Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Fifteen

福州衡山惟禮禪師

Chan Master Weili of Mount Heng, Fuzhou

上堂。若論此事。直下難明。三賢罔測。十聖不知。到這裡須高提祖令。橫按鏌鎁。佛尚不存。纖塵何立。直教須彌粉碎。大海焦枯。放一線道與諸人商量。且道商量箇甚麼。良久曰。鹽貴米賤。

Ascending the hall: 'If we speak of this matter, it is hard to make clear directly. The three worthies cannot fathom it; the ten sages do not know it. At this point you must lift high the Patriarch's command and hold the Moye sword crosswise. Even the Buddha does not remain—how could a fine mote of dust stand? It reaches the point where Sumeru is pulverized and the great sea is scorched dry.' I will let down one strand of road to deliberate with you people. Tell me, what is deliberated? After a long while he said, 'Salt is expensive, rice is cheap.'

臨安府北山顯明善孜禪師

Chan Master Shanzhi Xianming of Beishan, Lin'anfu

僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。九年空面壁。懡㦬又西歸。曰。為甚麼如此。師曰。美食不中飽人餐。問。如何是無情說法。師曰。燈籠掛露柱。曰。甚麼人得聞。師曰。牆壁有耳。

A monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' The Master said, 'Nine years facing the wall in vain; disgraced, he returned west again.' He said, 'Why is it so?' The Master said, 'Fine food is no meal for a full man.' A monk asked, 'What is insentient beings preaching the dharma?' The Master said, 'A lantern hung on the exposed pillar.' He said, 'Who can hear it?' The Master said, 'The walls have ears.'

明州啟霞惠安禪師

Chan Master Hui'an of Qixia, Mingzhou

僧問。諸佛出世。葢為群生。和尚出世。當為何人。師曰。不為闍黎。曰。恁麼。則潭深波浪靜。學廣語聲低。師曰。棒上不成龍。

A monk asked, 'The Buddhas appear in the world for the sake of living beings. The Reverend appears in the world—for whose sake?' The Master said, 'Not for you, Acarya.' He said, 'Then the pool is deep and the waves are still; learning is broad and the voice is low.' The Master said, 'A dragon is not made on a stick.'

越州雲門靈侃禪師

Chan Master Lingkan of Yunmen, Yuezhou

僧問。十二時中。如何用心。師曰。佛殿裡燒香。曰。學人不會。師曰。三門頭合掌。上堂。塵勞未破。觸境千差。心鑑圓明。絲毫不立。靈光皎皎。獨露現前。今古兩忘。聖凡路絕。到這裡始能卷舒自在。應用無虧。出沒往還。人間天上。大眾。雖然如是。忽被人把住。問你道拄杖子向甚麼處著。又如何祇對。還有人道得麼。出來道看。眾無對。乃拍禪床。下座。

A monk asked, 'Through the twelve hours, how should one apply the mind?' The Master said, 'Burn incense in the Buddha hall.' He said, 'This student does not understand.' The Master said, 'Join your palms at the three gates.' Ascending the hall: 'The dust of toil is not yet broken; wherever it touches, a thousand differences. The mind-mirror is round and bright, not a hair stands in it. The spirit-light is white and clear, revealed alone before you. Past and present both forgotten, the roads of sage and commoner cut off—only here can one roll and unroll at ease, with application never lacking.' Coming and going, going and coming, among men and in heaven. Assembly, even so, if someone suddenly grabs you and asks where your staff is set, how will you answer? Is there anyone who can speak it? Come forward and speak.' The assembly had no reply. Then he slapped the meditation bed and left the seat.

天台太平元坦禪師

Chan Master Yuantan of Taiping, Mount Tiantai

上堂。是法無宗。隨緣建立。聲色動靜。不昧見聞。舉用千差。如鐘待扣。於此薦得。且隨時著衣吃飯。若是德山臨濟。更須打草鞋行腳。參。

Ascending the hall: 'This dharma has no school; it is established according to conditions. Sound and form, movement and stillness, never confuse seeing and hearing. Its lifting and use are of a thousand differences, like a bell waiting to be struck. If you can take it up here, then simply wear clothes and eat food as the time comes. As for Deshan and Linji, they should put on straw sandals and go wandering.' He called for the assembly.

