景德傳燈錄 18.12

18.12

Master Shunde, Daofu of Longce Temple in Hangzhou, was a native of Yongjia. His family name was Chen. From childhood he did not eat meat or pungent vegetables. When his relatives and clan members forced him to eat dried fish, he immediately vomited, whereupon he sought to leave home. He took full ordination at Kaiyuan Temple in his home prefecture. Traveling on pilgrimage, he reached Minchuan and paid his respects to Xuefeng. Xuefeng asked, “Where are you from?” He replied, “A man of Wenzhou.” Xuefeng said, “Then you are a fellow countryman of the One-Night Enlightened One.” He said, “Just what place was the One-Night Enlightened One from?” Xuefeng said, “You deserve a round of the staff, but I will let you off for now.”
One day the master asked, “As for the ancient worthies, did they not transmit mind with mind?” Xuefeng said, “Moreover, they did not establish words and phrases.” The master said, “Just as they did not establish words and phrases, how does the master transmit it?” Xuefeng remained silent for a long time. The master bowed in thanks. Xuefeng said, “Would it not be better to ask me one more turning [word]?” The master said, “I request a question from the upādhyāya.” Xuefeng said, “Is it only thus, or is there another consideration?” The master said, “It is fine for the upādhyāya to be thus.” Xuefeng said, “How is it for you?” The master said, “It would be letting people down terribly.”
At times Xuefeng would say to the assembly, “Magnificent and dense!” The master came forward and asked, “What is magnificent and dense?” Xuefeng stood up and said, “What did you say?” The master stepped back and stood. Xuefeng issued a phrase, saying, “This matter is so noble and so continuous.” The master replied, “Since Daofu arrived several years ago, I have not heard the upādhyāya give such instruction.” Xuefeng said, “Although I did not have it before, now that I have it, is there any harm?” The master said, “I would not dare; this is the upādhyāya acting out of necessity.” Xuefeng said, “It was caused by me being like this.” From then on, the master gained faithful entry and followed the community. In Min, they called him ‘Young Fu of the Cloth Robe’.
During a general work period, Xuefeng brought up Guishan's words: ‘Seeing forms, one immediately sees the mind.’ He asked the master, “Is there still any fault?” The master said, “For what matter did the ancients do so?” Xuefeng said, “Even though it is so, I want to deliberate it with you.” The master said, “If so, then it is not as good as Daofu going to hoe the ground.”
One day Xuefeng asked the master, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I come from outside.” Xuefeng said, “In what place did you meet Bodhidharma?” He said, “In what other place?” Xuefeng said, “I do not believe you yet.” The master said, “It would be better if the upādhyāya were not so sticky.” Xuefeng approved of him.
Later, the master traveled throughout various regions, further enhancing his provisional wisdom. Visiting Upādhyāya Caoji of Caoshan, [Caoshan] asked, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “Yesterday I left Mingshui.” Caoshan said, “At what time did you arrive at Mingshui?” He said, “I arrived when the upādhyāya arrived.” Caoshan said, “Tell me, at what time did I arrive?” The master said, “Just now I still remembered.” Caoshan said, “Just so, just so.”
The master concluded his pilgrimage, accepted an invitation, and took up residence at Jingqing Chan Cloister in Yuezhou, where he proclaimed Xuefeng's teachings, and students gathered like rushing waters. The vice envoy Pi Guangye was the son of [Pi] Rixiu; his literary scholarship was extensive, and he repeatedly raised difficult questions to test him. Stepping down, he said to people, “Master Fu's exalted discourse cannot be plumbed to its limits.”
A newly arrived monk came for an interview. The master held up his whisk. The monk said, “I have long inclined toward Jingqing, yet this still remains!” The master said, “Today I met someone, and yet did not meet someone.”
[A monk] asked, “What is the direct road of the spiritual source?” The master said, “The water of Lake Jing is exceedingly deep.”
