續傳燈錄 7.6

7.6

黃龍南禪師章氏諱惠南。其先信州玉山人也。童齠深沈有大人相。不茹葷不嬉戲。年十一棄家師事懷玉定水院智鑾。嘗隨鑾出道上見祠廟。輒杖擊火毀之而去。十九落髮受具足戒。遠遊至廬山歸宗。老宿自寶集眾坐。而公却倚。寶時時眴之。公自是坐必跏趺。行必直視。至栖賢依諟禪師。諟蒞眾進止有律度。公規模之三年。辭渡淮依三角澄禪師。澄有時名。一見器許之。及澄移居泐潭。公又與俱。澄使分座接納矣。而南昌文悅見之每歸臥嘆曰。南有道之器也。惜未受本色鉗鎚耳。會同游西山。夜語及雲門法道。悅曰。澄公雖雲門之後。然法道異耳。公問所以異。悅曰。雲門。如九轉丹砂。點鐵作金。澄公藥汞銀徒可玩。入鍛即流去。公怒以枕投之。明日悅謝過。又曰。雲門氣宇如王。甘死語下乎。澄公有法授人死語也。死語其能活人哉。即背去。公挽之曰。即如是誰可汝意者。悅曰。石霜楚圓手段出諸方。子欲見之不宜後也。公默計之曰。此行脚大事也。悅師翠岩。而使我見石霜。見之有得於悅何有哉。即日辦裝。中途聞慈明不事事慢侮少叢林。乃悔欲無行留萍鄉累日。結伴自攸縣登衡嶽寓止福嚴。老宿號賢叉手者。大陽明安之嗣。命公掌書記。泐潭法侶聞公不入石霜。遣使來訊。俄賢卒。郡以慈明領福嚴。公心喜之且欲觀其人以驗悅之言。慈明既至。公望見之心容俱肅。聞其論多貶剝諸方。而件件數以為邪解者。皆泐潭密付旨訣。氣索而歸念悅平日之語。翻然改曰。大丈夫心膂之間其可自為疑礙乎。趨詣慈明之室曰。惠南以闇短望道未見。比聞夜參如迷行得指南之車然。惟大慈更施法施使盡餘疑。慈明笑曰。書記已領徒遊方名聞叢林。借有疑不以衰陋鄙棄。坐而商略。顧不可哉。呼侍者進榻且使坐。公固辭哀懇愈切。慈明曰。書記學雲門禪必善其旨。如曰放洞山三頓棒。洞山于時應打不應打。公曰。應打。慈明色莊而言。聞三頓棒聲便是喫棒。則汝自旦及暮聞鴉鳴鵲噪鐘魚鼓板之聲。亦應喫棒。喫棒何時當已哉。公瞠而却。慈明云。吾始疑不堪汝師。今可矣即使拜。公拜起。慈明理前語曰。脫如汝會雲門意旨。則趙州嘗言。臺山婆子被我勘破。試指其可勘處。公面熱汗下不知答趨出。明日詣之。又遭詬罵。公慚見左右即曰。政以未解求決耳。罵豈慈悲法施之式。慈明笑曰。是罵耶。公於是默悟其旨。失聲曰。泐潭果是死語。獻偈曰。傑出叢林是趙州。老婆勘處沒來由。而今四海清如鏡。行人莫以路為讎。慈明以手點沒字顧公。公即易之。而心服其妙密。留月餘辭去。時年三十五。游方廣後洞識泉大道又同夏。泉凡聖不測而機辯逸群。拊公背曰汝脫類汾州厚自愛。明年游荊州乃與悅會於金鑾。相視一笑曰。我不得友兄及谷泉。安識慈明。是秋北還獨入泐潭澄公舊好盡矣。自雲居游同安。老宿號神立者。察公倦行役。謂曰。吾住山久無補宗教。敢以院事累子。而群將雅知公名從立之請。不得已受之。泐潭遣僧來審提唱之語。有曰。智海無性。因覺妄以成凡。覺妄元虛。即凡心而見佛。便爾休去。謂同安無折合。隨汝顛倒所欲。南斗七北斗八。僧歸舉似澄。澄為不懌。俄聞嗣石霜。泐潭法侶多棄去。住歸宗火一夕而燼。坐抵獄。為吏者百端求其隙。公怡然引咎不以累人。唯不食而已。久而後釋。吏之橫逆公沒齒未嘗言。生黃檗結菴於溪上。名曰積翠。既而退居曰。吾將老焉。方是時江湖閩粵之人聞其風。而有在於是者。相與交武竭蹶于道唯恐其後。雖優游厭飫固以為有餘者。至則憮然自失就弟子之列。南州高士潘興嗣延之嘗問其故。公曰。父嚴則子孝。今日之訓後日之範也。譬諸地爾。隆者下之窪者平之。彼將登于千仞之上。吾亦與之俱。困而極于九淵之下。吾亦與之俱。伎之窮則妄盡而自釋也。又曰。煦之嫗之春夏之所以生育也。霜之雪之秋冬之所以成熟也。吾欲無言得乎。以佛手驢脚生緣三語問學者。莫能契其旨。天下叢林目為三關。脫有酬者公無可否斂目危坐。人莫涯其意。延之又問其故。公曰。已過關者掉臂徑去。安知有關吏。從吏問可否。此未透關者也。住黃龍法席之盛追媲泐潭馬祖百丈大智。熙寧二年三月十七日饌四祖惠日兩專使。會罷起跏趺寢室前。大眾環擁。良久而化。前一日說偈。又七日闍維得五色舍利。塔于山之前嶂。閱世六十有八。坐五十夏。大觀四年春勅諡普覺。

Chan Master Huanglong Nan, whose secular surname was Zhang, was named Huinan. His ancestors were from Yushan in Xinzhou. In his childhood he was deep and reserved, having the bearing of a great man. He did not eat meat, nor did he play games. At the age of eleven, he left home and served Zhiluan of Dingshui Cloister on Mount Huaiyu as his teacher. Once, following Zhiluan along a road, he saw a local shrine; he immediately struck it with his staff, destroyed it with fire, and went away. At nineteen, he shaved his head and received the full ordination. Traveling far, he reached Guizong on Mount Lu. The venerable elder Zibao assembled the community to sit, and the Master [Huinan] leaned back instead. Bao frequently cast glances at him. From then on, whenever the Master sat, he necessarily sat cross-legged; whenever he walked, he necessarily looked straight ahead. When he reached Qixian, he relied on Chan Master Zhi. Zhi presided over the assembly with discipline and order in his advancing and halting; the Master modeled himself after this for three years. Taking his leave, he crossed the Huai River and relied on Chan Master Sanjiao Cheng. Cheng had a contemporary reputation; upon seeing him once, he recognized his capacity. When Cheng moved his residence to Letan, the Master also went with him. Cheng had him share the seat to receive followers. But Wenxue of Nanchang, seeing him, would every time return to his bed, sigh, and say: 'Nan is a vessel of the Way. It is only a pity that he has not undergone the hammering and tongs of genuine capability.' Meeting to travel together in the Western