景德傳燈錄 19.4

19.4

Master Mingzhen, Hongtao, of the Anguo Monastery in Fuzhou, was a native of Quanzhou, with the family name Chen. From his youth he renounced meat and made a vow to leave home. He first perfected the body of the precepts at Dongchan in Longhua Monastery. Then he went to Xuefeng. Xuefeng observed that he was young, outstanding, and worthy to be a vessel of the Dharma, so he guided him to enter with faith beyond measure into his original mind. He then traveled all around the Zen quarters, attained the samādhis of the various quarters, and returned to Xuefeng. Xuefeng asked, 'Where have you come from?' He replied, 'I have come from Jiangxi.' Xuefeng said, 'Where did you see Bodhidharma?' He replied, 'I have clearly said so to the upādhyāya.' Xuefeng said, 'What did you say?' He replied, 'Where have you been, and where have you come back from?' One day Xuefeng saw the master, suddenly grabbed hold of him, and said, 'The entire universe is a dharma-gate of liberation! Yet when I take them by the hand and teach them to enter, they refuse to enter.' The master said, 'The upādhyāya cannot blame Hongtao.' Xuefeng said, 'Though it is like that, what about the many monks behind you?' The master then cited the National Teacher's stele inscription, which says: 'Gaining it in the mind, the castor-oil plant becomes a sandalwood tree; losing it in the essential meaning, the sweet dew turns into a garden of caltrops.' He brought this up and asked a monk, 'A single phrase must contain both meanings of gain and loss. How do you express it?' The monk raised his fist and said, 'It must not be called a fist.' The master did not approve. He also raised his fist and said alternatively, 'Just because this is called a fist.' Having received an invitation, the master stayed at Qunshan, where robed disciples gathered in crowds. Later, the military commander of Min, admiring the master’s virtue in the Way, ordered him to reside at Anguo Temple to greatly expound the dark tradition. His followers numbered more than eight hundred. A monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the [Patriarch's] coming from the West?' The master said, 'It is just this, but do not misunderstand it.' He asked, 'What is the first sentence?' The master said, 'Ask, ask!' He asked, 'This student came up without having exhausted his dynamic potential. Please, Master, exhaust your dynamic potential.' The master remained silent for a good while. The monk bowed. The master said, 'If you suddenly go to another place and someone asks you, how will you bring this up?' The monk said, 'I would never dare to bring it up wrongly.' The master said, 'Before you have even stepped out the door, the laughingstock is already seen.' He asked, 'What is the mind transmitted by Bodhidharma?' The master said, 'From the start, it is not a later footstep.' He asked, 'What is the matter within the ancestral vehicle?' The master said, 'I cannot scatter the assembly on your account, elder brother.' He asked, 'Concerning the dynamic potential that does not fall into being or non-being, please, Master, speak of it completely.' The master said, 'Try cutting it off and see.' He asked, 'What is the matter on a single hair-tip?' The master picked up his kāṣāya robe. The monk said, 'I beg the master to give instruction.' The master said, 'Holding the uncut jade, there is no need to shed tears repeatedly; / Tomorrow morning, present it again for the King of Chu to see.' He asked, 'How is it when one is silent and without words?' The master said, 'Take a further step.' He asked, 'All words and phrases fall into causes, conditions, and skillful means. What is the matter that does not fall into causes, conditions, and skillful means?' The master said, 'Those who use a well sweep are often encountered; those who carry water in an earthen jar are rarely met.' He asked, 'The transcendental path is not transmitted by the thousand sages; I wonder how the upādhyāya transmits it?' The master said, 'For now, save your mouth for eating your meals.' He asked, 'What kind of person is one of noble detachment?' The master said, 'On the riverbank there is no elder washing his ears; at the Pan Stream there is no one dangling a fishing line.' He asked, 'Throughout the twelve periods of the day, how can one be saved from birth and death?' The master said, 'Holding your bowl, there is no need to gaze at the crowd's amusements; treading on ice, how can your steps be uneven?' He asked, 'This student intends to ask about the ancestral vehicle. Does the master still permit it or not?' The master said, 'Just ask.' The monk was about to ask, when the master shouted him out. He asked, 'How can one escape the birth and death right before our eyes?' The master said, 'Bring birth and death here!' He asked, 'Why can a person who knows there is "it" not speak of it?' The master said, 'What is your father's name?' He asked, 'What is the sword that brings people to life?' The master said, 'I dare not blind you.' The monk asked, 'What is the blade that kills people?' The master said, 'Just this is it.' He asked, 'Without clashing against the sharp point, how can one find an attuned ear?' The master said, 'Wait until the Year of the Donkey.' He asked, 'At the point of bitter harshness, I beg the master for a word.' The master said, 'One may deeply ponder.' The monk said, 'Why is it like this?' The master said, 'You also need to understand well.' He asked, 'Can a person who constantly abides in the correct position still be worthy of the offerings of humans and devas?' The master said, 'He cannot consume them.' The monk said, 'Why can he not consume them?' The master said, 'What kind of mental activity is that?' The monk asked, 'What kind of person can consume them?' The master said, 'One who wears clothes and eats food can consume them.' The master brought up: 'When Upādhyāya Leng was dwelling at Zhaoqing, he stood at the east corner of the Dharma Hall and said to a monk, "Right here is a good place to put a question." The monk then asked, "Why does the upādhyāya not abide in the correct position?" Leng said, "Because you have come like this." The monk said, "What about right now?" Leng said, "What use are your eyes?"' The master, having finished bringing this up, said, 'When that house asks like that, it is another principle. How would you speak now?' Later, [the master of] Anguo said, 'If it is like this, then the great assembly may disperse all at once.' The master also said in place of him: 'If it is like this, then the great assembly bows in homage all at once.'