續傳燈錄 7.7

7.7

楊岐禪師名方會。生冷氏。袁州宜春人也。少警敏滑稽談劇有味。及冠不喜從事筆研。竄名商稅務掌課最。坐不職當罰。宵遁去遊筠州九峯。恍然如昔經行處。眷不忍去。遂落髮為大僧。閱經聞法心融神會。能痛自折節依參老宿。慈明禪師住南原。會輔佐之安樂勤苦。及慈明遷道吾石霜。會俱自請領監院事。非慈明之意。而眾論。雜然稱善。挾楮衾入典金穀。時時惷語摩拂慈明。諸方傳以為當。慈明飯罷必山行。禪者問道多失所在。會闞其出未遠。即撾鼓集眾。慈明遽還怒數曰。少叢林暮而陞座。何從得此規繩。會徐對曰。汾州晚參也何為非規繩乎。慈明無如之何。今叢林三八念誦罷猶參者此其原也。慈明遷興化。因辭之還九峯。萍實道俗詣山請住楊岐。時九峯長老勤公不知會。驚曰。會監寺亦能禪乎。會受帖問答罷乃曰更有問話者麼。試出相見。楊岐今日性命在汝諸人手裏。一任橫拕倒拽。為什麼如此。大丈夫兒須是當眾決擇。莫背地裏似水底按葫蘆相似。當眾勘驗。看有麼。若無。楊岐失利下座。勤把住曰。今日且喜得箇同參。曰同參底事作麼生。勤曰。楊岐牽犁九峯拽耙。曰正當與麼時楊岐在前九峯在前。勤無語。會拓開曰。將謂同參元來不是。自是名聞諸方。會謂眾曰。不見一法是大過患。拈拄杖云。穿過釋迦老子鼻孔。作麼生道得脫身一句。向水不洗水處道將一句來。良久曰。向道莫行山下路。果聞猿叫斷腸聲。又曰。一切智通無障礙。拈起拄杖云。拄杖子向汝諸人面前逞神通去也。擲下云。直得乾坤震裂山嶽搖動。會麼。不見道一切智智清淨。拍繩床曰。三十年後莫道楊岐龍頭蛇尾。其提綱振領大類雲門。又問來僧曰。雲深路僻高駕何來。對曰。天無四壁。曰踏破多少草鞋。僧便喝。會曰。一喝兩喝後作麼生。曰看這老和尚著忙。會曰。拄杖不在且坐喫茶。又問來僧曰。敗葉堆雲朝離何處。對曰。觀音。曰觀音脚跟下一句作麼生道。對曰。適來相見了也。曰相見底事作麼生。其僧無對。會曰。第二上座代參頭道看。亦無對。會曰。彼此相鈍置。其驗勘鋒機又類南院。慶曆六年移住潭州雲蓋山。以臨濟正脈付守端。

Chan Master Yangqi was named Fanghui. He was born into the Leng family, a native of Yichun in Yuanzhou. When young, he was alert and quick-witted, humorous, and his conversation and jokes were full of flavor. Upon reaching adulthood, he did not like to engage with brush and inkstone. Registering under an assumed name in the commercial tax office, his management of assessments was the highest. Held liable for malfeasance, he was due for punishment; fleeing by night, he traveled to Jiufeng in Yunzhou. In a daze, it seemed like a place he had walked in the past; reluctant to part, he could not bear to leave. Thereupon he shaved his head and became a fully ordained monk. Reading the scriptures and listening to the Dharma, his mind fused and his spirit grasped it; he was able to humble himself thoroughly and rely on venerable elders for study. Chan Master Ciming resided at Nanyuan; Hui assisted him in ease, hardship, and toil. When Ciming moved to Daowu and Shishuang, Hui in both cases personally requested to take charge of the duties of the monastery director. This was not Ciming's intention, but the voices of the assembly unanimously praised it as good. Holding a paper blanket, he entered to manage the funds and grain. From time to time, he made blunt remarks that rubbed Ciming the wrong way; the various quarters passed them on, considering them apt. Whenever Ciming finished eating, he would certainly walk in the mountains; Chan students asking about the Way often lost track of his whereabouts. Seeing that he had not gone far, Hui would strike the drum and assemble the community. Ciming would hurriedly return, furiously reproaching him: 'In a small monastery, to ascend the seat at dusk—from where did you get this regulation?' Hui replied slowly: 'Fenzhou had evening instruction; why is it not a regulation?' Ciming had no recourse. Nowadays in the monasteries, when the three-and-eight recitations are finished, they still have instruction; this is the origin of it. Ciming moved to Xinghua; [Hui] therefore took leave of him and returned to Jiufeng. Monastics and laypeople of Pingshi came to the mountain to invite him to reside at Yangqi. At that time, Elder Qin of Jiufeng did not know Hui and said in astonishment: 'Can Director Hui also do Chan?' Hui received the letter of invitation, and after finishing questions and answers, he then said: 'Is there anyone else with a question? Try to come forward and meet. Today Yangqi's life is in the hands of all of you; let you drag me across and haul me upside down as you will. Why is it like this? A great man must make a decision before the assembly; do not behind the scenes be like pressing a gourd beneath the water. Examine and test before the assembly! See if there is anyone? If not, Yangqi loses advantage and descends from the seat.' Qin seized him and said: 'Today we are glad to have obtained a fellow cultivator.' [Hui] said: 'What is the matter of a fellow cultivator like?' Qin said: 'Yangqi pulls the plow; Jiufeng drags the harrow.' [Hui] said: 'Just at such a time, is Yangqi in front, or is Jiufeng in front?' Qin was speechless. Hui pushed him away and said: 'I thought you were a fellow cultivator, but it turns out you are not.' From this, his name was heard in the various quarters. Hui said to the assembly: 'Not seeing a single dharma is a great calamity.' Holding up his staff, he said: 'Piercing through old man Śākya's nostrils, how can you speak a phrase of shedding the body? Speak a phrase toward the place where water does not wash water!' After a long while, he said: 'I told you not to take the path beneath the mountain; indeed, one hears the sound of apes crying, breaking the heart.' He also said: 'All-knowledge penetrates without obstruction.' Holding up the staff, he said: 'The staff displays its spiritual powers in front of all of you.' Throwing it down, he said: 'Directly causing heaven and earth to shatter and mountains to tremble! Do you understand? Have you not heard it said: "The wisdom of all-knowledge is pure"?' Slapping the rope chair, he said: 'Thirty years later, do not say Yangqi had a dragon's head and a snake's tail.' His grasp of essentials was largely similar to Yunmen. He also asked a visiting monk: 'The clouds are deep and the road is remote; from where does your high carriage come?' [The monk] replied: 'Heaven has no four walls.' [Hui] said: 'How many straw sandals have you worn out?' The monk then gave a shout. Hui said: 'After one shout and two shouts, what then?' [The monk] said: 'Look at this old upādhyāya getting flustered.' Hui said: 'My staff is not here; sit for a while and drink tea.' He also asked a visiting monk: 'Fallen leaves pile like clouds; where did you leave this morning?' [The monk] replied: 'Guanyin.' [Hui] said: 'How do you say a phrase beneath Guanyin's heels?' [The monk] replied: 'Just now we met each other.' [Hui] said: 'What is the matter of meeting each other like?' The monk had no reply. Hui said: 'Let the second senior monk speak on behalf of the pilgrimage leader.' There was also no reply. Hui said: 'We have made fools of each other.' His testing of dynamic sharpness was also similar to Nanyuan. In the sixth year of Qingli, he moved to Mount Yunggai in Tanzhou. He transmitted the correct lineage of Linji to Shouduan.