續傳燈錄 15.10

15.10

吉州仁山隆慶院慶閑禪師福州卓氏子。母夢胡僧授以明珠吞之而娠。及生白光照室。幼不近酒胾。年十一棄俗。十七得度。二十遍參。後謁黃龍於黃蘗。龍問。甚處來。師曰。百丈。曰幾時離彼。師曰。正月十三。龍曰。脚跟好痛與三十棒。師曰。非但三十棒。龍喝曰。許多時行脚無點氣息。師曰。百千諸佛亦乃如是。曰汝與麼來何曾有纖毫到諸佛境界。師曰。諸佛末必到慶閑境界。龍問。如何是汝生緣處。師曰。早晨喫白粥。如今又覺飢。問我手何似佛手。師曰。月下弄琵琶。問我脚何似驢脚。師曰。鷺鷥立雪非同色。龍嗟咨而視曰。汝剃除鬚髮當為何事。師曰。秖要無事。曰與麼則數聲清磬是非外。一箇閑人天地間也。師曰。是何言歟。曰靈利衲子。師曰。也不消得。龍曰。此間有辨上座者汝著精彩。師曰。他有甚長處。曰他拊汝背一下又如何。師曰。作甚麼。曰他展兩手。師曰。甚處學這虛頭來。龍大笑。師却展兩手。龍喝之。又問。𢤱𢤱鬆鬆兩人共一椀作麼生會。師曰。百雜碎。曰盡大地是箇須彌山。撮來掌中汝又作麼生會。師曰。兩重公案。曰這裏從汝胡言漢語。若到同安如何過得。時英邵武在同安作首座。師欲往見之。師曰。渠也須到這箇田地始得。曰忽被渠指火爐。曰這箇是黑漆火爐。那箇是黑漆香卓。甚處是不到處。師曰慶閑而前且從恁麼說話。若是別人笑和尚去。龍拍一拍。師便喝。明日同看僧堂。曰好僧堂。師曰。極好工夫。曰好在甚處。師曰。一梁拄一柱。曰此未是好處。師曰。和尚又作麼生。龍以手指曰。這柱得與麼圓。那枋得與麼匾。師曰。人天大善知識須是和尚始得。即趨去。明日侍立。龍問。得坐披衣向後如何施設。師曰。遇方即方遇圓即圓。曰汝與麼說話猶帶唇齒在。師曰。慶閑即與麼和尚作麼生。曰近前來與汝說。師拊掌曰。三十年用底今朝捉敗。龍大笑曰。一等是精靈。師拂袖而去。由是學者爭歸之。廬陵太守張公鑒請居隆慶僧問。鋪席新開不可放過。師曰。記取話頭。曰請師高著眼。師曰。蹉過了也。室中垂問曰。祖師心印篆作何文。諸佛本源深之多少。又曰。十二時中上來下去開單展鉢。此是五蘊敗壞之身。那箇是清淨法身。又曰。不用指東畫西。實地上道將一句來。又曰。十二時中著衣喫飯承甚麼人恩力。又曰。魚行水濁鳥飛毛落。亮座主一入西山。為甚麼杳無消息。師居隆慶未期年。鍾陵太守王公韶請居龍泉。不逾年以病求去。廬陵道俗舟載而歸。居隆慶之東堂事之益篤。元豐四年三月七日將示寂。遺偈曰。露質浮世。奄質浮滅。五十三歲。六七八月。南嶽天台。松風㵎雪。珍重知音。紅爐優鉢。泊然坐逝。俾畫工就寫其真。首忽自舉次日仍平視。闍維日雲起風作飛瓦折木。煙氣所至東西南北四十里。凡草木沙礫之間皆得舍利如金色。計其所獲幾數斛。閱世五十五。坐夏三十六。初蘇子由欲為作記而疑其事。方臥痁夢有呵者曰。閑師事何疑哉。疑即病矣。子由夢中作數百言。其銘略曰。稽首三界尊。閑師不止此。憫世狹劣故。聊示其小者。子由其知言哉。

