景德傳燈錄 22.27

22.27

Great Master Shengdeng Jingxiu of Zhaoqing Monastery in Quanzhou. When the Master first called upon Baofu, their questions and answers tallied silently. One day Baofu entered the main hall, looked at the Buddha statue, and raised his hand, asking the Master, 'What is the meaning of the Buddha being like this?' The Master answered, 'The Upādhyāya is also laying down his body horizontally.' [Baofu] said, 'A wooden stake—I'll take it myself.' The Master said, 'The Upādhyāya has not only laid down his body horizontally.' Baofu approved of him. Later he resided at Zhaoqing. When he first opened the hall and mounted the seat, after a short while he said, 'Assembly! When you meet companions of the Way everywhere hereafter, how will you relate it to them? If anyone can relate it, try relating it before the assembly. If you can relate it, you will avoid letting down the former patriarchs and also avoid burying future generations. An ancient said, "Gentlemen who communicate in mind meet outside the written word." Is there such a person? Moreover, as descendants of the Caoxi lineage, how should you discuss it, and how should you bring it up?' A monk asked, 'Of old, on the eastern side of the City of Enlightenment, the elephant king turned around; today, in the southern region of the Min mountains, how do you guide and receive [us]?' The Master said, 'Do you understand?' [The monk] said, 'Then where a single dynamic activates, the four phrases cannot pursue it. I do not yet know what aspect of the ancestral gate has been accomplished.' The Master said, 'Step back, make prostrations, and follow the assembly up and down.' [A monk] asked, 'When full presentation cannot reach it, we request the Master to deliberate.' The Master said, 'Can clapping hands do it?' The monk said, 'Then I understand and grasp it.' The Master said, 'Do not be mistaken.' [A monk] asked, 'How can one not harm oneself and not let down others?' The Master said, 'Do I do an injustice to this question of yours?' The monk said, 'Coming forward like this, I have already received the Master's instruction.' The Master said, 'Why do you in turn do me an injustice?' [A monk] asked, 'Please, Master, speak a phrase directly at the point of confrontation.' The Master said, 'Ah!' The monk asked again. The Master said, 'Drowsy fellow!' The Master asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' [The monk] said, 'Bao'en.' The Master said, 'How large is the monks' hall?' [The monk] said, 'Let the Upādhyāya try to say.' The Master said, 'Why did you not wait for the question?' [A monk] asked, 'The student does not understand with his whole body; please, Master, instruct me.' The Master said, 'Can you still laugh?' The Master also said, 'The seniors who have attained earlier in the monasteries dare not offend one another. If one is a beginner or later student who has not yet believed, you must believe directly; if you have not yet awakened, you must awaken directly. Do not accept deception. The fundamental place of you people has never not been clearly exposed at any time, and there has never been a single thing capable of covering it up. Now, if you want to know it, you need not shift a hair's breadth of ground, nor use a bit of effort. Just accept responsibility in the ordinary stage—how would that not save mental energy? Since you can save it, you stand shoulder to shoulder with the Buddhas. Practicing according to it—because this matter is a clean and pure place, today you must attain a clean and pure body and mind to tally with it. Only then will you naturally accord with both past and present, escaping birth and departing from death. An ancient said, "Knowing the mind and reaching the root, understanding the unconditioned Dharma—only then is one named a śramaṇa." Now all you officials and the great assembly must each understand this for yourselves; take care not to push it entirely onto the monks' side. The Buddha-Dharma is impartial: from the Buddhas above down to all beings below, all share in this matter. Since it is so, who has it and who lacks it? In addition to serving the ruler, you must also make effort. What I said just now in so many ways was simply because it could not be helped. Do not say that the ancestral school from above ought to speak like this. Just what is the ancestral school from above like? Do you still understand? If someone understands, this mountain monk will be exonerated today. You have stood a long time, assembly. Take care.'