Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Fifteen
參政蘇轍居士
The layman Su Zhe, Assistant Administrator
字子由。元豐三年以睢陽從事。左遷瑞州搉筦之任。是時。洪州上藍順禪師與其父文安先生有契。因往訪焉。相得歡甚。公諮以心法。順示搐鼻因緣。已而有省。作偈呈曰。中年聞道覺前非。邂逅相逢老順師。搐鼻徑參真面目。掉頭不受別鉗鎚。枯藤破衲公何事。白酒青鹽我是誰。慚愧東軒殘月上。一杯甘露滑如飴。
His courtesy name was Ziyou. In the third year of Yuanfeng, while serving as an official at Suiyang, he was demoted to the post of tax supervisor at Ruizhou. At that time Chan Master Shun of Shanglan in Hongzhou was on friendly terms with his father, Mr. Wen'an. So he went to visit him, and they were greatly delighted with each other. The lord consulted him about the mind Dharma, and Shun showed him the cause and condition of tweaking the nose. After a while he had an awakening and presented a verse: 'In middle life I heard the Way and awoke to my former errors; by chance I met old Master Shun. Tweaking the nose I went straight to the true face; shaking my head I would accept no other hammer and tongs. A withered vine and a torn robe — what is that to you? White wine and green salt — who am I? How ashamed I am, on the eastern porch with the waning moon risen, a cup of sweet dew smooth as syrup.'
南嶽下十四世
Fourteenth Generation below Nanyue
黃龍新禪師法嗣
Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Xin of Huanglong
吉州禾山超宗慧方禪師
Chan Master Chaozong Huifang of Heshan in Jizhou
上堂舉拂子曰。看。看。祇這箇。在臨濟．則照用齊行。在雲門則理事俱備。在曹洞則偏正葉通。在溈山則暗機圓合。在法眼則何止唯心。然五家宗派。門庭施設則不無。直饒辯得倜儻分明去。猶是光影邊事。若要抵敵生死。則霄壤有隔。且超越生死一句作麼生道。良久曰。洎合錯下注腳。
Ascending the hall, he picked up his whisk and said, 'Look, look — just this. In Linji it is illumination and function going together; in Yunmen it is principle and matter both complete; in Caodong it is the partial and the correct interpenetrating; in Weishan it is the hidden mechanism perfectly united; in Fayan, how could it be only mind-only? Yet the five houses and their schools — their gates and their arrangements — are certainly there.' Even if you can discriminate it clearly and brilliantly, it is still a matter on the edge of light and shadow. If you would do battle with birth and death, then there is a gulf between heaven and earth. Tell me, how will you speak the one phrase that transcends birth and death?' After a long while he said, 'I almost added a footnote wrongly.'
臨安府崇覺空禪師
Chan Master Kong of Chongjue in Lin'an Prefecture
姑孰人也。上堂。十方無壁落。四面亦無門。淨躶躶。赤灑灑。沒可把。遂舉拂子曰。灌溪老漢向十字街頭。逞風流。賣惺惺。道我解穿真珠。解玉版。濄亂絲。捲筒絹。婬坊酒肆。瓦合輿臺。虎穴魔宮。那吒忿怒。遇文王興禮樂。逢桀紂逞干戈。今日被崇覺覷見。一場懡㦬。師頌野狐話曰。含血噀人。先汙其口。百丈野狐。失頭狂走。驀地喚回。打箇筋斗。
He was a man of Gushu. Ascending the hall: 'The ten directions have no wall or enclosure, and the four sides have no gate either. Naked and bare, utterly free, there is nothing to grasp.' Then he raised his whisk and said, 'Old man Guanxi at the crossroads shows off his elegance and sells his wakefulness, saying, "I can string true pearls, I can work jade tablets, I can tangle silk threads, I can roll a tube of silk; in brothels and wine shops, among tile-piled servants and stable hands, in tiger dens and Mara's palaces." Nata is enraged. Meeting King Wen he rouses rites and music; meeting Jie and Zhou he brandishes spears. Today he is seen by Chongjue, and it is a fine embarrassment.' The Master's verse on the wild fox story: 'Spitting blood at a man, one first fouls one's own mouth. Baizhang's wild fox lost its head and ran mad. Suddenly called back, it turns a somersault.'
潭州上封祖秀禪師
Chan Master Zuxiu of Shangfeng in Tanzhou
常德府何氏子。上堂。枯木巖前夜放華。鐵牛依舊臥煙沙。儂家鞭影重拈出。擊拂子曰。一念迴心便到家。遂喝一喝。下座。
He was a son of the He family of Changde Prefecture. Ascending the hall: 'Before the withered tree rock a flower bloomed at night; the iron ox still lies in the misty sand. Our house's shadow of the whip is lifted out again.' He struck his whisk and said, 'One thought turned back and you are home.' Then he gave a shout and descended from the seat.
