續傳燈錄 9.26

9.26

Chan Master Wenjian Jizhen of Guangjiao in Xuanzhou. When he first visited Daguan, he asked, "Apart from lecturing, I have investigated the vastness of what the Buddhas taught. How can I see its boundaries?" Guan said, "On what do you ordinarily rely to lecture?" The master said, "I interpret the meaning in accord with the teachings." Guan said, "Interpreting the meaning in accord with the teachings wrongs the Buddhas of the three periods." The master said, "Departing from the teachings by a single word is identical to the speech of Māra." Guan said, "I am not asking you about the teachings and their meaning. Who is the person that interprets and explains?" The master said, "One sees only movement, stillness, speech, and words; its form and appearance cannot be seen." Guan said, "Just this lack of form and appearance is precisely the vastness. If you awaken to this mind, you will see its boundaries." From this the master had an insight. Residing at Guangjiao, he ascended the hall and said, "One who wishes to be an ancestral master must understand the phrases of brightness and darkness. In the dead of night one rubs one's eyes; all becomes empty tangled vines. The troublesome Śākyamuni insisted on looking around in the four directions at birth; pointing to his chest, he alone claimed supremacy, and furthermore walked seven steps around. Who again knows the brightness? Whom does the darkness cause to awaken? Thereafter for hundreds and thousands of years, [they are as] innumerable as the sands of the Ganges. One blind person leads a crowd of blind people; the blind support one another. On another day, when meeting old Yama, glaring with eyes wide, they will stare at each other in vain. At that time, do not cry out, 'The boiling cauldron has no cool place!' Do not be empty in stomach yet lofty in mind; just turn your chopsticks upon a piled plate. A word to future generations: do not be misled by Xu the Sixth!"