續傳燈錄 12.11

12.11

安州白兆山通慧珪禪師上堂。幸逢嘉會須采異聞。既遇寶山莫令空手。不可他時後日門扇後壁角頭自說大話也。窮天地亘古今。則是當人一箇自性。於是中間更無他物。諸人每日行時行著臥時臥著坐時坐著。秖對語言時滿口道著。以至揚眉瞬目嗔喜愛憎寂默遊戲未始間斷。因甚麼不肯承當自家歇去。良由無量劫來愛欲情重生死路長。背覺合塵自生疑惑。譬如空中飛鳥。不知空是家鄉。水裏游魚。忘却水為性命。何得自抑却問傍人。大似捧飯稱飢臨河叫渴。諸人要得休去麼。各請立地定著精神。一念回光豁然自照。何異空中紅日獨運無私。盤裏明珠不撥自轉。然雖如是。秖為初機向上機關未曾踏著。且道。作麼生是向上機。良久曰。仰面看天不見天。

Chan Master Tonghuigui of Mount Baizhao in Anzhou ascended the hall: "Fortunate to meet in this fine assembly, you must gather extraordinary teachings; having already encountered the jewel mountain, do not go away empty-handed. You must not, on some later day behind the doors and in wall corners, talk big on your own. Exhausting heaven and earth, extending through ancient and modern times—this is simply one's own self-nature. Within it, there is not another single thing. When you people walk every day, you step on it; when you lie down, you lie on it; when you sit, you sit on it. When answering in words, a mouthful speaks of it. Down to raising the eyebrows, blinking the eyes, anger and joy, love and hate, silence and play—it has never ceased. Why are you unwilling to take responsibility for it and rest yourselves? Truly, it is because through measureless kalpas emotional desires have weighed heavily and the path of birth and death has been long; turning away from awakening to merge with the dust, you produce doubts yourself. It is like birds flying in the sky, not knowing that the sky is their homeland; or fish swimming in the water, forgetting that the water is their life. Why belittle yourselves and go asking bystanders? It is very much like holding rice while claiming to be hungry, or standing by a river shouting of thirst. Do you people want to rest? Let each of you stand firm and steady your spirit; in a single thought turning back the light, open up to self-illumination. How does this differ from the red sun in the sky moving alone without partiality, or a bright pearl in a tray rolling on its own without being nudged? Although this is so, it is only that those of initial faculties have never stepped upon the transcendental mechanism. Tell me, what is the transcendental mechanism?" After a long pause, he said, "Looking upward to view the sky, one does not see the sky."