續傳燈錄 6.7

6.7

Chan Master Qingpou of Xingyang in Yingzhou served as the garden supervisor at Dayang. While planting melons, Dayang asked, 'When will the sweet melons become ripe?' The Master said, 'Right now they are fully ripe.' Dayang said, 'Pick the sweet ones and bring them here.' The Master said, 'For whom to eat?' Dayang said, 'For the one who does not enter the garden.' The Master said, 'I wonder whether the one who does not enter the garden will still eat them or not?' Dayang said, 'Do you still know him?' The Master said, 'Although I do not know him, I cannot help but give them to him.' Dayang laughed and left.

After taking up residence, he ascended the hall: 'The great truth of the coming from the West is beyond all one hundred negations. Matching wits within phrases completely violates the wondrous purport. Ceasing when one cannot cease wrongs the ancestral lineage; how much more so with rambling talk—what benefit could there be? Even though it is like this, matters are not one-sided. For now, within the gate of expounding the teachings, let us open a single line of path for everyone to discuss.'

A monk asked, 'When Sāgara emerges from the ocean, heaven and earth tremble; when meeting face-to-face, what about this matter?' The Master said, 'The Golden-Winged Bird King confronts the universe; / Among them, who is the one to poke his head out?' The monk said, 'If he suddenly happens to poke his head out, then what?' The Master said, 'Like a falcon snatching a dove, you do not believe it; / Only when tested before a skull will you know the truth.' The monk said, 'In that case, I fold my hands across my chest and retreat three paces.' The Master said, 'The little black turtle beneath the Sumeru throne— / Do not wait until your forehead is marked again before turning back.'

A monk asked, 'Where have the sages from antiquity gone?' The Master said, 'The moon illuminates a thousand rivers in quietude; / A solitary lamp shines bright on the ocean bed.'

Ministry of Works Official Zheng asked, 'When will the Upādhyāya open the hall?' The Master said, 'Not reckoned in asaṃkhyeyas, / Before the sun and moon were born.'

When the Master lay sick, Dayang asked, 'This body is like a phantom bubble; within the phantom bubble it is accomplished. If there were no phantom bubble, the great matter would have no way to be accomplished. If you want the great matter accomplished, how do you understand this phantom bubble?' The Master said, 'This is still a matter on this side.' Dayang said, 'What is the matter on that side?' The Master said, 'The red orb pierces all around the earth; / On the ocean bed no flowers are planted.' Dayang laughed and said, 'Are you indeed so alert?' The Master gave a shout and said, 'Did you think I had forgotten?' and straightaway hastened into quiescence.