Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Fifteen

南康軍兜率志恩禪師

Chan Master Zhien of Doushuai, Nankang Jun

上堂。落落魄魄。居村居郭。莽莽鹵鹵。何今何古。不重己靈。休話佛祖。搊定釋迦鼻孔。揭卻觀音耳朵。任他雪嶺輥毬。休管禾山打皷。若是本色衲僧。終不守株待兔。參。

He mounted the hall: 'Down and out, dawdling, living in village or in town. Rough and careless, what present, what past? Do not prize your own spirit; say nothing of buddha and patriarch. Block up Shakyamuni's nostrils, tear off Avalokiteshvara's ears. Let him roll his ball on the Snowy Peak; do not mind the drum-beating at Mount He. If you are a patch-robed monk of genuine stamp, in the end you will not keep to the stump waiting for a rabbit. Investigate.'

福州興福院康源禪師

Chan Master Kangyuan of the Xingfu Monastery, Fuzhou

上堂。山僧有一訣。尋常不漏洩。今日不囊藏。分明為君說。良久曰。寒時寒。熱時熱。

He mounted the hall: 'This mountain monk has one formula, and ordinarily does not let it leak. Today I will not keep it in the bag but will state it plainly for you.' After a long silence he said: 'Cold when cold, hot when hot.'

慧圓上座

The Reverend Huiyuan

開封酸棗幹氏子。世業農。少依邑之建福寺德光為師。性椎魯。然勤渠祖道。堅坐不臥。居數歲得度。出遊廬山。至東林。每以己事請問。朋輩見其貌陋。舉止乖疎。皆戲侮之。一日。行殿庭中。忽足顛而僕。瞭然開悟。作偈俾行者書於壁曰。這一交。這一交。萬兩黃金也合消。頭上笠。腰下包。清風明月杖頭挑。即日離東林。眾傳至照覺。覺大喜。曰。衲子參究若此。善不可加。令人跡其所往。竟無知者(大慧武庫謂證悟顒語。非也)。

He was a son of the Gan family of Suanzao in Kaifeng. His family were farmers for generations. As a boy he took Deshang of the Jianfu Monastery of his district as his teacher. He was dull by nature, yet diligent in the ancestral Way and sat firm without lying down. After several years he received ordination and went out to Mount Lu, arriving at Donglin. He constantly asked about his own matter. His companions, seeing his ugly looks and uncouth manner, all mocked and abused him. One day, walking in the courtyard of the hall, he suddenly tripped and fell, and was clearly awakened. He made a verse and had a postulant write it on the wall: 'This tumble, this tumble — ten thousand ounces of gold would be a fair price. A hat on the head, a bundle at the waist; the clear wind and bright moon carried on the tip of a staff.' That same day he left Donglin. The story spread to Zhaojue. Jue was overjoyed and said: 'If a patch-robed monk investigates like this, no goodness could be added.' He sent men to trace where he had gone, but in the end no one knew. (The Dahui Wuku says this is a saying of Zhengwu Yong; it is not so.)

內翰東坡居士蘇軾

The Hanlin Academician, Layman Dongpo, Su Shi

字子瞻。因宿東林。與照覺論無情話。有省。黎明獻偈曰。溪聲便是廣長舌。山色豈非清淨身。夜來八萬四千偈。他日如何舉似人。未幾抵荊南。聞玉泉皓禪師機鋒不可觸。公擬抑之。即微服求見。泉問。尊官高姓。公曰。姓秤。乃秤天下長老底秤。泉喝曰。且道這一喝重多少。公無對。於是尊禮之。後過金山。有寫公照容者。公戲題曰。心似已灰之木。身如不繫之舟。問汝平生功業。黃州．惠州．瓊州。

His courtesy name was Zizhan. Once, lodging at Donglin, he discussed the talk of the insentient with Zhaojue and had a measure of awakening. At dawn he presented a verse: 'The sound of the stream is the broad long tongue; are the mountain's colors not the pure body? Last night eighty-four thousand verses — how shall I raise them for others another day?' Not long after he reached Jingnan and heard that Chan Master Yuquan Hao's workings were untouchable. The gentleman meant to put him down, and so in plain clothes sought an interview. Quan asked: 'What is the honorable official's surname?' The gentleman said: 'My surname is Scale — the scale that weighs the venerable ones of the world.' Quan shouted: 'Then tell me, how much does this one shout weigh?' The gentleman had no reply. Thereupon he honored and respected him. Later, passing Jinshan, someone painted his portrait. The gentleman playfully inscribed it: 'The mind like a tree already ash, the body like a boat unmoored. Ask what your life's work has been: Huangzhou, Huizhou, Qiongzhou.'

寶峰文禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Baofeng Wen

隆興府兜率從悅禪師

Chan Master Congyue of Doushuai, Longxing Prefecture

贛州熊氏子。初首眾於道吾。領數衲謁雲蓋智和尚。智與語。未數句盡知所蘊。乃笑曰。觀首座氣質不凡。奈何出言吐氣如醉人邪。師面熱汗下。曰。願和尚不吝慈悲。智復與語。錐劄之。師茫然。遂求入室。智曰。曾見法昌遇和尚否。師曰。曾看他語錄。自了可也。不願見之。智曰。曾見洞山文和尚否。師曰。關西子沒頭腦。拖一條布裙。作尿臭氣。有甚長處。智曰。你但向尿臭氣處參取。師依教。即謁洞山。深領奧旨。復謁智。智曰。見關西子後大事如何。師曰。若不得和尚指示。洎乎蹉過一生。遂禮謝。師復謁真淨。後出世鹿苑。有清素者。久參慈明。寓居一室。未始與人交。師因食蜜漬茘枝。偶素過門。師呼曰。此老人鄉果也。可同食之。素曰。自先師亡後。不得此食久矣。師曰。先師為誰。素曰。慈明也。某忝執侍十三年耳。師乃疑駭。曰。十三年堪忍執侍之役。非得其道而何。遂饋以餘果。稍稍親之。素問。師所見者何人。曰。洞山文。素曰。文見何人。師曰。黃龍南。素曰。南匾頭見先師不久。法道大振如此。師益疑駭。遂袖香詣素作禮。素起避之。曰。吾以福薄。先師授記。不許為人。師益恭。素乃曰。憐子之誠。違先師之記。子平生所得。試語我。師具通所見。素曰。可以入佛而不能入魔。師曰。何謂也。素曰。豈不見古人道。末後一句。始到牢關。如是累月。素乃印可。仍戒之曰。文示子者。皆正知正見。然子離文太早。不能盡其妙。吾今為子點破。使子受用得大自在。他日切勿嗣吾也。師後嗣真淨。僧問。提兵統將。須憑帝主虎符。領眾匡徒。密佩祖師心印。如何是祖師心印。師曰。滿口道不得。曰。祇這箇別更有。師曰。莫將支遯鶴。喚作右軍鵞。問。如何是兜率境。師曰。一水桵藍色。千峰削玉青。曰。如何是境中人。師曰。七凹八凸無人見。百手千頭祇自知。上堂。

