續傳燈錄 19.22

19.22

越州天衣寺慧通禪師。僧問。師子未出窟時如何。師曰。藏牙伏爪。云出窟後如何。師曰。群狐屏迹。云恁麼則青莎窟裏威風振。秦望山前露爪牙。師曰。爾試哮吼看。僧云。放過一著。師曰。吐不出。問如何是祖師西來意。師曰。青松倒影垂幽徑。云學人不會。師曰。綠竹寒聲夾亂流。云學人從此更無疑也。師曰。且緩緩。乃曰。今日囊錐既露。不免帶水拕泥。顧視大眾曰。有麼然祖師心印直下圓成。恁麼會得少分相應。若以言詮取證徒自疲勞。馳騁詞鋒欲繼真乘無有是處。秖如達磨未來一句作麼生道。還有人道得麼。良久曰。鐵牛昨夜三更走。石女溪邊喝便回。又示眾曰。鳴鐘一扣響振妙峯。玉燭騰輝大千普照。觀音菩薩到這裏無處藏身。更問如何若何。鐵圍山畔更過三千。

Chan Master Huitong of Tianyi Temple in Yuezhou. A monk asked, "What is it like when the lion has not yet emerged from its den?" The Master said, "Concealing its fangs and hiding its claws." The monk said, "What about after it has emerged from the den?" The Master said, "The pack of foxes vanishes without a trace." The monk said, "If so, then its awesome wind shakes within the green reeds, and its claws and fangs are revealed before Mount Qinwang." The Master said, "You try roaring and let me see." The monk said, "I'll let this move pass." The Master said, "You cannot spit it out." The monk asked, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The Master said, "The inverted shadow of the green pine hangs over the secluded path." The monk said, "The student does not understand." The Master said, "The cold sound of green bamboo mingles with the turbulent stream." The monk said, "From this, the student has no further doubt." The Master said, "Slow down a bit." He then said, "Today, since the awl in the bag has already been revealed, it cannot avoid trailing through water and dragging through mud." He looked around at the great assembly and said, "Is there anyone? Yet the Patriarch's mind seal is fundamentally complete right here. If you understand it in this way, there is a slight correspondence. If you seek verification through verbal explanations, you only tire yourself in vain. Galloping on the sharp edge of rhetoric, wishing to carry on the true vehicle—this is utterly impossible. Just tell me, what about the phrase before Bodhidharma came? Can anyone say it?" After a long pause, he said, "The iron ox ran off at the third watch last night; the barren woman gave a shout by the stream, and it turned back." He also instructed the assembly, saying: "With a single strike of the bell, the sound shakes the Wondrous Peak; the jade candle blazes with radiance, universally illuminating the great thousand [worlds]. Even Bodhisattva Guanyin has no place to hide his body here. If you ask further, 'How so? What is it?', pass beyond the Iron Surrounding Mountains by three thousand more."