續傳燈錄 7.26

7.26

Chan Master Xianduan of Mount Bailu in Fuzhou was a son of the Zhou family of that prefecture. A monk asked, "What is the Way?" The Master said, "The Nine Provinces and the Hundred Yue." [The monk] said, "What is a person of the Way?" The Master said, "Riding fat [horses] and clothed in brocade." [A monk] asked, "What is a great kalyāṇamitra?" The Master said, "Holding a knife and pressing a sword." [The monk] said, "Why is it so?" The Master said, "Etiquette guards against gentlemen." [A monk] asked, "What is an alien species?" The Master said, "A raven's nest gives birth to a phoenix." Ascending the hall, [the Master said,] "Moteng entering the Han was gouging out a wound on healthy flesh; Senghui coming to Wu was adding grit to the eye. Bodhidharma's nine years of wall-gazing was the origin of ghosts and demons; the Second Patriarch standing in the snow seeking mind turned out to be an unfilial son instead. When all of you reach here, how will you disclose it? If you can speak, you traverse freely upon the seas; if you cannot speak, you lie alone among the woods." He struck the Chan bed once with his staff. [A monk] asked, "What is the formless Buddha?" The Master said, "The stone lion on the beach." [The monk] said, "What is the meaning of that?" The Master said, "Having the mind to dwell upon the river, it fears not the waves churning the sand." [A monk] asked, "How is it when one is motionless, clear, and serene?" The Master said, "That is not the place where you, ācārya, establish your life." [The monk] said, "What is the place where this student establishes his life?" The Master said, "Clouds have the momentum to leave the mountains; water has no sound of plunging into ravines." [A monk] asked, "What is the meaning of the doctrinal teachings?" The Master said, "At the Laṅkā assembly." [The monk] said, "What is the meaning of the Patriarchs?" The Master said, "Before Mount Xiong'er." [The monk] said, "How far apart are the meaning of the teachings and the meaning of the Patriarchs?" The Master said, "Cold pines join with emerald bamboo; autumn waters face red lotuses."