He was a son of the Xiong family of Ganzhou. He first led the assembly at Daowu and took several patch-robed monks to call on Elder Zhi of Yungai. Zhi spoke with him and knew his whole store in a few sentences. Then he laughed and said: 'The Prior's bearing is uncommon — why is it that when he opens his mouth and lets out breath he is like a drunkard?' The Master's face burned and he sweated, and said: 'I beg the Master not to stint his compassion.' Zhi spoke with him again and probed him sharply. The Master was blank, and so asked to enter the room. Zhi said: 'Have you seen Elder Fachang Yu?' The Master said: 'I have read his record; I can understand it myself, and I have no wish to see him.' Zhi said: 'Have you seen Elder Dongshan Wen?' The Master said: 'That fellow from west of the pass has no brains; he trails a cloth skirt and smells of urine — what is there to him?' Zhi said: 'Just investigate at the place that smells of urine.' The Master followed the instruction and at once called on Dongshan, and deeply grasped the profound purport. He called on Zhi again. Zhi said: 'After seeing the fellow from west of the pass, how goes the great matter?' The Master said: 'Had I not had the Master's instruction, I would nearly have passed a whole life in error.' Thereupon he bowed in thanks. The Master also called on Zhenjing. Later he came forth into the world at Luyuan. There was one Qingsu, long a student of Ciming, who lodged in a single room and had never associated with anyone. One day, as the Master was eating honeyed lychees, Su happened to pass the door. The Master called out: 'This is an old man's native fruit; come share it.' Su said: 'Since my late master died I have not had this food for a long time.' The Master said: 'Who was your late master?' Su said: 'Ciming. I had the honor of serving him for thirteen years.' The Master was then startled and doubtful, and said: 'To endure the service of thirteen years as an attendant — if he had not attained the Way, what else could it be?' So he gave him the rest of the fruit and gradually drew close to him. Su asked the Master whom he had seen. He said: 'Dongshan Wen.' Su said: 'Whom did Wen see?' The Master said: 'Huanglong Nan.' Su said: 'Nan the Flat-head saw my late master only a short time, yet his dharma way flourished so greatly.' The Master became even more startled and doubtful, and so, with incense in his sleeve, went to Su and bowed. Su rose and avoided him, saying: 'Because my merit is scant, my late master gave me a prediction that I was not permitted to work for people.' The Master was even more reverent. Su then said: 'Pitying your sincerity, I will go against my late master's prediction. Tell me what you have attained in your life.' The Master told him fully what he had seen. Su said: 'You can enter buddha but cannot enter demon.' The Master said: 'What does that mean?' Su said: 'Have you not seen the ancients say: only at the last phrase does one reach the firm pass?' Thus for several months, and then Su gave him his approval. He still warned him: 'What Wen showed you is all right knowledge and right view. But you left Wen too early and could not exhaust its wonder. Now I will break it open for you, so that you may use it with great freedom. Another day, by no means succeed me.' The Master later succeeded Zhenjing. A monk asked: 'To lead troops and command generals one relies on the emperor's tiger tally; to lead the assembly and guide the disciples one secretly wears the patriarch's mind-seal. What is the patriarch's mind-seal?' The Master said: 'A mouthful that cannot be spoken.' He said: 'Is it only this, or is there something else?' The Master said: 'Do not take Zhi Dun's crane for the General of the Right's goose.' He asked: 'What is the realm of Doushuai?' The Master said: 'One stream rubs the blue into color; a thousand peaks pare the jade to green.' He said: 'What is the person in the realm?' The Master said: 'Seven hollows and eight bulges no one sees; a hundred hands and a thousand heads he alone knows.' He mounted the hall:

耳目一何清。端居幽谷裡。秋風入古松。秋月生寒水。衲僧於此更求真。兩箇猢猻垂四尾。喝一喝。上堂。兜率都無辨別。卻喚烏龜作鼈。不能說妙談真。祇解搖唇鼓舌。遂令天下衲僧。覷見眼中滴血。莫有飜瞋作喜．笑傲煙霞者麼。良久曰。笛中一曲昇平樂。算得生平未解愁。上堂。始見新春。又逢初夏。四時若箭。兩曜如梭。不覺紅顏飜成白首。直須努力。別著精神。耕取自己田園。莫犯他人苗稼。既然如是。牽犂拽杷。須是雪山白牛始得。且道鼻孔在甚麼處。良久曰。叱。叱。上堂。常居物外度清時。牛上橫將竹笛吹。一曲自幽山自綠。此情不與白雲知。慶快諸禪德。飜思范蠡謾泛滄波。因念陳摶空眠太華。何曾夢見。浪得高名。實未神遊。閑漂野跡。既然如此。具眼衲僧。莫道龍安非他是己好。上堂。無法亦無心。無心復何捨。要真盡屬真。要假全歸假。平地上行船。虗空裡走馬。九年面壁人。有口還如瘂。參。上堂。夜夜抱佛眠。朝朝還共起。起坐鎮相隨。語默同居止。欲識佛去處。祇這語聲是。諸禪德。大小傅大士。祇會抱橋柱澡洗。把䌫放船。印板上打將來。模子裡脫將去。豈知道本色衲僧。塞除佛祖窟。打破玄妙門。跳出斷常坑。不依清淨界。都無一物。獨奮雙拳。海上橫行。建家立國。有一般漢。也要向百尺竿頭凝然端坐。洎乎飜身之際。捨命不得。豈不見雲門大師道。知是般事。拈放一邊。直須擺動精神。著些筋骨。向混沌未剖已前薦得。猶是鈍漢。那堪更於他人舌頭上。𠯗啖滋味。終無了日。諸禪客。要會麼。剔起眉毛有甚難。分明不見一毫端。風吹碧落浮雲盡。月上青山玉一團。喝一喝。下座。一日。漕使無盡居士張公商英按部過分寧。請五院長老就雲巖說法。師最後登座。橫拄杖曰。適來諸善知識。橫拈竪放。直立斜拋。換步移身。藏頭露角。既於學士面前各納敗闕。

