Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Fifteen

平江府泗洲用元禪師

Chan Master Yongyuan of Sizhou in Pingjiang Prefecture

一日問建隆曰。臨濟在黃檗。三回問佛法大意。三回被打。意旨如何。語猶未了。被打一拂子。師頓領宗旨。開堂日。僧問。四眾雲臻。請師說法。師曰。有眼無耳朵。六月火邊坐。曰。一句截流。萬機頓息。師曰。聽事不真。喚鐘作甕。問。朝參暮請。成得甚麼邊事。師曰。祇要你歇去。曰。早知燈是火。飯熟已多時。師曰。你鼻孔因甚麼著拄杖子穿卻。曰。拗曲作直又爭得。師曰。且教出氣。上堂。一二三四五。火裡蝍蟟吞卻虎。六七八九十。水底泥牛波上立。一日一夜雨霖霖。無孔鐵鎚灑不入。灑不入。著底急。百川洶湧須彌岌。八臂那吒撞出來。稽首讚歎道難及。咦。上堂。橫按拄杖。顧視大眾曰。今日平地上吃交。便下座。

One day he asked Jianlong, 'Linji was at Huangbo and three times asked about the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma, and three times was beaten. What does it mean?' Before the words were out of his mouth he was struck with a whisk. The Master at once grasped the essential purport. On the day he opened the hall, a monk asked, 'The four assemblies have gathered like clouds — I beg the Master to speak the Dharma.' The Master said, 'Eyes but no ears; in the sixth month, sitting beside the fire.' He said, 'One phrase cuts off the stream, and the ten thousand mechanisms are at once stilled.' The Master said, 'You hear the matter wrongly and call a bell an urn.' He asked, 'Morning attendance and evening invitation — what matter does it accomplish?' The Master said, 'I only want you to be done.' He said, 'Had I known earlier that the lamp is fire, the rice would have been cooked long ago.' The Master said, 'Why is your nostril pierced through by my staff?' He said, 'What good is bending the crooked to make it straight?' The Master said, 'Let him breathe out for now.' Ascending the hall: 'One, two, three, four, five — in the fire the flycatcher swallows the tiger. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten — at the bottom of the water the mud ox stands on the waves. One day and one night the rain pours down; a hammer without a hole cannot be splashed into. It cannot be splashed in, and it presses hard at the bottom. A hundred rivers surge and Sumeru totters. The eight-armed Nata crashes his way out, bows his head and praises, saying the Way cannot be matched. Hm.' Ascending the hall, he held his staff crosswise, looked around at the great assembly and said, 'Today I stumble on level ground.' He then descended from the seat.

報本元禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Yuan of Baoben

平江府承天永安元正傳燈禪師

Chan Master Yuanzheng Chuandeng of Chengtian Yongan in Pingjiang Prefecture

鄆州鄭氏子。上堂。天人群生𩔗。皆承此恩力。大眾。有一人道我不承佛恩力。不居三界。不屬五行。祖師不敢定當。先佛不敢安名。你且道是箇甚麼人。良久曰。倚石巖前燒鐵缽。就松枝上掛銅缾。

He was a son of the Zheng family of Yunzhou. Ascending the hall: 'Gods and men, the multitudes of beings, all bear this grace and power. Assembly, if there were a man who said, "I do not bear the Buddha's grace and power; I do not dwell in the three realms and do not belong to the five elements; even the Ancestors dare not settle him, and the former Buddhas dare not name him" — tell me, what sort of man is he?' After a long silence he said, 'Before the leaning rock he burns an iron bowl; on the pine branch he hangs a bronze bottle.'

