續傳燈錄 23.16

23.16

吉州禾山方禪師。臨江龔氏子。示眾曰。先用後照要驗作家。先照後用不存影迹。照用同時壁立千仞。照用不同時根塵可鑑。古人以此四轉語驗天下衲僧。若非具真正眼親切悟明者難為湊泊。今日分明為諸人拈出了也。還委悉麼。若委悉去。可謂不動絲毫頓超覺地。其或未然切須子細。又舉拂子曰。看看只這箇。在臨濟則照用齊行。在雲門則事理俱備。在曹洞則偏正叶通。在溈仰則暗機圓合。在法眼則何止唯心。然五家宗派門庭施設則不無。直饒辨得倜儻分明去。猶是光影邊事。若要抵敵死生則霄壤有隔。且道超越死生一句又作麼生道。良久曰。洎合錯下注脚。

Chan Master Fang of Heshan in Jizhou was a son of the Gong family of Linjiang. He instructed the assembly, saying: "Illumination after function tests the expert; function after illumination leaves no trace behind. Illumination and function simultaneously stand like a precipitous cliff of a thousand fathoms; illumination and function not simultaneous can be reflected in sense faculties and dusts. The ancients used these four turning words to test the patch-robed monks of the world. Unless one possesses genuine eyes and has intimately awakened to clear understanding, it is difficult to approach. Today, I have clearly brought it out for all of you. Do you fully comprehend? If you comprehend it, you may be said to transcend the ground of awakening suddenly without moving a single hair. If not yet so, you must be extremely meticulous!" He also held up his fly-whisk and said, "Look, look! Just this: in Linji, illumination and function proceed together; in Yunmen, phenomenon and principle are both fully present; in Caodong, the biased and the right harmoniously correspond; in Guiyang, subtle functions roundly unite; in Fayan, how could it be limited to mind-only? However, the stylistic provisions of the five houses' lineages are not nonexistent. Even if you can discern them vividly and clearly, that is still an affair on the side of light and shadow. If you want to withstand birth and death, there is the distance between heaven and earth. So tell me, how do you say a sentence that transcends birth and death?" After a long pause, he said, "I almost added the wrong footnote."