鐔津文集 11.8

11.8

始釋迦文佛。經教之外。以大三昧命其高第弟子大龜氏傳之。然非不關經教。蓋經教之所明也。將以印正一切法門。決定為妙覺之宗極。及其菩提達磨承大龜氏。二十八世方傳諸夏。諸夏之至曹溪第六祖益傳之。往之時世。未習熟諸祖師。猶傍經以諭學者。未即純以真要示之。後世至人親機而宜之。遂直用此發人。故其所為人不復以經語。故天下之守章句者聽瑩。謂其背經立異以非之。噫是豈知夫變而通之殊契經也。然學者不易至之。至之復難繼之繼之復難辯之。猶人皆畫龍而未始得其真龍形者。逮有以真龍告之而世亦不信。蓋天下識龍者寡也。今世孰不說道。紛然皆傳。其所傳至其與否。豈能盡得其所辨耶。吾故嘗憂其混亂道真為學者大病。但愧匿而不能張之也。今見吾所知五峯良公善知識也。益喜其言。良公亦忻然相得。遂出其語錄示余。讀之多其所發殊妙。所謂善變而通之者也。良公受於慈明圓禪師。慈明傳臨際繼。際大智大寂之所傳。此良公宜禪者師也。若其修潔之美而邑人四方盛稱之。此不復論。

At the beginning, Śākyamuni Buddha, outside the scriptural teachings, commanded his senior disciple of the Great Tortoise clan to transmit [the Dharma] by means of the great samādhi. Yet this was not unconnected to the scriptural teachings; rather, it is what the scriptural teachings clarify. It was meant to seal and verify all Dharma gates, definitively serving as the supreme ultimate of wondrous awakening. When Bodhidharma succeeded the Great Tortoise clan after twenty-eight generations, it was only then transmitted to China. Transmitted in China down to the Sixth Patriarch of Caoxi, it spread even more widely. In earlier times, when people were not yet habituated to the ancestral masters, they still relied on sutras to instruct learners, and did not immediately demonstrate the pure and genuine essentials. Later, supreme persons directly accommodated capacities and acted fittingly, thereupon using this directly to awaken people. Therefore, what they did for others no longer made use of scriptural phrases. Consequently, those in the empire who clung to chapters and verses were bewildered, claiming that they defied the sutras and set up anomalies, thereby condemning them. Alas! How could they know that adapting and penetrating accords remarkably with the sutras? However, it is not easy for learners to attain this; having attained it, it is again difficult to continue it; having continued it, it is again difficult to discern it. It is like everyone drawing dragons without ever capturing the form of a real dragon: when someone informs them of the real dragon, the world does not believe it either. This is because those in the empire who recognize a dragon are few. In the present world, who does not speak of the Way? In profusion they all transmit it; but as to whether what they transmit has truly arrived at it or not, how can they fully discern it? Therefore, I have often worried that the confusion of the truth of the Way is a great illness among learners, but felt ashamed of remaining hidden and unable to propagate it. Now I see that Master Liang of Wufeng, whom I know, is a good spiritual friend, and I take even greater joy in his words. Master Liang was also delighted that we understood each other, and so produced his recorded sayings to show me. Reading them, much of what he unfolds is extraordinarily wondrous; he is what is called one who is good at adapting and penetrating. Master Liang received [the Dharma] from Chan Master Yuan of Ciming; Ciming was transmitted from Linji; and Linji succeeded what was transmitted by Dazhi and Daji. This Master Liang is truly a master for Chan practitioners. As for the excellence of his pure conduct, which is lavishly praised by the locals and across all quarters, that needs no further discussion.