'How clear are the ears and eyes, sitting upright in the dark valley. The autumn wind enters the ancient pine; the autumn moon rises over cold water. If a patch-robed monk seeks the truth here, two monkeys trail four tails.' He shouted once. He mounted the hall: 'Doushuai makes no distinctions at all — he calls a turtle a soft-shelled turtle. He cannot speak of the wondrous or discourse on the true; he only knows how to wag his lips and beat his tongue. Thus he makes the patch-robed monks of the world see blood drip from their eyes. Is there any who can turn anger to joy and laugh proudly at the mist and clouds?' After a long silence he said: 'A tune of peace within the flute — one counts it a life that has never known sorrow.' He mounted the hall: 'The new spring has just been seen, and now early summer comes again. The four seasons are like arrows, the sun and moon like shuttles. Before one knows it a ruddy face turns to a white head. You must strive hard and put in fresh spirit. Plow your own field and garden; do not trespass on another's sprouts. Since it is so, to pull the plow and drag the harrow you must be the white ox of the Snowy Mountain. Tell me, where are its nostrils?' After a long silence he said: 'Chih, chih!' He mounted the hall: 'Dwelling always beyond things, passing the clear hours; on the ox's back he plays his bamboo flute. One tune is of itself secluded, the mountain of itself green; this feeling is not told to the white clouds. Rejoice, you Chan worthies! Thinking back, Fan Li vainly floated the blue waves; recalling it, Chen Tuan slept empty on Mount Tai. Have they ever dreamed of it? They won high names in vain and never truly wandered in spirit, idly drifting with wild traces. Since it is so, patch-robed monks with eyes — do not say Longan is not he and this is me, fine as you please.' He mounted the hall: 'No dharma and no mind; with no mind, what is there to abandon? What would be true is wholly true; what would be false is wholly false. On level ground sail a boat; in the void ride a horse. The man who faced the wall for nine years has a mouth and is still like a mute. Investigate.' He mounted the hall: 'Night after night he sleeps embracing the buddha; morning after morning he rises with him. Sitting and rising they are always together; speaking and silent they dwell as one. If you would know where the buddha has gone, it is just this sound of the voice.' Chan worthies, Great or small, the layman Fu only knew how to embrace the bridge post and bathe, to hold the cable and set the boat free. Stamped from the printing block, pulled from the mold — how would he know that a patch-robed monk of genuine stamp stops up the buddhas' and patriarchs' cave, breaks open the gate of the mysterious and wondrous, leaps out of the pit of annihilation and permanence, and does not rely on the realm of purity? Having not a single thing, he alone rouses his two fists, runs rampant over the seas, founds a house and establishes a state. There is a sort of fellow who also wants to sit upright and still on the top of a hundred-foot pole. But when the moment comes to turn his body over, he cannot give up his life. Have you not seen Great Master Yunmen say: knowing it is such a matter, pick it up and set it aside; you must rouse your spirit and put some sinew into it. To grasp it before chaos was parted is still to be a dull fellow; how much worse to suck flavors on another's tongue — there will never be an end to it. Chan guests, do you want to understand? Raising the eyebrows, what is so hard? Plainly one does not see the tip of a hair. The wind blows and the floating clouds in the blue expanse are gone; the moon rises over the green mountain, a ball of jade.' He shouted once and descended. One day, the grain transport commissioner, Layman Wujin, Lord Zhang Shangying, was on circuit in Fenning and invited the elders of the five monasteries to preach at Yunya. The Master was the last to take the seat, laid his staff crosswise and said: 'Just now the good friends each raised it crosswise and set it down upright, held it straight and threw it slantwise, changed step and shifted body, hid their heads and showed their horns. Since each has already acknowledged defeat before the Academician,

未免吃兜率手中痛棒。到這裡不由甘與不甘。何故。見事不平爭忍得。衲僧正令自當行。卓拄杖。下座。室中設三語以驗學者。一曰撥草擔風。祇圖見性。即今上人性在甚麼處。二曰識得自性。方脫生死。眼光落地時作麼生脫。三曰脫得生死。便知去處。四大分離。向甚麼處去。元祐六年冬。浴訖集眾。說偈曰。四十有八。聖凡盡殺。不是英雄。龍安路滑。奄然而化。其徒遵師遺誡。慾火葬捐骨江中。得法弟子無盡居士張公遣使持祭。且曰。老師於祖宗門下有大道力。不可使來者無所起敬。俾塔於龍安之乳峰。諡真寂禪師。

'he cannot avoid tasting the sharp blows of Doushuai's hand. Having come to this, it is not up to him whether he is willing or not. Why? Seeing a matter not level, how can one bear it? A patch-robed monk's true command must be carried out.' He planted his staff and descended. In his room he set three sayings to test students. The first: 'Parting the grass and shouldering the wind, one only seeks to see the nature. Where now is the Reverend's nature?' The second: 'Only when one knows one's own nature does one escape birth and death. When the light of the eyes falls to the ground, how does one escape?' The third: 'Having escaped birth and death, one knows where one goes. When the four elements separate, where does one go?' In the winter of the sixth year of Yuanyou he bathed, gathered the assembly and spoke a verse: 'Forty-eight years: sage and ordinary all slain. If you are not a hero, the Longan road is slippery.' Then he passed away peacefully. His disciples, following his dying instruction, wished to cremate him and scatter the bones in the river. His dharma heir, the Layman Wujin Lord Zhang, sent an envoy with offerings, and also said: 'The Master had great power in the Way within the ancestral gate; the later comers must not be left with nothing to revere.' He had a stupa built at the Milk Peak of Longan and was given the posthumous title Chan Master Zhenji.

東京法雲佛照杲禪師

Chan Master Fozhao Gao of Fayun, the Eastern Capital

自妙年遊方。謁圓通璣禪師。入室次。璣舉。僧問投子。大死底人卻活時如何。子曰。不許夜行。投明須到。意作麼生。師曰。恩大難酬。璣大喜。遂命首眾。至晚。為眾秉拂。機遲而訥。眾笑之。師有𧹞色。次日於僧堂點茶。因觸茶瓢墜地。見瓢跳。乃得應機三昧。後依真淨。因讀祖偈曰。心同虗空界。示等虗空法。證得虗空時。無是無非法。豁然大悟。每謂人曰。我於紹聖三年十一月二十一日。悟得方寸禪。出住歸宗。詔居淨因。僧問。達磨西來傳箇甚麼。師曰。周．秦．漢．魏。問。昔日僧問雲門。如何是透法身句。門曰。北斗裡藏身。意旨如何。師曰。赤心片片。曰。若是學人即不然。師曰。汝又作麼生。曰。昨夜擡頭看北斗。依稀卻似點糖糕。師曰。但念水草。餘無所知。上堂。西來祖意。教外別傳。非大根器。不能證入。其證入者。不被文字語言所轉。聲色是非所迷。亦無雲門臨濟之殊。趙州德山之異。所以唱道須明。有語中無語。無語中有語。若向這裡薦得。可謂終日著衣。未甞掛一縷絲。終日吃飯。未嘗齩一粒米。直是呵佛罵祖。有甚麼過。雖然如是。欲得不招無間業。莫謗如來正法輪。喝一喝。下座。上堂。拈拄杖曰。歸宗會斬蛇。禾山解打皷。萬象與森羅。皆從這裡去。擲下拄杖曰。歸堂吃茶。師以力參深到。語不入時。每示眾。常舉。老僧熈寧八年。文帳在鳳翔府。供申當年崩了華山四十里。壓倒八十村人家。汝輩後生。茄子瓠子。幾時知得。或問曰。寶華王座上。因甚麼一向世諦。師曰。痴人佛性。豈有二種邪。

From his youth he wandered in search of the Way and called on Chan Master Yuantong Ji. On entering the room, Ji brought up: 'A monk asked Touzi: when a man who has died the great death comes back to life, what then? Zi said: Night travel is not permitted; you must arrive by dawn. What is the meaning?' The Master said: 'The kindness is great and hard to repay.' Ji was overjoyed and made him leader of the assembly. That evening, holding the whisk for the assembly, his workings were slow and he stammered; the assembly laughed at him. The Master was ashamed. The next day, pouring tea in the monks' hall, he knocked a tea ladle to the ground, saw it bounce, and thereby gained the samadhi of responding to workings. Later he relied on Zhenjing. Reading a patriarch's verse — 'The mind is like the realm of emptiness, revealing dharmas equal to emptiness; when one realizes emptiness, there is neither dharma nor no-dharma' — he was suddenly greatly awakened. He often told people: 'On the twenty-first day of the eleventh month of the third year of Shaosheng I awakened to the Chan of the square inch.' He came forth to reside at Guizong and was summoned to reside at Jingyin. A monk asked: 'What did Bodhidharma transmit when he came from the West?' The Master said: 'The Zhou, Qin, Han and Wei.' He asked: 'Long ago a monk asked Yunmen: what is the phrase that penetrates the dharma body? Men said: Hiding the body in the North Dipper. What is the meaning?' The Master said: 'A red heart, piece by piece.' He said: 'If it were this student, it would not be so.' The Master said: 'Then what would you do?' He said: 'Last night I looked up at the North Dipper — it seemed just like a dot of sugar cake.' The Master said: 'He only thinks of water and grass; of the rest he knows nothing.' He mounted the hall: 'The ancestral meaning of the coming from the West was separately transmitted outside the teachings. Without a great vessel one cannot realize and enter it. One who does realize and enter is not turned by written words and language, nor deluded by sound, form, right and wrong. Nor is there any difference between Yunmen and Linji, Zhaozhou and Deshan. Therefore one who proclaims the Way must understand: within words there are no words; within no words there are words. If you can grasp it here, you may be said to wear clothes all day without ever hanging on a single thread, and to eat all day without ever biting a single grain of rice. Even reviling the buddhas and cursing the patriarchs — what fault is there in it? Even so, if you would not invite the karma of uninterrupted hell, do not slander the Tathagata's true dharma wheel.' He shouted once and descended. He mounted the hall, picked up his staff and said: 'Guizong could behead a snake; Mount He could beat a drum. The ten thousand forms and the dense array all go out from here.' He threw down the staff and said: 'Return to the hall and drink tea.' The Master, by the depth of his forceful investigation, spoke in a way that did not suit the times. Whenever he addressed the assembly he often brought up: 'In the eighth year of Xining, this old monk's accounts were in Fengxiang Prefecture. In the report for that year, Mount Hua collapsed for forty li and crushed the houses of eighty villages. You young folk, eggplants and gourds, when will you know this?' Someone asked: 'On the throne of the jeweled flower king, why do you turn to worldly truth?' The Master said: 'Fool, is the buddha-nature of two kinds?'

隆興府泐潭湛堂文準禪師

Chan Master Wenzhun of Zhan Tang, Letan, Longxing Prefecture

興元府梁氏子。初謁真淨。淨問。近離甚處。師曰。大仰。淨曰。夏在甚處。師曰。大溈。淨曰。甚處人。師曰。興元府。淨展手曰。我手何似佛手。師罔措。淨曰。適來祇對。一一靈明。一一天真。及乎道箇我手何似佛手。便成窒礙。且道病在甚處。師曰。某甲不會。淨曰。一切見成。更教誰會。師當下釋然。服勤十載。所往必隨。紹聖三年。真淨移石門。眾益盛。凡衲僧扣問。但瞑目危坐。無所示見。來學則往治蔬圃。率以為常。師謂同行恭上座曰。老漢無意於法道乎。一日。舉杖決渠。水濺衣。忽大悟。淨詬曰。此乃敢爾藞苴邪。自此跡愈晦而名益著。顯謨李公景直守豫章。請開法雲巖。未幾。移居泐潭。僧問。教意即且置。未審如何是祖意。師曰。煙村三月裡。別是一家春。問。寒食因悲郭外春。墅田無處不傷神。林間壘壘添新塚。半是去年來哭人。這事且拈放一邊。如何是道。師曰。蒼天。蒼天。曰。學人特伸請問。師曰。十字街頭吹尺八。村酸冷酒兩三巡。問。一法若有。毗盧墮在凡夫。萬法若無。普賢失其境界。去此二途。請師一決。師曰。太黃甘草。曰。此猶是學人疑處。師曰。放待冷來看。問。向上一路。千聖不傳。未審如何是向上一路。師曰。行到水窮處。坐看雲起時。曰。為甚不傳。師曰。家家有路透長安。曰。祇如衲僧門下。畢竟作麼生。師曰。放你三十棒。上堂曰。五九四十五。聖人作而萬物覩。秦時𨍏轢鑽頭尖。漢祖殿前樊噲怒。曾聞黃鶴樓。崔顥題詩在上頭。晴川歷歷漢陽戍。芳草萋萋鸚鵡洲。可知禮也。君子務本。本立而道生。道生一。一生二。二生三。三生萬物。驀拈拄杖。起身雲。大眾寶峰何似孔夫子。良久曰。酒逢知己飲。詩向會人吟。卓拄杖。下座。上堂。劄。久雨不晴。直得五老峰頭黑雲靉靆。洞庭湖裡白浪滔天。雲門大師忍俊不禁。向佛殿裡燒香。

He was a son of the Liang family of Xingyuan Prefecture. He first called on Zhenjing. Jing asked: 'Where have you lately come from?' The Master said: 'Dayang.' Jing said: 'Where did you spend the summer?' The Master said: 'Dawei.' Jing said: 'Where are you from?' The Master said: 'Xingyuan Prefecture.' Jing spread out his hand and said: 'How is my hand like the buddha's hand?' The Master was bewildered. Jing said: 'Just now your answers were each one spiritually clear, each one naturally true. But when I say, how is my hand like the buddha's hand, at once you are blocked. Tell me, where is the illness?' The Master said: 'I do not understand.' Jing said: 'Everything is already complete — who else would you have understand?' The Master was instantly released. He served diligently for ten years, and wherever Jing went he followed. In the third year of Shaosheng, Zhenjing moved to Shimen and the assembly grew even larger. Whenever a patch-robed monk questioned him, he only sat upright with eyes closed, showing nothing. New students he sent to tend the vegetable garden, and this became the rule. The Master said to his fellow student the Reverend Gong: 'Has the old man no interest in the dharma way?' One day, lifting his staff to open a channel, water splashed his robe, and he suddenly had a great awakening. Jing scolded him: 'How dare you be so slovenly!' From then on his traces grew ever more hidden while his fame grew ever more manifest. Lord Li Jingzhi, the Exhorter of the Xianmo Pavilion, was prefect of Yuzhang and invited him to open the teaching at Yunya. Before long he moved to reside at Letan. A monk asked: 'The meaning of the teaching I set aside; I do not ask — what is the patriarch's meaning?' The Master said: 'In the third month in a misty village, spring is of another house.' He asked: 'At the Cold Food Festival one grieves for the spring outside the walls; in the fields and villages there is no place that does not wound the spirit. In the woods the graves pile up anew — half are people who came last year to weep. Set this aside; what is the Way?' The Master said: 'Heaven above, heaven above!' He said: 'This student has come specially to ask.' The Master said: 'Playing a shakuhachi at the crossroads, two or three rounds of village vinegar and cold wine.' He asked: 'If one dharma exists, Vairochana falls among ordinary men. If the ten thousand dharmas do not exist, Samantabhadra loses his realm. Setting aside these two paths, I beg the Master to decide.' The Master said: 'Overly yellow licorice.' He said: 'This is still the student's doubt.' The Master said: 'Set it aside and look when it is cold.' He asked: 'The one road upward — a thousand sages do not transmit it. What is the one road upward?' The Master said: 'Walk to where the water ends; sit and watch when the clouds rise.' He said: 'Why is it not transmitted?' The Master said: 'Every house has a road through to Chang'an.' He said: 'But at the gate of a patch-robed monk, after all what then?' The Master said: 'Thirty blows for you.' He mounted the hall: 'Five nines are forty-five. The sage acts and the ten thousand things are seen. In Qin times the cart-wheel drill had a pointed head; before the Han founder's hall Fan Kuai was angry. I have heard that on the Yellow Crane Tower, Cui Hao wrote his poem at the top. The clear river runs past the Hanyang garrison; the fragrant grass grows thick on Parrot Island. One can tell that he knew propriety. The gentleman attends to the root; when the root is established the Way is born. The Way gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two to three, three to the ten thousand things.' Suddenly he picked up his staff, rose and said: 'How is Great Assembly Baofeng like Confucius?' After a long silence he said: 'Wine is drunk when the heart knows; poems are chanted to one who understands.' He planted his staff and descended. He mounted the hall: 'A memo. Long rain and no clearing. It has brought black clouds piled thick on the peak of the Five Elders and white waves flooding the sky in Dongting Lake. Great Master Yunmen could not hold back and burned incense in the buddha hall.

三門頭合掌。禱祝呪願。願黃梅石女生兒。子母團圓。少室無角鐵牛。常甘水草。喝一喝。有甚麼交涉。顧眾曰。不因楊得意。爭見馬相如。上堂。混元未判。一氣岑寂。不聞有天地玄黃。宇宙洪荒。日月盈昃。秋收冬藏。正當恁麼時。也好箇時節。尀耐雪峰老漢。卻向虗空裡釘橛。輥三箇木毬。直至後人搆占不上。便見溈山水牯牛。一向膽大心麤。長沙大蟲。到處齩人家豬狗。雖然無禮難容。而今放過一著。孝經序雲。朕聞上古。其風樸略。山前華堯民解元。且喜尊候安樂。參。上堂。今朝臘月十。夜來天落雪。群峰極目高低白。綠竹青松難辨別。必是來年蠶麥熟。張公李公皆忻悅。皆忻悅。鼓腹謳歌笑不徹。把得雲簫繚亂吹。依稀有如楊柳枝。又不覺手之舞之。足之蹈之。左之右之。喝曰。禪客相逢祇彈指。此心能有幾人知。上堂。太陽門下。日日三秋。明月堂前。時時九夏。洞山和尚。祇解夜半捉烏雞。殊不知驚起隣家睡。寶峰相席打令。告諸禪德。也好冷處著把火。咄。上堂。古人道。不看經。不念佛。看經念佛是何物。自從識得轉經人。舉拂子曰。龍藏聖賢都一拂。以拂子拂一拂。曰。諸禪德。正當恁麼時。且道雲巖土地向甚麼處安身立命。擲下拂子。以兩手握拳叩齒曰。萬靈千聖。千聖萬靈。上堂。僧問。教中道。若有一人。發真歸源。十方虗空。悉皆消殞。未審此理如何。師遂展掌。點指曰。子丑寅卯。辰巳午未。一羅二土。三水四金。五太陽．六太陰．七計都。今日計都星入巨蟹宮。寶峰不打這皷笛。便下座。上堂。大道縱橫。觸事現成。雲開日出。水綠山青。拈拄杖。卓一下。曰。雲門大師來也。說道。觀音菩薩將錢買胡餅。放下手元來卻是饅頭。大眾。雲門祇見錐頭利。不見鑿頭方。寶峰即不然。擲下拄杖曰。勿於中路事空王。䇿杖須還達本鄉。昨日有人從淮南來。不得福建信。

'The three-gate holds its palms together and prays and makes vows, wishing that the stone woman of Huangmei bear a child and mother and son be reunited, and that the hornless iron ox of Shaoshi be always content with water and grass.' He shouted once: 'What connection is there?' He looked around the assembly and said: 'But for Yang Deyi, how would Sima Xiangru have been known?' He mounted the hall: 'Before chaos was judged, the one breath was still and silent. One did not hear of heaven dark and earth yellow, of the cosmos vast and wild, of the sun and moon waxing and waning, of autumn harvest and winter store. At just such a time it is also a fine season. But that old fellow Xuefeng would drive a peg into the void and roll out three wooden balls. So that later men could not get at it — and then there is the water buffalo of Weishan, always bold and coarse of heart, and the great tiger of Changsha, biting other people's pigs and dogs everywhere. Though their rudeness cannot be tolerated, for now I let it pass. The preface to the Classic of Filial Piety says: We have heard that in high antiquity the customs were plain and simple. The Hanlin laureate Hua Yaomin before the mountain — I am glad the honorable gentleman's health is well. Investigate.' He mounted the hall: 'Today is the tenth of the twelfth month; last night snow fell from the sky. The peaks, as far as the eye reaches, are white high and low; green bamboo and blue pine are hard to tell apart. Surely next year the silkworms and wheat will ripen, and Zhang and Li will all be delighted. All delighted, they drum on their bellies and sing and laugh without ceasing. Grasping the cloud flute they blow in confusion, faintly like a willow branch song. And before they know it their hands dance and their feet stamp, left and right.' He shouted: 'Chan guests meeting only snap their fingers — how many can know this mind?' He mounted the hall: 'Under the gate of the sun, every day is three autumns. Before the hall of the bright moon, every hour is nine summers. Elder Dongshan only knew how to seize the black chicken at midnight, never knowing he startled the neighbors from sleep. Baofeng strikes the time-beat at the mat and tells the Chan worthies — it is also good to put a little fire in a cold place. Ha!' He mounted the hall: 'The ancients said: do not read the sutras, do not invoke the buddha. What are sutra-reading and buddha-invoking? Since I came to know the one who turns the sutras,' he held up his fly whisk and said: 'the dragon storehouse and the sages and worthies are all swept away with a single whisk.' He swept once with the fly whisk and said: 'Chan worthies, at just such a time, tell me, where does the earth spirit of Yunya settle his body and establish his life?' He threw down the fly whisk, clenched both hands into fists, clicked his teeth and said: 'Ten thousand spirits and a thousand sages, a thousand sages and ten thousand spirits.' He mounted the hall. A monk asked: 'The teaching says: if a single person brings the true to its source, the space of the ten directions is wholly extinguished. What is the meaning of this?' The Master then opened his palm and pointed with his fingers and said: 'Zi, chou, yin, mao, chen, si, wu, wei. One rahu, two earth, three water, four metal, five sun, six moon, seven Ketu. Today the star Ketu has entered the house of the Crab. Baofeng does not beat this drum and pipe.' Then he descended. He mounted the hall: 'The great Way runs free; whatever one meets is complete. The clouds open and the sun comes out; the water is green and the mountains blue.' He picked up his staff, planted it once and said: 'Great Master Yunmen has come. He says: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara takes money and buys a sesame cake; when she lowers her hand, it turns out to be a steamed bun. Great assembly, Yunmen saw only the sharpness of the awl's point and did not see the squareness of the chisel's head. Baofeng is not so.' He threw down the staff and said: 'Do not serve the empty king midway; whipping your staff you must return to your native village. Yesterday someone came from Huainan and did not get the letter from Fujian.'

卻道嘉州大像。吞卻陝府鐵牛。喝一喝。曰。是甚說話。笑倒雲居土地。上堂。祖師關捩子。幽隱少人知。不是悟心者。如何舉似伊。喝一喝。曰。是何言歟。若一向恁麼。達磨一宗掃土而盡。所以大覺世尊。初悟此事。便開方便門。示真實相。普令南北東西。四維上下。郭大李二。鄧四張三。同明斯事。雲巖今日不免傚古去也。擊拂子曰。方便門開也。作麼生是真實相。良久雲。十八十九。痴人夜走。示眾。拈拄杖曰。衲僧家竿木隨身。逢場作戲。倒把橫拈。自有意思。所以昔日藥山和尚問雲巖曰。聞汝解弄師子。是否。巖曰。是。山曰。弄得幾出。巖曰。弄得六出。山曰。老僧亦解弄。巖曰。和尚弄得幾出。山曰。老僧祇弄得一齣。巖曰。一即六。六即一。山便休。大眾。藥山雲巖鈍置殺人。兩子父弄一箇師子。也弄不出。若是準上座。祇消得自弄。拽得來拈頭作尾。拈尾作頭。轉兩箇金睛。攫幾鉤鐵爪。吼一聲直令百里內猛獸潛蹤。滿空裡飛禽亂墜。準上座未弄師子。請大眾高著眼。先做一箇定場。擲下拄杖曰。箇中消息子。能有幾人知。師自浙回泐潭。謁深禪師。尋命分座。聞有悟侍者。見所擲㸑餘有省。詣方丈通所悟。深喝出。因喪志。自經於延壽堂廁後。出沒無時。眾憚之。師聞。半夜特往登溷。方脫衣。悟即提淨水至。師曰。待我脫衣。脫罷悟復到。未幾。悟供籌子。師滌淨已。召接淨桶去。悟才接。師執其手問曰。汝是悟侍者那。悟曰。諾。師曰。是當時在知客寮。見掉火柴頭。有箇悟處底麼。參禪學道。祇要知箇本命元辰下落處。汝剗地作此去就。汝在藏殿。移首座鞋。豈不是汝當時悟得底。又在知客寮移他枕子。豈不是汝當時悟得底。汝每夜在此提水度籌。豈不是汝當時悟得底。因甚麼不知下落。卻在這裡惱亂大眾。師猛推之。索然如倒壘甓。由是無復見者。政和五年夏。師臥病。

'But he said the great image of Jiazhou swallowed the iron ox of Shaanfu.' He shouted once and said: 'What kind of talk is this? It makes the earth spirit of Yunju laugh himself over.' He mounted the hall: 'The patriarchs' pivot is hidden and few know it. If one is not one who has awakened to mind, how can one raise it for him?' He shouted once and said: 'What words are these? If it were always thus, the one school of Bodhidharma would be swept away to the last dust. Therefore the World-Honored One, Great Enlightened, when he first awakened to this matter, at once opened the gate of skillful means and showed the true mark, causing all — north and south, east and west, the four quarters and up and down, Guo the Great and Li the Second, Deng the Fourth and Zhang the Third — to understand this matter together. Today Yunya cannot but follow the ancients.' He struck his fly whisk and said: 'The gate of skillful means is open. What is the true mark?' After a long silence he said: 'Eighteen, nineteen — a fool walks by night.' Addressing the assembly he picked up his staff and said: 'A patch-robed monk carries his rod and staff with him and plays a part wherever he finds a stage. Holding it upside down, laying it crosswise, has its own meaning. Therefore long ago Elder Yaoshan asked Yunya: I hear you can play the lion — is that so? Yan said: It is. Shan said: How many acts can you play? Yan said: I can play six acts. Shan said: This old monk can play too. Yan said: How many acts can the Master play? Shan said: This old monk can play only one act. Yan said: One is six, six is one. Shan then stopped. Great assembly, Yaoshan and Yunya dulled people to death: father and son playing one lion, and they could not bring it off. If it were Preceptor Zhun, it would only take playing it himself. Dragged out, he would take the head for the tail and the tail for the head. He would roll two golden eyes and flex a few hooks of iron claws. One roar would make the fierce beasts within a hundred li hide their tracks and the flying birds in the whole sky fall in confusion. Before Preceptor Zhun plays the lion, I ask the great assembly to raise your eyes high and first hold the stage.' He threw down the staff and said: 'The message within this — how many can know it?' When the Master returned from Zhe to Letan he called on Chan Master Shen, who soon appointed him to a seat. He heard there was an attendant named Wu who had gained some awakening on seeing the leftover fire in the stove, and who went to the abbot's quarters to report it. Shen shouted him out. Losing heart, he hanged himself behind the latrine of the Yanshou Hall. He appeared and vanished at all hours and the assembly feared him. The Master heard of it and at midnight went specially to the latrine. He had just taken off his robe when Wu brought the clean water. The Master said: 'Wait until I have taken off my robe.' When he had finished, Wu came again. Before long Wu offered him the tally sticks. When the Master had washed clean he called for him to take away the chamber bucket. As soon as Wu took it, the Master seized his hand and asked: 'Are you the attendant Wu?' Wu said: 'Yes.' The Master said: 'Was it you who, in the guest quarters, seeing the firebrand fall, had a place of awakening? In studying Chan and learning the Way, one only needs to know where one's own fundamental destiny lies. Why did you make this end for nothing? In the sutra hall you moved the prior's shoes — was that not what you had awakened to then? And in the guest quarters you moved his pillow — was that not what you had awakened to then? And every night here you carry water and pass the tally sticks — is that not what you had awakened to then? Why is it that you do not know where it lies, and instead come here to disturb the assembly?' The Master gave him a hard push, and he collapsed with a rustle like a toppling stack of tiles. After that no one saw him again. In the summer of the fifth year of Zhenghe the Master took to his bed with illness.

