景德傳燈錄 28.8

28.8

池州南泉普願和尚上堂曰。諸子老僧十八上解作活計。有解作活計者出來。共爾商量是住山人始得。良久顧視大眾合掌曰。珍重無事各自修行。大眾不去。師曰。如聖果大可畏。勿量大人尚不奈何。我且不是渠。渠且不是我。渠爭奈我何。他經論家說法身為極則。喚作理盡三昧義盡三昧。似老僧向前被人教返本還源去。幾恁麼會禍事。兄弟近日禪師太多。覓箇癡鈍人不可得。不道全無於中還少。若有出來共爾商量。如空劫時有修行人否。有無作麼不道。阿爾尋常巧脣薄舌。及乎問著總皆不道。何不出來。莫論佛出世時事。兄弟今時人擔佛著肩上行。聞老僧言心不是佛智不是道。便聚頭擬推老僧無爾推處。爾若束得虛空作棒打得老僧著一任推。時有僧問。從上祖師至江西大師。皆云。即心是佛平常心是道。今和尚云。心不是佛智不是道。學人悉生疑惑。請和尚慈悲指示。師乃抗聲答曰。爾若是佛休更涉疑却問。老僧何處有恁麼傍家疑佛來。老僧且不是佛亦不曾見祖師。爾恁麼道自覓祖師去。曰和尚恁麼道。教學人如何扶持得。師曰。爾急手托虛空著。曰虛空無動相。云何托。師曰。爾言無動相早是動也。虛空何解道我無動相。此皆是爾情見。曰虛空無動相尚是情見。前遣某甲托何物。師曰。爾既知不應言托。擬何處扶持他。曰即心是佛既不得。是心作佛否。師曰。是心是佛是心作佛情計所有斯皆想成。佛是智人心是采集主。皆對物時他便妙用。大德莫認心認佛。設認得是境。被他喚作所知愚。故江西大師云。不是心不是佛不是物。且教爾後人恁麼行履。今時學人披箇衣服。傍家疑恁麼閑事還得否。曰既不是心不是佛不是物。和尚今却云心不是佛智不是道。未審若何。師曰。爾不認心（一有不字）是佛智不是道。老僧勿（一作忽）得心來復何處著。曰總既不得何異太虛。師曰。既不是物比什麼太虛。又教誰異不異。曰不可無他不是心不是佛不是物。師曰。爾若認遮箇還成心佛去也。曰請和尚說。師曰。老僧自不知。曰何故不知。師曰。教我作麼生說。曰可不許學人會道。師曰。會什麼道又作麼生會。曰某甲不知。師曰。不知却好。若取老僧語喚作依通人。設見彌勒出世還被他燖却頭尾。曰使後人如何。師曰。爾且自看莫憂他後人。曰前不許某甲會道。今復令某甲自看。未審如何。師曰。冥會妙會許爾。爾作麼生會。曰如何是妙會。師曰。還欲學老僧語。縱說是老僧說。大德如何。曰某甲若自會。即不須和尚乞慈悲指示。師曰。不可指東指西賺人。爾當哆哆和和時作麼不來問老僧。今時巧黠始道我不會圖什麼。爾若此生出頭來道。我出家作禪師。如未出家時曾作什麼來。且說看共爾商量。曰恁麼時某甲不知。師曰。既不知即今認得可可是耶。曰認得既不是不認是否。師曰。認不認是什麼語話。曰到遮裏某甲轉不會也。師曰。爾若不會我更不會。曰某甲是學人即不會。和尚是善知識合會。師曰。遮漢向爾道不會。誰論善知識。莫巧黠。看他江西老宿在日。有一學士問。如水無筋骨能乘萬斛舟此理如何。老宿云。遮裏無水亦無舟。論什麼筋骨。兄弟他學士便休去可不省力。所以數數向道佛不會道。我自修行用知作麼。曰如何修行。師曰。不可思量得向人道。恁麼修恁麼行大難。曰還許學人修行否。師曰。老僧不可障得爾。曰某甲如何修行。師曰。要行即行不可專尋他背。曰若不因善知識指示無以得會。如和尚每言。修行須解始得。若不解即落他因果無自由分。未審如何修行即免落他因果。師曰。更不要商量。若論修行何處不去得。曰如何去得。師曰。爾不可逐背尋得。曰和尚未說教某甲作麼生尋。師曰。縱說何處覓去。且如爾從旦至夜。忽東行西行。爾尚不商量道去得不得。別人不可知得爾。曰當東行西行總不思量是否。師曰。恁麼時誰道是不是。曰和尚每言。我於一切處而無所行。他拘我不得。喚作遍行三昧普現色身。莫是此理否。師曰。若論修行何處不去。不說拘與不拘。亦不說三昧。曰何異有法得菩提道。師曰。不論異不異。曰和尚所說修行。迢然與大乘別。未審如何。師曰。不管他別不別。兼不曾學來。若論看教自有經論座主。他教家實大可畏。爾且不如聽去好。曰究竟令學人作麼生會。師曰。如汝所問元只在因緣邊。看爾且不奈何緣。是認得六門頭事。爾但會佛那邊却來。我與爾商量。兄弟莫恁麼尋逐不住恁麼不取古人語行菩薩行唯一人行。天魔波旬領諸眷屬。常隨菩薩後覓心行起處便擬撲倒。如是經無量劫覓一念異處不得。方與眷屬禮辭讚歎供養。猶是進修位中。下之人便不奈何。況絕功用處。如文殊普賢。更不話他。兄弟作麼生道行是無。覓一日行底人不可得。今時傍家從年至歲。只是覓究竟作麼生。空弄脣舌生解。曰當恁麼時無佛名無眾生名。使某甲作麼圖度。師曰。爾言無佛名無眾生名。早是圖度了也。亦是記他言語。曰若如是悉屬佛出世時事。了不可不言。師曰。爾作麼生言。曰設使言言亦不及。師曰。若道言不及是及語。爾虛恁麼尋逐。誰與爾為境。曰既無為境者。誰是那邊人。師曰。爾若不引教來即何處論佛。既不論佛老僧與誰論遮邊那邊。曰果雖不住道而道能為因如何。師曰。是他古人如今不可不奉戒。我不是渠渠不是我。作得伊如狸奴白牯。行履却快活。爾若一念異即難為修行。曰云何一念異難為修行。師曰。才一念異便有勝劣二根。不是情見隨他因果。更有什麼自由分。曰每聞和尚說報化非真佛亦非說法者。未審如何。師曰。緣生故非。曰報化既非真佛。法身是真佛否。師曰。早是應身也。曰若恁麼即法身亦非真佛。師曰。法身是真非真。老僧無舌不解道。爾教我道即得。曰離三身外何法是真佛。師曰。遮漢共八九十老人相罵。向爾道了也。更問什麼離不離。擬把楔釘他虛空。曰伏承華嚴經是法身佛說如何。師曰。爾適來道什麼語。其僧重問。師顧視歎曰。若是法身說。爾向什麼處聽。曰某甲不會。師曰。大難大難。好去珍重。

Master Nanquan Puyan of Chizhou ascended the hall and said: "Sons, this old monk has understood how to earn a living since the age of eighteen. If anyone understands how to earn a living, let him step forward. Only when I discuss it with you can one be a resident of the mountain." After a long pause, he looked around at the assembly, joined his palms, and said: "Take care; nothing is the matter. Each of you practice on your own." The assembly did not leave. The Master said: "Such a noble fruit is greatly to be dreaded; even an immeasurable great person can do nothing about it. I am not him, and he is not me; what can he do to me? Those masters of sūtras and treatises speak of the Dharma-body as the ultimate, calling it the samādhi of exhausted principle or the samādhi of exhausted meaning. Formerly, someone told this old monk to 'return to the root and go back to the source.' If I had understood it that way, what a disaster! Brothers, these days there are too many Chan masters; you cannot find a single dull-witted person. I do not say there are none at all, but among them they are still few. If there is one, let him step forward and discuss it with you. In the era of the empty kalpa, was there any practitioner or not? Is there, or is there not—why do you not speak? You are usually clever with your lips and sharp with your tongues, yet when asked, none of you speaks. Why do you not step forward? Do not speak of matters from the time the Buddha appeared in the world. Brothers, people nowadays carry the Buddha on their shoulders as they walk. Hearing this old monk say, 'Mind is not the Buddha, wisdom is not the Path,' they put their heads together intending to push this old monk down—yet there is nowhere for you to push. If you could bind up empty space into a staff and strike this old monk, you might push as you like." At that time, a monk asked: "From