北山錄 6.4.6

6.4.6

直轡無生之路。 行普均之化。 興廣大之業。 是謂頓也（此乃頓悟大乘。 不由中小之徑）非杌然絕照。 詆訶萬善為頓門也（豈可默然無修。 不營一菩。 謂之頓門。 則與北州無想天等何別也）夫聖人之教。 機緣不一。 應變萬差。 或言流而理直。 或首權而終實（故契經者。 應根逗教。 有頓有漸。 有權有實。 有半有滿。 豈可不習而知）況詁訓音韻。 梵漢魚魯。 須稟承有匠（學不憑師。 孤陋寡聞）尋閱有功。 豈於文字未識。 便不思而說。 不慮而對。 妄涉虛玄。 流俗則謂之為奧。 或則以才力獎之。 致使其徒自媚（因以供饍招誘。 遂使遞相獎善）若以彼有定力所知。 能說佛經者。 何莫試以異典觀其吐納。 曲直自彰（若言彼以定力加資。 不學自知。 則可試將儒典問之。 則知可否）且夫稱儒而不傳習者。 亦賢儒之所病也（傳不習乎曾子所病）或曰。 興善動行。 彌益其妄。 如晞陽斥影加樵罷鼎。 誠乃務茲之道。 豈是息滅之道歟（若言只以置善利作為行門不必教典者。 則又不然。 且教者示入善之逕路。 不習安知。 今欲行善而除弃教典。 其猶維日而欲去影歇鼎沸而更加薪。 是知不可也）曰彼蓋不知執事淨命。 以聲止聲（今以有經典引歸令識無相。 猶如執事經典以乾稚之聲鳴之。 以靜眾聲也）良醫之家。 以毒止毒也（故經者亦名醍醐。 亦名毒藥。 如附子狼毒等本是毒藥。 今良醫令服之。 又能除毒也）異說云。 唐代宗朝（唐肅宗之子。 名豫。 改元寶應）有大禪客。 糠粃禮樂。 跆藉勢貴（跆踏也。 藉鋪也。 猶言踐踏之也）蓬茨金門。 蟻垤帝居。 故對至尊。 其色傲如。 其詞訐如（訐直而無禮也）心勇氣奮。 苟無生死。 可謂真有道乎。 譏者曰。 此乃稱勇。 不稱道也。 凡不義之勇。 謀道以損之。 既不能損。 則其道可知也（好勇不好學其蔽也。 賊又勇而無禮則亂）甞有俚人之子。 稱其父有荕力有口顙凌。 祖考以為德。 鄉豪畏之。 隣伍避之。 其衒彌多。 其過彌彰也。 夫稱有道者。 色溫而言澤。 氣柔而心遠。 雖欲悛人之惡（悛改也）亦優柔而諷誘之。 故於知我者示乎知。 不知我者示乎不知（邦有道則行。 邦無道則卷而懷之。 又用之則行。 捨之則藏）不悅人之不己知。 不慍人之不己知（人不知而不慍）昔大聖遊諸國。 伏護財醉象（調達令阿闍世王放護財醉象。 欲害如來。 如來於五指端化五師子。 而醉象跪伏）制曠野鬼神（又曠野鬼常噉人小兒。 一日得一小兒。 唱南無佛。 鬼則不能食。 佛化火山。 四面周匝圍之。 鬼盡其力不能得出。 遂心皈向佛。 誓不食人也）未甞庭辱波斯面折闍王（國王每至佛會。 佛皆先云善來大王。 如是軟言問訅）雖德尊神化。 而不傷於國君之禮。 仲尼適於衛。 衛靈公與語。 見飛雁過。 仰視之色。 不在孔子。 孔子行但避衛。 君之不篤於我。 非流言以逞志也。 有國如秦始皇。 有心如秦始皇其強如秦始皇。 而虎視於天下。 一朝為唐睢按劒。 復鄢郢之地（鄢郢誤也。 是鄢陵也。 則頴川鄢陵縣也。 秦始皇滅魏。 後許以千里地易鄢陵君五十里地。 鄢陵君令唐睢使始皇。 始皇曰。 寡人以十倍之地易之。 而逆寡人何也。 睢對曰。 非敢此也。 鄢陵君先王而守之。 雖千里不易也。 始皇勃然怒曰。 子聞天子怒乎。 伏尸百萬流血千里。 睢曰。 大王聞布衣怒乎。 伏尸二人流血五步。 天下縞素今日是也。 按劍而起。 始皇變色而謝之。 先生何至於此。 寡人諭矣）相如睨柱。 歸邯鄲之璧。 莫能奈其勇也（趙國有卞和璧。 秦欲以十五城易之。 趙遣藺相如進璧。 秦昭王得璧而不割地。 相如詐云有瑕。 取而指之。 因倚柱不還。 請割地而齊五日方受璧。 王若急臣。

Driving straight on the road of non-arising, practicing universal transformation, and promoting vast endeavors—this is what is called sudden (this refers to the sudden enlightenment of the Mahāyāna, not proceeding by the middle and lesser paths). It is not sitting rigidly, cutting off illumination, and disparaging the myriad good deeds that constitutes the gate of suddenness (how can remaining silent and practicing nothing, not undertaking a single bodhi-deed, be called the sudden gate? How would that differ from Uttarakuru or the Heaven of Non-conception?). As for the teachings of the sages, capacities and conditions are not uniform, and responses to circumstances have ten thousand variations: sometimes the words flow easily while the principle is straightforward; sometimes they begin with the expedient and conclude with the real (thus, as the sūtras adapt teachings to suit faculties, they have sudden and gradual, expedient and real, partial and complete; how could one understand them without study?). Furthermore, in glosses, phonology, and differentiating Sanskrit and Chinese, 'fish' and 'Lu', one must receive transmission from a master (studying without relying on a teacher leads to ignorance and narrow understanding) and achieve proficiency through consultation and reading. How could someone who does not even recognize written characters simply speak without thinking, reply without reflection, and wildly delve into the empty and profound? The vulgar crowd then calls it profound, or praises them for their talent and vigor, causing their disciples to flatter themselves (thereby using provisions and meals to lure people in, and thus leading them to praise each other). If one claims that through the knowledge gained from their meditative power they can expound the Buddhist scriptures, why not test them with non-Buddhist classics to observe what they produce, so that their crookedness or straightness will be naturally manifest? (If it is