續傳燈錄 14.13

14.13

秀州本覺法真守一禪師。姓沈氏江陰人。幼慕空門。圓照居瑞光時遂投出家。更不他游。晨夕參叩頓悟宗旨。出世說法。僧問。選佛選官應在。我祖席登科事若何。師曰。大鵬展翼天衢遙。巨鼇轉身海水窄。僧云。夫子家聲遺舊業。法王基緒得中興。師曰。後五日看。僧云。且道昔日今時是同是別。師曰。一言已出。問春氣已隨紅雨散。薰風初度綠陰涼。學人借問西來意。乞師方便為敷揚。師曰。分明舉似大眾。云可謂一句截流萬機頓削。師曰。築著磕著作麼生道。云落落清規今古同。相逢會有知音舉。師曰。不妨伶利。問離群獅子踞地全威。不露爪牙願聞哮吼。師曰。大家著力。云當年盧老曾饒舌。今日親聞第一機。師曰。脚根下事作麼生。云寶杖撥開千聖眼。當場辨取火中蓮。師曰。果然作家。乃曰。此一法印非有所傳。曠劫佩持不從人得。包六虛而無外。渾十世以同時。全提則佛祖蹤沈。放下則聖凡交起。昭昭日用森羅頓現於靈光。蕩蕩目前彼此無分於實際。雖廓然泯迹。流通於無量義門。閴爾無依。逈超於一切智地。非文字相離見聞緣。諸乘由是莫能詮。列祖於斯提不起。此日人天既集不可徒然。略於建化門中普示諸人。各請端心正視。乃顧左右曰。還見麼。若恁麼承當得。便乃機衡在握同歸閫外之權。剎海澄波共助寰中之化。珍重。又曰。諸人知有道不得。山僧道得不知有。且道此兩語是一理是二義。若人定當得出。許爾頂門眼正參。又曰。本分相見不在如何。撩起便行猶為鈍漢若也分賓分主。俱為念話杜家。更乃說妙談玄。不當宗門苗裔。山僧恁麼道已是雪上加霜。汝等諸人。更擬覓箇什麼。以拄杖一時趁下。

Chan Master Fazhen Shouyi of Benjue in Xiuzhou was a native of Jiangyin surnamed Shen. In his youth he longed for the gate of emptiness. When Yuanzhao resided at Ruiguang, he went to him and left household life, wandering nowhere else. Morning and night he inquired and investigated, suddenly awakening to the lineage tenets. He appeared in the world to preach the Dharma. A monk asked, "Selecting buddhas and selecting officials should correspond to each other; what is the matter of passing the examination at our ancestral seat?" The Master said, "The great roc spreads its wings—the heavenly thoroughfare is distant; the giant sea turtle turns its body—the ocean water is narrow." The monk said, "The Master's family reputation inherits the old enterprise; the foundation and lineage of the Dharma King attain middle revival." The Master said, "Look after five days." The monk said, "Tell me, are ancient times and today the same or different?" The Master said, "A word has already gone forth." A monk asked, "The spring atmosphere has already dispersed with the red rain; the balmy breeze has just brought the cool green shade. A student begs to ask about the meaning of coming from the West; I pray the Master will conveniently expound it." The Master said, "Clearly bring it up to the great assembly." The monk said, "It may be called a single phrase cutting off the flow, myriad mechanisms suddenly sheared away." The Master said, "Bumping and striking against it, what do you say?" The monk said, "The distinct pure regulations are the same ancient and modern; when meeting, there will surely be an intimate friend who brings them up." The Master said, "You are indeed clever." A monk asked, "A lion leaving the pride squats on the ground with full majesty, not showing claws or teeth; I wish to hear its roar." The Master said, "Everyone, exert your strength!" The monk said, "In those years Old Lu was once talkative; today I personally hear the primary dynamic." The Master said, "What about the matter beneath your feet?" The monk said, "The jeweled staff pokes open the eyes of a thousand sages; on the spot, distinguish the lotus amidst fire." The Master said, "Indeed an adept." He then said, "This one Dharma seal is not something transmitted; borne and upheld throughout vast kalpas, it is not obtained from others. Encompassing the six voids without anything outside, blending the ten time-periods into simultaneity. Completely brought forth, the traces of buddhas and patriarchs sink away; set down, sages and ordinary people arise intertwined. Luminescent in daily use, the myriad phenomena suddenly appear in the numinous light; vast before one's eyes, this and that are undivided in the limit of reality. Although completely devoid of traces, it circulates through immeasurable Dharma gates; utterly without reliance, it far transcends all grounds of wisdom. It is not of the characteristic of written words, and is apart from conditions of seeing and hearing. The various vehicles are therefore unable to explain it; the successive patriarchs cannot lift it up here. Today, human and heavenly beings having gathered, it cannot be in vain. Briefly within the gate of establishing transformation, I show it universally to you all. Please, each of you, straighten your minds and gaze directly." He then looked to his left and right and said, "Do you see? If you can undertake it in this way, then the pivotal balance will be grasped in your hands, jointly returning to the power outside the threshold, and the calm waves of the realm of lands will together assist the transformation throughout the realm. Take care." He also said, "You all know of it but cannot speak it; this mountain monk can speak it but does not know of it. Tell me, are these two phrases one principle or two meanings? If someone can determine this, I permit that the eye on your crown investigates correctly." He also said, "Meeting in one's fundamental lot does not consist in 'how'; hitching up one's robes and walking away is still being a dull fellow. If one separates guest and host, both are just mechanically repeating words like Du Bo. To further speak of the wondrous and discuss the mysterious does not qualify one as a descendant of the lineage gate. For this mountain monk to speak like this is already adding frost to snow. What more do you people intend to seek?" Using his staff, he chased them all down at once.