嘉定府九頂寂惺惠泉禪師
Chan Master Jixing Huiquan of Jiuding in Jiading Prefecture
僧問。心迷法華轉。心悟轉法華。未審意旨如何。師曰。風暖鳥聲碎。日高華影重。上堂。昔日雲門有三句。謂函蓋乾坤句。截斷眾流句。隨波逐浪句。九頂今日亦有三句。所謂饑來吃飯句。寒即向火句。困來打睡句。若以佛法而論。則九頂望雲門。直立下風。若以世諦而論。則雲門望九頂。直立下風。二語相違。且如何是九頂為人處。
A monk asked, 'When the mind is deluded, the Lotus Sutra turns one; when the mind is awakened, one turns the Lotus Sutra. I wonder what it means?' The Master said, 'The wind is warm and the birds' voices are broken; the sun is high and the flower shadows are heavy.' Ascending the hall: 'Formerly Yunmen had three phrases: the phrase that envelops heaven and earth, the phrase that cuts off the multitude of streams, and the phrase that follows the waves and chases the billows. Jiuding today also has three phrases: the phrase of eating when hungry, the phrase of going to the fire when cold, and the phrase of sleeping when tired. If we judge by the Buddha Dharma, then Jiuding looking toward Yunmen' stands below the wind. If we judge by worldly truth, then Yunmen looking toward Jiuding stands below the wind. The two statements conflict — what then is Jiuding's way of working for others?'
嘉興府華亭性空妙普庵主
The hermit master Xingkong Miaopu of Huating in Jiaxing Prefecture
漢州人。久依死心獲證。乃抵秀水。追船子遺風。結茅青龍之野。吹鐵笛以自娛。多賦詠。得之者必珍藏。其山居曰。心法雙忘猶隔妄。色塵不二尚餘塵。百鳥不來春又過。不知誰是住庵人。又警眾曰。學道猶如守禁城。晝防六賊夜惺惺。中軍主將能行令。不動干戈治太平。又曰。不耕而食不蠶衣。物外清閑適聖時。未透祖師關棙子。也須存意著便宜。又曰。十二時中莫住工。窮來窮去到無窮。直須洞徹無窮底。踏倒須彌第一峰。建炎初。徐明叛。道經烏鎮。肆殺戮。民多逃亡。師獨荷䇿而往。賊見其偉異。疑必詭伏者。問其來。師曰。吾禪者。欲抵密印寺。賊怒。欲斬之。師曰。大丈夫要頭便斫取。奚以怒為。吾死必矣。願得一飯以為送終。賊奉肉食。師如常齋出生畢。乃曰。孰當為我文之以祭。賊笑而不答。師索筆大書曰。嗚呼。惟靈勞我以生。則大塊之過。沒我以壽。則陰陽之失。乏我以貧。則五行不正。困我以命。則時日不吉。籲哉。至哉。賴有出塵之道。悟我之性。與其妙心。則其妙心。孰與為隣。上同諸佛之真化。下合凡夫之無明。纖塵不動。本自圓成。妙矣哉。妙矣哉。日月未足以為明。乾坤未足以為大。磊磊落落。無罣無礙。六十餘年。和光混俗。四十二臘。逍遙自在。逢人則喜。見佛不拜。笑矣乎。笑矣乎。可惜少年郎。風流太光彩。坦然歸去付春風。體似虗空終不壞。尚饗。遂舉箸飫䬸。賊徒大笑。食罷。復曰。劫數既遭離亂。我是快活烈漢。如今正好乘時。便請一刀兩段。乃大呼。斬。斬。賊方駭異。稽首謝過令衛而出。烏鎮之廬舍免焚。實師之惠也。道俗聞之愈敬。有僧睹師見佛不拜歌。逆問曰。既見佛。為甚麼不拜。師掌之。曰。會麼。雲。不會。師又掌曰。家無二主。紹興庚申冬。造大盆。穴而塞之。修書寄雪竇持禪師曰。吾將水葬矣。壬戌歲。持至。見其尚存。
He was a man of Hanzhou. He long relied on Sixin and obtained realization, then reached Xiushui and pursued the lingering style of the Boatman. He built a thatched hut in the wilds of Qinglong and played an iron flute for his own amusement. He wrote many poems, and those who got them treasured them. On dwelling in the mountains he said: 'Mind and dharma both forgotten still leaves delusion between; form and dust not two still leaves dust behind. The hundred birds do not come, and spring has passed again; I do not know who the man dwelling in the hut is.' Again, warning the assembly: 'Learning the Way is like guarding a besieged city: by day guard against the six thieves, by night stay awake. When the central commander-in-chief can carry out orders, without moving weapons one governs the great peace.' Again he said: 'Not plowing yet eating, not spinning yet clothed; beyond things, clear and idle, one suits the sage age. If you have not yet penetrated the Ancestor's latch, you must still keep your mind on the advantage.' Again he said: 'Through the twelve hours do not stop your work; from the exhausted go to the exhausted, on to the inexhaustible. You must pierce through to the very bottom of the inexhaustible, and tread down the first peak of Sumeru.' In the early Jianyan era, when Xu Ming rebelled, his road passed through Wuzhen and he slaughtered at will. The people mostly fled, but the Master alone carried his staff and went. The rebels saw that he was extraordinary and suspected he must be a spy in hiding. They asked where he was going. The Master said, 'I am a Chan man; I wish to reach the Miyin Monastery.' The rebels were angry and wanted to behead him. The Master said, 'If a great man wants my head, then take it — why be angry? I shall certainly die, but I beg one meal to see me off.' The rebels offered him meat. The Master ate as at his usual vegetarian meal, and when the offering of food was done he said, 'Who will write the eulogy for me?' The rebels laughed and did not answer. The Master asked for a brush and wrote in large characters: 'Alas, O spirit: that you have wearied me with life is the fault of the great clod; that you have extinguished me with long life is the error of yin and yang; that you have made me poor is that the five elements are