Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Fifteen
上堂。寒氣將殘春日到。無索泥牛皆𨁝跳。築著崑崙鼻孔頭。觸倒須彌成糞掃。牧童兒。鞭棄了。懶吹無孔笛。拍手呵呵笑。歸去來兮歸去來。煙霞深處和衣倒。良久曰。切忌睡著。
In the hall he said: “The cold is nearly spent; spring days arrive, and the unyoked clay oxen all leap about. They butt Kunlun’s nostrils and topple Mount Sumeru into refuse. Little herdsman, throw away the whip; too lazy to play the flute with no holes, clap and laugh. Come, come home—fall asleep clothed amid the mist and rosy clouds.” After a long silence: “Be careful not to fall asleep.”
長蘆信禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xin of Changlu.
東京慧林懷深慈受禪師
Chan Master Huaishen, Compassionate Acceptance, of Huilin in the Eastern Capital.
壽春府夏氏子。生而祥光現舍。文殊堅禪師遙見。疑火也。詰旦。知師始生。往訪之。師見堅輒笑。母許出家。十四割愛冠祝髮。後四年。訪道方外。依淨照於嘉禾資聖。照舉良遂見麻谷因緣。問曰。如何是良遂知處。師即洞明。出住資福。屨滿戶外。蔣山佛鑑懃禪師行化至。茶退。師引巡寮。至千人街坊。鑑問。既是千人街坊。為甚麼祇有一人。師曰。多虗不如少實。鑑曰。恁麼那。師赧然。偶朝廷以資福為神霄宮。因棄往蔣山。留西庵陳請益。鑑曰。資福知是般事便休。師曰。某實未穩。望和尚不外。鑑舉倩女離魂話。反覆窮之。大豁疑礙。呈偈曰。祇是舊時行履處。等閑舉著便誵訛。夜來一陣狂風起。吹落桃花知幾多。鑑拊幾曰。這底豈不是活祖師意。未幾。被旨住焦山。僧問。如何是佛。師曰。面黃不是真金貼。曰。如何是佛向上事。師曰。一箭一蓮華。僧作禮。師彈指三下。問。知有道不得時如何。師曰。瘂子吃蜜。曰。道得不知有時如何。師曰。鸚鵡喚人。僧禮拜。師叱曰。這傳語漢。問。甚麼人不被無常吞。師曰。祇恐他無下口處。曰。恁麼則一念通玄箭。三尸鬼失姧也。師曰。汝有一念。定被他吞了。曰。無一念時如何。師曰。捉著闍黎。上堂。古者道。忍忍。三世如來從此盡。饒饒。萬禍千殃從此消。默默。無上菩提從此得。師曰。會得此三種語了。好箇不快活漢。山僧祇是得人一牛。還人一馬。潑水相唾。插觜廝罵。卓拄杖曰。平出。平出。上堂。雲自何山起。風從甚㵎生。好箇入頭處。官路少人行。上堂。不是境。亦非心。喚作佛時也陸沈。箇中本自無階級。切忌無階級處尋。總不尋。過猶深。打破雲門飯袋子。方知赤土是黃金。咄。
A native of Xiashou in Shouchun Prefecture, born to the Xia family. Auspicious light appeared over the house at his birth. Master Jian of Wenshu saw it from afar and thought there was a fire. The next morning, learning the child had just been born, he visited; the infant smiled when he saw Jian. His mother allowed him to leave home, and at fourteen he was ordained. Four years later he sought the Way and studied at Zisheng in Jiahe with Jingzhao. Jingzhao cited the story of Liang Sui meeting Magu and asked what Liang Sui understood; Huaishen immediately saw through it. He later taught at Zifu, where shoes filled the entrance. Chan Master Qinjian of Jiangshan came while traveling. After tea, Huaishen took him around the quarters. At the thousand-person residence, Qinjian asked why only one person was there. Huaishen said, “A little truth is better than much emptiness.” Qinjian asked, “Is that so?” Huaishen blushed. When the court converted Zifu into a palace shrine, he went to Jiangshan and stayed at the Western Hermitage, asking for instruction. Qinjian said, “If Zifu knows this matter, let it be.” Huaishen said he was not yet settled. Qinjian probed him with the story of the girl who left her body, and his doubts opened completely. He presented a verse: “This is simply where I have always walked; raise it casually and it becomes confused. Last night a sudden gale arose—who knows how many peach blossoms it blew down?” Qinjian praised him as expressing the living intent of the patriarchs. Soon he was ordered to reside at Jiaoshan. A monk asked, “What is Buddha?” He said, “A yellow face is not a gold overlay.” Asked about what is above Buddhahood, he said, “One arrow, one lotus.” The monk bowed; he snapped his fingers three times. Asked about knowing but being unable to speak, he said, “A mute tasting honey.” Asked about speaking but not knowing, he said, “A parrot calling to people.” He called the monk a mere messenger. Asked who is not swallowed by impermanence, he said, “I only fear it has nowhere to bite.” The monk said a single thought pierced mystery and the three corpse spirits were defeated. The master replied, “With one thought, it will surely swallow you.” Asked what if there is no thought, he said, “I have caught you.” In the hall he quoted: “忍忍: from this all Buddhas of three ages are exhausted; 饶饶: from this ten thousand calamities vanish; 默默: from this unsurpassed awakening is attained.” Then said, “Understand these three phrases and you are a most unhappy fellow. I simply return a cow for a cow and a horse for a horse; we spit water at one another and interrupt each other in argument.” He struck his staff: “Evenly matched! Evenly matched!” He also said: “From what mountain do clouds rise? From what ravine does wind come? What a fine place to enter—the public road is little traveled.” Another verse: “Neither object nor mind; call it Buddha and it sinks away. There are no stages here from the beginning—beware of seeking where there are no stages. Seek nothing, yet the error runs deep. Break Yunmen’s rice bag and you will know red earth is gold.” Bah!
平江府萬壽如璝證悟禪師
Chan Master Rugu, Awakening Realization, of Wanshou in Pingjiang Prefecture.
建寧魏氏。開堂日。僧問。如何是蘇臺境。師曰。山橫師子。秀。水接太湖清。曰。如何是境中人。師曰。衣冠皇宋後。禮樂大周前。師凡見僧。必問。近日如何。僧擬對。即拊其背曰。不可思議。將示寂。眾集。復曰。不可思議。乃合掌而終。
A native of Jianning, born to the Wei family. On the day he opened his hall, a monk asked about the landscape of Suzhou. He said, “Mountains stretch across it, their lion peaks lovely; waters join Lake Tai, clear and pure.” Asked who lived there, he said, “Robes and caps belong to the later Song; rites and music to the earlier Zhou.” Whenever he met a monk, he asked, “How have you been lately?” If the monk began to answer, he patted his back and said, “Inconceivable.” When he was about to pass away, the assembly gathered, and he again said, “Inconceivable.” He joined his palms and died.
越州天衣如哲禪師
Chan Master Ruzhe of Tianyi in Yuezhou.
族裡未詳。自退席寓平江之萬壽。飲啖無擇。人多侮之。有以瑞巖喚主人公話問者。師答以偈曰。瑞巖長喚主人公。突出須彌最上峰。大地掀翻無覓處。笙歌一曲畵樓中。一日曰。吾行矣。令拂拭所乘筍輿。乃書偈告眾曰。道在用處。用在死處。時人祇管貪歡樂。不肯學無為。敘平昔參問。勉眾進修已。忽竪起拳曰。諸人且道。這箇落在甚麼處。眾無對。師揮案一下曰。一齊分付與秋風。遂入輿。端坐而逝。
His clan is unknown. After retiring from the seat, he stayed at Wanshou in Pingjiang. He ate and drank without restriction, and many mocked him. Asked about Ruiyan’s calling “Master!” he replied in verse: “Ruiyan keeps calling ‘Master!’ and leaps to the highest peak of Mount Sumeru. The whole earth overturned, no trace to be found; a tune of music sounds in the painted tower.” One day he said, “I am going.” He had his sedan chair cleaned and wrote this verse for the assembly: “The Way lies in its use; its use lies in death. People now chase only pleasure and will not study non-action.” After recounting his past questions and urging the assembly to practice, he raised a fist and asked where it landed. No one answered. He struck the table and said, “I entrust it all to the autumn wind.” He entered his sedan, sat upright, and passed away.
婺州智者法銓禪師
Chan Master Faquan of Zhizhe in Wuzhou.
上堂。要扣玄關。須是有節操。極慷慨。斬得釘。截得鐵。硬剝剝地漢始得。若是隈刀避箭。碌碌之徒看即有分。以拂子擊禪床。下座。
In the hall he said: “To knock on the mysterious gate requires a man of integrity, great courage, and iron resolve, able to cut nails and sever iron. Those who dodge blades and arrows, drifting along, may look on but have no part in it.” He struck the Chan seat with his whisk and descended.
臨安府徑山智訥妙空禪師
Chan Master Zhine, Wondrous Emptiness, of Jingshan in Lin’an Prefecture.
僧問。牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。坐久成勞。曰。見後如何。師曰。不妨我東行西行。
A monk asked what it was before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch. The master said, “Sitting long becomes labor.” Asked what after they met, he said, “I can freely go east and west.”
金山慧禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Hui of Jinshan.
常州報恩覺然寶月禪師
Chan Master Jueran, Precious Moon, of Ba’en in Changzhou.
越州鄭氏子。上堂。學者無事空言。須求妙悟。去妙悟而事空言。其猶逐臭耳。然雖如是。罕逢穿耳客。多遇刻舟人。一日謂眾曰。世緣易染。道業難辦。汝等勉之。語卒而逝。
A native of Yuezhou, born to the Zheng family. In the hall he said: “Students should not indulge in empty words; they must seek wondrous awakening. To abandon awakening and pursue empty words is like chasing a stench. Even so, rarely do we meet someone who pierces the ear; mostly we meet those who carve the boat to mark where the sword fell.” One day he told the assembly, “Worldly ties are easily contracted; the work of the Way is hard to accomplish. Strive, all of you.” He finished speaking and passed away.
法雲白禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Bai of Fayun.
婺州智者紹先禪師
Chan Master Shaoxian of Zhizhe in Wuzhou.
潭州人也。上堂。根塵同源。縛脫無二。不動絲毫。十方遊戲。子湖犬子雖獰。爭似南山氅鼻。遂高聲曰。大眾看腳下。上堂。團不聚。撥不散。日曬不乾。水浸不爛。等閑掛在太虗中。一任傍人冷眼看。
A native of Tanzhou. In the hall he said: “The sense faculties and their objects share one source; bondage and liberation are not two. Without moving a hair, one roams through the ten directions. However fierce Zihu’s dog, it cannot compare with the turtle-nosed one on South Mountain.” He called out, “Everyone, watch your step!” He added: “It cannot be gathered into a ball or scattered apart; sun cannot dry it, water cannot rot it. Hang it casually in the vast sky and let others look on coldly.”
沂州馬鞍山福聖院仲易禪師
Chan Master Zhongyi of Fusheng Institute on Ma’an Mountain in Yizhou.
上堂。一二三四五。陞堂擊法鼓。簇簇齊上來。一一面相睹。秋色滿虗庭。秋風動寰宇。更問祖師禪。雪峰到投子。咄。
In the hall he said: “One, two, three, four, five; ascending the hall, we beat the Dharma drum. Crowds press in together, each face meeting mine. Autumn colors fill the empty courtyard; autumn wind stirs the world. Ask then about the patriarch’s Chan: Xuefeng went to Touzi.” Bah!
東京慧林慧海月印禪師
Chan Master Huaihai, Moon Seal, of Huilin in the Eastern Capital.
僧問。師唱誰家曲。宗風嗣阿誰。師曰。黃金地上玉樓臺。曰。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。三月洛陽人戴花。上堂。黃金地上。具眼者未肯安居。荊棘林中。本分底留伊不得。祇如去此二途。作麼生是衲僧行履處。良久曰。舉頭煙靄裡。依約見家山。上堂。顧視大眾。拍禪床一下。曰。聊表不空。便下座。
A monk asked whose song he sang and whose lineage he inherited. The master said, “A jade tower on golden ground.” Asked the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West, he said, “In Luoyang in the third month, people wear flowers.” In the hall he said: “On golden ground, those with eyes will not settle; in the thorn thicket, a true monk cannot be kept. Leaving these two paths, where does a monk walk?” After a long silence: “Raise your head in the mist and faintly see home mountains.” He looked around, struck the Chan seat once, and said, “A small sign that nothing is lacking.” Then descended.
楊州建隆原禪師
Chan Master Yuan of Jianlong in Yangzhou.
姑蘇夏氏子。上堂。拈拄杖曰。買帽相頭。依模畵樣。從他野老自顰眉。誌公不是閑和尚。卓拄杖。下座。
A native of Gusu, born to the Xia family. In the hall he raised his staff and said: “Buying a hat to fit the head, copying a pattern exactly—let the old villager frown as he wishes. Zhigong was no idle monk.” He struck his staff and descended.
保寧英禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Ying of Baoning.
臨安府廣福院惟尚禪師
Chan Master Weishang of Guangfu Institute in Lin’an Prefecture.
初參覺印。問曰。南泉斬貓兒。意旨如何。印曰。須是南泉始得。印以前語詰之。師不能對。至僧堂。忽大悟曰。古人道。從今日去。更不疑天下老和尚舌頭。信有之矣。述偈呈印。曰。須是南泉第一機。不知不覺驀頭錐。覿面若無青白眼。還如𮭗𮭗守空池。舉未絕。印竪拳曰。正當恁麼時作麼生。師掀倒禪床。印遂喝。師曰。賊過後張弓。便出。住廣福日。室中問僧。提起來作麼生會。又曰。且道是箇甚麼。要人提起。
He first visited Jueyin and asked the meaning of Nanquan’s killing the cat. Jueyin said, “Only Nanquan could do that.” Jueyin challenged him with the words, but he could not answer. In the monks’ hall he suddenly awakened and said, “The ancients said, ‘From today on, I will no longer doubt the tongues of the old masters throughout the world.’ It is indeed true.” He offered a verse: “Only Nanquan had the first-rate move: unknowingly, the awl struck straight on the head. If face to face you lack eyes that distinguish black from white, you are like a certain bird guarding an empty pool.” Before he had finished, Jueyin raised a fist and asked, “Right now, what will you do?” He overturned the Chan platform. Jueyin shouted. He said, “The thief has passed; now you string your bow,” and left. While residing at Guangfu, he asked a monk in the room, “How do you understand when it is raised?” Then he asked, “What is this thing that someone must raise?”
明州雪竇法寧禪師
Chan Master Faning of Xuedou in Mingzhou.
衢州杜氏子。上堂。百川異流。以海為極。森羅萬象。以空為極。四聖六凡。以佛為極。明眼衲子。以拄杖子為極。且道拄杖子以何為極。有人道得。山僧兩手分付。儻或未然。不如閑倚禪床畔。留與兒孫指路頭。
A native of Quzhou, born to the Du family. In the hall he said: “All rivers with different courses end in the sea; the myriad forms end in space; the four sages and six ordinary realms end in Buddha; clear-eyed monks take the staff as their ultimate. Tell me, what is the staff’s ultimate? If someone can say, I will hand it over with both hands. Otherwise, better lean idly against the Chan platform and leave it to descendants to show the way.”
開先珣禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xun of Kaixian.
廬州延昌熈詠禪師
Chan Master Xiyong of Yanchang in Luzhou.
僧問。少林面壁。意旨如何。師曰。慚惶殺人。
A monk asked the meaning of Bodhidharma facing the wall at Shaolin. The master said, “It is mortifying beyond measure.”
廬州開先宗禪師
Chan Master Zong of Kaixian in Luzhou.
上堂。一不做。二不休。棙轉鼻孔。捺下雲頭。禾山解打鹽官鼓。僧繇不寫戴嵩牛。廬陵米。投子油。雪峰依舊輥雙毬。夜來風送衡陽信。寒鴈一聲霜月幽。
In the hall he said: “One thing is not done; two, no stopping. Turn your nostrils around and press the clouds down. Heshan can beat the Salt Officer’s drum; Sengyou could not paint Dai Song’s ox. The rice of Luling, the oil of Touzi; Xuefeng still rolls his two balls. Last night the wind brought news from Hengyang: a cold wild goose cries beneath the lonely frost moon.”
甘露顒禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Yong of Ganlu.
楊州光孝元禪師
Chan Master Yuan of Guangxiao in Yangzhou.