Hills, their nighttime conversation reached the Dharma style of Yunmen. Yue said: 'Although Master Cheng is a successor of Yunmen, his Dharma style is nonetheless different.' The Master asked how it was different. Yue said: 'Yunmen is like nine-times-refined cinnabar: point it at iron and it becomes gold. Master Cheng's [teaching] is mercury silver: it is merely fit for play; put into the forge, it immediately runs off.' The Master was angered and threw his pillow at him. The next day Yue apologized, and further said: 'Yunmen's bearing was like that of a king. Would he be willing to die under words? Master Cheng has a teaching to impart to people, but it is dead words. How can dead words bring a person to life?' Thereupon he turned his back and walked away. The Master pulled him back and said: 'If it is like this, who can meet your approval?' Yue said: 'Shishuang Chuyuan's methods surpass all regions. If you wish to see him, you should not delay.' The Master secretly considered it, saying: 'This is the great matter of an itinerant pilgrimage. Yue's teacher is Cuiyan, yet he sends me to see Shishuang. If I see him and gain something, what does that do for Yue?' That very day he packed his baggage. Midway, he heard that Ciming [Chuyuan] did not attend to affairs and looked down upon small monasteries; he then regretted it, wished not to go, and remained in Pingxiang for several days. Joining companions from You County, he climbed Mount Heng and lodged at Fuyan. The venerable elder called 'Xian Who Clasps the Hands' was the heir of Dayang Ming'an; he ordered the Master to take charge as recorder. Letan's Dharma companions, hearing that the Master was not going to Shishuang, sent a messenger to inquire after him. Soon Xian passed away. The prefecture appointed Ciming to take charge of Fuyan. The Master rejoiced in his heart and wished to observe the man so as to verify Yue's words. Once Ciming arrived, the Master caught sight of him, and his heart and countenance were alike solemn. Hearing his discourses, most of them criticized and stripped bare the various quarters; and the matters he enumerated one by one as false understandings were all the secret instructions and maxims entrusted by Letan. Dispirited, he returned, recollecting Yue's everyday words. Changing his mind completely, he said: 'Within the mind and core of a great man, how could one cause doubt and hindrance to oneself?' Hurrying to Ciming's room, he said: 'Huinan, being dull and shortsighted, looked toward the Way but did not see it. Lately, hearing the evening instruction was like getting a south-pointing chariot when lost on the road. I only pray that out of great compassion you will further bestow the Dharma gift so that my remaining doubts may be exhausted.' Ciming smiled and said: 'The recorder has already led disciples, traveled to various quarters, and his name is famed in the monasteries. Even if you have doubts, do not, on account of my aged unworthiness, hold me in contempt; let us sit and discuss it. Would that not be fine?' He called an attendant to bring forward a couch and had him sit. The Master firmly declined, his earnest pleading growing ever more fervent. Ciming said: 'The recorder studies Yunmen's Chan and must be good at its tenets. For instance, when it says [Yunmen] spared Dongshan three hits with the stick, did Dongshan at that time deserve to be struck or not?' The Master said: 'He deserved to be struck.' Ciming took on a stern expression and said: 'If hearing the sound of three hits of the stick is just taking a beating, then from morning to night when you hear crows cawing, magpies chattering, and the sounds of bells, wooden fish, drums, and clappers, you should also take a beating. When would the beatings ever end?' The Master stared wide-eyed and drew back. Ciming said: 'At first I doubted that I was fit to be your teacher; now I am fit.' Thereupon he made him bow. The Master bowed and rose. Ciming took up the former words again, saying: 'Supposing you understand Yunmen's intended meaning, Zhaozhou once said: "I have investigated and exposed the old woman of Mount Wutai." Try to point out where she could be investigated and exposed.' The Master's face grew hot and sweat poured down; not knowing how to reply, he hurried out. The next day he went to him, and again suffered abuse and scolding. The Master, ashamed to see those around him, at once said: 'It was precisely because I did not understand that I sought a resolution. How is scolding a model of compassionate Dharma giving?' Ciming smiled and said: 'Is this scolding?' Thereupon the Master silently awakened to his tenet. He cried out aloud: 'Letan's indeed were dead words!' He presented a verse: / 'Eminent throughout the monasteries is Zhaozhou; / The place where the old woman was investigated had no rhyme or reason. / Now the four seas are as clear as a mirror; / Let wayfarers not make an enemy of the road.' / Ciming pointed with his hand at the word 'no' [in 'no rhyme or reason'] and looked at the Master; the Master immediately changed it, and in his heart submitted to its marvelous subtlety. He stayed for over a month and then took his leave. At that time he was thirty-five years of age. Traveling behind Guangji, in a cave he made the acquaintance of Quan Dadao and spent the summer retreat together. Quan was unfathomable to the ordinary and the holy, and his dynamic eloquence surpassed the crowd. Patting the Master on the back, he said: 'You are just like Fenzhou; cherish yourself greatly.' The next year, traveling to Jingzhou, he then met with Yue at Jinluan. Looking at each other with a smile, [the Master] said: 'Had I not met you, my elder brother, and Guquan, how could I have known Ciming?' That autumn, returning north, he entered Letan alone; his former bond with Master Cheng was entirely broken. From Yunju he traveled to Tong'an. An elder named Shenli observed that the Master was weary of journeying and said to him: 'I have dwelt in the mountains for a long time without benefiting the ancestral teaching; I venture to burden you with the monastery's affairs.' And the leaders, who had long known the Master's name, went along with Li's request. Having no alternative, he accepted it. Letan sent a monk to scrutinize his instructional discourse, in which it was said: 'The ocean of wisdom has no nature; by becoming aware of delusion, one becomes an ordinary being. Awareness of delusion is originally empty; right in the ordinary mind, one sees the Buddha. Immediately rest like this!' It meant that Tong'an has no compromises; according