臨安府佛日文祖禪師

Chan Master Wenzu of Fori, Lin'anfu

僧問。峭峻之機。請師垂示。師曰。十字街頭八字立。曰。祇如大洋海底行船。須彌山上走馬。又作麼生。師曰。烏龜向火。曰。恁麼則能騎虎頭。善把虎尾。師以拄杖點一下。曰。禮拜著。

A monk asked, 'The mechanism of the steep and sheer—please, Master, let it down for me.' The Master said, 'Standing like the character for eight at the crossroads.' He said, 'What of sailing a boat at the bottom of the great ocean and riding a horse on the summit of Sumeru?' The Master said, 'A turtle facing fire.' He said, 'Then one can ride the tiger's head and firmly grasp the tiger's tail.' The Master tapped once with his staff and said, 'Bow.'

沂州望仙山宗禪師

Chan Master Zong of Mount Wangxian, Yizhou

僧問。四時八節即不問。平常一句事如何。師曰。禾山打鼓。曰。莫是學人著力處也無。師曰。歸宗拽石。僧無語。師曰。真箇衲僧。上堂。南臺烏藥。北海天麻。新羅附子。辰錦硃砂。良久曰。大眾會麼。久立。上堂。你等諸人。還肯放下麼。若不放下。且擔取去。便下座。

A monk asked, 'The four seasons and eight festivals I do not ask about first—how does the ordinary phrase go?' The Master said, 'Heshan beats the drum.' The monk said, 'Is this not just where this student should put his effort?' The Master said, 'Guizong drags the stone.' The monk had no reply. The Master said, 'A true patch-robed monk.' Ascending the hall he said, 'The aconite of Nantai, the gastrodia of the northern sea, the aconite of Silla, the cinnabar of Chenjin.' After a long silence he said, 'Assembly, do you understand?' He also said, 'Long standing.' Again he ascended the hall and said, 'Do you people still consent to put it down? If you do not put it down, then carry it and go.' And he left the seat.

瑞州五峰淨覺院用機禪師

Chan Master Yongji of Jingjue Monastery, Five Peaks, Ruizhou

僧問。如何是道。師曰。十字街頭踏不著。曰。便恁麼去時如何。師曰。且緩緩。上堂。清平過水。投子賣油。一年三百六十日。不須頻向數中求。以拂擊禪床。下座。

A monk asked, 'What is the Way?' The Master said, 'At the crossroads you cannot tread on it.' The monk said, 'What of one who goes on just like that?' The Master said, 'Take it slowly.' Ascending the hall he said, 'Qingping crosses the water; Touzi sells oil. In a year of three hundred and sixty days, there is no need always to seek it in the numbers.' He struck the meditation bed with his whisk and left the seat.

無為軍佛足處祥禪師

Chan Master Chuxiang of Fozu, Wuweijun

僧問。如何是般若體。師曰。琉璃殿裡隱寒燈。曰。何如是般若用。師曰。活卓卓地。問。一色無變異。喚作露地白牛。還端的也無。師曰。頭角生也。曰。頭角未生時如何。師曰。不要犯人苗稼。

A monk asked, 'What is the essence of prajna?' The Master said, 'In the lapis lazuli hall a cold lamp is hidden.' The monk said, 'What is the function of prajna?' The Master said, 'Lively and erect.' A monk asked, 'One color without alteration is called the white ox on open ground—is that really so?' The Master said, 'Its horns have grown.' The monk said, 'What of when the horns have not yet grown?' The Master said, 'Do not trespass on people's seedlings.' (The base text reads 'How is the function of prajna'; 'how is' is an error for 'what is'.)

平江府明因慧贇禪師

Chan Master Huiyun of Mingyin, Pingjiangfu

上堂。橫按拄杖曰。若恁麼去。直得天無二日。國無二王。釋迦老子。飲氣吞聲。一大藏教。如蟲蝕木。設使鑽仰不及。正是無孔鐵鎚。假饒信手拈來。也是殘羹餿飯。一時吐卻。方有少分相應。更乃墮在空亡。依舊是鬼家活計。要會麼。雨後始知山色翠。事難方見丈夫心。卓拄杖。下座。

Ascending the hall, he held his staff crosswise and said, 'If you go on like this, it reaches the point where heaven has no second sun and the state has no second king, and old Shakyamuni can only swallow his breath and keep silent; the whole canon of the great treasury is like a worm boring through wood. Even if you cannot drill up to it, it is exactly a hammer without a hole; even if you pick it up at random, it is leftover soup and stale rice. Only when you spit it all out is there a little accord. If you again fall into the void, it is still the devil's trade. Do you want to understand? Only after rain do you know the mountain's color is green; only when things are hard do you see a great man's heart.' He set his staff on the ground and left the seat.

