What was the affair on the peak of Mount Dayu?" The Master said, "I reckon you cannot bear it." The monk said, "How heavy is it?" The Master said, "Regarding this sort of thing, even after kalpas of discussion, nothing can be done about it." The Master asked Monastery Director Liao, "Just as the late master said, 'The worlds of the ten directions are entirely the real person's body'—do you still see the monks' hall?" Liao said, "Upādhyāya, do not let your eyes be blurred." The Master said, "The late master passed away, yet his flesh is still warm." The Master passed away without illness on the seventeenth day of the eighth month in the third year of Qianhua of the Liang dynasty, the guiyou year.