not upright; that you have trapped me with fate is that the days and hours are inauspicious. Alas! How great it is to have the Way that leaves the dust, to awaken my nature and its wondrous mind. And that wondrous mind — with what does it consort? Above, it is one with the true transformation of all the Buddhas; below, it accords with the ignorance of ordinary men. Not a dust mote moves; it is originally perfect of itself. Wondrous indeed, wondrous indeed! Sun and moon are not enough for its brightness; heaven and earth are not enough for its greatness. Lofty and free, without hindrance or obstruction. Over sixty years mingling light with the common world; forty-two summer retreats, roaming free and at ease. Meeting people, I am glad; seeing the Buddha, I do not bow. Laughable, laughable! A pity, young man, your elegance is too bright. Calmly I go back and hand it to the spring wind; the body is like empty space and will never decay. May you enjoy the offering.' Then he took up his chopsticks and ate his fill. The rebels laughed heartily. When he had finished eating he said again, 'Now that the kalpa has met with chaos and disorder, I am a merry fierce fellow. Since the time is right, please cut me in two with one stroke.' Then he shouted, 'Cut! Cut!' The rebels were astonished and bowed their heads to apologize, and had him escorted out. The houses of Wuzhen were spared from burning; it was truly the Master's grace. Clergy and laity heard of it and revered him the more. There was a monk who saw the Master's song about seeing the Buddha and not bowing, and asked him contrarily, 'Since you have seen the Buddha, why do you not bow?' The Master slapped him, saying, 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I do not.' The Master slapped him again and said, 'A house has no two masters.' In the winter of the geng-shen year of Shaoxing he had a great basin made, with a hole stopped up, and wrote a letter to Chan Master Chi of Xuedou saying, 'I am going to be buried at water.' In the ren-xu year Chi arrived and saw that he was still alive.
作偈嘲之曰。咄哉老性空。剛要餧魚鼈。去不索性去。祇管向人說。師閱偈。笑曰。待兄來證明耳。令徧告四眾。眾集。師為說法要。仍說偈曰。坐脫立亡。不若水葬。一省柴燒。二省開壙。撒手便行。不妨快暢。誰是知音。船子和尚。高風難繼百千年。一曲漁歌少人唱。遂盤坐盆中。順潮而下。眾皆隨至海濵。望欲斷目。師取塞。戽水而回。眾擁觀水無所入。復乘流而往。唱曰。船子當年返故鄉。沒蹤跡處妙難量。真風徧寄知音者。鐵笛橫吹作散場。其笛聲嗚咽。頃於蒼茫間。見以笛擲空而沒。眾號慕。圖像事之。後三日。於沙上趺坐如生。道俗爭往迎歸。留五日。闍維。設利大如菽者莫計。二鶴徘徊空中。火盡始去。眾奉設利靈骨。建塔於青龍。
Chi made a verse mocking him: 'Ho there, old Xingkong! You were set on feeding the fish and turtles, yet you did not go outright; you only keep telling people.' The Master read the verse and laughed, saying, 'I was waiting for you, brother, to certify it.' He had the four assemblies informed everywhere. When the assembly had gathered, the Master spoke the essentials of the Dharma for them and then spoke a verse: 'To die sitting or standing is not as good as burial at water. First, it saves burning firewood; second, it saves digging a grave. Letting go the hands and going — is it not free and easy? Who knows the tone? The Boatman Reverend. His lofty style is hard to continue for a hundred or a thousand years; few sing his one fisherman's song.' Then he sat cross-legged in the basin and went downstream with the tide. The crowd all followed to the seaside, straining their eyes to see. The Master took out the plug and bailed water, and came back. The crowd pressed around to watch, and no water entered. Again he rode the current away, singing: 'The Boatman returned to his old home that year; where no trace remains the wonder is hard to measure. The true wind is sent everywhere to those who know the tone; the iron flute blows across and makes the closing scene.' The sound of the flute was sad and sobbing. In a moment, in the vast blur, he was seen to throw the flute into the air and vanish. The crowd wailed and longed for him, and made his portrait and served it. Three days later he was sitting cross-legged on the sand as if alive. Clergy and laity raced to welcome him back, and he stayed five days. At the cremation, relics as large as beans could not be counted. Two cranes hovered in the air and only left when the fire was out. The assembly received the relics and the sacred bones and built a stupa at Qinglong.
