續傳燈錄 33.32

33.32

荊門軍玉泉窮谷宗璉禪師。合州董氏子。開堂日問答已乃曰。衲僧向人天眾前一問一答一擒一縱一卷一舒一挨一拶。須是具金剛眼睛始得。若是念話之流。君向西秦我之東魯。於宗門中殊無所益。這一段事不在有言不在無言。不礙有言不礙無言。古人垂一言半句。正如國家兵器不得已而用之。橫說竪說秖要控人入處。其實不在言句上。今時人不能一徑徹證根源。秖以語言文字而為至道。一句來一句去。喚作禪道。喚作向上向下。謂之菩提涅槃。謂之祖師巴鼻。正似鄭州出曹門。從上宗師會中往往真箇以行脚為事底。纔有疑處便對眾決擇。秖一句下見諦明白。造佛祖直指不傳之宗。與諸有情盡未來際同得同證。猶未是泊頭處。豈是空開脣皮胡言漢語來。所以南院示眾云。諸方秖具啐啄同時眼。不具啐啄同時用。時有僧問。如何是啐啄同時用。院曰。作家不啐啄。啐啄同時失。僧曰。猶是學人問處。院曰。如何是爾問處。僧曰失。院便打。其僧不契。後至雲門會中。因二僧舉此話。一僧曰。當時南院棒折那其僧忽悟即回南院。院已遷化。時風穴作維那問曰。爾是問先師啐啄同時話底僧那。僧曰是。穴曰。爾當時如何。曰我當時如在燈影裏行。穴曰。爾會也。師乃召大眾曰。暗穿玉線密度金針。如水入水似金博金。敢問大眾。啐啄同時是親切處。因甚却失。若也會得堪報不報之恩。共助無為之化。便可橫身宇宙獨步大方。若跳不出依前秖在架子下。上堂拈拄杖曰。破無明暗截生死流。度三有城泛無為海。須是識這箇始得。乃召大眾曰。喚作拄杖則觸。不喚作拄杖則背。若也識得荊棘林中撒手。是非海裏橫身。脫或未然。普賢乘白象土宿跨泥牛。參。上堂。一切數句非數句。與吾靈覺何交涉。師曰。永嘉恁麼道。大似含元殿上更覓長安。殊不知有水皆含月。無山不帶雲。雖然如是。三十年後趙婆酤醋。上堂。宗乘一唱殊途絕。萬別千差俱泯滅。通身是口難分雪。金剛腦後三斤鐵。好大哥。僧問。保壽開堂三聖推出一僧。保壽便打意旨如何。師曰。利動君子。曰為復棒頭有眼。為復見機而作。師曰。彌猴繫露柱。曰秖如三聖道。爾恁麼為人。瞎却鎮州一城人眼。又作麼生。師曰。錦上鋪華又一重。問行脚逢人時如何。師曰。一不成二不是。曰行脚不逢人時如何。師曰。虎齩大虫。曰秖如慈明道。釣絲絞水意作麼生。師曰。水浸鋼石卵。問三聖道。我逢人則出出則不為人意旨如何。師曰。兵行詭道。曰興化道。我逢人則不出出則便為人又作麼生。師曰。綿裏秤鎚。問不落因果為甚麼墮野狐身。師曰。廬山五老峯。曰不昧因果為甚麼脫野狐身。師曰。南嶽三生藏。曰秖如不落不昧未審是同是別。師曰。倚天長劍逼人寒。僧問。只如昔日楊岐和尚。因僧問。如何是佛。楊岐答云。三脚驢子弄蹄行意旨如何。師曰。過蓬州了便到巴州。吁味師所談心要。政如空中鳥跡水底魚蹤。豈容湊泊哉。