said that they are aided by meditative power and know without studying, then one can try questioning them with Ruist classics, and one will know whether they can or not). Moreover, claiming to be a Ruist without practicing what has been transmitted is likewise what worthy Ruists deplore (failing to practice what has been transmitted was deplored by Zengzi). Someone may say: 'Cultivating good deeds and initiating practices only increases delusion, like exposing oneself to the sun to dispel shadows, or adding firewood to cool a boiling pot. Truly, devoting oneself to this path—how could it be the path of cessation?' (If it is said that one should only regard setting up goodness and benefits as the gate of practice without needing scriptural teachings, that is also incorrect. The teachings show the path to enter goodness; without studying, how could one know it? Now, wishing to practice goodness while discarding the scriptural teachings is just like keeping to the sun while wishing to remove shadows, or stopping a pot from boiling while adding firewood; thus one knows it is impossible). I say: They probably do not know that managing affairs and maintaining a pure livelihood can use sound to stop sound (now using the scriptures to guide them back so they recognize formlessness is just like striking a ghaṇṭī in official affairs to quiet the clamor of the crowd); in the house of a skilled physician, poison is used to counteract poison (thus the scriptures are also called ghee and also called poison; just like monkshood and wolfsbane are originally poisons, yet a skilled physician has them taken and they can cure poisons). A dissenting narrative says: In the reign of Emperor Daizong of the Tang (the son of Emperor Suzong of the Tang, named Yu, who changed the reign era to Baoying), there was a great Chan practitioner who treated rites and music like chaff and trampled on the powerful and noble (tai means to tread; jie means to lay out; it is like saying trampling underfoot). He regarded the golden gate of the palace as a thatched hut, and the imperial residence as an ant-hill. Thus, facing the Sovereign, his expression was arrogant, and his words were confrontational (jie means straightforward and without courtesy). With a daring mind and spirited energy, as if he cared nothing for life or death, can he be called truly possessing the Way? The critic says: This is called possessing boldness, not possessing the Way. In all cases of unrighteous boldness, one should seek the Way to diminish it; if it cannot be diminished, then his 'Way' can be readily known (loving boldness without loving learning leads to disorder; being bold without courtesy leads to chaos). There was once the son of an uncultivated man who praised his father for having muscular strength and an aggressive tongue, which insulted his ancestors, and took it to be a virtue; the local bullies feared him, and the neighborhood avoided him; the more he vaunted it, the more his faults became apparent. Now, one who is called possessing the Way is gentle in countenance and refined in speech, mild in demeanor and lofty in mind. Even when wishing to reform someone's evil (chuan means to reform), he gently admonishes and guides them. Therefore, to those who understand me, I reveal what is known; to those who do not understand me, I reveal not knowing (when the state has the Way, one acts; when the state lacks the Way, one rolls up and conceals it; also, when employed, one acts; when