景德傳燈錄 12.26

12.26

Chan Master Xinghua Cunjiang of Weifu asked a monk, "Where have you come from?" The monk said, "I have come from Chan [Master] Cui's place." The Master said, "Did you bring Chan [Master] Cui's shout with you?" The monk said, "I did not bring it." The Master said, "If so, then you have not come from Chan [Master] Cui's place." The monk shouted. The Master then struck him. The Master addressed the assembly, saying, "I only hear shouting in the long corridors and shouting in the back frames. You people, do not shout blindly and randomly! Even if you were to shout so that Xinghua stayed suspended in mid-air, fell back down, and was on the verge of losing his breath, and you waited until Xinghua revived and got up, he would still say to you: 'Not yet!' Why is this? I have never scattered genuine pearls inside the purple gauze bed-curtain. What are all of you doing shouting wildly into empty space?" The Master said to the karmadāna Kebin, "Before long, you will become a master who sings the Dao." Kebin said, "I will not enter this association." The Master said, "Having understood, you do not enter, or not having understood, you do not enter?" Kebin said, "It is entirely not like that." The Master struck him and said, "Karmadāna Kebin was defeated in the Dharma battle. He is fined five strings of cash to set out a meal for the hall." The next day, the Master struck the gavel himself and announced, "Karmadāna Kebin was defeated in the Dharma battle, fined five strings of cash to set out a meal for the hall, is not permitted to eat the meal, and must leave the monastery immediately." A monk asked, "What was the National Teacher's intention in calling his attendant?" The Master said, "One blind person leading a crowd of blind people." At times the Master would call out to a monk by name; the monk would answer, "Yes." The Master would say, "Punctured, yet not arriving." He would then call another monk; the monk would answer, "Yes." The Master would say, "Arriving, yet not punctured." Later, the Master became teacher to Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang. One day Zhuangzong said to the Master, "When Zhen took Daliang, I obtained a priceless bright pearl, but no one has yet appraised its value." The Master said, "Please let me see Your Majesty's pearl." The Emperor reached out his hands and spread apart the ties of his turban. The Master said, "Who would dare appraise the treasure of a sovereign lord?" (Xuanjue posed the question: "Tell me, did Xinghua approve of Tongguang [the Emperor] or did he not approve of Tongguang? If he approved of Tongguang, where were Xinghua's eyes? If he did not approve of Tongguang, where was the fault?") After the Master passed away, an imperial decree posthumously bestowed upon him the title Great Master Guangji, and his stupa was called Tongji.