Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Fifteen

上堂。殺父殺母。佛前懺悔。殺佛殺祖。不消懺悔。為甚麼不消懺悔。且得冤家解脫。

Ascending the hall: 'Kill father, kill mother—repent before the Buddha. Kill Buddha, kill Patriarch—no repentance is needed. Why is no repentance needed? Because then one's enemy is liberated.'

溫州光孝德週禪師

Chan Master Dezhou of Guangxiao, Wenzhou

信州璩氏子。於景德尊勝院染削。問道有年。後至黃龍。聞舉少林面壁。頓悟。述二偈以呈。龍許之。自爾名流江淛。上堂曰。舉體露堂堂。十方無𦊱礙。千聖不能傳。萬靈成頂戴。擬欲共商量。開口百雜碎。祇如未開口已前。作麼生。咄。上堂。回互不回互。覷見沒可覩。透出祖師關。踏斷人天路。阿呵呵。悟不悟。落華流水知何處。

He was a son of the Qu family of Xinzhou. He was shaved at Zunsheng Monastery in Jingde and inquired after the Way for years. Later he came to Huanglong and, hearing him bring up Shaolin's wall-facing, awakened at once. He composed two verses and presented them, and Long approved them. From then his name flowed through the Jiang and Zhe regions. Ascending the hall he said, 'The whole body is revealed and eminent; the ten directions have no obstruction. A thousand sages cannot transmit it; ten thousand spirits all bow to it. To want to deliberate it together—open your mouth and it smashes to bits. What of before you open your mouth? Tut.' Ascending the hall: 'Mutual or not mutual, look and there is nothing to see. Piercing out through the Patriarch's gate, treading through the road of gods and men. Ah ha ha! Awakened or not awakened, falling flowers and flowing water—who knows where they are?'

寺丞戴道純居士

Layman Dai Daochun, Court Assistant

字孚中。諮扣靈源。一日有省。乃呈偈曰。杳冥源底全機處。一片心華露印紋。知是幾生曾供養。時時微笑動香雲。

His courtesy name was Fuzhong. He consulted Lingyuan and one day had an awakening. Then he presented a verse: 'At the source's depth, where the whole mechanism is, one piece of the mind-flower shows its seal pattern. One knows through how many lives one has made offerings.' Every so often his smile stirred the fragrant clouds.

泐潭清禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Qing of Letan

隆興府黃龍山堂道震禪師

Chan Master Daozhen of Shantang, Mount Huanglong, Longxingfu

金陵趙氏子。少依覺印英禪師為童子。英移居泗之普照。適淑妃擇度童行。師得圓具。久之。辭謁丹霞淳禪師。一日。與論洞上宗旨。師呈偈曰。白雲深覆古寒巖。異草靈華彩鳳銜。夜半天明日當午。騎牛背面著靴衫。淳器之。師自以為礙。棄依草堂。一見契合。日取藏經讀之。一夕。聞晚參皷。步出經堂。舉頭見月。遂大悟。亟趨方丈。堂望見。即為印可。初住曹山。次遷廣壽黃龍。上堂曰。舉箇古人因緣問闍棃。闍棃不得作古會。若作古會。失卻當面眼。舉箇即今因緣問闍棃。闍棃不得作今會。若作今會。障卻闍棃本來眼。假饒不失不障。非古非今。猶是藥病相治止啼之說。祇如透脫一句。闍黎還道得也無。若道不得。直待羅漢峰深談實相。即向汝道。上堂。少林冷坐。門人各說異端。大似眾盲摸象。神光禮三拜。依位而立。達磨雲。汝得吾髓。這黑麵婆羅門。腳跟也未點地在。上堂。石人問枯樁。何時汝發華。枯樁怒石人。何得口吧吧。石人呵呵笑。枯樁吐異葩。紅霞輝玉象。白玉碾金沙。借問通玄士。何人不到家。

