續傳燈錄 2.49

2.49

Chan Master Zhixian of Beichan in Changning, Hengzhou. A monk asked, "Whose tune does the Master sing? Whose house style do you inherit?" The Master said, "The Alms Bowl-Tossing Peak is elegant; its fame is renowned overseas." The monk said, "Formerly at Fuyan you personally obtained the essential meaning; today in this place you transform those lost on the path." The Master said, "In the end, you are one well-fed in the monasteries." The monk asked, "What is the Buddha?" The Master said, "A spoon cannot scoop it up." The monk said, "What is the Way?" The Master said, "Building a bridge over a perilous road." On New Year's Eve, he instructed the assembly: "The year is exhausted and the months come to an end. There is nothing with which to share the passage of the year with the assembly. This old monk cooks a white ox on open ground, steams rice from earthly fields, boils vegetable roots, and burns fire from wood chunks, gathering around the hearth with the assembly to sing songs of returning to the fields. Why so? To avoid leaning on others' doors and clinging to their walls, causing the people of the time to call me 'my lord.'" He stepped down from the seat. At that time, a monk shouted loudly from behind: "An official from the county has arrived!" The Master turned around and asked him why. The monk said, "The upādhyāya has slaughtered an ox but has not handed over its hide and horns." The Master laughed, threw his warm cap on the ground, and gave it to him. The monk picked it up from the ground, knelt, and presented it, saying, "The weather is cold; I return the upādhyāya's cap." The Master turned and asked his attendant Yiyu, "What about this?" Yu said, "Recently paper has been dear in the city; one indictment has been served." He also ascended the hall, and after a long pause said, "What injustice! What injustice! Why is Baizhang not here? This old monk is weary today." He stepped down from the seat. He also ascended the hall, laughed loudly with a "Heh, heh!", and said, "How could you blame this old monk?"