續傳燈錄 32.17

32.17

饒州薦福悟本禪師。江州人也。自江西雲門參侍妙喜至泉南小谿。于時英俊畢集受印可者多矣。師私謂其棄己且欲發去。妙喜知而語之曰。汝但專意參究。如有所得不待開口。吾已識也。既而有聞師入室者故謂師曰。本侍者參禪許多年。逐日只道得箇不會。師詬之曰。這小鬼爾未生時我已三度霍山廟裏退牙了。好教爾知。由是益銳志。以狗子無佛性話舉無字而提撕。一夕將三鼓。倚殿柱昏寐間。不覺無字出口吻忽爾頓悟。後三日妙喜歸自郡城。師趨丈室足纔越閫未及吐詞。妙喜曰。本鬍子這回方是徹頭也。住後上堂。高揖釋迦不拜彌勒者與三十拄杖。何故為他秖會步步登高不會從空放下。東家牽犁西家拽耙者與三十拄杖。何故為他秖會從空放下不會步步登高。山僧恁麼道。還有過也無。眾中莫有點撿得出者麼。若點撿得出。須彌南畔把手共行。若點撿不出。布袋裏老鵶雖活如死。上堂。釋迦掩室於摩竭。淨名杜口於毘耶。須菩提唱無說而顯道。釋梵絕視聽而雨華。大眾這一隊不唧𠺕漢。無端將祖父田園私地結契。各據四至界分方圓長短一時花擘了。也致令後代兒孫千載之下上無片瓦蓋頭下無卓錐之地。博山當時若見。十字路頭掘箇無底深坑。喚來一時埋却。免見遞相鈍置。何謂如此。不見道。家肥生孝子。國霸有謀臣。上堂。乾闥婆王曾奏樂。山河大地皆作舞。爭如跛脚老雲門。解道臘月二十五。博山今日有條攀條無條攀例。也要應箇時節。驀拈拄杖橫按膝上。作撫琴勢云。還有聞絃賞音者麼。良久云。直饒便作鳳皇鳴。畢竟有誰知指法。卓一下下座。

Chan Master Wuben of Jianfu in Raozhou was a native of Jiangzhou. From Yunmen in Jiangxi, he attended upon Miaoxi as his attendant all the way to Xiaoxi in Quannan. At that time, outstanding figures gathered in full, and many were those who received the seal of approval. The Master privately thought that Miaoxi had cast him aside and intended to depart. Miaoxi knew this and said to him: 'Just concentrate your mind on investigating; if you have any attainment, you need not open your mouth—I will already recognise it.' Later, someone who heard the Master entering the abbot's room intentionally said to him: 'Attendant Ben has practised Chan for so many years, yet day after day he can only say "I do not understand."' The Master berated him, saying: 'You little ghost! Before you were born, I had already shed my teeth three times in the temple on Mount Huo—let that be known to you!' Because of this, his determination became even sharper. Taking up the case of the dog having no Buddha-nature, he raised the word 'Mu' and spurred himself on. One night, around the third drum, while leaning against a hall pillar in a daze of sleepiness, the word 'Mu' unconsciously came out of his lips, and he was suddenly awakened. Three days later, Miaoxi returned from the prefectural seat. The Master hastened to the abbot's room; his foot had barely crossed the threshold and before he could utter a word, Miaoxi said: 'Bearded Ben, this time you have finally reached the very bottom!' After taking up residence, he ascended the hall and said: 'To one who bows high to Śākya and does not prostrate to Maitreya, I give thirty blows of the staff. Why? Because he only knows how to ascend high step by step, and does not know how to let go from emptiness. To one who leads the plough at the eastern house and drags the harrow at the western house, I give thirty blows of the staff. Why? Because he only knows how to let go from emptiness, and does not know how to ascend high step by step. When this mountain monk speaks like this, is there any fault or not? Is there anyone in the assembly who can evaluate it? If you can evaluate it, south of Mount Sumeru we hold hands and walk together. If you cannot evaluate it, the old crow inside the cloth bag, though alive, is as if dead.' Ascending the hall, he said: 'Śākya shut his room in Magadha; Vimalakīrti stopped his mouth in Vaiśālī; Subhūti expounded the unsaid to reveal the Way; Śakra and Brahmā cut off seeing and hearing and rained down flowers. Everyone, this pack of clumsy fellows, for no reason at all, privately made contracts over the ancestral fields and gardens, occupying their four boundaries, circles, squares, lengths, and breadths, all tearing them apart at once, thereby causing later descendants a thousand years hence to have not a single tile to cover their heads above, nor ground enough to plant an awl below. Had Boshan seen them at that time, he would have dug a bottomless deep pit at the crossroads, called them over, and buried them all at once, to avoid seeing them repeatedly causing embarrassment to one another. Why so? Have you not heard it said: "A prosperous family produces filial sons; a hegemonic state possesses resourceful ministers"?' Ascending the hall, he said: 'The gandharva king once played music, and the mountains, rivers, and the great earth all danced. How could that compare to lame old Yunmen, who was able to say, "The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month"? Boshan today, with a rule follows the rule, and without a rule follows precedent; he too must respond to the season.' Abruptly he held up his staff, laid it across his knees, and made the gesture of stroking a zither, saying: 'Is there anyone who hears the strings and appreciates the sound?' After a long while, he said: 'Even if it directly made the phoenix's cry, in the end who understands the fingering?' Striking once, he stepped down from the seat.