進藥者令忌毒物。師不從。有問其故。師曰。病有自性乎。曰。病無自性。師曰。既無自性。則毒物寧有心哉。以空納空。吾未甞顛倒。汝輩一何昏迷。十月二十日。更衣說偈而化。闍維得設利。晶圓光潔。睛齒數珠不壞。塔於南山之陽。

Those bringing medicine told him to avoid poisonous things. The Master would not comply. Someone asked the reason. The Master said: 'Has illness a self-nature?' He said: 'Illness has no self-nature.' The Master said: 'Since it has no self-nature, how can a poison have a mind? Using emptiness to receive emptiness, I am never inverted. Why are you so confused?' On the twentieth day of the tenth month he changed his robes, spoke a verse and passed away. After cremation relics were found, crystalline, round, bright and pure. His eyes, teeth and rosary were unspoiled. A stupa was built on the south slope of South Mountain.

廬山慧日文雅禪師

Chan Master Wenya of Huiri, Mount Lu

受請日。僧問。向上宗乘。乞師不吝。師曰。拄杖正開封。曰。小出大遇也。師曰。放過即不可。便打。

On the day he accepted the invitation, a monk asked: 'The ancestral vehicle that goes beyond — I beg the Master not to stint it.' The Master said: 'The staff is just being opened.' He said: 'A small coming forth and a great encounter.' The Master said: 'To let it pass is not permissible.' And he struck him.

瑞州洞山梵言禪師

Chan Master Fanyan of Dongshan, Ruizhou

太平州人也。上堂。有二僧齊出。一僧禮拜。一僧便問。得用便用時如何。師曰。伊蘭作旃檀之樹。曰。有意氣時添意氣。不風流處也風流。師曰。甘露乃蒺蔾之園。上堂。吾心似秋月。碧潭清皎潔。無物堪比倫。教我如何說。寒山子勞而無功。更有箇拾得。道不識這箇意。修行徒苦辛。恁麼說話。自救不了。尋常拈糞箕。把掃帚。掣風掣顛。猶較些子。直饒是文殊普賢再出。若到洞山門下。一時分付與直歲。燒火底燒火。掃地底掃地。前廊後架。切忌攙匙亂箸。豐幹老人更不饒舌。參退。吃茶。上堂。一生二。二生三。遏捺不住。廓周沙界。德雲直上妙峰。善財卻入樓閣。新婦騎驢阿家牽。山青水綠。桃華紅。李華白。一塵一佛土。一葉一釋迦。乃合掌曰。不審諸佛子。今晨改旦。季春極暄。起居輕利。安樂行否。少間專到上寮問訊。不勞久立。上堂。臘月二十日。一年將欲盡。萬裡未歸人。大眾。總是他鄉之客。還有返本還源者麼。擊拂子曰。門前殘雪日輪消。室內紅塵遣誰掃。

He was a man of Taiping Prefecture. He mounted the hall. Two monks came forward together, one bowed and one at once asked: 'What about when one can use it and so uses it?' The Master said: 'The iran plant becomes a sandalwood tree.' He said: 'When there is spirit, add spirit; where it is not elegant, there is elegance too.' The Master said: 'Sweet dew is the garden of thorns.' He mounted the hall: 'My mind is like the autumn moon, clear and pure in the blue pool. Nothing can compare with it — how shall I speak of it? Hanshan toiled without merit. And there is Shide, saying he does not know this meaning and that practice is only bitter toil. Speaking like this, he cannot save himself. Ordinarily he lifts the dung basket, holds the broom, jerking and jolting about — that is a little better. Even if Manjushri and Samantabhadra should appear again, when they reach the gate of Dongshan they are all at once handed over to the labor master. Those who tend the fire tend the fire; those who sweep the ground sweep the ground. Front corridor and back shelf — by all means do not jab the spoon or confuse the chopsticks. Old man Fenggan says no more.' When the assembly had withdrawn, they drank tea. He mounted the hall: 'One gave birth to two, two to three. Unable to be held back, they spread through the sands of the Ganges. Deva Cloud went straight up to the Wondrous Peak; Sudhana instead entered the tower. The new bride rides the donkey, the mother-in-law leads it. Mountains blue, water green. Peach blossoms red, plum blossoms white. One mote, one buddha land; one leaf, one Shakyamuni.' Then he joined his palms and said: 'Greetings, all buddha-sons. This morning the day has turned; late spring is very warm. Are your movements light and easy, are you practicing at peace? In a little while I will come to the upper quarters to inquire. Do not stand long.' He mounted the hall: 'The twentieth of the twelfth month; the year is nearly over and one is ten thousand li from home. Great assembly, you are all guests in a strange land. Is there any who returns to the root and goes back to the source?' He struck his fly whisk and said: 'The last snow before the gate melts under the sun; who will sweep away the red dust within the room?'

德安府文殊宣能禪師

Chan Master Xuanneng of Wenshu, De'an Prefecture

僧問。如何是祖師燈。師曰。四生無不照。一點任君看。上堂。石鞏箭。秘魔叉。直下會得。眼裡空華。堪悲堪笑少林客。暗𢹂隻履度流沙。

A monk asked: 'What is the patriarchs' lamp?' The Master said: 'The four kinds of birth are all illumined; one dot — you may look at it as you please.' He mounted the hall: 'Shigong's arrow, Mimo's fork. If you understand at once, flowers in the eye. How pitiful, how laughable the Shaolin guest, secretly carrying one shoe and crossing the drifting sands.'

桂州壽寧善資禪師

Chan Master Shouning Shanzi of Guizhou

上堂。若論此事。如鵶啄鐵牛。無下口處。無用心處。更向言中問覓。句下尋思。縱饒卜度將來。飜成戲論邊事。殊不知本來具足。直下分明。佛及眾生。纖毫不立。尋常向諸人道。凡夫具足聖人法。凡夫不知。聖人具足凡夫法。聖人不會。聖人若會。即同凡夫。凡夫若知。即是聖人。然則凡聖一致。名相互陳。不識本源。迷其真覺。所以逐境生心。狥情附物。苟能一念情忘。自然真常體露。良久曰。便請薦取。上堂。諸方五日一參。壽寧日日陞座。莫怪重說偈言。過在西來達磨。上士處處逢渠。後學時時蹉過。且道蹉過一著。落在甚麼處。舉起拂子曰。一片月生海。幾家人上樓。

He mounted the hall: 'If one discusses this matter, it is like a crow pecking an iron ox — no place to set the mouth, no place to apply the mind. To seek further within words and ponder beneath sentences, even if you measure it out, turns into a matter on the edge of idle argument. You do not know that it is originally complete and plainly clear, and that buddha and sentient beings do not stand even a hair apart. I often tell people: ordinary men are complete in the sages' dharma, and ordinary men do not know it; the sages are complete in ordinary men's dharma, and the sages do not understand it. If the sages understood it, they would be the same as ordinary men; if ordinary men knew it, they would be sages. Thus sage and ordinary are one, and name and mark set each other forth. Not knowing the original source, one is deluded as to one's true awakening, and so one chases conditions and gives rise to mind, follows feeling and clings to things. If one can, in a single thought, forget feeling, then naturally the true and constant body is revealed.' After a long silence he said: 'Please grasp it.' He mounted the hall: 'Other places hold an assembly every five days; Shouning mounts the seat day after day. Do not wonder that I repeat verses — the fault lies with Bodhidharma who came from the West. The superior man meets him everywhere; later students miss him at every moment. Tell me, when one misses it by one step, where does it fall?' He held up his fly whisk and said: 'A patch of moon rises from the sea; how many households climb the tower?'