嚴州鍾山道隆首座
Head Seat Daolong of Zhongshan in Yanzhou
桐廬董氏子。於鍾山寺得度。自遊方所至。耆衲皆推重。晚抵黃龍。死心延為座元。心順世。遂歸隱鍾山。慕陳尊宿高世之風。掩關不事事。日鬻數籰自適。人無識者。手常穿一襪。凡有禪者至。提以示之曰。老僧這襪。著三十年了也。有寺僧戲問。如何是無諍三昧。師便掌。
He was a son of the Dong family of Tonglu. He was ordained at the Zhongshan Monastery. Wherever he went on pilgrimage the senior patch-robed monks esteemed him. Late in life he reached Huanglong, and Sixin invited him to be the chief seat. When Xin passed away he returned to hide at Zhongshan. He admired the lofty world-transcending style of the venerable elder Chen and shut himself in, having nothing to do with affairs. Each day he sold a few reels of silk to suit himself, and no one recognized him. He always wore one sock through. Whenever a Chan man came he would lift it up and show it to him, saying, 'This old monk's sock has been worn for thirty years.' A monk of the monastery once jokingly asked, 'What is the samadhi of non-contention?' The Master slapped him.
楊州齊謐首座
Head Seat Qi Mi of Yangzhou
本郡人也。死心稱為飽參。諸儒屢以名山致之。不可。後示化於潭之谷山。異跡頗眾。門人甞繪其像。請贊。為書曰。箇漢灰頭土面。尋常不欲露現。而今寫出人前。大似虗空著箭。怨怨。可惜人間三尺絹。
He was a man of the prefecture. Sixin called him one who had studied widely. The scholars repeatedly offered him famous mountains, and he would not accept. Later he passed away at Gushan in Tan. There were many extraordinary traces. His disciples once painted his portrait and asked for a praise. He wrote: 'This fellow, ashes on his head and dirt on his face, ordinarily does not wish to show himself. Now he is painted out before people — it is much like empty space taking an arrow. Resentment, resentment — a pity the three feet of silk in the human world.'
空室道人智通者
The woman of the Way Zhitong, of the Empty Room
龍圖範珣女也。幼聰慧。長歸丞相蘇頌之孫悌。未幾厭世相。還家求祝髮。父難之。遂清修。因看法界觀。頓有省。連作二偈見意。一曰。浩浩塵中體一如。縱橫交互印毗盧。全波是水波非水。全水成波水自殊。次曰。物我元無異。森羅鏡像同。明明超主伴。了了徹真空。一體含多法。交參帝網中。重重無盡處。動靜悉圓通。後父母俱亡。兄涓領分寧尉。通偕行。聞死心名重。往謁之。心見知其所得。便問。常啼菩薩賣卻心肝。教誰學般若。通曰。你若無心我也休。又問。一雨所滋。根苗有異。無陰陽地上生箇甚麼。通曰。一華五葉。復問。十二時中向甚麼處安身立命。通曰。和尚惜取眉毛好。心打曰。這婦女亂作次第。通禮拜。心然之。於是道聲籍甚。政和間居金陵。甞設浴於保寧。揭榜於門曰。一物也無。洗箇甚麼。纖塵若有。起自何來。道取一句子玄。乃可大家入浴。古靈祇解揩背。開士何曾明心。欲證離垢地時。須是通身汗出。盡道水能洗垢。焉知水亦是塵。直饒水垢頓除。到此亦須洗卻。後為尼。名惟久。掛錫姑蘇之西竺。緇白日夕師問。得其道者頗眾。俄示疾書偈。趺坐而終。有明心錄行於世。
She was a daughter of Fan Xun, the Longtu. In childhood she was clever; when she grew up she married Ti, grandson of the Chancellor Su Song. Before long she grew weary of the marks of the world and returned home seeking to have her head shaved. Her father made it difficult for her, so she cultivated purity instead. Reading the Contemplation of the Dharma Realm, she was suddenly awakened, and wrote two verses in succession to express her meaning. The first said: 'In the vast dust, the body is one suchness; crossing and interweaving in all directions it seals Vairocana. The whole wave is water, and the wave is not water; the whole water becomes wave, and the water is itself distinct.' The second said: 'Things and self are originally without difference; the dense array of images is the same as a mirror's reflection. Clearly it transcends host and companion; distinctly it penetrates true emptiness. One body contains many dharmas, intermingling in Indra's net. In layer upon layer without end, movement and stillness are all perfect penetration.' Later, when both her parents had died, her elder brother Juan became police inspector of Fenning, and Tong went along with him. Hearing that Sixin's name was weighty, she went to call on him. Xin saw and knew what she had attained, and at once asked, 'The Bodhisattva Sadaprarudita sold his heart and liver — who then did he have study prajna?' Tong said, 'If you had no mind, I too would rest.' He asked again, 'One rain moistens all, yet root and sprout differ. On ground without yin and yang, what grows?' Tong said, 'One flower, five leaves.' He asked again, 'Through the twelve hours, where do you settle body and life?' Tong said, 'Reverend, best take care of your eyebrows.' Xin struck her and said, 'This woman makes a jumble of the order.' Tong bowed, and Xin approved her. From this her reputation for the Way was great. In the Zhenghe era she lived at Jinling and once arranged a bath at Baoning. She posted a notice on the gate: 'There is not a single thing — what will you wash? If there is a dust mote, where did it come from? Speak one mysterious phrase, and then all may enter the bath together. Gulin only knew how to scrub backs; how did the bodhisattva ever clarify the mind? If you would realize the stage beyond defilement, you must sweat all over.' Everyone says water can wash away filth — how do they know water is also dust? Even if water and filth are at once removed, when you get here you must wash that off too. Later she became a nun under the name Weijiu and hung her staff at Xizhu in Gusu. Clergy and laity questioned her day and night, and many obtained her Way. Suddenly she showed illness, wrote a verse, and passed away sitting cross-legged. Her Record of Clarifying the Mind circulates in the world.
