景德傳燈錄 26.51

26.51

問學人久在永明。為什麼不會永明家風。師曰。不會處會取。曰不會處如何會。師曰。牛胎生象子碧海起紅塵。問成佛成祖亦出不得。六道輪迴亦出不得。未審出箇什麼不得。師曰。出汝問處不得。問承教有言。一切諸佛及佛法皆從此經出。如何是此經。師曰。長時轉不停非義亦非聲。曰如何受持。師曰。若欲受持者應須用眼聽。問如何是大圓鏡。師曰。破砂盆。師居永明道場十五載。度弟子一千七百人。開寶七年入天台山度戒約萬餘人。常與七眾受菩薩戒。夜施鬼神食。朝放諸生類不可稱算。六時散華。行道餘力念法華經一萬三千部。著宗鏡錄一百卷。詩偈賦詠凡千萬言。播于海外。高麗國王覽師言教。遣使齎書敘弟子之禮。奉金線織成袈裟紫水精數珠金澡罐等。彼國僧三十六人親承印記。前後歸本國各化一方。以開寶八年乙亥十二月示疾。二十六日辰時焚香告眾跏趺而亡。明年正月六日塔于大慈山。壽七十二。臘四十二。太宗皇帝賜額曰壽寧禪院。

A monk asked, "I have been at Yongming for a long time. Why do I not understand the house style of Yongming?"
The Master said, "Understand it at the place where you do not understand."
The monk said, "How can one understand it at the place where one does not understand?"
The Master said, "An ox's womb gives birth to an elephant calf; from the cerulean sea, red dust arises."
The monk asked, "Becoming a Buddha or becoming an ancestor, one still cannot escape; transmigration in the six destinies, one still cannot escape. I wonder: what can one not escape?"
The Master said, "You cannot escape the place from which you ask."
The monk asked, "According to the teachings, it is said that all Buddhas and all Buddha-dharmas emerge from this sūtra. What is this sūtra?"
The Master said, "It turns constantly without halting; it is neither meaning nor sound."
The monk said, "How does one accept and uphold it?"
The Master said, "If one wishes to accept and uphold it, one must listen with the eyes."
The monk asked, "What is the great round mirror?"
The Master said, "A broken earthen basin."
The Master resided at the Yongming place of practice for fifteen years, ordaining one thousand seven hundred disciples. In the seventh year of Kaibao, he went to Mount Tiantai and administered the precepts to about ten thousand people. He regularly administered the bodhisattva precepts to the seven assemblies. At night he offered food to ghosts and spirits; in the morning he released living creatures beyond count. During the six periods of the day he scattered flowers. In the spare energy from practicing the Way, he recited the Lotus Sūtra thirteen thousand times. He composed the Zongjing lu in one hundred fascicles, and his poems, verses, fu-rhapsodies, and chants amounted to some ten million words, spreading abroad. The King of Goryeo read the Master's teachings and sent an envoy with a letter to express the courtesy of a disciple, presenting a kāṣāya woven with golden thread, rosaries of purple quartz, a golden water basin, and other gifts. Thirty-six monks of that country personally received his seal of approval, and returned to their native land over time to each transform their own region. In the eighth year of Kaibao, the year yihai, in the twelfth month, he showed signs of illness. On the twenty-sixth day, at the chen hour, he burned incense, informed the assembly, sat cross-legged, and passed away. On the sixth day of the first month of the following year, a stūpa was erected on Mount Daci. He was seventy-two years of age, with forty-two Dharma years. Emperor Taizong bestowed a plaque reading "Shouning Chan Cloister."