續傳燈錄 32.29

32.29

溫州淨居尼妙道禪師。延平尚書黃公裳之女。開堂日乃曰。問話且止。直饒有傾湫之辯倒嶽之機。衲僧門下一點用不著。且佛未出世時一事全無。我祖西來便有許多建立。列剎相望星分派列。以至今日累及兒孫。遂使山僧於人天大眾前無風起浪。向第二義門通箇消息。語默該不盡底彌亘大方。詮說不及處遍周沙界。通身是眼覿面當機電卷星馳。如何湊泊。有時一喝生殺全威。有時一喝佛祖莫辨。有時一喝八面受敵。有時一喝自救不了。且道那一喝是生殺全威。那一喝是佛祖莫辨。那一喝是八面受敵。那一喝是自救不了。若向這裏薦得。堪報不報之恩。脫或未然山僧無夢說夢去也。拈起拂子曰。還見麼。若見被見刺所障。擊禪床曰。還聞麼。若聞被聲塵所惑。直饒離見絕聞。正是二乘小果。跳出一步蓋色騎聲。全放全收主賓互換。所以道。欲知佛性義當觀時節因緣。敢問諸人。即今是甚麼時節。蕩蕩仁風扶聖化。熙熙和氣助昇平。擲拂子下座。尼問。如何是佛。師曰。非佛。曰如何是佛法大意。師曰。骨底骨董。問言無展事語不投機時如何。師曰。未屙已前墮坑落塹。

Chan Master Miaodao, a nun of Jingju [Monastery] in Wenzhou, was the daughter of Huang Shang, Minister of Yanping. On the day she opened the hall, she said:

“Stop asking questions for now. Even if you possess eloquence that could overturn a gorge and responsiveness that could topple a mountain, among the patch-robed monks not an iota of it can be used. Furthermore, before the Buddha appeared in the world, there was not a single thing at all. Once our Patriarch came from the West, there were manifold establishments: monastery halls facing one another, dividing like constellations and branching into streams, right down to the present day encumbering sons and grandsons. This causes this mountain monk to raise waves where there is no wind before this great assembly of humans and devas, communicating a bit of information toward the gate of secondary meaning.

“That which neither speech nor silence can exhaust completely spans the great directions; that which explanation cannot reach pervades the world of dust. With the whole body being eyes, facing directly into the dynamic moment, lightning rolls and shooting stars dart. How can you approach it? At times a single shout possesses the full authority to bring life or death; at times a single shout is beyond the discrimination of Buddhas and Patriarchs; at times a single shout faces enemies on all eight sides; at times a single shout cannot even save oneself. Now tell me: which shout is the full authority of life and death? Which shout is beyond the discrimination of Buddhas and Patriarchs? Which shout faces enemies on all eight sides? Which shout cannot even save oneself? If you can realize it here, you are worthy of repaying the kindness that cannot be repaid. If perchance you have not yet done so, this mountain monk will tell of a dream without having dreamt.”

Lifting her whisk, she said: “Do you see it yet? If you see it, you are obstructed by the thorn of seeing.” Striking the meditation bench, she said: “Do you hear it yet? If you hear it, you are deluded by the dust of sound. Even if you transcend seeing and sever hearing, that is precisely the minor fruit of the Two Vehicles. Leap out one step: overshadow form and ride upon sound, completely release and completely gather, host and guest interchanging. Therefore it is said: ‘If you wish to know the meaning of Buddha-nature, you should observe the nidāna of time and season.’ Dare I ask everyone: what season is it right now? The vast, benevolent wind assists the sacred transformation; the radiant, harmonious qi aids the ascendance of peace.”

Throwing down the whisk, she descended the seat.

A nun asked: “What is the Buddha?”
The master said: “Not Buddha.”
[The nun] asked: “What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?”
The master said: “A bone-deep antique curios.”
[The nun] asked: “How is it when words express no matter and speech does not accord with the dynamic?”
The master said: “Before defecating, one has already fallen into the pit and dropped into the trench.”