續傳燈錄 31.14

31.14

澧州靈巖仲安禪師。幼為比丘壯遊講肆。後謁圓悟於蔣山。時佛性為座元。師扣之即領旨。逮性住德山。遣師至鍾阜通嗣書。圓悟問。千里馳來不辱宗風。公案現成如何通信。師曰。覿面相呈更無回互。曰此是德山底。那箇是上座底。師曰。豈有第二人。曰背後底聻。師投書。悟笑曰。作家禪客天然有在。師曰。付與蔣山。次至僧堂前。師捧書問訊首座。座曰。玄沙白紙此自何來。師曰。久默斯要不務速說。今日拜呈幸希一覽。座便喝。師曰。作家首座。座又喝。師以書便打。座擬議。師曰。未明三八九。不免自沈吟。師以書復打一下曰。接時圓悟與佛眼見。悟曰。打我首座死了也。佛眼曰。官馬廝踢有甚憑據。師曰。說甚官馬廝踢。正是龍象蹴踏。悟喚師至曰。我五百人首座爾為甚麼打他。曰和尚也須喫一頓始得。悟顧佛眼吐舌。眼曰。未在。却顧師問曰。空手把鋤頭。步行騎水牛。人從橋上過。橋流水不流。意作麼生。師鞠躬曰。所供並是詣實。眼笑曰。元來是屋裏人。又往見五祖自和尚通法眷書。祖曰。書裏說箇甚麼。師曰。文彩已彰。曰畢竟說箇甚麼。師曰。當陽揮寶劍。曰近前來這裏不識幾箇字。師曰。莫詐敗。祖顧侍者曰。是那裏僧。曰此上座向曾在和尚會下去。祖曰。怪得恁麼滑頭。師曰。被和尚鈍置來。祖乃將書於香爐上熏曰南無三滿多沒陀南。師近前彈指而已。祖便開書。回德山日佛果佛眼皆有偈送之。未幾靈巖虛席。衲子投牒乞師住持。遂嗣大溈焉。上堂。參禪不究淵源。觸途盡為留礙。所以守其靜默澄寂虛閑墮在毒海。以弱勝強自是非他。立人我量見處偏枯。遂致優劣不分照不搆用。用不離窠此乃學處不玄盡為流俗。到這裏須知有殺中透脫活處藏機。佛不可知祖莫能測。所以古人道。有時先照後用。且要共爾商量。有時先用後照。爾須是箇漢始得。有時照用同時。爾又作麼生抵當。有時照用不同時。爾又向甚麼處湊泊。還知麼。穿楊箭與驚人句。不是臨時學得來。

Chan Master Zhongan of Lingyan in Lizhou became a monk in his youth and in adulthood traveled to lecture halls. Later he visited Yuanwu at Jiangshan. At that time Foxing was the head of the hall; the Master inquired of him and immediately grasped the import. When [Foxing] Xing resided at Deshan, he sent the Master to Zhongfu to deliver the letter of Dharma succession. Yuanwu asked, "Galloping a thousand miles without disgracing the ancestral style—the gong'an is already manifest, so how do you communicate the message?" The Master said, "Presented face to face, there is no evasion whatsoever." Yuanwu said, "This is Deshan's; which is yours, Elder?" The Master said, "How could there be a second person?" Yuanwu said, "What about the one behind your back?" The Master presented the letter. Yuanwu laughed and said, "An expert Chan traveler naturally has what it takes." The Master said, "I entrust it to Jiangshan." Next he went before the monks' hall, held up the letter, and bowed in greeting to the head monk. The head monk said, "Xuanji's blank paper—from where has this come?" The Master said, "'Having long been silent on this essential point, I do not rush to speak of it.' Today I respectfully present it, hoping you will take a look." The head monk immediately gave a shout. The Master said, "An expert head monk!" The head monk shouted again. The Master struck him with the letter. The head monk hesitated; the Master said, "Before understanding three, eight, and nine, one cannot avoid brooding to oneself." The Master struck him once more with the letter and said, "Take it!" At that time Yuanwu and Foyan were watching. Yuanwu said, "He has beaten my head monk to death!" Foyan said, "When government horses kick each other, what proof is there?" The Master said, "Why talk of government horses kicking each other? This is precisely dragons and elephants treading!" Yuanwu called the Master over and said, "The head monk of my five hundred people—why did you hit him?" He replied, "The Upādhyāya also needs to take a beating!" Yuanwu looked at Foyan and stuck out his tongue. Foyan said, "Not yet." Then looking at the Master, he asked, "'Empty-handed, holding a hoe; / Walking on foot, riding a water buffalo. / A person crosses over a bridge; / The bridge flows, but the water does not flow.' What is the meaning of this?" The Master bowed and said, "Everything stated is completely true." Foyan laughed and said, "Turns out he is a man of our own house!" He also went to visit Wuzu [Fayan's heir] Upādhyāya [Foguo] Zi to deliver the letter of Dharma kinship. Zu said, "What does it say in the letter?" The Master said, "The literary pattern is already manifest." Zu said, "In the end, what does it say?" The Master said, "Wielding a precious sword in broad daylight." Zu said, "Come closer; I don't know many characters here." The Master said, "Do not feign defeat." Zu turned to the attendant and said, "Where is this monk from?" The attendant said, "This Elder previously stayed in the Upādhyāya's assembly." Zu said, "No wonder he is so slippery!" The Master said, "I was made a fool of by the Upādhyāya." Zu then took the letter, fumigated it over the incense burner, and said, "Namo samanta-buddhānām." The Master just stepped forward and snapped his fingers. Zu then opened the letter. On the day he returned to Deshan, both Foguo and Foyan wrote verses to send him off. Before long, Lingyan became vacant; the patch-robed monks submitted a petition asking the Master to assume the abbacy. Thereupon he became a Dharma heir of Dawai. Ascending the hall, he said: "If in investigating Chan one does not plumb the source, whatever one encounters becomes a hindrance. Therefore, clinging to quiet stillness, serene emptiness, and idle leisure, one falls into a sea of poison. Using the weak to overcome the strong, affirming oneself and denying others, establishing measures of self and other—their views become skewed and withered, resulting in an inability to distinguish superior from inferior, illumination failing to reach function, and function failing to depart from its nest. This is because their learning is not mysterious and is completely worldly. Reaching here, one must know that there is breakthrough within killing and concealed dynamic within life. Buddhas cannot know it, and patriarchs cannot measure it. Therefore the ancients said: 'Sometimes illumination precedes function'—for now I want to deliberate with you; 'sometimes function precedes illumination'—you must be an able fellow to handle it; 'sometimes illumination and function are simultaneous'—how will you withstand that? 'Sometimes illumination and function are not simultaneous'—where will you anchor yourself? Do you know? 'The arrow piercing the willow leaf and the verse that astounds people / Are not things that can be learned on the spot.'"