續傳燈錄 3.18

3.18

Chan Master Fazhao Yanjiao of Bao'ying Monastery in Ruzhou. A monk asked: 'How is it when a single word accords with the Way?' The Master said: 'Topsy-turvy.' The monk said: 'Your student bows.' The Master said: 'Told to stop, you refused to stop, waiting until the rain poured down upon your head.' [A monk] asked: 'The Buddha of Great Penetrating Surpassing Wisdom sat at the bodhimaṇḍa for ten kalpas, yet the Buddha Dharma did not appear before him, and he could not attain the Buddha Way. Why could he not attain the Buddha Way?' The Master said: 'Riding barefoot on an iron donkey, going straight to dwell in Hainan.' Ascending the hall, [the Master said]: 'Throughout the twelve periods of the day, if you are permitted for a single period to cease learning, that is itself studying the Buddha Dharma. Have you not seen that Ānanda was foremost in erudition, yet he was expelled by Kāśyapa and not permitted to join the council? Only then do you realize that cleverness, broad learning, memorization, and outward seeking have less and less to do with the numinous, awakening mind. Unable to break through the shell of the five aggregates, one gives rise to joy when things accord with one's feelings and gives rise to anger when they go against them; deeply obscured and covering oneself, one binds oneself and ties oneself without liberation, drifting through birth and death, with the six sense faculties becoming afflictions. Pressed by multiple sufferings, there is no share of freedom, for one is dominated within by the deluded mind. Great men should grasp it early on!' Giving a shout, he said: 'Investigate!' Ascending the hall, [the Master said]: 'The gate of Bao'ying is perilous; those who enter lose their whole body. What is the phrase that allows one to escape? If you cannot say it, come back after thirty years.'