the ancestral masters down to the Great Master of Jiangxi, all have said: 'This very mind is the Buddha,' and 'The ordinary mind is the Path.' Now the Upādhyāya says, 'Mind is not the Buddha, wisdom is not the Path.' The student has conceived doubt. Please, Upādhyāya, out of compassion, instruct me." The Master raised his voice and replied: "If you are a Buddha, stop getting entangled in doubts and asking. Where does this old monk have such neighboring doubts about the Buddha? This old monk is not a Buddha, nor have I ever seen an ancestral master. If you speak like that, go look for an ancestral master yourself." The monk said: "If the Upādhyāya speaks like this, how can the student maintain it?" The Master said: "Quickly support empty space with your hands." The monk said: "Empty space has no characteristics of movement. How can it be supported?" The Master said: "When you say it has no characteristics of movement, that is already movement. How can empty space say, 'I have no characteristics of movement'? These are all your emotional views." The monk said: "If empty space having no characteristics of movement is still an emotional view, what was it that you earlier sent me to support?" The Master said: "Since you know one should not speak of supporting, where do you intend to maintain it?" The monk said: "Since 'this very mind is the Buddha' is inadmissible, is it that 'this mind becomes Buddha'?" The Master said: "'This mind is the Buddha,' 'this mind becomes Buddha'—these are all notions of emotional calculation, created by conceptual thought. The Buddha is an intelligent person; the mind is the master of collecting. When facing objects, they simply function marvelously. Worthy One, do not recognize mind, do not recognize the Buddha. If you recognize them, they are objects, and you will be called one of foolish cognitive obscuration. Therefore, the Great Master of Jiangxi said: 'It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing.' He just taught you later people to walk like this. Nowadays, students put on robes and go around doubting such idle matters—can that be allowed?" The monk said: "Since it is not mind, not Buddha, and not a thing, why does the Upādhyāya now say, 'Mind is not the Buddha, wisdom is not the Path'? I do not understand how this is." The Master said: "If you do not recognize that mind is the Buddha and wisdom is the Path, where would this old monk suddenly get a mind and put it?" The monk said: "Since none of it is admissible, how is it different from the great void?" The Master said: "Since it is not a thing, to what great void do you compare it? And whom do you tell to be different or not different?" The monk said: "One cannot be without that 'not mind, not Buddha, not a thing.'" The Master said: "If you recognize this one, it turns into mind and Buddha again." The monk said: "Please, Upādhyāya, speak." The Master said: "This old monk himself does not know." The monk said: "Why do you not know?" The Master said: "How do you want me to speak?" The monk said: "May the student not be permitted to understand the Path?" The Master said: "What Path would you understand, and how would you understand it?" The monk said: "I do not know." The Master said: "Not knowing is rather good. If you take this old monk's words, you are called a person of reliant understanding. Even if you saw Maitreya appear in the world, your head and tail would still be plucked by him." The monk said: "What should later people do?" The Master said: "Just look to yourself for now; do not worry about later people." The monk said: "Earlier you did not permit me to understand the Path, and now you tell me to look to myself. I do not understand what this means." The Master said: "Dark communion, wondrous communion—I allow you that. How do you understand?" The monk said: "What is wondrous communion?" The Master said: "Do you still wish to learn this old monk's words? Even if I speak, it is this old monk speaking. What about you, Worthy One?" The monk said: "If I understood on my own, I would not need to beg the Upādhyāya for compassionate instruction." The Master said: "One must not point east and point west to deceive people. When you were babbling and stammering [as an infant], why did you not come and ask this old monk? Now that you are clever and shrewd, you start saying, 'I do not understand'—what are you after? If you came forward in this life and said, 'I left home to become a Chan master,' what did you do before leaving home? Speak and let us see; I will discuss it with you." The monk said: "At that time, I did not know." The Master said: "Since you did not know, is recognizing it just as it is right now correct?" The monk said: "Since recognizing is not right, is not recognizing right?" The Master said: "Recognizing or not recognizing—what kind of talk is that?" The monk said: "Reaching here, I understand even less." The Master said: "If you do not understand, I understand even less." The monk said: "I am a student, so I do not understand; the Upādhyāya is a kalyāṇamitra and ought to understand." The Master said: "This fellow—I tell you I do not understand; who is talking about a kalyāṇamitra? Do not be clever and shrewd. Look at when that senior elder of Jiangxi was alive: a scholar asked, 'Water has no sinews or bones, yet it can carry a boat of ten thousand bushels; what is the principle of this?' The elder said, 'Here there is neither water nor boat; what sinews and bones are you talking about?' Brothers, that scholar just stopped; was that not effortless? Therefore I repeatedly tell you that the Buddha does not understand the Path. I practice on my own; what use is knowing?" The monk said: "How does one practice?" The Master said: "It cannot be deliberated upon to speak of to others. Practicing like this and walking like this is very difficult." The monk said: "Do you still permit the student to practice?" The Master said: "This old monk cannot hinder you." The monk said: "How should I practice?" The Master said: "If you want to walk, just walk; you must not exclusively follow behind others." The monk said: "If not for a kalyāṇamitra's instruction, there is no way to understand. As the Upādhyāya often says: 'In practice, one must understand before one can succeed; if one does not understand, one falls into causality with no share of freedom.' I do not understand how to practice so as to avoid falling into causality." The Master said: "There is no need to deliberate further. In speaking of practice, where can one not go?" The monk said: "How does one go?" The Master said: "You must not search by following behind." The monk said: "Before the Upādhyāya speaks, how do you instruct me to search?" The Master said: "Even if spoken, where would you go to look for it? Consider how from morning to night, you suddenly walk east or walk west; you do not even deliberate to say whether you can go or cannot go, and other people cannot know you." The monk said: "When walking east and walking west, not deliberating at all—is that it?" The Master said: "At such a time, who says it is or is not?" The monk said: "The Upādhyāya often says: 'I walk nowhere throughout all places, and nothing can constrain me; this is called the samādhi of universal walking, universally manifesting physical forms.' Is it perhaps this principle?" The Master said: "In speaking of practice, where does one not go? I do not speak of constrained or unconstrained, nor do I speak of samādhi." The monk said: "How is this different from there being a dharma to attain the path of bodhi?" The Master said: "I do not discuss difference or non-difference." The monk said: "The practice spoken of by the Upādhyāya is distinct and different from the Mahāyāna. I do not understand how this is." The Master said: "I do not care whether it is different or not, nor have I ever studied it. If it comes to examining the teachings, there are lecture masters of the sūtras and treatises; those of the doctrinal schools are indeed greatly to be dreaded. You had better just go listen to them." The monk said: "Ultimately, how do you instruct the student to understand?" The Master said: "As for what you ask, it is originally only on the side of causes and conditions. Look, you cannot deal with conditions; it is because you recognize the matters at the six