The master asked a monk, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I come from Yingtian.” The master said, “Did you see the eel?” He replied, “I did not see it.” The master said, “The ācārya did not see the eel, and the eel did not see the ācārya.” He said, “It is not like that at all.” The master said, “The ācārya only understands guarding the beginning and protecting the end.”
[A monk] asked, “This student has not reached the source; I ask the master for skillful means.” The master said, “What source is it?” The monk said, “That source.” The master said, “If it is that source, how could it admit skillful means?” The monk bowed. After he withdrew, the attendant asked, “Did the upādhyāya just now validate his question?” The master said, “No.” He asked, “Did you not validate his question?” The master said, “No.” He asked, “I do not know, what was the ultimate intention?” The master said, “A single dot of ink forms dragons in two places.”
The master was sitting inside the curtains. A monk paid his respects. The master parted the curtains and asked, “When one should sever and does not sever, one invites chaos instead.” The monk said, “Since one should sever, why do you not sever?” The master said, “If I apply the law to the utmost, I truly fear there would be no subjects left.” The monk said, “Not fearing that there are no subjects, I ask the master to apply the law to the utmost.” The master said, “Karmadāna, drag this monk out!” Then he said, “Stop, stop! When I was in the south, I knew his master.”
During a general work period for hoeing weeds, the bath master invited the master to bathe. The master paid no attention. He invited him three times like this. The master raised his hoe in a striking gesture, and the bath master ran away. The master called out, “Come, come!” The bath master turned his head. The master said, “Later on, when you meet an adept, relate this clearly.” That monk later went to Baofu and brought up the previous exchange. Before he had finished, Baofu covered the monk's mouth with his hand. The monk returned and related this to the master. The master said, “Even if you do so, you are still not an adept.”
The master asked Heyu, “Where do you come from?” He replied, “I come from Tiantai.” The master said, “Could I be asking you about Tiantai?” Heyu said, “How can the upādhyāya have a dragon's head and a snake's tail?” The master said, “Jingqing suffered a defeat today.”
The master was reading a sutra. A monk asked, “What sutra is the upādhyāya reading?” The master said, “I am having a flower-gathering contest with the ancients.” The master then asked, “Do you understand?” He said, “When I was young, I also used to do that.” The master said, “How is it now?” The monk raised his fist. The master said, “I lose to you.”
A monk came for an interview. The master asked, “Where does the ācārya come from?” He replied, “I come from the Buddha realm.” The master said, “What does the Buddha take as a realm?” He replied, “He takes pure adornment as a realm.” The master said, “What does the realm take as a Buddha?” He replied, “It takes marvelous purity and true permanence as a Buddha.” The master said, “Did the ācārya come from marvelous purity or from adornment?” He replied, “There is none that is not an answer.” The master said, “Hush, hush! If there were someone from elsewhere, if they asked you, you could not speak like this.”
King Qian wished to expand the Chan gatherings in his prefecture and ordered the master to reside at Tianlong Temple. When he first saw the master, he said, “A true person of the Way!” and treated him with profound courtesy and generosity. From this, the dark learning flourished in Wu and Yue. Afterward, he also founded Longce Temple and invited the master to dwell there.
The master went up to the hall and said, “As for the matter nowadays, I cannot help but speak to you. If you were to personally verify what is real, that intimate matter would reach your own lot. Why do you especially remain estranged? It is merely because you have long abandoned your home and drifted for many years, entirely bound to dust, which has brought you to this state. Therefore it is called turning one's back on enlightenment to unite with dust, and also called abandoning one's father and running away. Now I advise you brothers: if you have not rested, it is best to go rest; if you have not penetrated, it is best to go penetrate. When a great hero is so devoid of mettle, is he not melancholy? All day long you are bewildered and boundless; why not seek a path of mindfulness? Fortunately, no one asks me about the single path of mindfulness.” At that time, a monk asked, “What is the single path of mindfulness?” The master said, “Hush, hush! If you want the staff, just say so.” He said, “If so, then it is this student's fault.” The master said, “I was nearly made to take Caizhou by storm.”