興化軍西臺其辯禪師

Chan Master Qibian of Xitai, Xinghuajun

上堂。舉臨濟無位真人語。乃召大眾曰。臨濟老漢。尋常一條脊梁硬似鐵。及乎到這裡。大似日中迷路。眼見空花。直饒道無位真人是乾屎橛。正是泥龜曳尾。其僧祇知季夏極熱。不知仲冬嚴寒。若據當時。合著得甚麼語。塞斷天下人舌頭。西臺祇恁麼休去。又乃眼不見為淨。不免出一隻手。狼籍去也。臨濟一擔。西臺一堆。一擔一堆。分付阿誰。從教撒向諸方去。笑殺當年老古錐。

Ascending the hall, he brought up Linji's words about the true person of no rank, called to the assembly, and said, 'Old Linji's backbone was ordinarily hard as iron, but when he got here he was like a man lost in broad daylight, seeing flowers in the air. Even saying the true person of no rank is a dried shit-stick is just a mud turtle dragging its tail. That monk only knew the great heat of late summer; he did not know the severe cold of midwinter. Judged by that time, what phrase should have been spoken to block the tongues of everyone in the world? Xitai just dropped it like that, which again becomes out of sight, out of mind. I cannot help but stretch out one hand and make a mess of it. Linji's one load, Xitai's one heap—one load and one heap, to whom are they handed? Let them be scattered to every quarter, to make that old gimlet of former days laugh himself to death.'

禮部楊傑居士

Layman Yang Jie of the Ministry of Rites

字次公。號無為。歷參諸名宿。晚從天衣遊。衣每引老龐機語。令研究深造。後奉祠泰山。一日鷄一鳴。睹日如盤湧。忽大悟。乃別有男不婚．有女不嫁之偈曰。男大須婚。女長須嫁。討甚閑工夫。更說無生話。書以寄衣。衣稱善。後會芙蓉楷禪師。公曰。與師相別幾年。蓉曰。七年。公曰。學道來。參禪來。蓉曰。不打這鼓笛。公曰。恁麼則空遊山水。百無所能也。蓉曰。別來未久。善能高鑒。公大笑。公有辭世偈曰。無一可戀。無一可捨。太虗空中。之乎者也。將錯就錯。西方極樂。

His courtesy name was Cigong and his style Wuwei. He called on many famous Chan elders in turn, and in his late years studied under Tianyi. Tianyi often had him investigate Layman Pang's mechanism words. Later he was appointed to offer sacrifice at Mount Tai. One day, just as the cock crowed, he saw the sun surge up like a plate and suddenly had a great awakening. He then made another verse to open up the one about 'having a son who does not marry, having a daughter who does not wed,' saying: 'A man grown must marry; a girl grown must wed. What idle time have we to speak further of the unborn?' He wrote it and sent it to Tianyi, who praised it. Later he met Chan Master Furong Kai. The layman said, 'How many years has it been since I parted from you, Master?' Furong said, 'Seven years.' The layman said, 'Have you been studying the Way, or inquiring into Chan?' Furong said, 'I do not play that fife and drum.' The layman said, 'So then you have only idly roamed the mountains and waters, with nothing to your name.' Furong said, 'It is not long since we parted, yet you have become quite the discerning judge.' The layman laughed heartily. He had a verse on his passing: 'Nothing to cling to, nothing to abandon. In the great void, these particles of speech. Taking the wrong for the wrong, the Western Paradise.'

稱心倧禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Cong of Chenxin

彭州慧日堯禪師

Chan Master Yao of Huiri, Pengzhou

僧問。古者道。我有一句。待無舌人解語。卻向汝道。未審意旨如何。師曰。無影樹下好商量。僧禮拜。師曰。瓦解冰消。

A monk asked, 'The ancients said, 'I have one phrase; wait until a man without a tongue can speak, then I will tell it to you.' I wonder what the purport is.' The Master said, 'Under the shadowless tree it is good to deliberate.' The monk bowed. The Master said, 'Tiles break, ice melts.'

