續傳燈錄 16.29

16.29

金陵保寧寺圓璣禪師。福州林氏子。僧問。生死到來如何迴避。師曰。堂中瞌睡寮裏抽解。曰便恁麼時如何。師曰。須知有轉身一路。曰如何是轉身一路。師曰。傾出爾腦髓拽脫爾鼻孔。曰便從今日無疑去也。師曰作麼生會。曰但知行好事不用問前程。師曰。須是恁麼。上堂。道源不遠性海非遙。但向己求莫從他覓。古人恁麼說話。大似認奴作郎指鹿為馬。若是翠岩即不然也。不向己求亦不從他覓。何故雙眉本來自橫。鼻孔本來自直。直饒說得天花亂墜頑石點頭。算來多虛不如少實。且道如何是少實底事。良久曰。冬瓜直儱侗。瓠子曲彎彎。上堂。春雨微微百事皆宜。禾苗發秀蔬菜得時。阿難如合掌迦葉亦攢眉。直饒靈山會上拈花微笑。算來猶涉離微。爭似三家村裏老翁深耕淺種各知其時。有事當面便說。誰管瞬目揚眉。更有一般奇特事。末後一著更須知。擊拂子下座。上堂。廣尋文義鏡裏求形。息念觀空水中捉月。單傳心印特地多端。德山臨濟枉用工夫。石鞏子湖翻成特地。若是保寧總不恁麼。但自隨緣飲啄。一切尋常深遁白雲。甘為無學之者。敢問諸人。保寧畢竟尋何報答四恩三有。良久曰。愁人莫向愁人說。說向愁人愁殺人。師示寂闍維有終不壞者。二糝以五色舍利塔于雨花臺之左。

Chan Master Yuanji of Baoning Temple in Jinling was a son of the Lin family of Fuzhou. A monk asked, 'When birth and death arrive, how does one avoid them?' The master said, 'Doze in the hall; relieve yourself in the quarters.' The monk said, 'What about just at such a time?' The master said, 'You must know there is a road of turning the body.' The monk said, 'What is the road of turning the body?' The master said, 'Pouring out your brain and marrow; yanking out your nostrils.' The monk said, 'Then from this day forward, I shall have no doubts.' The master said, 'How do you understand it?' The monk said, 'Simply know to do good deeds, no need to ask about the future.' The master said, 'It must be so.' He ascended the hall: 'The source of the Way is not far; the ocean of nature is not distant. Just seek within yourself; do not search from others. For the ancients to speak like this was much like mistaking a servant for a gentleman, or pointing at a deer and calling it a horse. With Cuiyan, it is not so: neither seeking within oneself nor searching from others. Why? The two eyebrows are fundamentally horizontal; the nostrils are fundamentally vertical. Even if one speaks so that heavenly flowers fall in disarray and stubborn stones nod their heads, upon reflection, much emptiness is not as good as a little reality. And tell me, what is the matter of a little reality?' After a long pause, he said, 'The winter melon is straight and thick; the gourd is crooked and curved.' He ascended the hall: 'The spring rain is gentle, all things are suitable; the rice shoots grow luxuriant, and vegetables are in season. Ānanda seems to join his palms, and Kāśyapa also knits his brows. Even twirling a flower and smiling at the assembly on Gṛdhrakūṭa, upon reflection, still touches upon subtlety. How could it compare to an old man in a three-family village, plowing deeply and planting shallowly, each knowing their proper season? When there is business, speak of it face-to-face; who cares about the blinking of eyes or the raising of brows? There is yet another extraordinary matter: the final move must also be known.' Striking with his whisk, he stepped down from the seat. He ascended the hall: 'Widely searching through texts and meanings is seeking a form in a mirror; stilling thoughts and contemplating emptiness is scooping up the moon in water. The solitary transmission of the mind seal specially creates many complications. Deshan and Linji wasted their efforts; Shigong and Zihu turned it into something extraordinary. With Baoning, it is completely not so. Just follow conditions in drinking and pecking; in everything ordinary, hide deep among the white clouds, content to be one beyond learning. May I ask everyone: in the end, seeking what does Baoning repay the four kindnesses and the three realms of existence?' After a long pause, he said, 'A sorrowful person should not speak to a sorrowful person; speaking to a sorrowful person will grieve them to death.' When the master passed into quiescence and was cremated, two pieces remained indestructible. They were mixed with five-colored relics and stupaed to the left of Yuhuatai.