續傳燈錄 12.38

12.38

滁州琅邪山宗初禪師。僧問。朝宰請師陛寶座。如何方便示西來。師曰。多少分明。云恁麼則法雨高霑了了堂。師曰。貧無達士將金濟。病有閑人說藥方。云雲散始知江月白。坐間方見老盧機。師曰。別處人事。問如何是琅邪境。師曰。紅日照成金色界。秋煙染出碧瑠璃。云如何是境中人。師曰。擡頭山萬朵。伴手一枝笻。乃曰。若據祖師門下。舉目則千山萬水。低頭乃十萬八千。更若展露言鋒尋言究妙。譬若敲氷求火緣木取魚。徒費精神遠之遠矣。如斯語話猶涉化門。且問諸人。不落化門一句作麼生道。良久曰。一句無私應之萬里。

Chan Master Zongchu of Mount Langya in Chuzhou. A monk asked, "The court ministers invite the Master to ascend the precious seat; with what expedient means will you show what came from the West?" The Master said, "How clearly apparent." The monk said, "If so, then the Dharma rain deeply moistens the lucid hall." The Master said, "When poor, there is no eminent scholar to aid with gold; when sick, there are idle people prescribing medicinal formulas." The monk said, "Only when clouds scatter does one know the river moon is white; right here in our seats we witness old Lu's capacity." The Master said, "Human affairs of another place." A monk asked, "What is the environment of Langya?" The Master said, "The red sun illuminates it into a golden realm; the autumn mist dyes it into blue lapis lazuli." The monk said, "What is the person within the environment?" The Master said, "Raising the head, ten thousand clusters of mountains; companion to the hand, a single bamboo cane." He then said, "If judged by the gate of the ancestral masters, raising the eyes there are a thousand mountains and myriad waters; lowering the head there are one hundred and eight thousand [leagues]. Furthermore, if one exposes the edge of words to investigate the marvelous through speech, it is like beating ice to seek fire or climbing a tree to catch fish—wasting spirit and effort in vain, far off indeed! Talk such as this still pertains to the gate of conversion. Now, I ask you all: what can you say as the single phrase that does not fall into the gate of conversion?" After a long silence he said, "A single phrase without partiality responds across ten thousand miles."