Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Ten

僧問。三門與自己。是同是別。師曰。八兩移來作半斤。曰。恁麼則秋水泛漁舟去也。師曰。東家點燈。西家為甚麼卻覓油。曰。山高月上遲。師曰。道甚麼。曰。莫瞌睡。師曰。入水見長人。

A monk asked, 'The three gates and oneself — are they the same or different?' The Master said, 'Move eight ounces over and make it half a catty.' He said, 'If so, then autumn waters float the fishing boat away.' The Master said, 'The east house lights the lamp — why does the west house go looking for oil?' He said, 'The mountain is high and the moon rises late.' The Master said, 'What are you saying?' He said, 'Do not doze off.' The Master said, 'Entering the water, one sees a tall man.'

臨江軍慧力有文禪師

Chan Master Youwen of Huili in Linjiang Jun

上堂。建山寂寞。坐倚城郭。無味之談。七零八落。以拄杖敲香臺。下座。

Ascending the hall: 'Jianshan is lonely and still, sitting leaning against the city wall; tasteless talk, scattered in seven pieces and eight.' He struck the incense stand with his staff and descended from the seat.

福州雪峰象敦禪師

Chan Master Xiangdun of Xuefeng in Fuzhou

僧問。如何是佛。師曰。把火照魚行。曰。如何是法。師曰。唐人譯不出。曰。佛法已蒙師指示。未審畢竟事如何。師曰。臘月三十日。

A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'Taking a torch to look at fish going.' He said, 'What is the Dharma?' The Master said, 'Men of Tang cannot translate it.' He said, 'The Buddha and the Dharma have already been pointed out by the Master — but after all, what of the final matter?' The Master said, 'The thirtieth of the twelfth month.'

南康軍雲居守億禪師

Chan Master Shouyi of Yunju in Nankang Jun

上堂。馬祖才陞堂。雄峰便卷席。春風一陣來。滿地花狼籍。便下座。

Ascending the hall: 'Mazu had just ascended the hall when Xiongfeng rolled up the mat. A burst of spring wind comes, and flowers lie scattered all over the ground.' He then descended from the seat.

瑞州洞山永孚禪師

Chan Master Yongfu of Dongshan in Ruizhou

上堂。棒頭挑日月。木馬夜嘶鳴。拈拄杖曰。雲門大師來也。卓一下。曰。炊沙作飯。看井作袴。參。

Ascending the hall: 'On the tip of the staff, sun and moon are carried; the wooden horse neighs at night.' He picked up his staff and said, 'The Great Master Yunmen has come.' He planted it once and said, 'Cooking sand for rice, looking at a well for trousers. Study.'

令滔首座

Head Seat Lingtao

久參泐潭。潭因問。祖師西來。單傳心印。直指人心。見性成佛。子作麼生會。師曰。某甲不會。潭曰。子未出家時。作箇甚麼。師曰。牧牛。潭曰。作麼生牧。師曰。早朝騎出去。晚後復騎歸。潭曰。子大好不會。師於言下大悟。遂成頌曰。放卻牛繩便出家。剃除鬚髮著袈裟。有人問我西來意。拄杖橫挑囉哩囉。

He had long studied under Letan. Tan asked him, 'The Ancestor came from the West, singly transmitting the mind seal, directly pointing at the human mind, seeing the nature and becoming Buddha — how do you understand it?' The Master said, 'I do not understand.' Tan said, 'What did you do before you left home?' The Master said, 'I herded oxen.' Tan said, 'How did you herd them?' The Master said, 'In the early morning I rode out, and in the evening I rode back.' Tan said, 'You are very good at not understanding.' The Master was greatly awakened at these words. He then made a verse: 'Letting go the ox rope, I left home; shaving head and beard, I put on the robe. If someone asks me the meaning of the coming from the West: carrying my staff across my shoulder, la li la.'