He was a son of the Zhao family of Jinling. In childhood he served as an acolyte under Chan Master Ying of Jueyin. When Ying moved to Puzhao in Si, it happened that the Consort Shu was selecting postulants for ordination, and the Master obtained full precepts. After a long time he took leave and called on Chan Master Chun of Danxia. One day, discussing the purport of the Dong school, the Master presented a verse: 'White clouds deeply cover the ancient cold cliff; strange grasses and numinous flowers are carried in the colored phoenix's beak. At midnight the sky brightens and the sun is at noon; riding an ox, face backward, wearing a boot and a shirt.' Chun thought highly of it. The Master, however, considered himself still obstructed, and gave up to rely on Caotang. At the first meeting they accorded. He read the canon daily. One evening, hearing the evening-call drum, he stepped out of the scripture hall, raised his head, and saw the moon; then he had a great awakening. He hurried to the abbot's quarters. Tang saw him from afar and at once gave approval. He first dwelt at Caoshan, then moved to Guangshou and Huanglong. Ascending the hall he said, 'I bring up an ancient case and ask you, Acarya; you must not understand it as ancient. If you understand it as ancient, you lose the eye before your face. I bring up a present case and ask you, Acarya; you must not understand it as present. If you understand it as present, you block your original eye. Even if you neither lose nor block, being neither ancient nor present.' It is still the medicine treating the illness, the teaching to stop a child's crying. What of the one phrase of penetrating release—can you Acarya speak it? If you cannot, wait until I speak in depth of the true aspect on Luohan Peak, and then I will tell you.' Ascending the hall: 'Shaolin sat in the cold; his disciples each spoke of a different doctrine, very much like blind men feeling an elephant. Shenguang bowed three times and stood in his place, and Bodhidharma said, 'You have got my marrow.' This black-faced Brahmin has not even set his heels on the ground.' Ascending the hall: 'The stone man asked the withered stump, 'When will you put forth flowers?' The withered stump scolded the stone man, 'Why do you babble?' The stone man laughed heartily; the withered stump put forth strange blossoms. Red clouds glow on the jade elephant; white jade grinds the golden sand. May I ask the gentleman who has penetrated the mystery: who has not reached home?'

台州萬年雪巢法一禪師

Chan Master Fayi of Xuenchao, Wannian, Taizhou

太師襄陽郡王李公遵勉之玄孫也。世居開封祥符縣。母夢一老僧至而產。年十七。試上庠。從祖仕淮南。欲官之。不就。將棄家事長蘆慈覺賾禪師。祖弗許。母曰。此必宿世沙門。願勿奪其志。未幾。慈覺沒。大觀改元。禮靈巖通照願禪師。祝髮登具。依願十年。迷悶不能入。謁圓悟於蔣山。悟曰。此法器也。悟奉詔徙京師天寧。師侍行。靖康末。謁草堂於疎山。一語之及。大法頓明。紹興七年。泉守寶文劉公彥修請居延福。後四遷巨剎。上堂。拈拄杖曰。拄杖子有時作出水蛟龍。萬裡雲煙不斷。有時作踞地師子。百年妖怪潛蹤。有時心法兩忘。照體獨立。有時照用同時。主賓互用。以拄杖畫曰。延福門下。總用不著。且道延福尋常用箇甚麼。卓拄杖。喝一喝。下座。上堂。仰面不見天。低頭不見地。古劒髑髏前。大海波濤沸。退長蘆。歸天台萬年觀音院。忽示微疾。書偈曰。今年七十五。歸作庵中主。珍重觀世音。泥虵吞石虎。入龕趺坐而逝。

He was a great-great-grandson of Grand Preceptor Duke Li Zunmian, Prince of Xiangyang. His family had lived for generations in Xiangfu County, Kaifeng. His mother dreamed an old monk came and then gave birth. At seventeen he was examined at the Imperial College; his grandfather, in office in Huainan, wanted to give him an official post, but he would not accept it. He was about to leave home to serve Chan Master Cijue Ze of Changlu, but his grandfather would not permit it. His mother said, 'He must be a monk from a former life; please do not thwart his resolve.' Before long Cijue died. In the first year of Daguan he paid respects to Chan Master Tongzhao Yuan of Lingyan, was shaved, and received full ordination. He relied on Yuan for ten years, but was muddled and could not enter. He called on Yuanwu at Jingshan. Wu said, 'This is a vessel of dharma.' When Wu received the imperial order and moved to Tianning in the capital, the Master attended him. At the end of Jingkang he called on Caotang at Shushan, and at a single word the great dharma was suddenly clear. In the seventh year of Shaoxing the prefect of Quan, Duke Liu Yanxiu of Baowen, invited him to dwell at Yanfu; afterwards he moved four times to great monasteries. Ascending the hall, he picked up his staff and said, 'The staff sometimes becomes a water-leaping dragon, and ten thousand leagues of cloud and mist are unbroken; sometimes it becomes a crouching lion, and the monsters of a hundred years hide their traces; sometimes mind and dharma are both forgotten and the illuminating essence stands alone; sometimes illumination and function are simultaneous and host and guest use each other.' He drew with his staff and said, 'At the gate of Yanfu none of this is used. Tell me, what does Yanfu ordinarily use?' He set down his staff, gave a shout, and left the seat. Ascending the hall: 'Lifting your face, you do not see heaven; bowing your head, you do not see earth. Before the ancient sword lies a skull; the great sea's waves boil.' He retired from Changlu and returned to the Wannian Guanyin Monastery on Mount Tiantai. Suddenly he showed slight illness and wrote a verse: 'This year I am seventy-five, returning to be the master of the hut. Take care, Guanyin; the mud snake swallows the stone tiger.' He entered the coffin, sat cross-legged, and passed away.

