續傳燈錄 36.12

36.12

杭州徑山元叟禪師諱行端。族臨海何氏世業儒。母陳氏。師生而秀拔。幼不茹葷。年十二從族叔父茂上人得度於餘杭之化城院。十八受具戒。一切文字不由師授自然能通。初參藏叟和尚於徑山。叟問。汝是甚處人。師云。台州叟便喝師展坐具。又喝師收坐具。叟云。放汝三十棒參堂去。師於言下豁然頓悟。即延入侍司。叟告寂。師至淨慈依石林鞏公。即處以記室。尋以靈隱山水清勝往挂錫焉。師嘗自稱寒拾。里人橫川珙公在育王。以偈招曰。寥寥天地間。獨有寒山子。師竟不渡江而謁覺菴真公於承天。復參雪岩欽公於仰山。岩問。何處來。師云。兩淛。岩云。因甚語音不同。師云。合取臭口。岩云。獺徑橋高集雲峯峻。未識書記在。師拍手云。鴨吞螺螄眼睛突出。岩笑顧謂侍者。點好茶來。師云。也不消得。居三歲而岩逝。乃還淛右。徑山請師居第一座。大德庚子出世湖之資福。學徒奔湊名聞京國。特旨賜慧文正辨禪師。中書平章事張閭公任行宣政使。首舉師主中天竺。開堂之日公率僚屬親臨座下。皇慶壬子遷靈隱。有旨設水陸大會于金山。命師升座說法。竣事入覲。加賜佛日普照之號。陛辭南歸養高于良陼之西菴。至治壬戌徑山虛席。宣政行院請師補其處。師至是凡三被金襴袈裟之賜。二十年間足不越閫。而慕其道者鱗萃至無所容。僧問。如何是正法眼藏。師云。十字街頭石敢當。僧云。莫只這便是麼。師云。月似彎弓少雨多風。上堂舉。僧問趙州狗子還有佛性也無。州云無。又僧問。狗子還有佛性也無。州云有。師云。若以無為究竟。後來因甚道有。若以有為諦當。前面因甚道無。者裏捉敗趙州。許爾天上天下。上堂。秋風涼秋夜長。未歸客思故鄉。拍禪床。自是不歸歸便得。五湖煙景有誰爭。師嘗勘一新到僧云。何方聖者甚處靈祇。僧云臨朕碪。師云。杜撰禪和如麻似粟參堂去。又勘一僧云。棊盤石斫破爾腦門。盋盂池浸爛爾脚板。僧擬答。師便喝。又勘一僧云。擘開華嶽連天秀。放出黃河徹底清。即且置。平實地上道將一句來。僧擬開口。師便打。師以呵叱怒罵為門弟子慈切之誨。以不近人情行天下大公之道。師之利他皆陰為之沒齒不言。師生於宋寶祐乙卯。以至正辛巳八月四日。書偈訣眾云。本無生滅。焉有去來。冰河發焰。鐵樹花開。投筆垂一足而化。世壽八十八僧臘七十六。以是月十一日奉全身窆于寂照塔院。弟子竹泉林古鼎。銘夢堂噩楚石琦以中及等。皆足亢其宗。

