續傳燈錄 26.28

26.28

慶元府天童普交禪師。郡之萬齡畢氏子。幼頴悟未冠得度。往南屏聽台教。因為檀越修懺摩。有問曰。公之所懺罪為自懺邪為他懺邪。若自懺罪罪性何來。若懺他罪他罪非汝烏能懺之。師不能對。遂改服遊方。造泐潭。足纔踵門。潭即呵之。師擬問。潭即拽杖逐之。一日忽呼師至丈室曰。我有古人公案。要與爾。商量。師擬進語。潭遂喝。師豁然領悟乃大笑。潭下繩床執師手曰。汝會佛法邪。師便喝復拓開。潭大笑。於是名聞四馳學者宗仰。後歸桑梓留天童掩關却掃者八年。寺偶虛席。郡僚命師開法。恐其遁。預遣吏候于道。故不得辭。受請日上堂曰。咄哉黃面老。佛法付王臣。林下無情客。官差逼殺人。莫有知心底為我免得麼。若無不免將錯就錯。便下座。師凡見僧來必叱曰。楖栗未擔時為汝說了也。且道說箇甚麼。招手洗鉢拈扇張弓。趙州柏樹子。靈雲見桃花。且擲放一邊。山僧無恁麼間唇吻與爾打葛藤。何不休歇去。拈拄杖逐之。宣和六年三月二十日沐浴陞堂說偈脫然示寂。偈曰。寶杖敲空觸處春。箇中消息特彌綸。昨宵風動寒巖冷。驚起泥牛耕白雲。壽七十七。臘五十八。

Chan Master Pujiao of Tiantong in Qingyuan Prefecture was a son of the Bi family of Wanling in that prefecture. He was clever from his youth and was ordained before reaching adulthood. He went to Nanping to study the Tiantai teachings. Once, when performing repentance for a patron, someone asked: 'Is the sin you repent your own sin or another's? If it is your own sin, where does the nature of sin come from? If it is another's sin, another's sin is not yours; how could you repent it?' The master could not answer. Thereupon, he changed his robes and traveled on pilgrimage. He arrived at Letan; as soon as his feet crossed the threshold, Letan scolded him. The master was about to ask a question when Letan dragged his staff and chased him out. One day, Letan suddenly called the master to his abbot's room and said, 'I have an ancient gong'an that I want to discuss with you.' The master was about to offer words when Letan shouted. The master was thoroughly enlightened and broke into a great laugh. Letan stepped down from the rope chair, grasped the master's hand, and said, 'Do you understand the Buddha Dharma?' The master gave a shout and pushed him away. Letan laughed heartily. Thereupon, his fame spread in all directions, and students looked up to him. Later, he returned to his native place and remained at Tiantong, closing his gate and sweeping away callers for eight years. When the monastery happened to have a vacant seat, the prefectural officials ordered the master to open the Dharma hall. Fearing he might flee, they sent officers ahead to wait on the road, so he could not decline. On the day he accepted the invitation, he ascended the hall and said: 'Pah! Yellow-faced old fellow! Handing over the Buddha Dharma to kings and ministers! A cold, aloof guest beneath the forest is hounded to death by official duties! Is there anyone who knows my heart who can exempt me? If not, there is no choice but to take error for error.' He then stepped down from the seat. Whenever the master saw a monk coming, he would invariably reprimand him, saying: 'Before your staff was shouldered, it was already explained to you! And tell me, what was explained? Beckoning with the hand, washing the bowl, picking up the fan, drawing the bow; Zhaozhou's cypress tree; Lingyun seeing the peach blossoms—set them all aside for a moment! This mountain monk has no such idle lips to entangle in vines with you. Why not rest from it all?' He would pick up his staff and chase them out. On the twentieth day of the third month in the sixth year of Xuanhe, he bathed, ascended the hall, spoke a verse, and freely passed away. The verse said:
'The precious staff strikes empty space, spring everywhere;
The message within it specifically encompasses all.
Last night the wind stirred, the cold crag was chilly;
Startled awake, the mud ox plows the white clouds.'
He lived seventy-seven years, with fifty-eight years of monastic seniority.