黃龍清禪師法嗣
Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Qing of Huanglong
潭州上封佛心才禪師
Chan Master Foxin Cai of Shangfeng in Tanzhou
福州姚氏子。幼得度受具。遊方至大中。依海印隆禪師。見老宿達道者看經。至一毛頭師子。百億毛頭一時現。師指問曰。一毛頭師子作麼生得百億毛頭一時現。達曰。汝乍入叢林。豈可便理會許事。師因疑之。遂發心領淨頭職。一夕汛掃次。印適夜參。至則遇結座。擲拄杖曰。了即毛端吞巨海。始知大地一微塵。師豁然有省。及出閩。造豫章黃龍山。與死心機不契。乃參靈源。凡入室。出必揮淚。自訟曰。此事我見得甚分明。祇是臨機吐不出。若為柰何。靈源知師勤篤。告以須是大徹。方得自在也。未幾。竊觀鄰案僧讀曹洞廣錄。至藥山採薪歸。有僧問。甚麼處來。山曰。討柴來。僧指腰下刀曰。鳴剝剝。是箇甚麼。山㧞刀作斫勢。師忽欣然。摑鄰案僧一掌。揭簾趨出。沖口說偈曰。徹。徹。大海乾枯。虗空迸裂。四方八面絕遮攔。萬象森羅齊漏洩。後分座於真乘。應上封之命。屢遷名剎。住乾元日。開堂示眾曰。百千三昧門。無量福德藏。放行也。如開武庫。錯落交輝。把住也。似雪覆蘆華。通身莫辨。使見之者撩起便行。聞之者單刀直入。箇箇具頂門正眼。人人懸肘後靈符。掃佛祖見知。作叢林殃害。憶得寶壽開堂日。三聖推出一僧。寶壽便打。三聖雲。與麼為人。瞎卻鎮州一城人眼去在。且如乾元今日開堂。或有僧出來。山僧亦打。不唯此話大行。且要開卻福州一城人眼去。何也。劒為不平離寶匣。藥因救病出金缾。上堂。達磨未來東土已前。人人懷媚水之珠。箇箇抱荊山之璞。可謂壁立千仞。及乎二祖禮卻三拜之後。一一南詢諸友。北禮文殊。好不丈夫。或有一箇半箇。不求諸聖。不重己靈。匹馬單鎗。投虗置刃。不妨慶快平生。如今有麼。自是不歸歸便得。五湖煙景有誰爭。上堂。宗乘提唱。妙絕名言。一句該通。乾坤函蓋。直似首羅正眼。竪亞面門。又如圓[○/(○*○)]三點。
He was a son of the Yao family of Fuzhou. In childhood he was ordained and received full precepts. Wandering, he came to Dazhong and relied on Chan Master Long of Haiyin. He saw an old worthy, the Wayfarer Dadao, reading a scripture, and came to the line 'a lion on one hairtip, a hundred million hairtips appearing at once.' The Master pointed and asked, 'How does the lion on one hairtip make a hundred million hairtips appear at once?' Da said, 'You have just entered the monastery—how can you take up such a matter?' The Master was left in doubt. So he resolved to take the post of latrine cleaner. One evening, as he was washing and sweeping, Yin happened to hold the night convocation. When he arrived, the seat was being concluded; Yin threw down his staff and said, 'Understand, and on a hairtip you swallow the great sea; only then do you know the great earth is a single mote of dust.' The Master was suddenly awakened. When he left Fujian he went to Mount Huanglong in Yuzhang, but his mechanism did not accord with Sixin. So he called on Lingyuan. Whenever he entered the room, on coming out he would invariably wipe away tears. He reproached himself, saying, 'This matter I see very clearly, only at the moment I cannot spit it out. What is to be done?' Lingyuan knew the Master was diligent and sincere, and told him he must simply be greatly penetrated before he could be at ease. Before long, he secretly watched the monk at the neighboring seat reading the Extensive Record of Caodong, and came to where Yaoshan returned from gathering firewood, and a monk asked, 'Where have you come from?' Shan said, 'I have come for firewood.' The monk pointed at the knife at his waist and said, 'Crack, crack—what is that?' Shan drew the knife and made a chopping gesture. The Master suddenly was delighted. He slapped the monk at the neighboring seat and, lifting the curtain, hurried out, speaking a verse off his lips: 'Penetrated, penetrated! The great sea dried up, empty space split open. The four directions and eight faces are utterly without obstruction; the ten thousand forms in dense array all leak out.' Later he shared the seat at Zhencheng, answered the summons to Shangfeng, and moved repeatedly to famous monasteries. On the day he dwelt at Qianyuan, he opened the hall and addressed the assembly: 'The hundred thousand gates of samadhi, the measureless treasury of merit: let them go and it is like opening an arsenal, glittering and shining in confusion; hold them fast and it is like snow covering the reed flowers—the whole body cannot be distinguished. It makes those who see it rise and go at once, and those who hear it enter single-bladed and straight.' Each one has the true eye on the crown of the head; each one hangs the numinous talisman behind the elbow. Sweep away the seeing and knowing of Buddha and Patriarch, and become a plague on the monastery. I recall the day Baoshou opened his hall: Sansheng pushed out a monk, and Baoshou struck him. Sansheng said, 'Dealing with people like this, you put out the eyes of the whole city of Zhenzhou.' Now, as for Qianyuan opening his hall today: if a monk comes forward, this mountain monk will also strike him. Not only so that these words may spread widely, but also to open the eyes of the whole city of Fuzhou. Why? The sword leaves its precious sheath for the sake of the unpeaceful; the medicine comes out of the golden bottle because it cures illness.' Ascending the hall: 'Before Bodhidharma came to this land, everyone held the pearl that charms the waters, everyone embraced the uncut jade of Mount Jing—you could say a wall standing a thousand fathoms. But after the Second Patriarch bowed three times, each one went south to inquire of friends and north to pay respects to Manjushri; how unmanly. Perhaps one or two in a hundred did not seek the sages.' Not valuing one's own spirit, alone on a single horse with a single spear, casting the blade into the void—that is indeed a joyful life. Is there such a one today? Of himself he does not return; returning, he gets it. Who will contend for the misty scenery of the five lakes?' Ascending the hall: 'The school's raising and singing is wondrous beyond words; one phrase comprehends all, encompassing heaven and earth. It is exactly like Shoutuo's true eye set upright before the face-gate, and again like the three dots of the circle.'
橫該法界。乃卓拄杖曰。向這一點下明得。出身猶可易。脫體道應難。又卓拄杖曰。向第二點下明得。縱橫三界外。隱顯十方身。又卓拄杖曰。向第三點下明得。魚龍鎻戶。佛祖潛蹤。不然。放過一著。隨分有春色。一枝三四華。上堂。一法有形該動植。百川湍激競朝宗。昭琴不鼓雲天淡。想像毗耶老病翁。維摩病則上封病。上封病則拄杖子病。拄杖子病。則森羅萬象病。森羅萬象病。則凡之與聖病。諸人還覺病本起處麼。若也覺去。情與無情同一體。處處皆同真法界。其或未然。甜瓜徹蔕甜。苦瓠連根苦。
It runs crosswise through the dharma realm. Then he set down his staff and said, 'If you understand under this first dot, leaving the body is still easy; to speak it stripped of the body is hard.' Again he set down the staff and said, 'If you understand under the second dot, you run crosswise beyond the three realms, and hide and show a body in the ten directions.' Again he set down the staff and said, 'If you understand under the third dot, fish and dragons are locked in their doors and Buddha and Patriarch conceal their traces. Otherwise, let it go once, and each according to his share has spring colors—one branch, three or four flowers.' Ascending the hall: 'One dharma with form includes the moving and the growing; a hundred rivers rush and race to pay homage to the source. The Zhao zither is not struck and the clouds and sky are pale; I imagine the old sick man of Vaishali. When Vimalakirti is sick, Shangfeng is sick; when Shangfeng is sick, the staff is sick; when the staff is sick, the ten thousand forms are sick; when the ten thousand forms are sick, the ordinary and the sage are sick.' Do you people still awaken to where the root of the illness arises? If you awaken, feeling and non-feeling are one body, and everywhere is the same true dharma realm. If not, the sweet melon is sweet through to the stem, and the bitter gourd is bitter down to the root.
隆興府黃龍德逢通照禪師
Chan Master Defeng Tongzhao of Huanglong, Longxingfu
郡之靖安胡氏子。生有龐眉。年十七。從上藍晉禪師落髮。往依靈源。即明深旨。上堂。舉夾山境話。師曰。法眼徒有此語。殊不知夾山老漢被這僧輕輕拶著。直得腳前腳後。設使不作境話會。未免猶在半途。
He was a son of the Hu family of Jing'an in the prefecture. He was born with bushy eyebrows. At seventeen he was shaved under Chan Master Jin of Shanglan. He went to rely on Lingyuan and at once understood the profound purport. Ascending the hall, he brought up Jiaoshan's words about the surroundings. The Master said, 'Fayan had only these words; he did not at all know that old Jiaoshan, lightly pressed by this monk, was left staggering front and back. Even if he had not understood it as surroundings, he could not have avoided still being halfway.'
