景德傳燈錄 17.22

17.22

Chan Master Tong of the Northern Courtyard in Yizhou was at Jiashan's place. One day Jiashan entered the hall and said: 'Sitting through the host, one does not fall into a secondary view.' The master came forward and said: 'One must know that there is one person who does not join company.' Jiashan said: 'That is still a secondary view.' The master then overturned the meditation platform. Jiashan said: 'Old brother, what are you doing?' The master said: 'Wait until my tongue rots away, then I will tell the upādhyāya.' Another day, the master again asked Jiashan: '"There are no phenomena before the eyes; the intent is before the eyes. It is not a phenomenon before the eyes; it is not reached by ears or eyes." Are these not the upādhyāya's words?' Jiashan said: 'They are.' The master then overturned the meditation platform and stood with crossed hands. Jiashan got up and struck him once with his staff. The master then left. (Fayan said: 'Since he overturned the meditation platform, why did he not leave immediately? Why must he wait for Jiashan to strike him once before leaving? What was his intention?') When the master was at Dongshan's place, he attended the inquiries with the assembly but had not tallied with the essential tenet. He then took leave of Dongshan, intending to enter the mountain ridges. Dongshan said: 'Take care! The Feiyuan Ridge is steep; look at it well.' The master pondered for a good while. Dongshan said: 'Tong Ācārya!' The master answered: 'Yes?' Dongshan said: 'Why not enter the mountain ridges?' Through this the master was awakened, and he did not enter the mountain ridges after all. He served Dongshan (at that time he was called "Mattock Tong"). After residing [as abbot], he entered the hall and instructed the assembly: 'Sthaviras, if you have any business, come forward and deliberate it. If one is of the highest capacity, it is not like this. If one is of the middling or lower sort, one must trim the doorpost tightly and not let it enter the mud and water. The first, swiftest, and most trouble-free way is that one must be without mind. If not without mind, citing a thousand or ten thousand things merely turns into intellectual understanding. What connection does that have to the gate of this patch-robed monk?' A monk asked: 'What is "without mind"?' The master said: 'Not bound.' A monk asked: 'When two dragons contend for a pearl, who obtains it?' The master said: 'To obtain it is to lose it.' The monk said: 'What about when it is not lost?' The master said: 'Give me back the pearl!' A monk asked: 'What is the pure Dharma body?' The master said: 'Without filth or stain.' A monk asked: 'What about when it cannot turn?' The master said: 'Effort has not reached it.' A monk asked: 'What is a person of great wealth and nobility?' The master said: 'Like the jewel treasury of a wheel-turning king.' The monk said: 'What is a person of utter poverty?' The master said: 'Like the waistband of a wine shop.' A monk asked: 'What about when water cannot splash on it?' The master said: 'Bone-dry.' A monk asked: 'What about when it is completed with a single hammer blow?' The master said: 'It is not accidental.' After his decease, he was imperially posthumously titled Grand Master Zhengzhen.