to your upside-down wishes, the Southern Dipper has seven stars, the Northern Dipper eight. The monk returned and related it to Cheng; Cheng was displeased. Soon it was heard that he was the heir to Shishuang, and many of Letan's Dharma companions deserted him. Dwelling at Guizong, a fire reduced it to ashes in a single night. Held liable, he was thrown into prison. The officials sought faults in him in a hundred ways. The Master peacefully took the blame upon himself, not burdening others; he only went without food. Only after a long time was he released. Throughout his life, the Master never spoke of the officials' perverse abuse. Crossing Mount Huangbo, he built a hermitage by a stream, naming it Jicui. Soon thereafter, he retired, saying: 'I shall grow old here.' At that time, people from the rivers and lakes, Min, and Yue, heard of his style; and those who were around there hastened along the roads with hurried steps, fearing only to be left behind. Even those who had wandered at leisure and were satiated, originally considering themselves to have a surplus, upon arriving were dismayed and at a loss, joining the ranks of disciples. The eminent scholar of the southern region Pan Xingsi, who was named Yanzhi, once asked him the reason. The Master said: 'When a father is strict, the son is filial; today's instruction is tomorrow's model. It is like the earth: lower what is elevated and level what is sunken. If they are about to ascend above a thousand fathoms, I also go with them. If they are exhausted and reach the extreme beneath the nine abysses, I also go with them. When tricks are exhausted, delusion is ended and they release themselves.' He also said: 'Warming them and brooding over them is how spring and summer give birth and nurture; frosting them and snowing on them is how autumn and winter mature. Could I wish to be without words?' He questioned students with three phrases: 'Buddha's hand,' 'donkey's foot,' and 'the conditions of one's birth'; none could tally with his tenet. The monasteries under heaven regarded them as the 'Three Gates.' If there was someone who replied, the Master gave neither approval nor disapproval, but closed his eyes and sat erect; no one could fathom his intention. Yanzhi again asked him the reason. The Master said: 'One who has already passed the checkpoint swings his arms and goes straight on; how would he know there is a checkpoint official? To ask the official for approval or disapproval—this is one who has not yet penetrated the checkpoint.' When he resided at Huanglong, the grandeur of his Dharma assembly rivaled Letan, Mazu, and Baizhang Dazhi. On the seventeenth day of the third month in the second year of Xining, he gave a meal to two special envoys from Sizhou and Huiri. When the gathering ended, he arose and sat cross-legged in front of the sleeping chamber. The great assembly surrounded him. After a long while, he passed away. On the previous day he had spoken a verse. After another seven days, the cremation yielded five-colored relics; a stūpa was erected on the mountain's front ridge. He lived sixty-eight years and sat for fifty summer retreats. In the spring of the fourth year of Daguan, he was posthumously granted by imperial decree the title 'Pujue' [Universal Awakening].