續傳燈錄 32.36

32.36

秦國夫人計氏法真。自寡處屏去紛華。常蔬食習有為法。因大慧遣謙禪者致問其子魏公。公留謙以祖道誘之。真一日問謙曰。徑山和尚尋常如何為人。謙曰。和尚祇教人看狗子無佛性及竹篦子話。秖是不得下語。不得思量。不得向舉起處會。不得向開口處承當。狗子還有佛性也無無。秖恁麼教人看。真遂諦信。於是夜坐力究前話。忽爾洞然無滯。謙辭歸。真親書入道概略。作數偈呈慧。其後曰。逐日看經文。如逢舊識人。莫言頻有礙。一舉一回新。

Lady Fazhen of the Ji clan, Mistress of the State of Qin, ever since living in widowhood, cast aside worldly bustle and luxury, constantly ate vegetarian food, and practiced conditioned methods. Because Dahui sent the meditator Qian to convey greetings to her son, Duke Wei, the Duke detained Qian and used the ancestral way to draw him out. One day Zhen asked Qian, "How does the Upādhyāya of Jingshan ordinarily instruct people?" Qian said, "The Upādhyāya merely instructs people to observe the phrase 'A dog has no Buddha-nature' and the bamboo comb phrase. One must simply not propose answers, not deliberate, not try to comprehend it at the point where it is raised, and not take it up at the point where one's mouth opens. 'Does a dog still have Buddha-nature or not? No.' He merely instructs people to observe it in this way." Zhen thereupon came to have complete faith. Thereupon she sat at night energetically investigating the former phrase, and suddenly [her mind] became thoroughly lucid and unobstructed. When Qian took his leave to return, Zhen personally wrote an outline of her entry into the Way and presented several verses to Dahui. The conclusion of one said:
"Day after day reading the scriptural words,
It is like meeting an old acquaintance.
Do not say that frequent [encounters] bring obstacles;
With each raising, it is new each time."