景德傳燈錄 18.17

18.17

National Master Xingsheng of Mount Gushan in Fuzhou, Shenyan, was a native of Daliang whose lay surname was Li. When young, he abhorred meat and fish, and delighted in hearing bells and chanting. When he was twelve, several streaks of white vapor rose up on the wall of his residence. The Master took up a brush and wrote on the wall:
“Let the white path change its ways from now on, without delay;
Do not come manifesting such portents!
Assuredly dispel evil ways and return to true view,
And you will surely transcend the ordinary to enter the realm of sages.”
When he finished writing, the vapor vanished. When he had just reached fifteen, he fell gravely ill; he dreamt of a divine being giving him medicine, and awoke to find himself suddenly cured. The following year, he again dreamt of an Indian monk telling him, “The time to leave home has come.” Thereupon, he took tonsure under Chan Master Daogui of Mount Bailu in Weizhou. He received the full precepts on Mount Song, and said to his fellow students, “An ancient worthy said, ‘After the white fourfold karma-action, one's whole being is precepts, concentration, and wisdom.’ How could one be constrained by mere measuring lines and rules?” He then set out with his staff, knocking on Chan gates everywhere, yet he merely memorized words and retained intellectual understanding. When he reached Xuefeng’s mountain ridge, everything matched and resonated clearly. One day he went for an interview with Xuefeng. Xuefeng knew that his conditions had ripened, and suddenly sprang up, grabbed him, and said, “What is this?” The Master was completely enlightened, and also forgot the mind that was enlightened; he merely raised his hands and shook them back and forth. Xuefeng said, “Are you making an intellectual principle?” The Master said, “What principle could there be?” Xuefeng examined his transcendent understanding, patted him, and sealed it. When Xuefeng passed into stillness, the military commander of Min opened Mount Gushan twenty li east of the prefectural seat, established a Chan monastery, and invited him to propagate the tradition of the school. The Master ascended the hall, and the assembly gathered. After a long pause, he said, “In Nanquan’s lifetime, someone brought up essentials, yet did not know Nanquan. Right now, is there anyone who knows Nanquan? Step forth before the assembly and try to test it.” Then a monk came forward, bowed, and had just risen when the Master said, “How is it?” The monk approached and said, “I consult the Upādhyāya.” The Master said, “Untalented one, please step back.” He also said, “For sūtras there are sūtra masters; for treatises there are treatise masters; for vinaya there are vinaya masters. There are cases, titles, divisions, and scrolls, each transmitted and upheld by someone. Furthermore, the Buddha-Dharma is an established teaching, whereas the Chan way is a talk to stop weeping. When those various sages arose, it was because people's minds are not uniform; so they skillfully opened up expedient means, and thus there came to be many gates. As illnesses differ, the prescriptions written are also different: in being, they break being; in emptiness, they scold emptiness. Once the two ailments are eliminated, even the middle path must be abandoned. Therefore Gushan says: words do not meet the functioning; speech does not unfold the matter. Those who take after words perish; those who stall at phrases are deluded. Not proclaiming before speech, how could one speak after the phrase? Up to Śākyamuni closing his chamber, and Vimalakīrti shutting his mouth; the Great Being in Liang times, and the boy on that day—at the first question, the second question, and the third question, there were already people who understood completely. How about you, virtuous ones?” Then a monk bowed. The Master said, “Ask in a loud voice.” The monk said, “The student consults the Upādhyāya.” The Master shouted him out. A monk asked, “When one's own matter is not yet clear, what can be used as proof?” The Master raised his voice as though he had not heard. The monk asked again. The Master said, “A single drop goes with the stream; eating salt does not add weight.” He asked, “What is the phrase that wraps up heaven and earth?” The Master said, “Come closer.” The monk stepped forward. The Master said, “Stupefying someone to death.” He asked, “How can it be inherited?” The Master said, “The wild dog and badger have no wind; in vain do they