隆慶閑禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Xian of Longqing

潭州安化啟寧聞一禪師

Chan Master Wenyi of Qining in Anhua, Tanzhou

上堂。拈華微笑虗勞力。立雪齊腰枉用功。爭似老盧無用處。卻傳衣缽振真風。大眾。且道那箇是老盧傳底衣缽。莫是大庾嶺頭提不起底麼。且莫錯認定盤星。以拂子擊禪床。下座。

Ascending the hall: 'Holding up a flower and smiling faintly — wasted effort; standing in the snow to the waist — labor in vain. How much better old Lu, who had no use for any of it, and yet transmitted the robe and bowl and roused the true wind. Assembly, tell me, which is the robe and bowl old Lu transmitted? Is it the one that could not be lifted at the head of Dayu Ridge? Do not mistake your compass needle.' He struck the meditation bed with his whisk and descended from the seat.

三祖宗禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Zong of the Third Ancestor

寧國府光孝惟爽禪師

Chan Master Weishuang of Guangxiao in Ningguo Prefecture

上堂。今朝六月旦。一年已過半。奉報參玄人。識取孃生面。孃生面。薦不薦。鷺鷥飛入碧波中。抖擻一團銀繡線。

Ascending the hall: 'This morning is the first of the sixth month, and half the year is already gone. I report to those who inquire into the profound: recognize the face your mother bore. The face your mother bore — do you take it up or not? The egret flies into the green waves and shakes out a bundle of silver embroidered thread.'

泐潭英禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Ying of Letan

南嶽法輪齊添禪師

Chan Master Qitian of Falun in Nanyue

僧問。學人上來。乞師指示。師曰。汝適來聞皷聲麼。曰。聞。師曰。還我話頭來。僧禮拜。師曰。令人疑著。上堂。喝一喝曰。師子哮吼。又喝一喝曰。象王嚬呻。又喝一喝曰。狂狗趂塊。又喝一喝曰。鰕跳不出鬥。乃曰。此四喝。有一喝堪與祖佛為師。明眼衲僧試請揀看。若揀不出。大似日中迷路。上堂。良久曰。性靜情逸。乃喝一喝曰。心動神疲。遂顧左右曰。守真志滿。拈拄杖曰。逐物意移。驀召大眾曰。見怪不怪。其怪自壞。靠拄杖。便下座。

A monk asked, 'The student has come up — I beg the Master for instruction.' The Master said, 'Did you just now hear the drum?' He said, 'I heard it.' The Master said, 'Give me back my phrase.' The monk bowed. The Master said, 'It makes one doubt.' Ascending the hall, he gave a shout and said, 'The lion roars.' He gave another shout and said, 'The elephant king frowns and groans.' He gave another shout and said, 'A mad dog chases a clod.' He gave another shout and said, 'A shrimp cannot jump out of the basket.' Then he said, 'Among these four shouts, there is one shout fit to be the teacher of Ancestors and Buddhas. Clear-eyed patch-robed monks, try to pick it out. If you cannot pick it out, it is much like losing your way at noon.' Ascending the hall, after a long silence he said, 'The nature is still and the feelings are at ease.' Then he gave a shout and said, 'The mind stirs and the spirit tires.' Then he looked left and right and said, 'Guarding the true, the will is full.' He picked up his staff and said, 'Chasing things, the intent shifts.' Suddenly he called to the assembly, 'Meeting the strange and not finding it strange, the strange destroys itself.' He leaned on his staff and descended from the seat.

泉州慧明雲禪師

Chan Master Yun of Huiming in Quanzhou

僧問。般若海中。如何為人。師曰。雲開銀漢逈。曰。畢竟如何。師曰。棒頭見血。問。毗婆尸佛早留心。直至如今不得妙。意旨如何。師曰。醜拙不堪當。

A monk asked, 'In the sea of prajna, how do you work for others?' The Master said, 'The clouds part and the Silver River is far off.' He said, 'After all, how is it?' The Master said, 'Blood on the tip of the staff.' He asked, 'The Buddha Vipasyin long ago set his mind on it, and to this day has not attained the wonder — what does it mean?' The Master said, 'Ugly and clumsy, not worth taking on.'