Chan Master Qingxian of Longqing Monastery on Mt. Renshan in Jizhou was a son of the Zhuo clan of Fuzhou. His mother dreamt that a foreign monk gave her a bright pearl; upon swallowing it, she became pregnant. When he was born, a white light illuminated the room. In his youth, he did not touch alcohol or meat. At age eleven, he abandoned the secular life; at seventeen, he received ordination; at twenty, he traveled everywhere on pilgrimage. Later, he called upon Huanglong at Mt. Huangbo. Huanglong asked, "Where do you come from?" The Master said, "Baizhang." Huanglong said, "When did you leave there?" The Master said, "The thirteenth day of the first month." Huanglong said, "Your heels well deserve thirty blows of the stick!" The Master said, "Not just thirty blows!" Huanglong shouted and said, "After so much time on pilgrimage, you do not possess a single breath of vitality!" The Master said, "The hundreds of thousands of Buddhas are also just like this." Huanglong said, "With your coming in such a manner, when have you ever reached the realm of the Buddhas by the slightest fraction?" The Master said, "The Buddhas have not necessarily reached Qingxian's realm." Huanglong asked, "What is the place of your birth nidāna?" The Master said, "In the early morning I ate plain gruel; now I feel hungry again." Huanglong asked, "How does my hand resemble a Buddha's hand?" The Master said, "Playing the lute beneath the moon." Huanglong asked, "How does my foot resemble a donkey's foot?" The Master said, "An egret standing in the snow does not share the same color." Huanglong sighed with admiration, looked at him, and said, "When you shaved your head and beard, what was it supposed to be for?" The Master said, "Only wanting to have nothing to do." Huanglong said, "If so, then 'A few strokes of the clear chime lie beyond right and wrong; / An idle person stands between heaven and earth.'" The Master said, "What kind of talk is that?" Huanglong said, "A nimble-witted patch-robed monk!" The Master said, "That too is unnecessary." Huanglong said, "Here we have Elder Bian; you should pull yourself together!" The Master said, "What special strength does he have?" Huanglong said, "What if he slaps you once on the back?" The Master said, "For what purpose?" Huanglong said, "He spreads open both hands." The Master said, "Where did he learn such phony tricks?" Huanglong laughed heartily. The Master then spread open both hands. Huanglong gave a shout. Huanglong asked again, "'Vague and loose, two people share a single bowl'—how do you understand this?" The Master said, "Smashed to smithereens." Huanglong said, "The entire great earth is a Mt. Sumeru; gathered into the palm of your hand, how do you understand it?" The Master said, "A double-layered gong'an." Huanglong said, "Here I let you speak your gibberish, but if you go to Tong'an, how will you pass through?" At that time, Hongying of Shaowu was serving as head monk at Tong'an, and the Master wished to go see him. The Master said, "He too must reach this stage before he can!" Huanglong said, "What if he suddenly points to the firepot and says, 'This is a black-lacquered firepot, and that is a black-lacquered incense table—where is it that is unreached?'" The Master said, "Before Qingxian, go ahead with such talk; if it were someone else, he would laugh at the upādhyāya!" Huanglong clapped once. The Master then gave a shout. The next day, they inspected the Sangha Hall together. Huanglong said, "A fine Sangha Hall." The Master said, "Extremely fine workmanship." Huanglong said, "Where is the fine part?" The Master said, "One beam props up one pillar." Huanglong said, "This is not yet the fine part." The Master said, "What does the upādhyāya say?" Huanglong pointed with his finger and said, "This pillar turns out so round; that tie-beam turns out so flat." The Master said, "A great kalyāṇamitra for humans and devas must be the upādhyāya before it counts!" and immediately hurried away. The next day while standing in attendance, Huanglong asked, "Having obtained the seat and donning the robe, how will you manage things in the future?" The Master said, "Meeting square, then square; meeting round, then round." Huanglong said, "Talking like that still retains the trace of lips and teeth." The Master said, "Qingxian is just so; what does the upādhyāya do?" Huanglong said, "Come closer, and I will tell you." The Master clapped his hands and said, "What you have used for thirty years has been exposed today!" Huanglong laughed heartily and said, "Both alike are spirits!" The Master flicked his sleeves and left. From then on, students vied to take refuge with him. Zhang Jian, the governor of Luling, invited him to reside at Longqing. A monk asked, "The shop is newly opened; you must not let [us] pass by [empty-handed]." The Master said, "Keep this huatou in mind." The monk said, "We ask the Master to fix your high gaze." The Master said, "You have already missed it!" In the abbot's room, he gave this instruction: "What characters are inscribed on the Patriarch's mind-seal? How deep is the primal source of the Buddhas?" He also said, "Throughout the twelve periods of the day, coming up and going down, unrolling the bedding and opening the bowl—this is the deteriorating body of the five aggregates; which one is the pure Dharma body?" He also said, "No need to point east and draw west; speak a phrase right on solid ground!" He also said, "Throughout the twelve periods of the day, wearing robes and eating food, whose kindness and power do you receive?" He also said, "Fish swim and the water is turbid; birds fly and their feathers drop. Once Lecturer Liang entered Mt. Xishan, why was there no news whatsoever?" The Master had resided at Longqing for less than a year when Wang Shao, the governor of Zhongling, invited him to reside at Longquan. In less than a year, he asked to leave due to illness. The clerics and laypeople of Luling brought him back by boat. He stayed in the East Hall of Longqing, and they served him with ever greater devotion. On the seventh day of the third month in the fourth year of the Yuanfeng era, as he was about to enter quiescence, he left a verse: / 'A fleeting form in a transient world; / A sudden presence, a fleeting cessation. / Fifty-three years of age: / The sixth, seventh, and eighth months. / Mt. Nanyue and Mt. Tiantai; / Pines in the wind, snow in the ravines. / Take care, you who know the tune: / An udumbara flower in a red-hot furnace.' / He passed away peacefully while seated. A painter was commissioned to paint his portrait; his head suddenly lifted on its own, and the next day it still looked straight ahead. On the day of the cremation, clouds arose and winds blew, sending roof tiles flying and breaking trees. Wherever the smoke reached, covering forty li to the east, west, south, and north, golden relics were found among the vegetation, sand, and gravel. It was estimated that what was gathered amounted to several bushels. He had lived fifty-five years and counted thirty-six summer retreats. Initially, Su Ziyou wished to write a record for him but harbored doubts about these events. While lying ill with malaria, he dreamt of someone scolding him, 'Why doubt Master Xian's deeds? To doubt is itself sickness!' In his dream, Ziyou composed several hundred words, the inscription of which stated in brief: 'I bow my head to the Honoured One of the three realms; / Master Xian went far beyond this. / Out of pity for the narrowness and inferiority of the world, / He merely revealed what was small.' / Ziyou indeed spoke with understanding!