潭州法輪應端禪師
Chan Master Yingduan of Falun, Tanzhou
南昌徐氏子。少依化度善月。圓顱登具。謁真淨文禪師。機不諧。至雲居。會靈源分座。為眾激昂。師扣其旨。然以妙入諸經自負。源甞痛劄之。師乃援馬祖百丈機語。及華嚴宗旨為表。源笑曰。馬祖百丈固錯矣。而華嚴宗旨與箇事喜沒交涉。師憤然欲他往。因請辭。及揭簾。忽大悟。汗流浹背。源見乃曰。是子識好惡矣。馬祖．百丈．文殊．普賢幾被汝帶累。由此譽望四馳。名士夫爭挽應世。皆不就。政和末。太師張公司成以百丈堅命開法。師不得已。始從。上堂。舉大隋劫火洞然話。遂曰。六合傾飜劈面來。暫披麻縷混塵埃。因風吹火渾閑事。引得遊人不肯回。壞不壞。隨不隨。徒將聞見強針錐。太湖三萬六千頃。月在波心說向誰。僧問。如何是賓中賓。師曰。芒鞋竹杖走紅塵。曰。如何是賓中主。師曰。十字街頭逢上祖。曰。如何是主中賓。師曰。御馬金鞭混四民。曰。如何是主中主。師曰。金門誰敢擡眸覷。曰。賓主已蒙師指示。向上宗乘又若何。師曰。昨夜霜風刮地寒。老猿嶺上啼殘月。
He was a son of the Xu family of Nanchang. As a youth he relied on Shanyue of Huadu, was shaved, and received full ordination. He called on Chan Master Zhenjing Wen, but the mechanism did not accord. He came to Yunju, where Lingyuan was sharing the seat and stirring up the assembly. The Master pressed him on the purport. Yet, priding himself on his subtle mastery of the scriptures, Yuan once gave him a painful prod. The Master then cited Mazu's and Baizhang's mechanism words and the purport of the Avatamsaka as evidence. Yuan laughed and said, 'Mazu and Baizhang are certainly mistaken, and the purport of the Avatamsaka has nothing whatever to do with this matter.' The Master, angry, wanted to go elsewhere and asked to take leave. As he lifted the curtain he suddenly had a great awakening, sweat streaming down his back. Yuan saw and said, 'This fellow knows good from bad. Mazu, Baizhang, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra were nearly dragged down by you.' From this his fame spread in all directions, and famous gentlemen vied to invite him to appear in the world, but he accepted none. At the end of the Zhenghe era, Grand Preceptor Duke Zhang Goucheng insisted on making him begin teaching at Baizhang, and the Master, unable to refuse, finally complied. Ascending the hall, he brought up the case of Dasui and the kalpa fire burning. Then he said, 'The six directions overturn and come at your face; for a while I wear hemp rags and mingle with the dust. Catching the wind to blow the fire is an idle matter; it draws the wanderer who will not turn back. Broken or unbroken, following or not following, in vain one pricks and probes with seeing and hearing. Lake Tai is thirty-six thousand qing; the moon is in the heart of the waves—to whom will you tell it?' A monk asked, 'What is the guest within the guest?' The Master said, 'Straw sandals and a bamboo staff, walking the red dust.' He said, 'What is the host within the guest?' The Master said, 'At the crossroads meeting the ancestral one.' He said, 'What is the guest within the host?' The Master said, 'With a golden whip on the imperial horse, mingling with the four classes of people.' He said, 'What is the host within the host?' The Master said, 'Who at the golden gate dares lift his eyes to look?' He said, 'Host and guest have already been pointed out by the Master—what of the ancestral vehicle above?' The Master said, 'Last night the frost wind blew cold across the ground; on the ridge the old ape cried at the waning moon.'