保寧璣禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Ji of Baoning

慶元府育王無竭淨曇禪師

Chan Master Wujie Jingtan of Yuwang in Qingyuan Prefecture

嘉禾人也。晚歸錢塘之法慧。一日上堂。本自深山臥白雲。偶然來此寄閑身。莫來問我禪兼道。我是吃飯屙屎人。紹興丙寅夏。辭朝貴歸付院事。四眾擁眎。揮扇久之。書偈曰。這漢從來沒縫罅。五十六年成話覇。今朝死去見閻王。劍樹刀山得人怕。遂打一圓相。曰。嗄。一任諸方。鑽龜打瓦。收足而化。火後設利如霰。門人持骨。歸阿育王山建塔。

He was a man of Jiahe. Late in life he returned to Fahui in Qiantang. One day he ascended the hall: 'I originally lay in the deep mountains on white clouds, and by chance came here to lodge this idle body. Do not come asking me about Chan and the Way — I am a man who eats and shits.' In the summer of the bing-yin year of Shaoxing he took leave of the court nobles and returned to hand over the affairs of the monastery. The four assemblies crowded to watch. He waved his fan for a long while and wrote a verse: 'This fellow has never had a crack; fifty-six years he has been a master of talk. Today he dies and goes to see King Yama, and the sword trees and knife mountains will make a man afraid.' Then he drew a circle and said, 'Ah.' 'Let the various quarters drill the turtle and strike the tile as they please.' He drew in his feet and passed away. After the fire the relics were like sleet. His disciples took his bones back to Mount Ayuwang and built a stupa.

台州真如戒香禪師

Chan Master Jiexiang of Zhenru in Taizhou

興化林氏子。上堂。孟冬改旦曉天寒。葉落歸根露遠山。不是見聞生滅法。當頭莫作見聞看。

He was a son of the Lin family of Xinghua. Ascending the hall: 'The first day of the first winter month dawns cold; the leaves fall and return to the root, revealing the distant mountains. It is not a dharma of birth and death through seeing and hearing — do not look on it as seeing and hearing.'

五祖常禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Chang of the Fifth Ancestor

蘄州南烏崖壽聖楚清禪師

Chan Master Chuqing of Shousheng at Nanwu Cliff in Qizhou

僧問。亡僧遷化向甚麼處去。師曰。靈峰水急。曰。恁麼則不生也。師曰。蒼天。蒼天。

A monk asked, 'Where does a dead monk go when he passes away?' The Master said, 'The water at Spirit Peak is swift.' He said, 'If so, then he is not born.' The Master said, 'Blue sky, blue sky.'

黃龍肅禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Su of Huanglong

瑞州百丈維古禪師

Chan Master Weigu of Baizhang in Ruizhou

上堂。大眾集定。拈拄杖示眾曰。多虗不如少實。卓一下。便起。

Ascending the hall, when the great assembly had gathered, he picked up his staff, showed it to the assembly and said, 'Much emptiness is not as good as a little substance.' He planted it once and at once rose.

嘉定府月珠祖鑑禪師

Chan Master Zujian of Yuezhu in Jiading Prefecture

僧請筆師語要。師曰。達磨西來。單傳心印。曹谿六祖。不識一字。今日諸方出世。語句如山。重增繩索。乃拍禪床曰。於斯薦得。猶是鈍根。若也未然。白雲深處從君臥。切忌寒猿中夜啼。

A monk asked him to write down the Master's essential words. The Master said, 'Bodhidharma came from the West, singly transmitting the mind seal. The Sixth Ancestor of Caoxi did not know a single character. Today the various quarters come forth into the world with phrases piled like mountains, adding ropes and cords.' Then he slapped the meditation bed and said, 'To take it up here is still a dull root. If not, then in the depths of the white clouds, lie down as you please — but most of all beware the cold gibbon crying at midnight.'