報本蘭禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Lan of Baoben

福州中際可遵禪師

Chan Master Kezun of Zhongji, Fuzhou

上堂。咄咄咄。井底啾啾是何物。直饒三千大千。也祇是箇鬼窟。咄。上堂。昨夜四更起來。呵呵大笑不歇。幸然好一覺睡。霜鐘撞作兩橛。上堂。禾山普化忽顛狂。打鼓搖鈴戲一場。劫火洞然宜煑茗。嵐風大作好乘涼。四蛇同篋看他弄。二鼠侵藤不自量。滄海月明何處去。廣寒宮殿白銀床。咄。上堂。八萬四千深法門。門門有路超乾坤。如何箇箇踏不著。祇為蜈蚣太多腳。不唯多腳亦多口。釘觜鐵舌徒增醜。拈椎竪拂泥洗泥。揚眉瞬目籠中雞。要知佛祖不到處。門掩落花春鳥啼。

Ascending the hall he said, 'Tut, tut, tut! What is that chirping at the bottom of the well? Even the three thousand great thousand worlds are only a devil's cave. Tut!' Again he ascended the hall and said, 'Last night I rose at the fourth watch and could not stop laughing heartily. I was sleeping nicely, but the frost bell struck and broke me in two.' Again he ascended the hall and said, 'Heshan and Puhua suddenly went mad, beating drums and shaking bells and putting on a play. When the kalpa fire burns everywhere, that is just the time to boil tea; when the mountain wind blows hard, that is just the time to cool off. Four snakes in one box—let us see how they play; two rats gnawing the vine—they do not measure their strength. Where does the bright moon over the vast sea go? The Guanghan Palace is a silver bed. Tut!' Again he ascended the hall and said, 'Eighty-four thousand profound dharma gates, every gate has a road that transcends heaven and earth. Why can none of you tread on it? Only because the centipede has too many legs. Not only too many legs, but too many mouths; nail-mouths and iron-tongues only add ugliness in vain. Lifting the gavel and raising the whisk is washing mud with mud; raising the eyebrows and blinking is a chicken in a cage. If you would know where Buddha and Patriarch cannot reach: the gate shuts on falling flowers, the spring bird sings.'

邢州開元法明上座

Upadhyaya Faming of Kaiyuan, Xingzhou

依報本未久。深得法忍。後歸裡事落魄。多嗜酒呼盧。每大醉唱柳詞數闋。日以為常。鄉民侮之。召齋則拒。召飲則從。如是者十餘年。鹹指曰醉和尚。一日謂寺眾曰。吾明旦當行。汝等無他往。眾竊笑之。翌晨。攝衣就座。大呼曰。吾去矣。聽吾一偈。眾聞奔視。師乃曰。平生醉裡顛蹶。醉裡卻有分別。今宵酒醒何處。楊柳岸曉風殘月。言訖寂然。撼之已委蛻矣。

He had not long relied on Baoben when he deeply attained the acceptance of dharma. Later he returned to his home village and lived dissolutely, fond of drink and gambling. Whenever he got drunk he would sing a few stanzas of Liu's lyrics, and so it went every day. The villagers looked down on him: when they invited him to a vegetarian feast he refused, when they invited him to drink he went. This went on for over ten years, and people called him the Drunken Monk. One day he said to the crowd at the monastery, 'I will be leaving tomorrow morning. Do not go elsewhere.' The crowd laughed to themselves. The next morning he arranged his robes and sat down and shouted, 'I am going! Listen to a verse from me.' When the crowd heard and rushed over to look, the Master said, 'All my life stumbling drunk, yet in drunkenness there is discernment. Tonight, where will I wake from wine? Willow bank, dawn wind, waning moon.' (The last line uses a phrase from Liu Yong's Bells Ringing in the Rain.) When the words were finished he was still and unmoving; when they shook him he had already shed his shell.

稱心明禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Ming of Chenxin

洪州上藍院光寂禪師

Chan Master Guangji of Shanglan Monastery, Hongzhou

上堂。橫按拄杖。召大眾曰。還識上藍老漢麼。眼似木𣔻。口如匾擔。無問精粗。不知鹹淡。與麼住持。百千過犯。諸禪德。還有為山僧懺悔底麼。良久曰。氣急殺人。卓拄杖。下座。

Ascending the hall, he held his staff crosswise, called to the assembly, and said, 'Do you still recognize old Shanglan? His eyes are like wooden pegs, his mouth like a carrying pole. He does not ask whether things are fine or coarse, he does not know salt from bland. Being an abbot like this, he has a hundred thousand faults. Chan worthies, is there anyone who will repent for this mountain monk?' After a long silence he said, 'Impatient to death.' He set his staff on the ground and left the seat.

廣因要禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Yao of Guangyin