續傳燈錄 6.25

6.25

湖州報本有蘭禪師。僧問。道無橫徑立者皆危。如何是道。師曰。日耀祥光澹。僧云。意旨如何。師曰。風搖瑞色濃。僧禮拜。師曰。猶欠一著。問撥塵見佛即不問。寶劍揮空事若何。師曰。脚下看。僧云。脚下且置。向上事又且如何。師曰。天晴日出雨下雲興。問法本無說當說何明。師曰。水中鹽味色裏膠青。僧云。便恁麼時如何。師曰。三十年後。師乃曰。衣中至寶何假披沙。各自持來復將何用。交光牙入不隱不彰。達磨九年不敢動著。恐屈兒孫。報本不惜眉毛普示大眾拈起拄杖。大眾擬議一時打散。又上堂曰。大無方小無所。半合半開未可相許。嶺梅初折眾花榮。微雨微晴春力普。春力普到頭。莫問曹溪祖。又曰。法無有爾理見非常。至道無方剎塵應物。直得風行草偃響順聲和。無纖芥可齊。見卓牌鬧市。要得不傷和氣。閑與露柱商量。苟能自契點頭。莫謂山僧多口。

Chan Master Youlan of Baoben in Huzhou. A monk asked, 'The Way has no crosscuts; those who stand are all in peril. What is the Way?' The master said, 'The sun blazes with faint auspicious light.' The monk said, 'What is the meaning?' The master said, 'The wind shakes the rich propitious hues.' The monk bowed. The master said, 'Still lacking a move.' He asked, 'Brushing away dust to see the Buddha is not questioned; how is it when the precious sword is brandished in emptiness?' The master said, 'Look beneath your feet.' The monk said, 'Let beneath the feet be set aside; what about the matter of going beyond?' The master said, 'When the sky clears, the sun comes out; when rain falls, clouds arise.' He asked, 'The Dharma is originally unexpressed; when expressed, how is it clarified?' The master said, 'The taste of salt in water, the blue glue in color.' The monk said, 'How is it precisely at such a time?' The master said, 'Thirty years from now.' The master then said, 'The supreme treasure within the robe—why rely on panning sand? Each bringing it out for yourself, what use is made of it? Interlacing light enters like teeth, neither hidden nor revealed. Bodhidharma dared not make a move for nine years, fearing he would wrong his descendants. Baoben does not begrudge his eyebrows to broadly instruct the great assembly.' He held up his staff. As the great assembly hesitated, he dispersed them with blows all at once. He also ascended the hall and said, 'The great has no bounds; the small has no location. Half-closed and half-open, it cannot yet be granted. The plum blossoms on the ridge first break into bloom, and all the flowers flourish; light rain and slight clearing, the power of spring is universal. The power of spring is universal to the end; do not ask about the Patriarch of Caoxi.' He also said, 'The Dharma has no "suchness"; principle reveals the unusual. The ultimate Way has no boundary; worlds and dust respond to things. Straightforwardly, as the wind blows the grass bends, echoes conform and sounds harmonize. Not a fine speck can be matched; a placard is erected in the bustling market. If you want not to harm harmony, leisurely consult with the exposed pillar. If you can tally with it and nod your head, do not say that the mountain monk is talkative.'