Chan Master Qionggu Zonglian of Yuquan in Jingmen Military Prefecture was a son of the Dong family of Hezhou. On the day he opened the hall, after the dialogue had ended, he said, 'When a patch-robed monk faces the assemblies of gods and humans—one question, one answer, one capture, one release, one rolling up, one unrolling, one pushing, one pressing—he must be equipped with the vajra eye before he can succeed. If he is merely of the sort that recites phrases, you will go toward western Qin while I head to eastern Lu; within the ancestral gate, this is completely useless. This singular matter does not reside in words, nor does it reside in wordlessness; it is not obstructed by words, nor is it obstructed by wordlessness. When the ancients offered a single word or half a phrase, it was just like the state's weapons: used only out of sheer necessity. Speaking horizontally, speaking vertically, they merely wished to steer people to an entry point; in truth, it does not lie in words and phrases. People of today are unable to directly and thoroughly realize the root source, taking mere words and letters to be the ultimate Way. A phrase comes, a phrase goes—they call it Zen and the Way, they call it the transcendent and the descending, they dub it bodhi and nirvāṇa, they term it the Patriarch's nose. It is just like leaving Cao Gate in Zhengzhou. In the assemblies of the ancestral masters from the past, those who genuinely took itinerant pilgrimage as their task would immediately resolve their doubts before the assembly the moment one arose. Realizing the truth clearly under a single phrase, they attained the Patriarchs' directly pointing, non-transmitted lineage, realizing and attaining it equally together with all sentient beings to the end of future time. Even so, that was still not the harbor to moor the boat. How could it be merely opening the lips in vain to babble in barbarian and Chinese tongues? Therefore, Nanyuan said to the assembly: "Every quarter possesses only the eye of simultaneous pecking and tapping; they do not possess the function of simultaneous pecking and tapping." At the time, a monk asked, "What is the function of simultaneous pecking and tapping?" Nanyuan said, "An adept does not peck and tap; pecking and tapping simultaneously lose it." The monk said, "It is still the student's point of questioning." Nanyuan said, "What is your point of questioning?" The monk said, "Lost." Nanyuan then struck him. The monk did not tally [with the teaching]. Later, he went to Yunmen's assembly. Because two monks brought up this story, one monk said, "At that time, Nanyuan's staff broke!" That monk suddenly had an awakening and immediately returned to Nanyuan. Nanyuan had already passed away. At that time, Fengxue served as the rector and asked, "Are you the monk who asked the late master about the story of simultaneous pecking and tapping?" The monk said, "Yes." Fengxue said, "How was it for you at that time?" He said, "At that time, it was as if I were walking in the shadow of a lamp." Fengxue said, "You have understood." / The Master then called out to the great assembly: 'Secretly threading the jade thread, densely passing the gold needle; like water entering water, like gold trading for gold. I dare ask the great assembly: simultaneous pecking and tapping is the intimate place, why then was it lost? If you can understand this, you will be worthy of requiting the unrequited kindness and together aiding the transforming power of the unconditioned; you will then be able to span the cosmos and stride alone in great breadth. If you cannot leap out, you will remain as before beneath the wooden frame.' / Ascending the hall, he held up his staff and said, 'Breaking through the darkness of ignorance, cutting off the flow of birth and death, crossing the citadel of the three existences, floating upon the ocean of the unconditioned—you must recognize this one before you can succeed.' He then called to the assembly and said, 'If you call it a staff, you offend; if you do not call it a staff, you turn your back. If you also recognize it, let go of your hands in the bramble thicket, and stretch your body across the sea of right and wrong. If by chance it is not yet so: Samantabhadra mounts a white elephant, and Saturn strides across a mud ox. Participate!' / Ascending the hall: '"All numerical phrases and non-numerical phrases—what connection do they have with my luminous awareness?"' The Master said, 'Yongjia speaking like this is very much like seeking Chang'an while already standing in Hanyuan Palace. He did not know that wherever there is water, it holds the moon; wherever there is a mountain, it carries clouds. Even though it is like this: thirty years later, Old Woman Zhao sells vinegar.' / Ascending the hall: 'When the ancestral vehicle is sung once, divergent paths are cut off; the ten thousand distinctions and thousand differences are all extinguished. The whole body is a mouth, yet it is difficult to explain away; behind the vajra's brain are three pounds of iron. Fine big brother!' / A monk asked, 'When Baoshou opened the hall, Sansheng pushed forward a monk, and Baoshou immediately struck him. What was the meaning?' The Master said, 'Profit moves a noble man.' The monk asked, 'Was it that there were eyes on the tip of the staff, or that he acted upon seeing the opportune moment?' The Master said, 'A monkey tied to an open pillar.' The monk said, 'Sansheng said, "When you act for people like this, you blind the eyes of everyone in the whole city of Zhenzhou!" What about that?' The Master said, 'Adding another layer of brocade over flowers.' / A monk asked, 'What is it like when one meets someone on pilgrimage?' The Master said, 'One does not make two, two is not it.' The monk asked, 'What is it like when one does not meet someone on pilgrimage?' The Master said, 'A tiger bites a great beast.' The monk asked, 'Ciming said, "The fishing line tangles the water." What does it mean?' The Master said, 'Water soaks a stone egg of steel.' / A monk asked, 'Sansheng said, "When I meet someone, I go out; going out, I do not act for people." What was the meaning?' The Master said, 'Troops advance by deceptive ways.' The monk asked, 'Xinghua said, "When I meet someone, I do not go out; going out, I immediately act for people." What about that?' The Master said, 'A steelyard weight inside raw silk.' / A monk asked, 'Why did he fall into the body of a wild fox for "not falling into cause and effect"?' The Master said, 'The Five Old Men Peaks of Mount Lu.' The monk asked, 'Why did he shed the body of a wild fox for "not being obscured by cause and effect"?' The Master said, 'The Treasury of Three Lives on the Southern Peak.' The monk said, 'As for "not falling into" and "not being obscured", are they identical or different?' The Master said, 'A long sword leaning against heaven chills people with its edge.' / A monk asked, 'In the past, because a monk asked Master Yangqi, "What is the Buddha?", Yangqi replied, "A three-legged donkey gallops along." What was the meaning?' The Master said, 'Passing Pengzhou, one immediately arrives at Bazhou.' Ah! Savoring what the Master said about the mind essence—it is just like the traces of a bird in the sky, or the trail of a fish at the bottom of the water. How could it allow any mooring?