stretch out their paws.” He said, “How is it right then?” The Master said, “Wrong.” He asked, “What about when a student directly undertakes it?” The Master said, “How do you undertake it?” (Fadeng commented alternatively, “Do not waste your effort.”) He asked, “What is the student's upright standing place?” The Master said, “Not following the path of the sages.” (Fadeng commented alternatively, “You intend to wander recklessly.”) He asked, “Among the thousand mountains and ten thousand mountains, which is the principal mountain?” The Master said, “What use is a principal mountain?” (Fadeng said, “A thousand mountains and ten thousand mountains.”) The Master met Zhaoqing. Zhaoqing said, “Everyday fare.” The Master said, “Inexhaustible.” Zhaoqing said, “Take it slowly for a while.” The Master then said, “Everyday fare.” Zhaoqing said, “Today there is no fire yet.” The Master said, “Too stingy!” Zhaoqing said, “Take it away at your convenience.” (Dongshan Qi picked this up and said, “Between the words of these two venerable elders, is there gain and loss, or not? If there is, which one gains and which one loses? If there is no gain and loss, none of you have yet acquired the eye of itinerant practice.”) A monk asked, “How can one escape the cycle of birth and death?” The Master said, “Bring birth and death here.” He asked, “What is the matter within the school?” The Master held his hand sideways and said, “Hūm, hūm!” He asked, “What is the transcendental turning point?” The Master struck him. He asked, “Who is the real master of Gushan?” The Master said, “Why are you blind?” The Master asked Baofu, “The ancient said, ‘Neither non-negation nor affirmation.’ What does it mean?” Baofu picked up a teacup. The Master said, “Wouldn't it be better to avoid affirmation and negation?” A monk asked, “What is the real human body?” The Master said, “Right now, what body is it?” He said, “Ultimately, how is it?” The Master said, “How could one reach such a realm?” He asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?” The Master said, “A single spot of the golden crow; for ten thousand li, no clouds.” The Master asked a monk, “Gushan has a phrase of ‘not stepping across the stone gate.’ How do you say it?” The monk said, “Please.” The Master struck him. A monk asked, “What is the place where the ancients spared their mental energy?” The Master said, “Why do you waste effort?” He asked, “Words fill the world without verbal fault. What is being without verbal fault?” The Master said, “What fault is there?” He asked, “What is the essential place?” The Master said, “Are you still ashamed of yourself?” The Master gazed at a Buddha image with the military commander of Min. The commander asked, “What Buddha is this?” He said, “Please discern it, Great King.” The commander said, “If I discern it, it is not the Buddha.” He said, “What is it?” There was no reply. (Changqing substituted: “Having long been known that the Great Master was in the assembly, why act rashly?”) A monk asked, “How is the ancestral school proclaimed from of old?” The Master struck him right across the mouth with his whisk. He asked, “What is the matter of the separate transmission outside the teachings?” The Master said, “Go drink tea.” He also said, “Right now, for the sake of you virtuous ones, I stick my head into the teaching gates of those sages, but cannot shake myself free. Therefore, I say to you: teachings cannot arrange it; the Patriarch did not come from the west; the Buddhas of the three periods cannot proclaim it; the twelve divisions of the canon cannot carry it; ordinary and sacred cannot encompass it; past and present cannot transmit it. If suddenly there were a fellow who had not grasped the news, and one spoke to him like this, he would slap one right across the mouth. Could you blame him? Even though it is like this, you must not slap recklessly. Gushan usually says: ‘There is still one person who does not step across the stone gate; there must be a phrase of not stepping across the stone gate.’ What is the phrase of not stepping across the stone gate? Gushan has resided here for over thirty years. Those who come from the five lakes and the four seas look at the mountains and enjoy the waters at the peak of the high mountain, but I have not seen a single person who penetrates it swiftly and sharply. Now, is there anyone who penetrates it? Do not delude your brothers. Take care.” Then he gave a verse to the assembly, which said: