景德傳燈錄 30.74

30.74

傳燈錄鏤行舊矣。兵興以來其版灰飛。慕心宗者患無其書。僧思鑒婺人也。芒屩訪道三十年矣。亦欲人同悟涅槃妙心。而思有以資發之也。廣募淨信。復鏤其板。緇素贊歎而助成焉。或曰。自心之法無形。不從人得。初祖釋迦而降。無一祖師非默契而自證者。故達磨直指不立文字。少林九年面壁而已。雖二祖立雪斷臂。一字亦不為說。但遮其知見之非。二祖因是得正知見。豁然大省。則二祖亦不從達磨言句中入迺自證也。且百丈卷席。雪峯輥毬。魯祖面壁。石鞏駕箭。道吾舞笏。鳥窠吹布毛。俱胝舉一指。古德如此示人甚多。不在言句之間故也。言句且爾。況文字乎。心宗要當自參。祖師言句於我何與焉。余曰。不然。心法雖曰無形。然遍一切處。翠竹真如也。黃花般若也。蛙蚓發機管絃傳心。乃至牆壁瓦礫無非說法。故靈雲見桃花悟道。玄沙謂語燕深談實相。然則大地皆是悟門。孰非此道。況明心宗言句乎。況載明心宗文字乎。若二者於心宗果無與耶。薦福古何為閱雲門錄而省。黃龍心何為讀多福語而悟。蓋言詞相寂文字性空。亦此道耳。若即言句文字。而見性相之空寂。是乃一超而直入也。吾故知是書之流布。發明心地者眾矣。且鑒之募緣也。台之寧海邑民周氏歎曰。吾地有大梨木。閱三世矣。比歲我家之人各嘗夢。其上有樓閣行廡。而無數僧往來於其間。每疑之乃今方悟。當刊此錄耶。遂捨以㭊版。且邀鑒即其家僦工而刻之。既刻。周氏夢六僧求已刻者觀焉。周問鑒曰。此何僧耶。鑒曰。此六代傳衣祖師特來證明此事也。嗚呼是書用為一大事。則宜有感發之祥以發寤人心。余故并列之庶觀者。知非小緣而堅其信心云。紹興四年上元日。等慈菴善男子睢陽劉棐仲忱序。

The printing and circulation of the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp is of old standing. Since the outbreak of war, its printing blocks have turned to ashes. Those who yearn for the mind-tradition suffered from the lack of this book. The monk Sijian is a man of Wuzhou. For thirty years he has sought the Way in straw sandals. He also wished for others to awaken together to the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa, and considered how to assist and inspire them. He collected broadly from devout believers and carved its blocks anew; both monastics and laypeople praised and assisted in its completion. Someone said: 'The Dharma of one's own mind has no form; it is not obtained from others. From the first patriarch Śākyamuni downward, there has not been a single ancestral master who did not tally with it in silence and personally realize it. Therefore Bodhidharma directly pointed, not establishing words and letters, merely facing the wall for nine years at Shaolin. Although the Second Patriarch stood in the snow and severed his arm, he did not speak a single word for him; he merely blocked the error of his views. Because of this, the Second Patriarch attained correct view and was thoroughly, greatly awakened; thus the Second Patriarch likewise did not enter through Bodhidharma's words and phrases, but personally realized it. Moreover, Baizhang rolling up the mat, Xuefeng rolling the ball, Ruzu facing the wall, Shigong bending his bow, Daowu dancing with the tablet, Niaoke blowing the cloth fiber, and Juzhi raising one finger—the ancient worthies demonstrated [it] to people in such ways very often, precisely because it is not within words and phrases. If it is so even with words and phrases, how much more so with written texts! The mind-tradition must be personally investigated; what do the words and phrases of the ancestral masters have to do with me?' I replied: 'Not so. Although the mind-dharma is said to have no form, it nevertheless pervades all places. The emerald bamboo is suchness; the yellow blossom is prajñā. Frogs and earthworms release the wondrous dynamic; pipes and strings transmit the mind; even walls, tiles, and gravel are nothing other than expounding the Dharma. Hence Lingyun saw peach blossoms and awakened to the Way, and Xuansha said that the chattering swallows profoundly discuss the true mark. Thus, the great earth is entirely a gate of awakening; what is not this Way? How much more so the words and phrases that clarify the mind-tradition! How much more so the written texts that record and clarify the mind-tradition! If the two truly had nothing to do with the mind-tradition, why did [Cuiyan] Ke of Jianfu examine the Record of Yunmen and awaken, and why did [Huanglong] Huinan read the words of Duofu and awaken? It is because the characteristic of words is quietude, and the nature of written texts is empty; this too is nothing other than this Way. If you rely directly on words, phrases, and written texts to see the emptiness and quietude of nature and characteristics, this is indeed transcending all at once and entering directly. Therefore I know that as this book is distributed, those who illuminate the mind-ground will be many.' Moreover, when [Si]jian was collecting donations, a villager named Zhou of Ninghai county in Taizhou sighed and said: 'My estate has a large pear tree that has passed through three generations. In recent years, members of my household have each dreamed that upon it were pavilions and covered walkways, with countless monks coming and going among them. We were always puzzled by it, but only now do I understand: should it not be carved into printing blocks for this record?' He thereupon donated it to be cut into blocks, and invited [Si]jian to hire craftsmen right at his house to carve them. After they were carved, Zhou dreamed of six monks asking to see those already carved. Zhou asked [Si]jian: 'What monks are these?' [Si]jian replied: 'These are the ancestral masters of the six generations of robe transmission who have come specially to verify this matter.' Alas! As this book serves for the one great matter, it is fitting that it should have such an auspicious response to awaken people's minds. I have therefore appended this account so that readers may know this was no minor affinity, and may strengthen their faithful mind. On the day of the Shangyuan Festival in the fourth year of the Shaoxing era (1134), preface by the good son Liu Fei Zhongchen of Suiyang, of the Dengci Hermitage.