景德傳燈錄 14.37

14.37

Chan Master Tansheng of Mount Yunyan in Tanzhou was a native of Jianchang in Zhongling. His family name was Wang. In his youth, he went forth from the household at Shimen. At first, he studied under Chan Master Baizhang Hai. Before realizing the profound meaning, he attended upon him for twenty years. When Baizhang entered extinction, the Master then visited Yaoshan and met with realization upon a single word (the dialogue appears in the chapter on Yaoshan). One day, Yaoshan asked, “Apart from being at Baizhang's, what other places have you been to?” The Master said, “I once went to Guangnan.” [Yaoshan] said, “I have heard it said that outside the east gate of the city of Guangzhou there is a boulder that was removed by the prefect; is that so?” The Master said, “Not only the prefect—even if the people of the whole country tried to move it, it would not budge.” Yaoshan then asked again, “I hear you know how to perform the lion dance; is that so?” The Master said, “Yes.” [Yaoshan] said, “How many acts can you perform?” The Master said, “I can perform six acts.” [Yaoshan] said, “I too can perform it.” The Master said, “How many acts can the Venerable perform?” [Yaoshan] said, “I can perform one act.” The Master said, “One is six, six is one.” Later the Master went to Guishan. Guishan asked him, “I understand that the elder performed the lion dance at Yaoshan; is that so?” The Master said, “Yes.” [Guishan] said, “Do you perform it constantly, or is there a time when you put it aside?” The Master said, “When I wish to perform it, I perform it; when I wish to put it aside, I put it aside.” [Guishan] said, “When you put it aside, where is the lion?” The Master said, “Put aside, put aside!” [A monk] asked, “Where have all the past sages gone?” The Master remained silent for a long time and said, “What? What?” [A monk] asked, “When one is momentarily absent, like a dead man, what then?” The Master said, “It would be best to bury him.” [A monk] asked, “Is the person who maintains great preservation one with That One, or are they two?” The Master said, “Is a loom's silk cloth one piece or two pieces?” Dongshan heard of this and said, “Like someone grafting a tree.” As the Master was boiling tea, Daowu asked, “For whom are you boiling it?” The Master said, “There is someone who wants it.” [Daowu] said, “Why not have him boil it himself?” The Master said, “Fortunately, I am here.” The Master asked Shishuang, “Where have you come from?” Shuang said, “I come from Guishan.” The Master said, “How long have you been there?” Shuang said, “Roughly through a winter and a summer.” The Master said, “Then you have become a master of the mountain.” Shuang said, “Although I was there, I did not know anything.” The Master said, “His house is also beyond knowing and consciousness.” There was no reply. Later Daowu heard of this and said, “To have reached such a state devoid of a body and mind of the Buddha Dharma!” Later the Master resided at Mount Yunyan in You County, Tanzhou. One day he addressed the assembly, saying, “There is the son of a certain family; whatever he is asked, there is nothing he cannot say.” Dongshan asked, “How many classics and records does he have in his house?” The Master said, “Not a single word.” [Dongshan] said, “How did he come to know so much?” The Master said, “Day and night he has never slept.” [Dongshan] said, “May I ask him about a certain matter?” The Master said, “Though he could say it, he would not say it.” The Master asked a monk, “Where have you come from?” The monk said, “I have come from offering incense.” The Master said, “Did you see the Buddha?” [The monk] said, “I saw him.” The Master said, “Where did you see him?” [The monk] said, “I saw him in the realm below.” The Master said, “An ancient Buddha! An ancient Buddha!” Daowu asked, “What about the thousand hands and eyes of the Great Compassionate One?” The Master said, “It is like someone groping for a pillow in the dark without a lamp—what do you think?” Daowu said, “I understand, I understand!” The Master said, “How do you understand?” Daowu said, “Throughout the body, all are eyes.” As the Master was sweeping the ground, Guishan said, “How excessively busy and toilsome!” The Master said, “You must know that there is one who is not toilsome.” Guishan said, “If so, then there is a second moon.” The Master held up the broom and said, “Which moon is this?” The Master bowed his head and walked away. (Xuanmiao, hearing of this, said, “Indeed it is the second moon.”) The Master asked a monk, “Where have you come from?” The monk said, “I come from conversing upon a rock.” The Master said, “Did the rock nod its head or not?” The monk had no reply. The Master said, “Before you asked, it had already nodded its head.” As the Master was making sandals, Dongshan asked, “I come to the Master to beg for eyes; may I have them or not?” The Master said, “Whom did you give yours to?” [Dongshan] said, “Liangjie does not have any.” The Master said, “If you have them, where will you put them?” Dongshan remained silent. The Master said, “Is the one begging for eyes an eye or not?” [Dongshan] said, “It is not an eye.” The Master scolded him. The Master asked an assembly of nuns, “Is your father alive?” They said, “He is alive.” The Master said, “How old is he?” They said, “Eighty years old.” The Master said, “Do you know that you have a father who is not eighty years old?” They said, “Could it be the one who comes like this?” The Master said, “That is still the son.” (Dongshan said, “Even one who does not come like this is also the son.”) A monk asked, “What about when a single thought flashes up and one immediately falls into the realm of Māra?” The Master said, “For what reason did you come from the Buddha realm?” The monk had no reply. The Master said, “Do you understand?” [The monk] said, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “Do not say it cannot be embodied. Even if it could be embodied, it would only be this way and that way.” The Master asked a monk, “I hear you know divination; is that so?” [The monk] said, “Yes.” The Master said, “Try divining for this old monk and let us see.” The monk had no reply. (Dongshan said in his place, “Please tell me your birth month, Venerable.”) In the tenth month of the first year of the Huichang era of the Tang, the cyclical year xinyou, the Master showed signs of illness. On the twenty-sixth day, after bathing his body, he called the supervisory monk and ordered him to prepare a vegetarian meal: “Tomorrow a senior monk will depart.” By the twenty-seventh day, no one had departed. When night fell, the Master entered extinction. His age was sixty. After cremation, more than a thousand relics were obtained and interred in a stone stupa. By imperial decree, he was posthumously bestowed the title Great Master Wuzhu (Non-abiding); his stupa was named Jingsheng (Pure and Superior).