福州雪峰東山慧空禪師

Chan Master Huikong of Dongshan, Xuefeng, Fuzhou

本郡陳氏子。十四圓頂。即遊諸方。徧謁諸老。晚契悟於草堂。紹興癸酉。開法雪峰。受請日。上堂曰。俊快底點著便行。痴鈍底推輓不動。便行則人人歡喜。不動則箇箇生嫌。山僧而今轉此痴鈍為俊快去也。彈指一下。曰。從前推輓不出而今出。從前有院不住而今住。從前嫌佛不做而今做。從前嫌法不說而今說。出不出．住不住即且置。敢問諸人做底是甚麼佛。空王佛耶。然燈佛耶。釋迦佛耶。彌勒佛耶。說底又是甚麼法。根本法耶。無生法耶。世間法耶。出世間法耶。眾中莫有道得底麼。若道得。山僧出世事畢。如或未然。逢人不得錯舉。喝一喝。下座。上堂。舉雲門示眾雲。祇這箇帶累殺人。師曰。雲門尋常氣宇如王。作恁麼說話。大似貧恨一身多。山僧即不然。祇這箇快活殺人。何故。大雨方歸屋裡坐。業風吹又遶山行。然雖如是。也是乞兒見小利。且不傷物義一句作麼生道。上堂。一拳拳倒黃鶴樓。一趯趯飜鸚鵡洲。有意氣時添意氣。不風流處也風流。俊哉俊哉。快活快活。一似十七八歲狀元相似。誰管你天。誰管你地。心王不妄動。六國一時通。罷拈三尺劍。休弄一張弓。自在自在。快活快活。恰似七八十老人作宰相相似。風以時。雨以時。五穀植。萬民安。竪起拄杖曰。大眾。這兩箇並山僧拄杖子。共作得一箇。衲僧到雪峰門下。但知隨例餐䭔子。也得三文買草鞋。喝一喝。卓拄杖。下座。僧問。和尚未見草堂時如何。師曰。江南有。曰。見後如何。師曰。江北無。