dismissed, one hides). One does not delight in others not knowing oneself, nor does one feel resentment over others not knowing oneself (not feeling resentment when others do not know you). Anciently, when the Great Sage traveled through various states, he subdued the intoxicated elephant Dhanapāla (Devadatta ordered King Ajātaśatru to release the intoxicated elephant Dhanapāla to harm the Tathāgata; from the tips of his five fingers, the Tathāgata manifested five lions, and the intoxicated elephant knelt in submission), and he tamed the spirits and ghosts of the wilderness (furthermore, the wilderness ghost constantly devoured human children; one day he seized a child who chanted 'Homage to the Buddha', and the ghost could not eat him; the Buddha manifested a mountain of fire encircling him on all four sides; the ghost exhausted all his strength but could not escape, so he converted his mind to the Buddha and vowed never to eat humans again). Yet he never insulted King Prasenajit at court or confronted King Ajātaśatru to his face (whenever kings arrived at the Buddha's assembly, the Buddha would always first say, 'Welcome, Great King', making inquiries with soft words like this). Though his virtue was revered and his spiritual transformations divine, he did not violate the etiquette due to a ruler of a state. When Zhongni went to Wei, Duke Ling of Wei spoke with him; seeing wild geese flying past, the Duke looked up at them, and his attention was no longer on Confucius. Confucius departed merely to avoid the ruler of Wei's lack of sincerity toward him; he did not use loose words to vent his feelings. When there was a state like that of the First Emperor of Qin, a mind like that of the First Emperor of Qin, and power like that of the First Emperor of Qin, looking upon the world like a tiger, in a single morning, Tang Ju grasped his sword and restored the lands of Yan and Ying (Yan and Ying is an error; it was Yanling, namely Yanling County in Yingchuan. The First Emperor of Qin conquered Wei, and later offered to exchange a thousand li of land for the fifty li of the Lord of Yanling. The Lord of Yanling sent Tang Ju as an envoy to the First Emperor. The First Emperor said, 'I offer to exchange it for ten times the territory, yet you oppose me—why?' Ju replied, 'I do not dare to do this; the Lord of Yanling received it from his former lord and guards it, and would not exchange it even for a thousand li.' The First Emperor flew into a rage and said, 'Have you heard of the anger of the Son of Heaven? A million corpses lie dead, blood flowing for a thousand li.' Ju said, 'Has Your Majesty heard of the anger of a commoner? Two corpses lie dead, blood flowing five paces; today the whole empire will wear white mourning.' He grasped his sword and rose. The First Emperor changed color and apologized to him, saying: 'How has the master gone to such an extreme? I understand now'). Lin Xiangru glared at the pillar and returned the jade disc to Handan; none could match his boldness (the state of Zhao had Bian He's jade disc; Qin wanted to exchange fifteen cities for it. Zhao sent Lin Xiangru to present the disc; King Zhaoxiang of Qin obtained the disc but did not cede the territory. Xiangru pretended that it had a flaw, took it back and pointed it out, and then leaned against a pillar refusing to return it, requesting that territory be ceded and that he fast for five days before receiving the disc: 'If Your Majesty presses me...')