景德傳燈錄 26.61

26.61

廣州光聖道場師護禪師閩越人也。自天台得法化行嶺表。國主劉氏待以師禮。創大伽藍請師居焉。署大義之號。僧問。昔日梵王請佛今日國主臨筵。祖嗣西來如何舉唱。師曰。不要西來。山僧已舉唱了也。曰豈無方便。師曰。適來豈不是方便。問國王三請來坐光聖道場。未審和尚法嗣何方。師曰。一聲鼕鼓萬戶齊窺。曰恁麼即天台妙旨光聖親承也。師曰。莫亂道。問學人乍入叢林西來妙訣乞師指示。師曰。汝未入叢林我已示汝了也。曰如何領會。師曰。不要領會。

Chan Master Shihu of Guangsheng Bodhimaṇḍa in Guangzhou was a native of Minyue. After obtaining the Dharma from Tiantai, his teaching flourished south of the ridges. The ruler of the kingdom, of the Liu clan, treated him with the etiquette due a teacher, founded a great monastery, and invited the Master to reside there, granting him the title Dayi. A monk asked, "In the past, King Brahmā requested the Buddha [to teach]; today, the ruler of the kingdom attends the feast. The ancestral transmission came from the west; how will you propose and chant it?" The Master said, "There is no need for coming from the west; this mountain monk has already proposed and chanted it." [The monk] said, "Is there no skillful means?" The Master said, "Was just now not skillful means?" [A monk] asked, "The king of the kingdom invited you thrice to come and occupy Guangsheng Bodhimaṇḍa. I wonder, to which quarter do you, upādhyāya, belong as a Dharma heir?" The Master said, "One beat of the drum, and myriad households peer out at once." [The monk] said, "If so, then you have personally received the marvelous purport of Tiantai at Guangsheng." The Master said, "Do not speak nonsense." A monk asked, "The student has newly entered the monastic grove; regarding the marvelous key of the coming from the west, I beg the Master for instruction." The Master said, "Before you entered the monastic grove, I had already instructed you." [The monk] said, "How am I to comprehend it?" The Master said, "There is no need to comprehend it."