石霜琳禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Lin of Shishuang

鼎州德山靜照庵什庵主

The hermit master Shi of Jingzhao Hermitage at Deshan in Dingzhou

僧問。如何是庵中主。師曰。從來不相許。僧擬議。師曰。會即便會本來底。不得安名著字。僧擬開口。師便打出。師室中常以拂子示眾曰。喚作拂子。依前不是。不喚作拂子。特地不識。汝喚作甚麼。因僧請益。師頌答之曰。我有一柄拂子。用處別無調度。有時掛在松枝。任他頭垂角露。

A monk asked, 'What is the master of the hermitage?' The Master said, 'He has never approved anyone.' As the monk began to deliberate, the Master said, 'If you understand, you understand the original; you may not set a name or a word on it.' As the monk was about to open his mouth, the Master drove him out with blows. In his room the Master often showed his whisk to the assembly and said, 'Call it a whisk, and it is not so as before; do not call it a whisk, and you especially do not recognize it. What do you call it?' When a monk sought instruction, the Master answered with a verse: 'I have a whisk; its use has no other regulation. Sometimes it hangs on a pine branch, and let it droop its head and show its horns.'

華光恭禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Gong of Huaguang

郴州萬壽念禪師

Chan Master Nian of Wanshou in Chenzhou

僧問。龍華勝會。肇啟茲晨。未審彌勒世尊現居何處。師曰。豬肉案頭。曰。既是彌勒世尊。為甚麼卻在豬肉案頭。師曰。不是弄潮人。休入洪波裡。曰。畢竟事又且如何。師曰。番人不繫腰。歲旦。上堂。往復無際。動靜一源。含有德以還空。越無私而逈出。昔日日。今日日。照無兩明。昔日風。今日風。鼓無兩動。昔日雨。今日雨。澤無兩潤。於其中間覓去來相而不可得。何故。自他心起。起處無蹤。自我心忘。忘無滅跡。大眾。若向這裡會去。與天地而同根。共萬物為一體。若也未明。山僧為你重重頌出。元正一。古佛家風從此出。不勞向上用工夫。歷劫何曾異今日。元正二。寂寥冷淡無滋味。趙州相喚吃茶來。剔起眉毛須瞥地。元正三。上來稽首各和南。若問香山山裡事。靈源一派碧如藍。遂喝一喝。下座。

A monk asked, 'The Dragon Flower assembly is first opened this morning — I wonder where the World-Honored One Maitreya now dwells?' The Master said, 'At the pork butcher's block.' He said, 'Since he is the World-Honored One Maitreya, why is he at the pork butcher's block?' The Master said, 'If you are not a man who plays with the tide, do not enter the vast waves.' He said, 'And what of the final matter?' The Master said, 'The foreigner does not tie his waist; the first day of the year.' Ascending the hall: 'Going and returning without limit, movement and stillness one source. It holds virtue and also returns to emptiness; it transcends selflessness and stands out alone. Yesterday's sun and today's sun — illumining is not two brightnesses. Yesterday's wind and today's wind — drumming is not two movements.' Yesterday's rain 'and today's rain — moistening is not two moistenings. In the midst of these, seek the marks of coming and going and you cannot find them. Why? Because the mind of self and other arises, and where it arises there is no trace. Because my own mind is forgotten, and forgetting leaves no mark of extinction. Assembly, if you understand here, you share one root with heaven and earth and are one body with the ten thousand things. If you have not yet understood, this mountain monk will set it out in verse for you, layer upon layer. The first of the new year: the family style of the ancient Buddhas comes forth from this. No need to labor above; through kalpas, how has it ever differed from today? The second of the new year: still and lonely, cold and tasteless. Zhaozhou calls you to come drink tea; raise your brows and you must see through. The third of the new year: come up and bow, each of you joins palms. If you ask about the affairs of Xiangshan Mountain, the one source's stream is blue as indigo.' Then he gave a shout and descended from the seat.

上藍順禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Shun of Shanglan