洞山寶禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Bao of Dongshan

瑞州洞山清辯禪師

Chan Master Qingbian of Dongshan in Ruizhou

僧問。百丈得大機。黃檗得大用。未審和尚得箇甚麼。師便喝。僧亦喝。師便打。僧曰。爭奈大眾眼何。便歸眾。師噓兩噓。

A monk asked, 'Baizhang got the great mechanism and Huangbo got the great function — what did the Reverend get?' The Master shouted. The monk also shouted. The Master then beat him. The monk said, 'What can be done about the eyes of the assembly?' and returned to the assembly. The Master breathed out two sighs.

北塔廣禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Guang of North Stupa

荊門軍玉泉承皓禪師

Chan Master Chenghao of Yuquan in Jingmen Jun

姓王氏。眉州丹稜人也。依大力院出家。登具後遊方。參北塔。發明心要。得大自在三昧。製犢鼻裩。書歷代祖師名字。乃曰。唯有文殊普賢較些子。且書於帶上。故叢林目為皓布裩。元豐間。首眾於襄陽谷隱。有鄉僧亦効之。師見而詬曰。汝具何道理。敢以為戲事耶。嘔血無及耳。尋於鹿門如所言而逝。張無盡奉使京西南路。就謁之。致開法於郢州大陽。時谷隱主者私為之喜。師受請陞座。曰。某在谷隱十年。不曾飲谷隱一滴水。嚼穀隱一粒米。汝若不會。來大陽為汝說破。攜拄杖下座。傲然而去。尋遷玉泉。有示眾曰。一夜雨霶烹。打倒蒲萄棚。知事頭首。行者人力。拄底拄。撐底撐。撐撐拄拄到天明。依舊可憐生。自贊。粥稀後坐。床窄先臥。耳聵愛高聲。眼昏宜字大。冬至示眾曰。晷運推移。布裩赫赤。莫怪不洗。無來換替。僧入室次。狗子在室中。師叱一聲。狗便出去。師曰。狗卻會。你卻不會。師示寂。門人圍繞。師笑曰。吾年八十一。老死舁屍出。兒郎齊著力。一年三百六十日。言畢而逝。

His surname was Wang and he was a man of Danleng in Meizhou. He left home at the Dali Cloister. After ordination he traveled, and studied under North Stupa, where he clarified the essentials of the mind and attained the samadhi of great freedom. He made himself a calf-nose loincloth and wrote on it the names of the Ancestral Masters of successive generations, and said, 'Only Manjushri and Samantabhadra are a bit better,' and so wrote them on the belt. Because of this the monastery called him Hao the Cloth Loincloth. In the Yuanfeng era he was head of the assembly at Guyin in Xiangyang. A monk from his home region also imitated him. The Master saw it and reviled him, saying, 'What principle do you have, that you dare make a plaything of it? You will vomit blood and it will be too late.' Before long, at Lumen, he died just as the Master had said. Zhang Wujin, on imperial commission to the Jingxi South Road, called on him and brought about his opening the teaching at Dayang in Yingzhou. At that time the abbot of Guyin was privately pleased about it. The Master accepted the invitation and ascended the seat, saying, 'I have been at Guyin ten years and have never drunk a drop of Guyin's water or chewed a grain of Guyin's rice. If you do not understand, come to Dayang and I will speak it out for you.' He took up his staff, descended from the seat, and went off proudly. Before long he moved to Yuquan. Once he addressed the assembly: 'In one night the rain poured down and knocked over the grape trellis. The officers, the heads of departments, the postulants and the laborers — those who could prop it propped it, those who could shore it shored it; propping and shoring until dawn, and still it is pitiable.' His self-portrait praise: 'When the gruel is thin, sit back; when the bed is narrow, lie down first. Deaf ears love a loud voice; dim eyes are suited to big characters.' At the winter solstice he addressed the assembly: 'The sundial's movement advances; the cloth loincloth is red and bright. Do not wonder that I do not wash it — there is nothing to change into.' As a monk was entering the room, a dog was in the room. The Master gave a shout and the dog went out. The Master said, 'The dog understands, but you do not.' When the Master was about to pass away, his disciples gathered around him. The Master laughed and said, 'I am eighty-one years old; when I die of old age, carry the corpse out. Boys, all put forth your strength — three hundred and sixty days in a year.' Having spoken he passed away.

