續傳燈錄 33.6

33.6

南康軍雲居頑菴德昇禪師。漢州何氏子。二十得度習講。久之辭謁文殊道禪師問佛法省要。殊示偈曰。契丹打破波斯寨。奪得寶珠村裏賣。十字街頭窮乞兒。腰間挂箇風流袋。師擬對。殊曰。莫錯。師退參三年方得旨趣。往見佛性機不投。入閩至鼓山禮覲便問。國師不跨石門句意旨如何。竹應庵聲喝曰。閑言語。師即領悟。住後僧問。應真不借三界高超即不問。如何是無位真人。師曰。聞時富貴見後貧窮。曰擡頭須掩耳。側掌便翻身。師曰。無位真人在甚麼處。曰老大宗師話頭也不識。師曰。放爾三十棒。

Chan Master Wan'an Desheng of Yunju in Nankang Commandery was a native of the He family of Hanzhou. At age twenty he was ordained and studied lecture-texts. After a long time, he took his leave to visit Chan Master Wenshu Dao and asked about the essential shortcut of the Buddha Dharma. Wenshu showed him a verse: / 'The Khitans have smashed the Persian fortress, / Seizing precious pearls to sell in the village. / At the crossroad stands a destitute beggar, / A dandy's purse hanging at his waist.' / The master was about to respond, but Wenshu said, 'Do not be mistaken!' The master withdrew and practiced for three years before grasping the import. He went to see Foxing, but their faculties did not accord. Entering Min, he reached Gushan to pay respects and immediately asked, 'What is the intended meaning of the National Teacher's phrase "not stepping across the stone gate"?' Zhu Ying'an shouted aloud, 'Idle words!' The master was instantly awakened. After becoming an abbot, a monk asked, 'One who is fully realized does not borrow from the three realms and transcends them on high—about this I do not ask. What is the true person of no rank?' The master said, 'When heard of, rich and noble; after being seen, utterly impoverished.' The monk said, 'Raising the head, one must cover one's ears; tilting the palm, one immediately turns the body.' The master said, 'Where is the true person of no rank?' The monk said, 'The venerable great ancestral teacher does not even recognize the turning phrase!' The master said, 'I spare you thirty blows of the stick.'