續傳燈錄 14.30

14.30

湖州報本常利禪師上堂。僧問。如何是大人相。師曰。披毛戴角。云學人不會。師曰。紫磨金容。問如何得作佛去。師曰。煩惱裏薦取。云如何得離煩惱。師曰。對面菩提。問如何是無相佛。師曰。影臨四海。云如何是有相佛。師曰。體絕毫釐。云畢竟是有是無。師曰。常憶當年尋海客。一聲羌笛過山西。云和尚不近道理。師曰。從來秖與麼。問古鏡未磨時如何。師曰。照。云磨後如何。師曰黑。云既是磨後為什麼黑。師曰。為汝要磨。問如何是無為。師曰。有作。云如何是有作。師曰。無為。僧擬議。師曰。漆桶這裏不是無為。乃曰。今日月望打箇糊餅供養大眾。拈拄杖作圓相曰。還識此餅麼。不但供養一人。百千萬億人秖是一箇。細嚼飽飡不得咬破。然雖如是切忌麵生參。又曰。大眾有一人無形無相無學無名。不動人情能為變化。該羅群象洞攝大千。截生死流踞涅槃岸。或諸菩薩乃至非人見今坐斷毘盧。直至一生補處。還識此人麼。若識得伊共為洪範。若不識伊常為冤對。快識取好。

Chan Master Changli of Baoben in Huzhou ascended the hall. A monk asked, 'What is the mark of a great man?'
The master said, 'Wearing fur and bearing horns.'
[The monk] said, 'The student does not understand.'
The master said, 'The countenance of purple-polished gold.'
[The monk] asked, 'How can one become a Buddha?'
The master said, 'Grasp it right within the afflictions.'
[The monk] said, 'How can one become free of afflictions?'
The master said, 'Right before your face is bodhi.'
[The monk] asked, 'What is the formless Buddha?'
The master said, 'His reflection overlooks the four seas.'
[The monk] said, 'What is the Buddha with form?'
The master said, 'His substance is devoid of even a hair's breadth.'
[The monk] said, 'Ultimately is it existent or non-existent?'
The master said, 'I always remember that year, searching for the guest of the sea; / A single blast on the Qiang flute crossed west of the mountains.'
[The monk] said, 'The upādhyāya is not approaching reason.'
The master said, 'From the beginning it has only been like this.'
[The monk] asked, 'How was it before the ancient mirror was polished?'
The master said, 'It illumines.'
[The monk] said, 'How about after it is polished?'
The master said, 'Black.'
[The monk] said, 'Since it is after being polished, why is it black?'
The master said, 'Because you wanted to polish it.'
[The monk] asked, 'What is the unconditioned?'
The master said, 'Conditioned action.'
[The monk] said, 'What is conditioned action?'
The master said, 'The unconditioned.'
The monk deliberated. The master said, 'Lacquer bucket! Here is not the unconditioned.'
He then said, 'Today is the full moon; I have made a paste cake as an offering to the great assembly.' He picked up his staff, drew a circle, and said, 'Do you recognize this cake? Not only does it offer to one person: for hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of people, it is just this single one. Chew it finely and eat your fill, but you must not bite through it. Even though it is like this, by all means avoid uncooked dough. Investigate!'
He also said, 'Great assembly, there is one person who has no shape and no form, no learning and no name. Unmoved by human sentiments, he can effect transformations; encompassing the myriad phenomena, he thoroughly comprehends the chiliocosm. He severs the flow of birth and death, and perches on the shore of nirvāṇa. Or even bodhisattvas down to non-humans—right now, he sits cutting off Vairocana, straight up to the stage of one more birth before Buddhahood. Do you recognize this person? If you recognize him, together you form a great model; if you do not recognize him, you are constantly enemies. You had better recognize him quickly!'