Chan Master Yuansou Xingduan of Mount Jing in Hangzhou was surnamed He and hailed from Linhai; his family had been Confucian scholars for generations. His mother was of the Chen clan. The Master was remarkably gifted from birth, and as a child he did not consume meat or pungent roots. At age twelve, he was ordained by his clan uncle, the Venerable Mao, at Huacheng Cloister in Yuhang. At eighteen, he took the full ordination vows. He understood all forms of literature naturally, without needing instruction from a teacher. He first called upon Upādhyāya Zangsou at Mount Jing. Sou asked, 'Where are you from?' The Master said, 'Taizhou.' Sou gave a shout; the Master spread his sitting mat. Sou shouted again; the Master folded up his sitting mat. Sou said, 'I spare you thirty blows of the stick; go to the assembly hall.' Upon hearing these words, the Master had a sudden, thorough awakening. He was immediately invited into the attendants' quarters. Sou passed away into quiescence, and the Master went to Jingci to rely on Gong of Shilin, who appointed him as recorder. Soon after, because the scenery of Lingyin was fresh and picturesque, he went there to hang up his staff. The Master once referred to himself as Han[shan] and Shi[de]. His fellow countryman, Venerable Hengchuan Gong at Yuwang, beckoned him with a verse: 'Vast and solitary between heaven and earth, / There is only the Master of Cold Mountain.' In the end the Master did not cross the river, but instead visited Venerable Jue'an Zhen at Chengtian. Next he studied under Venerable Xueyan Qin at Yangshan. Yan asked, 'Where have you come from?' The Master said, 'Liangzhe.' Yan said, 'Why is your accent different?' The Master said, 'Close your foul mouth.' Yan said, 'Lanjing Bridge is high, Jiyun Peak is steep; you still don't know the recorder is here.' The Master clapped his hands and said, 'A duck swallows a snail—its eyes pop out.' Yan smiled, turned to an attendant, and said, 'Brew some fine tea.' The Master said, 'There is no need for that either.' After three years, Yan passed away. The Master then returned to Zheyou. Mount Jing invited the Master to occupy the first seat. In the gengzi year of Dade [1300], he began his public teaching at Zifu in Huzhou. Students gathered in swarms, and his fame reached the capital. By special imperial decree, he was granted the title Chan Master Huiwen Zhengdian ('Wisdom-Literature Correct-Discernment'). Zhang Lü, Chancellor of the Secretariat, served as Chief Commissioner for Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. He first recommended the Master to assume the abbacy of Zhongtianzhu. On the day the hall was opened, Lord Zhang led his subordinates to attend in person. In the renzi year of Huangqing [1312], he was transferred to Lingyin. An imperial order was issued to hold a Great Water and Land Assembly at Jinshan, and the Master was ordered to ascend the seat and preach the Dharma. After concluding the event, he had an imperial audience, and was additionally granted the title Fori Puzhao ('Buddha-Sun Shining Everywhere'). Having taken his leave from the throne, he returned south to cultivate his virtue in retirement at Xi'an in Liangzhu. In the renxu year of Zhizhi [1322], the seat at Mount Jing became vacant. The Branch Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs invited the Master to fill the position. By this time, the Master had been bestowed the golden-brocade kāṣāya three times in total. For twenty years his feet did not cross the threshold, yet those who admired his Path gathered in schools like fish, until there was no room to hold them. A monk asked, 'What is the treasury of the true Dharma eye?' The Master said, 'The stone warding tablet at the crossroads.' The monk said, 'Isn't this it, then?' The Master said, 'The moon is like a bent bow: little rain and much wind.' Ascending the hall, he cited: 'A monk asked Zhaozhou, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?" Zhou said, "No." Another monk asked, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?" Zhou said, "Yes."' The Master said, 'If you take "no" as definitive, why did he later say "yes"? If you take "yes" as certain, why did he previously say "no"? If you can catch Zhaozhou out here, I grant that you are supreme in heaven and earth.' Ascending the hall: 'The autumn wind is cool, the autumn nights are long; / A traveler yet to return longs for his old home.' He struck the meditation bench: 'It is simply that you do not return; if you return, you arrive. / Over the mist-veiled scenery of the Five Lakes, who contends?' The Master once examined a newly arrived monk, saying, 'A sage from which quarter? A spirit from where?' The monk said, 'Linchuan stone-block.' The Master said, 'Fabricating Chan monks are as numerous as hemp and millet; go to the assembly hall!' He also examined a monk, saying, 'The chessboard rock splits open your crown; the alms-bowl pool soaks and rots the soles of your feet.' The monk prepared to reply; the Master shouted. He examined another monk, saying, '"Splitting open Mount Hua, its elegance touches heaven; / Releasing the Yellow River, it is clear to the bottom." Setting that aside for a moment, say a phrase on level, solid ground!' The monk prepared to open his mouth; the Master struck him. The Master used scolding, rebukes, and harsh reprimands as compassionate and earnest instruction for his disciples; with an aloof, uncompromising demeanor, he practiced the great, impartial Way of the world. All the benefits he brought to others were performed in secret, never spoken of throughout his life. The Master was born in the yimao year of Baoyou under the Song [1255]. On the fourth day of the eighth month in the xin-si year of Zhizheng [1341], he wrote a verse to bid farewell to the assembly: 'Originally there is no arising or ceasing; / How could there be going or coming? / Flames erupt from the icy river; / Flowers blossom on the iron tree.' Dropping his brush, he let one leg hang down and passed away. His worldly age was eighty-eight; his monk's age was seventy-six. On the eleventh day of that month, his whole body was interred in the Jizhao Stūpa Cloister. His disciples—Zhuquan Lin, Guding Ming, Mengtang E, Chushi Qi, Yizhong Ji, and others—were all fully capable of upholding his lineage.