sense-gates. You just understand that side beyond the Buddha, then come back, and I will discuss it with you. Brothers, do not endlessly chase like this! If you do not adopt the ancient's words, practicing the bodhisattva practice is undertaken by only one person. The heavenly demon Pāpīyas, leading his retinue, constantly followed behind the bodhisattva, looking for where the movements of his mind arose, intending to throw him down. Passing through measureless kalpas like this, he could not find a single different thought, and only then did he and his retinue take leave with bows, praise him, and make offerings. This was still within the stage of advancing in practice; those beneath could do nothing to him. How much more so at the place where effort is ended! Like Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra, one no longer speaks of them. Brothers, how can you say practice is non-existent? You cannot find a person who practices for a single day. Nowadays, people go around from year's beginning to year's end, merely searching for what it is ultimately, vainly playing with their lips and tongues to produce intellectual understanding." The monk said: "At such a time, there is neither the name of Buddha nor the name of sentient beings. How would you have me figure it out?" The Master said: "When you say there is neither the name of Buddha nor the name of sentient beings, you have already figured it out. This is also remembering other people's words." The monk said: "If so, all belongs to matters from the time the Buddha appeared in the world. It cannot completely be left unsaid." The Master said: "How do you say it?" The monk said: "Even if spoken, words cannot reach it." The Master said: "If you say words cannot reach it, that is a reached phrase. You vainly chase like this; who acts as an object for you?" The monk said: "Since there is no one acting as an object, who is the person on that side?" The Master said: "If you do not cite the teachings, where would you discuss the Buddha? Since the Buddha is not discussed, with whom would this old monk discuss this side and that side?" The monk said: "Although the fruit does not abide in the Path, yet the Path can serve as the cause—how is this?" The Master said: "That was an ancient person; nowadays, one cannot fail to uphold the precepts. I am not him, and he is not me. If you can become like a wildcat or a white ox, your conduct will be delightful. If you have a single differing thought, it will be hard to practice." The monk said: "Why does a single differing thought make it hard to practice?" The Master said: "As soon as there is a single differing thought, there are superior and inferior faculties; if it is not emotional views, you follow along with causality. What share of freedom is there left?" The monk said: "I have often heard the Upādhyāya say that the reward and transformation bodies are not the true Buddha, nor are they the ones who preach the Dharma. I do not understand how this is." The Master said: "Because they are conditionally arisen, they are not." The monk said: "Since the reward and transformation bodies are not the true Buddha, is the Dharma-body the true Buddha?" The Master said: "That is already the response body." The monk said: "If so, then the Dharma-body is also not the true Buddha." The Master said: "Whether the Dharma-body is true or not true, this old monk has no tongue and does not know how to say. If you teach me to say it, that will do." The monk said: "Apart from the three bodies, what dharma is the true Buddha?" The Master said: "This fellow quarrels with an old man of eighty or ninety! I have already told you. What more do you ask about apart or not apart? You intend to drive a wedge into empty space!" The monk said: "I have respectfully received that the Avataṃsaka-sūtra was spoken by the Dharma-body Buddha; how is this?" The Master said: "What words did you just say?" The monk asked again. The Master looked around, sighed, and said: "If it was spoken by the Dharma-body, where would you go to listen?" The monk said: "I do not understand." The Master said: "Very difficult, very difficult! Go well; take care."