續傳燈錄 6.8

6.8

Chan Master Shencheng of Fuyan on Nanyue was attending and standing beside Dayang. Dayang said, 'There is a person whose entire body is red and festering, lying in a thicket of brambles, surrounded completely by a circle of fire. If one can draw close to this person, the broad markets will open up; if one cannot draw close, what will serve as evidence in daily life?' The Master said, 'The six sense organs are incomplete; the seven consciousnesses are deficient.' Dayang said, 'Tell him to come out; I want to see him.' The Master said, 'Just now there was no one else around to respond to the Upādhyāya.' Dayang said, 'The official does not allow a needle.' The Master then bowed.

The Master later went to the place of Upādhyāya Long of Huayan and cited the previous conversation. Long said, 'Cold as goosebumps, fine as ice and snow.'

Minister Li made a special ascent up the mountain to ask, 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' The Master pointed to the cypress tree in front of the courtyard. The Minister asked thus three times, and the Master answered thus three times. The Minister was delighted and presented a verse:

'Appearing and disappearing among the clouds, filling the great void; / Originally, the true mark does not have a single speck of dust. / Repeatedly I inquired about the meaning of the coming from the West; / He pointed only to the single cypress tree before the courtyard.'