續傳燈錄 21.46

21.46

韶州薦福道英禪師。僧問。佛未出世時如何。師曰。瑠璃瓶貯花。僧云。出世後如何。師曰。瑪瑙鉢盛果。僧云。未審是同是別。師曰。趯倒瓶拽轉鉢。乃曰。據道而論。語也不得。默也不得。直饒語默兩忘。亦沒交涉。何故句中無路意在句中。無意無不意非計較之所及。若是劈頭點一點。頂門豁然眼開者。於此却有疾速分。若低頭向意根下尋思。卒摸索不著。是知萬法無根欲窮者錯。一源絕跡欲返者迷。看他古佛光明先德風彩。一一從無欲無中發現。或時孤峻峭拔竟不可搆。或時含融混合了無所覩。終不樁定一處。亦不繫係兩頭。無是無不是。無非無不非。得亦無所得。失亦無所失。不曾隔越絲毫。不曾移易絲髮。明明古路不屬玄微。覿面擎來瞥然便過。不居正位豈落邪途。不蹈大方那趨小徑。騰騰兀兀何住何為。回首不逢觸目無對。一念普觀廓然空寂。此之宗要千聖不傳。直下了知當處超越。是知赤灑灑處恁麼即易。明歷歷處恁麼還難。不用沾黏點染。直須剝脫屏除。若是本分手脚。放去無收不來。一一放光現瑞。一一削迹絕蹤。機上了不停。語中無可露。徹底攪不渾。通身撲不碎。且道畢竟是什麼靈通。得恁麼奇特。得恁麼堅確。諸仁者。休要識渠面孔。不用安渠名字。亦莫覓渠所在。何故渠無所在。渠無名字。渠無面孔。纔起一念追求如微塵許。便隔十生五生。更擬管帶思惟。益見紛紛雜。雜不如長時放教自由自在。要發便發。要住便住。即天然非天然。即如如非如如。即湛寂非湛寂。即敗壞非敗壞。生無戀死無畏無佛求無魔怖。不與菩提會。不與煩惱俱。不受一法不嫌一法。無在無不在。非離非不離。若能如是。見得釋迦自釋迦。達磨自達磨。干我什麼椀。恁麼說話衲僧門下。推勘將來布被芒靸。不免撩他些些泥水。豈況汝等諸處更道。這箇是平實語。這箇是差別門庭。這箇是關棙巴鼻。這箇是道眼根塵。遞相教習。如七家村裏人傳口令相似。有什麼交涉。無事珍重。

Chan Master Daoying of Jianfu in Shaozhou. A monk asked, 'What was it like before the Buddha appeared in the world?'
The master said, 'A lapis lazuli vase storing flowers.'
The monk said, 'What was it like after he appeared in the world?'
The master said, 'An agate bowl holding fruit.'
The monk said, 'I wonder whether they are the same or different?'
The master said, 'Kick over the vase and overturn the bowl.'
He then said: 'Speaking in terms of the Way, speech will not do, nor will silence do. Even if you forget both speech and silence, it still has no connection. Why? There is no path within the phrase, but the meaning is within the phrase. Neither with meaning nor without meaning, it is beyond the reach of calculation. If someone is tapped on the crown of the head and the eye at the top of the skull is wide open, they have a swift capacity here. If you lower your head and ruminate under the sense-faculty of intellect, in the end you will not grasp it. Hence we know: the myriad dharmas have no root, and those who wish to fathom them are mistaken; the single source leaves no trace, and those who wish to return to it are confused. Look at the radiance of the ancient Buddhas and the demeanor of the former worthies: each and every one emerged from desirelessness and nothingness. Sometimes towering and steep, utterly unreachable; sometimes blending and merged, leaving nothing to be seen. In the end they are never pegged down to one place, nor bound to the two extremes. Neither right nor not right; neither wrong nor not wrong. Gain is without anything gained; loss is without anything lost. Never separated by a hair's breadth; never shifted by a single strand. Clearly the ancient road does not pertain to the abstruse or subtle; held before your face, in a flash it passes by. Not dwelling in the proper rank, how could one fall into a deviant path? Not treading the great square, how could one hurry down a narrow track? Carefree and unconstrained, where do they stay, what do they do? Turning the head, nothing is encountered; meeting the eyes, there is no opposite. In a single thought universally contemplating, vast, open, and tranquil. This essential tenet of our lineage is not transmitted by the thousand sages; understanding directly, one transcends right where one is. Thus we know: where all is stripped bare, it is easy to be so; where all is distinct and clear, it is difficult to be so. There is no need for sticking or staining; one must simply strip away and banish it. If one has one's native hands and feet, let them go and there is nothing not gathered in. Each shines with radiance and displays auspicious signs; each erases traces and leaves no tracks. Functioning without pausing; in speech, there is nothing revealed. To the very bottom, it cannot be muddied; throughout the entire body, it cannot be smashed. Tell me, after all, what spiritual efficacy is it that can be so extraordinary, that can be so firm? Virtuous ones! Do not seek to know its face, do not give it a name, and do not search for where it is. Why? It has no location, it has no name, and it has no face. The moment a single thought of pursuing it arises, even the size of a fine dust mote, you are separated by five or ten lifetimes. If you still intend to mind it and deliberate, you will see it become all the more confused and tangled. It is better to let it be free and unfettered at all times: if it wants to go forth, let it go forth; if it wants to stay, let it stay. That is, natural yet not natural; as-such yet not as-such; clear and tranquil yet not clear and tranquil; decaying yet not decaying. In life there is no attachment, in death no fear; no Buddha to seek, no Māra to dread. It does not meet with bodhi, nor does it accompany afflictions. It does not accept a single dharma, nor does it reject a single dharma. Neither present nor absent; neither separated nor not separated. If you can be like this, you will see that Śākyamuni is himself Śākyamuni, and Bodhidharma is himself Bodhidharma—what dish of mine does it concern? Such talk, when investigated under the gate of patch-robed monks with cloth quilt and straw sandals, cannot avoid stirring up a bit of mud and water for them. How much less when in various places you say: "This is plain speech; this is the gate of differentiation; this is the crucial turning point; this is the Way-eye's sense organs and objects." Teaching each other in turn, it is just like villagers in a hamlet of seven households passing along a password—what connection does it have? There is nothing further; take care.'