東京天寧長靈守卓禪師
Chan Master Shouzhuo of Changling, Tianning, the Eastern Capital
泉州莊氏子。上堂曰。三千劍客。獨許莊周。為甚麼跳不出。良醫之門多病人。因甚麼不消一劄。已透關者。更請辯看。上堂。譬如眼根。不自見眼。性自平等。無平等者。便恁麼去。無孔鐵鎚。聊且安置。直得入林不動草。入水不動波。也是一期方便。若也籬內竹抽籬外筍。㵎東華發㵎西紅。更待勘過了。打。僧問。丹霞燒木佛。院主為甚麼眉鬚墮落。師曰。貓兒會上樹。曰。早知如是。終不如是。師曰。惜取眉毛。問。如何是衲衣下事。師曰。天旱為民愁。問。佛未出世時如何。師曰。絕毫絕𨤲。曰出世後如何。師曰。填溝塞壑。曰。出與未出。相去幾何。師曰。人平不語。水平不流。上堂。平高就下。勾賊破家。截鐵斬釘。狐狸戀窟。總不恁麼。合作麼生。所以道。萬仞崖頭親撒手。須是其人。祇如香積國中持缽一句。作麼生道。良久曰。切忌風吹別調中。上堂。釋迦掩室。過犯彌天。毗耶杜詞。自救不了。如何如何。口門太小。宣和五年十二月二十七日。奄然示寂。闍維日。皇帝遣中使賜香。持金盤求設利。爇香罷。盤中鏗然。視之五色者數顆。大如豆。使者持還。上見大悅。
He was a son of the Zhuang family of Quanzhou. Ascending the hall he said, 'Among the three thousand swordsmen, only Zhuang Zhou is approved—why can he not leap out? The gate of a good physician has many sick men—why can he not swallow a single pill? Those who have already passed through the gate, please discern further.' Ascending the hall: 'It is like the eye faculty, which does not see itself; nature is of itself equal, and there is no one who is equal. If you go on just like that, a hammer without a hole—set it aside for now. It reaches the point where entering the forest one does not stir the grass and entering the water one does not stir the waves; that too is a temporary expedient.' If the bamboo inside the fence puts out shoots outside the fence, and the flowers east of the ravine bloom red west of the ravine, then wait until I have examined you. Strike. A monk asked, 'Danxia burned the wooden Buddha—why did the monastery steward's eyebrows and beard fall off?' The Master said, 'A cat can climb a tree.' He said, 'Had I known it was so, in the end I would not have done so.' The Master said, 'Take care of your eyebrows.' A monk asked, 'What is the matter beneath the patch-robed robe?' The Master said, 'A drought, and one grieves for the people.' A monk asked, 'What of when the Buddha had not yet appeared in the world?' The Master said, 'Not a hair, not a thread.' 'And after he appeared in the world?' The Master said, 'Filling ditches and stopping up ravines.' He said, 'Between appearing and not appearing, how far apart are they?' The Master said, 'When men are equal they do not speak; when water is level it does not flow.' Ascending the hall: 'Leveling the high and stooping to the low is to hook a thief and break up a house; cutting iron and shearing nails—the fox clings to its den. If not like that, how then? Therefore it is said: at the top of a ten-thousand-fathom cliff, to let go with your own hand, you must be the right person. What of the phrase about holding the bowl in the Fragrance Accumulating World?' How will you speak it? After a long while he said, 'Above all, do not let the wind blow into another tune.' Ascending the hall: 'Shakyamuni shut himself in his room—his offense filled the sky; Vimalakirti sealed his lips—he could not save himself. What is to be done, what is to be done? The mouth-gate is too small.' On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the fifth year of Xuanhe he peacefully showed his passing. On the day of cremation the emperor sent a palace messenger to bestow incense. He held a golden plate to seek relics. When the incense had burnt out, there was a clang in the plate; looking, there were several five-colored relics the size of beans. The messenger brought them back. When the emperor saw them he was greatly pleased.
信州博山無隱子經禪師
Chan Master Wuyin Zijing of Boshan, Xinzhou
歲旦。上堂。和氣生枯枿。寒雲散遠郊。木人占吉兆。夜半露龜爻。諸禪德。龜爻露處。文彩已彰。便見一年十二月。月月如然。一日十二時。時時相似。到這裡直似黃金之黃。白玉之白。自從曠大劫來。未甞異色。還見麼。其或未然。且狥張三通節序。從教李四鬢蒼浪。
On New Year's Day he ascended the hall: 'Harmonious breath brings life to withered stumps; cold clouds scatter over the far suburbs. The wooden man divines an auspicious sign; at midnight the turtle's lines are revealed. Chan worthies, where the turtle's lines are revealed, the patterned brilliance is already manifest, and you see the twelve months of the year, every month the same.' In a day of twelve hours, every hour is alike. At this point it is exactly like the yellow of gold and the white of white jade. Since the vast kalpas began, it has never changed color. Do you see it? If not, then follow Zhang Three through the festivals and let Li Four's temples go gray.
隆興府百丈以棲禪師
Chan Master Yiqi of Baizhang, Longxingfu
興化人也。上堂。摩騰入漢。達磨來梁。途轍既成。後代兒孫開眼迷路。若是箇惺惺底。終不向空裡採華。波中捉月。謾勞心力。畢竟何為。山僧今日已是平地起骨堆。諸人行時。各自著精彩看。
He was a man of Xinghua. Ascending the hall: 'Matanga entered Han and Bodhidharma came to Liang; once the ruts were made, the descendants of later generations opened their eyes and lost the road. If one is clear-headed, he will never pick flowers in the air or grasp the moon in the waves, vainly toiling at mind and strength—after all, for what? Today this mountain monk has raised a heap of bones on level ground.' When you people walk, each of you look to your own finest essence.
邵州光孝曇清禪師
Chan Master Tanqing of Guangxiao, Shaozhou