四祖瑞禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Rui of the Fourth Ancestor

福州廣明常委禪師

Chan Master Changwei of Guangming in Fuzhou

僧問。知師久蘊囊中寶。今日當場略借看。師曰。看。曰。恁麼則謝師指示。師曰。等閑垂一釣。容易上鉤來。

A monk asked, 'I know the Master has long stored a treasure in his bag — today, on the spot, may I borrow a look?' The Master said, 'Look.' He said, 'If so, then I thank the Master for his instruction.' The Master said, 'Idly casting one hook, and easily the fish comes to the bait.'

雲葢顒禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Yong of Yungai

南康軍雲居文慶海印禪師

Chan Master Wenqing Haiyin of Yunju in Nankang Jun

僧問。如何是函葢乾坤句。師曰。合。曰。如何是隨波逐浪句。師曰。闊。曰。如何是截斷眾流句。師曰。窄。上堂。道本無為。法非延促。一念萬年。千古在目。月白風恬。山青水綠。法法現前。頭頭具足。祖意教意。非直非曲。要識廬陵米價。會取山前麥熟。以拂子擊禪床。下座。

A monk asked, 'What is the phrase that envelops heaven and earth?' The Master said, 'Envelop.' He said, 'What is the phrase that follows the waves and chases the billows?' The Master said, 'Broad.' He said, 'What is the phrase that cuts off the multitude of streams?' The Master said, 'Narrow.' Ascending the hall: 'The Way is originally unconditioned; the dharma is neither prolonged nor shortened. One thought is ten thousand years, and a thousand ages are before the eyes. The moon is white and the wind is calm; the mountains are green and the water is green. Dharma after dharma appears before one; head after head is complete. The Ancestor's intent and the teaching's intent are neither straight nor crooked.' You must know the price of rice in Luling; you must grasp that the wheat before the mountain is ripe. He struck the meditation bed with his whisk and descended from the seat.

上方岳禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Yue of Shangfang

越州東山國慶順宗禪師

Chan Master Shunzong of Guoqing on East Mountain in Yuezhou

上堂。心生則種種法生。心滅則種種法滅。拈起拄杖曰。此箇是法。那箇是滅底心。若人道得。許你頂門上具眼。其或未然。雲暗不知天早晚。雪深難辯路高低。參。

Ascending the hall: 'When the mind arises, various dharmas arise; when the mind is extinguished, various dharmas are extinguished.' He picked up his staff and said, 'This is a dharma — which is the extinguished mind? If anyone can speak it, I will allow that he has an eye on the crown of his head. If not, when clouds are dark one does not know the time of day, and when the snow is deep it is hard to tell the road's high and low. Study.'

金山新禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Xin of Jinshan

安吉州天聖守道禪師

Chan Master Shoudao of Tiansheng in Anji Prefecture

上堂。日月遶須彌。人間分晝夜。南閻浮提人祇被明暗色空留礙。且道不落明暗一句作麼生道。良久曰。柳色黃金嫩。梨花白雪香。參。上堂。不從一地至一地。寂滅性中寧有位。釋迦稽首問然燈。仁者何名為受記。便下座。

Ascending the hall: 'Sun and moon circle Mount Sumeru, and the human world divides day and night. People of Jambudvipa are hindered only by light and dark, form and emptiness. Tell me, how will you speak the phrase that does not fall into light and dark?' After a long while he said, 'Willow color is tender gold; pear blossoms are fragrant white snow. Study.' Ascending the hall: 'Not passing from one ground to another — in the nature of quiescence how could there be a station? Sakyamuni bowed his head and asked Dipankara: "Virtuous One, what is it that is called the prediction?"' He then descended from the seat.