南嶽祝融上封慧和禪師

Chan Master Huihe of Shangfeng, Zhurong, Nanyue

上堂。未陞此座已前。盡大地人成佛已畢。更有何法可說。更有何生可利。況菩提煩惱。本自寂然。生死涅槃。猶如昨夢。門庭施設。誑謼小兒。方便門開。羅紋結角。於衲僧面前。皆成幻惑。且道衲僧有甚麼長處。拈起拄杖曰。孤根自有擎天勢。不比尋常曲彔枝。卓拄杖。下座。

He mounted the hall: 'Before one ascends this seat, the people of the whole great earth have already finished becoming buddhas. What dharma is there left to speak, what being left to benefit? Moreover, bodhi and affliction are of themselves still; birth-and-death and nirvana are like last night's dream. The establishments of the gate and courtyard are to frighten children; the opening of the gate of skillful means spreads a net of patterns. Before a patch-robed monk they all become illusion. Tell me, what advantage has a patch-robed monk?' He picked up his staff and said: 'A lone root has of itself the power to hold up heaven; it is not like the common crooked branch.' He planted his staff and descended.

瑞州五峰淨覺本禪師

Chan Master Jingjue Ben of Wufeng, Ruizhou

僧問。同聲相應時如何。師曰。鵓鳩樹上啼。曰。同氣相求時如何。師曰。猛虎巖前嘯。問。一進一退時如何。師曰。腳在肚下。曰。如何是不動尊。師曰。行住坐臥。上堂。僧問。寶座既陞。願聞舉唱。師曰。雪裡梅華火裡開。曰。莫便是為人處也無。師曰。井底紅塵已漲天。上堂。恁麼也不得。不恁麼也不得。恁麼不恁麼總不得。諸人作麼生會。直下會得。不妨奇特。更或針錐。西天此土。上堂。五峰家風。南北西東。要用便用。以橛釘空。咄。

A monk asked: 'What about when like sounds answer each other?' The Master said: 'The dove cries in the tree.' He said: 'What about when like breaths seek each other?' The Master said: 'The fierce tiger howls before the crag.' He asked: 'What about one advancing and one retreating?' The Master said: 'The foot is under the belly.' He said: 'What is the immovable honored one?' The Master said: 'Walking, standing, sitting, lying.' He mounted the hall. A monk asked: 'The jeweled seat is mounted; may we hear the proclamation.' The Master said: 'The plum blossom in the snow opens in the fire.' He said: 'Is this not the working for people?' The Master said: 'The red dust at the bottom of the well has already risen to the sky.' He mounted the hall: 'Thus is not permissible, not thus is not permissible, neither thus nor not thus is altogether not permissible. How will you people understand?' If you understand at once, it is extraordinary enough; if you need the needle's point, it is the West and this land. He mounted the hall: 'The family style of Wufeng: north, south, west, east. Use it when you would use it — driving a peg into the sky. Ha!'

永州太平安禪師

Chan Master Taiping An of Yongzhou

上堂。有利無利。莫離行市。鎮州蘿蔔極貴。廬陵米價甚賤。爭似大平這裡。時豐道泰。商賈駢闐。白米四文一升。蘿蔔一文一束。不用北頭買賤。西頭賣貴。自然物及四生。自然利資王化。又怎生說箇佛法道理。良久雲。勸君不用鐫頑石。路上行人口似碑。

He mounted the hall: 'Profit or no profit, one does not leave the market. The radishes of Zhenzhou are extremely dear and the price of rice in Luling is very cheap. How much better here at Taiping (the base text has Da Ping, which should be the monastery name Taiping), where the season is abundant and the Way is peaceful, and merchants crowd the streets. White rice is four coppers a pint, radishes one copper a bundle. No need to buy cheap at the north end and sell dear at the west end; naturally things reach the four kinds of birth, and naturally profit aids the king's transformation. And how would you speak a principle of buddhadharma?' After a long silence he said: 'I urge you not to carve the stubborn stone — the mouths of travelers on the road are like a stele.'

潭州報慈進英禪師

Chan Master Jinying of Baoci, Tanzhou

僧問。遠涉長途即不問。到家一句事如何。師曰。雪滿長空。曰。此猶是時人知有。轉身一路。又作麼生。師便喝。上堂。報慈有一公案。諸方未曾結斷。幸遇改旦拈出。各請高著眼看。遂趯下一隻鞋。曰。還知這箇消息也無。達磨西歸時。提𢹂在身畔。上堂。與麼上來。猛虎出林。與麼下去。驚虵入草。不上不下。日輪杲杲。喝一喝。曰。瀟湘江水碧溶溶。出門便是長安道。上堂。擲下拄杖。卻召大眾曰。拄杖吞卻祖師了也。教甚麼人說禪。還有人救得也無。喝一喝。上堂。驀拈拄杖曰。三世一切佛。同入這窠窟。衲僧喚作遼天鶻。卓拄杖一下。

A monk asked: 'Of traveling far along the long road I do not ask; what is the one phrase of arriving home?' The Master said: 'Snow fills the empty sky.' He said: 'That is still what people today know of. What about the road of turning the body?' The Master at once shouted. He mounted the hall: 'Baoci has a case that the various regions have never concluded. Fortunately the day has turned, so I bring it out. Each of you, raise your eyes high and look.' Then he kicked off one shoe and said: 'Do you know this message too? When Bodhidharma returned to the West he carried it at his side.' He mounted the hall: 'Coming up thus, a fierce tiger leaves the forest; going down thus, a startled snake enters the grass. Neither up nor down, the sun's wheel shines bright.' He shouted once and said: 'The Xiao and Xiang rivers flow blue and deep; going out the gate one is on the road to Chang'an.' He mounted the hall, threw down his staff and then called the assembly and said: 'The staff has swallowed the patriarchs. Who is left to speak Chan? Is there anyone who can save them?' He shouted once. He mounted the hall, suddenly picked up his staff and said: 'All the buddhas of the three ages enter this same nest. A patch-robed monk calls it the falcon of the vast sky.' He planted his staff once.