續傳燈錄 33.44

33.44

慶元府天童慈航了朴禪師。福州人。上堂。酷暑如焚不易禁。炎炎赫赫欲流金。夜明簾外無人到。靈木迢然轉綠陰。上堂。久雨不晴半睡半醒。可謂天地合其德。日月合其明。四時合其序。鬼神合其吉凶。遂喝曰。住住內卦已成更求外象。卓拄杖曰。適來擲得雷天大壯。如今變作地火明夷。上堂。牛皮鞔露柱。露柱啾啾叫。燈籠佯不知。虛明還自照。殿脊老蚩吻。聞得呵呵笑。三門側耳聽。就上打之遶。譬如十日菊。開徹阿誰要。阿呵呵。未必秋香一夜衰。熨斗煎茶不同銚。室中問僧。賊來須打客來須看。秖如三更夜半人面似賊賊面似人。作麼生辨。上堂。觀音巖玲玲瓏瓏。太白石丁丁東東。西園菜蟥似不堪食。東谷花發却無賴紅。且道是祖意教意。途中受用世諦流布。若辨不出雪峯覆却飯桶。若辨得出甘贄禮拜蒸籠參。上堂。德山入門便棒。臨濟入門便喝。臨濟喝處德山棒頭耳聾。德山棒時臨濟喝下眼瞎。雖然一搦一擡。就中全生全殺。遂喝一喝。卓拄杖一下云。敢問。諸人。是生是殺。良久云。君子可八。

Chan Master Cihang Liaopu of Tiantong in Qingyuan Prefecture was a native of Fuzhou. He ascended the hall and said: “Cruel heat like a furnace is not easily endured; blazing and scorching, it is about to melt gold. Beyond the night-shining screen, no person arrives; the spiritual tree, towering afar, turns into green shade.”

He ascended the hall and said: “Prolonged rain does not clear; half asleep, half awake. One may call it: ‘Heaven and Earth accord in their virtue, sun and moon accord in their brightness, the four seasons accord in their order, and ghosts and spirits accord in their good and ill fortune.’” He then gave a shout and said: “Stop, stop! The inner hexagram is already completed; why seek further outer signs?” He struck with his staff and said: “Just now I cast thunder over heaven, Great Strength (Dazhuang); now it changes into earth over fire, Brightness Hiding (Mingyi).”

He ascended the hall and said: “Ox hide wraps the exposed pillar; the exposed pillar chirps and cries out. The lantern pretends not to know; its empty luminosity still shines of itself. The old chiwen on the hall ridge hears it and laughs ha-ha! The triple gate cocks its ear to listen, and right thereupon makes a circle around it. It is like the chrysanthemum on the tenth day [after the Double Ninth]: fully bloomed, yet who wants it? Aha, ha-ha! Not necessarily does autumn fragrance wither in a single night; boiling tea in an iron flatiron is not like using a pot.”

In the abbot's room, he asked a monk: “When a thief comes, one must strike; when a guest comes, one must look after him. Just as in the dead of night at the third watch, a person's face resembles a thief and a thief's face resembles a person—how do you discern them?”

He ascended the hall and said: “Guanyin Cliff is translucent and clear; Taibai Rock sounds ding-ding dong-dong. The vegetables in the west garden seem unfit to eat; the flowers blooming in the eastern valley, however, are roguishly red. Tell me, is this the Patriarch's intent or the scriptural intent? Functioning along the way or the circulation of worldly truth? If you cannot discern it, Xuefeng overturns the rice bucket; if you can discern it, Ganzhi bows to the steamer. Go investigate!”

He ascended the hall and said: “Deshan, upon entering the gate, immediately used the stick; Linji, upon entering the gate, immediately gave a shout. Where Linji shouted, ears went deaf under Deshan's stick; when Deshan struck, eyes went blind under Linji's shout. Although one grabbed and one lifted, right within it was total life and total killing.” He then gave a shout, struck once with his staff, and said: “Dare I ask you all: Is it life or is it killing?” After a long silence, he said: “A gentleman can be duped.”