[A monk] asked, “When there is no source but there is a path, and one does not return, how is it?” The master said, “This monk sits whenever he finds a seat.”
He asked, “What is the mind?” The master said, “If it is, that is two heads.” He asked, “What if it is not?” The master said, “Again, it does not become a head.” He asked, “When it is neither ‘is’ nor ‘is not’ at all, how is it?” The master said, “I let you off even more.”
He asked, “Throughout the twelve periods of the day, what serves as verification?” The master said, “When you gain strength, tell me.” The monk said, “Yes.” The master said, “One hundred and eight thousand [li] may still be approached.”
He asked, “What is the gate of skillful means that is quickly and easily accomplished?” The master said, “Quickly and easily accomplished.” He said, “What can be done about this student not grasping it accurately?” The master said, “If one could substitute for you, one would substitute.”
He asked, “What is the mystery within the mystery?” The master said, “If it is not, what is it?” He said, “Is it appropriate?” The master said, “Even a block of wood can speak.”
He asked, “What is it when a person without mind accords with the Way?” The master said, “Why do you not ask about the Way without mind according with the person?” He asked, “What is the Way without mind according with the person?” The master said, “White clouds may readily come to the green peaks; / how could the bright moon be made to descend from the blue sky?”
He asked, “Where this student's question does not reach, I ask the master not to answer. Where the upādhyāya's answer does not reach, this student will not ask.” The master grabbed him and said, “Is this my principle or your principle?” The monk said, “If the upādhyāya strikes this student, this student will also strike back.” The master said, “You have found an opponent; go plow together.”
A monk brought up: “A monk took leave of Guizong. Guizong asked, ‘Where are you going?’ He replied, ‘To Baizhang to study the Chan of five flavors.’ Guizong said nothing.” The master said, “Because of Guizong's singly-practiced matter.” A monk asked, “What is Guizong's singly-practiced matter?” The master said, “Give him the staff and chase him out of the monastery.” The monk bowed. The master said, “How do you understand?” He said, “It is this student's fault.” The master said, “I expected you would go like that.”
[A monk] asked, “I have heard that the master has a saying: ‘In the various directions, if they are not running astray, they are duping people.’ I wonder, what about the upādhyāya?” The master said, “Receiving this question from you has made my front teeth fall out.”
He asked, “What is the intimate and dense matter?” The master said, “Constantly applied, it reaches others.” He asked, “What about those who do not know?” The master said, “Fine sunshine, fine rain.”
The master asked a monk, “What sound is that outside the gate?” He replied, “The sound of raindrops.” The master said, “Sentient beings are inverted; they delude themselves and chase after things.” (Fayan said in his place: “Drawn out.”)
A monk asked, “What is the mark of identity?” The master stuck the fire tongs into the brazier. The monk asked again, “What is the mark of difference?” The master again stuck the fire tongs to one side. (Fayan said in his place: “The question does not accord with principle.”)
A monk brought a young boy and said, “This boy always loves to ask monks about the Buddha Dharma. I ask the upādhyāya to test him.” The master had tea prepared. When the boy brought the prepared tea, the master finished sipping it and passed the saucer to the boy. The boy came forward to take it. The master withdrew his hand and said, “Can you say something?” The boy said, “Ask away.” (Fayan said in his place: “Will the upādhyāya drink more tea?”) The monk asked, “What is the upādhyāya's view of this boy?” The master said, “He was just a monk who kept the precepts for one or two lifetimes.”
The master opened the Dharma in three places; the essentials of his words were compiled and recorded by his disciples, but here only a general outline is given. In the second year of Tianfu of the Jin dynasty, a dingyou year (937 CE), in the eighth month, he manifested cessation at the age of seventy-four. Monastics and laypeople wailed in grief, and very many donned mourning clothes. He was cremated at Mount Daci, and relics were obtained. A stupa was built on the southern slope of Mount Longmu.