He was a son of the Chen family of the prefecture. At fourteen he was shaved and at once wandered everywhere, calling on all the elders. In his late years he awakened under Caotang. In the gui-you year of Shaoxing he began teaching at Xuefeng. On the day he accepted the invitation he ascended the hall and said, 'The sharp and quick rise and go as soon as they are touched; the dull and slow cannot be pushed or pulled. Rising and going makes everyone happy; not moving makes each one dislike it. This mountain monk today turns this dullness and slowness into sharpness and quickness and goes.' He snapped his fingers once and said, 'What could not be pushed or pulled out before now comes out; what had a monastery but would not dwell now dwells; what disliked being Buddha and would not be now is.' What he disliked as dharma and would not speak, he now speaks. 'Coming out or not coming out, dwelling or not dwelling—set that aside. May I ask you all: what Buddha is the one you are being? Is it the Buddha of Empty King, the Buddha Dipankara, the Buddha Shakyamuni, or the Buddha Maitreya? And what dharma is the one you speak? Is it the root dharma, the unborn dharma, the worldly dharma?' Or the world-transcending dharma. Is there anyone in the assembly who can speak it? If you can speak it, this mountain monk's work of appearing in the world is done. If not, when you meet people do not bring it up wrongly. He gave a shout and left the seat. Ascending the hall, he brought up Yunmen's address to the assembly, 'Just this drags people down to death.' The Master said, 'Yunmen's ordinary bearing was like a king's, yet he spoke such words; it is very much like a poor man who resents having too much of a single body. This mountain monk is not like that. Just this makes one happy to death. Why? When the great rain comes, one returns and sits in the house; when the karma wind blows, one again circles the mountain walking. Even so, that too is a beggar seeing a small profit. What of the phrase that does not harm the meaning of things?' Ascending the hall: 'One fist punches down the Yellow Crane Tower; one kick overturns Parrot Island. When there is spirit, add spirit; where there is no elegance, still be elegant. Splendid, splendid! Happy, happy! Just like a top graduate of seventeen or eighteen—who cares about your heaven, who cares about your earth. When the mind-king does not move wildly.' The six states are at once at peace. Put down the three-foot sword; stop playing with a bow. At ease, at ease! Happy, happy! Just like a man of seventy or eighty made prime minister. Wind comes in season, rain comes in season; the five grains are planted, the ten thousand people are at peace. He held up his staff and said, 'Assembly, these two together with this mountain monk's staff make one. When a patch-robed monk comes to the gate of Xuefeng, he need only eat the cakes in his turn, and he can buy straw sandals for three coppers. He gave a shout, set down his staff, and left the seat.' A monk asked, 'What was the Reverend like before he saw Caotang?' The Master said, 'South of the River there is.' He said, 'And after seeing him?' The Master said, 'North of the River there is none.'

慶元府育王野堂普崇禪師

Chan Master Puchong of Yetang, Yuwang, Qingyuanfu

本郡人也。示眾。舉。巴陵和尚道。不是風動。不是幡動。不是風幡。又向甚麼處著。有人為祖師出氣。出來與巴陵相見。雪竇和尚道。風動幡動。既是風幡。又向甚麼處著。有人為巴陵出氣。出來與雪竇相見。師曰。非風非幡無處著。是幡是風無著處。遼天俊鶻悉迷蹤。踞地金毛還失措。阿呵呵。悟不悟。令人轉憶謝三郎。一絲獨釣寒江雨。

He was a man of the prefecture. Addressing the assembly, he brought up: 'The Reverend of Baling said, 'It is not the wind that moves, it is not the banner that moves; since it is neither wind nor banner, where will you set it?'' If there is anyone who will vent his anger for the Patriarch, come forward and meet Baling. The Reverend of Xuedou said, 'The wind moves, the banner moves; since it is wind and banner, where will you set it?' If there is anyone who will vent his anger for Baling, come forward and meet Xuedou.' The Master said, 'Neither wind nor banner, nowhere to set it; whether banner or wind, no place to set it. The sharp falcon of the far sky loses its track entirely; the golden-haired lion crouching on the ground is at a loss. Ah ha ha! Awakened or not awakened, it makes one recall Third Brother Xie, fishing alone with one line in the cold river rain.'

青原信禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xin of Qingyuan

潭州梁山懽禪師

Chan Master Huan of Liangshan, Tanzhou

僧問。大眾雲臻。請師開示。師曰。天靜不知雲去處。地寒留得雪多時。曰。學人未曉玄言。乞師再垂方便。師曰。一重山後一重人。

A monk asked, 'The great assembly gathers like clouds—please, Master, give instruction.' The Master said, 'The sky is still, and one does not know where the clouds have gone; the earth is cold, and the snow stays a long while.' He said, 'This student does not understand the mysterious words; I beg the Master to let down expedient means again.' The Master said, 'Beyond one mountain, another person.'

成都府正法希明禪師

Chan Master Ximing of Zhengfa, Chengdufu

漢州人也。解制。上堂。林葉紛紛落。乾坤報早秋。分明西祖意。何用更馳求。若恁麼會得。始信佛祖之道。本自平夷。大解脫門。元無關鑰。彌綸宇宙。偪塞虗空。量不可窮。智不能測。若也未明此旨。不達其源。任是百劫燻功。千生鍊行。徒自疲苦。了無交涉。若深明此旨。洞達其源。乃知動靜施為。經行坐臥。頭頭合道。念念朝宗。祖不云乎。迷生寂亂。悟無好惡。得失是非。一時放卻。如是則誰迷誰悟。誰是誰非。自是諸人。獨生異見。觀大觀小。執有執無。己靈獨耀。不肯承當。心月孤圓。自生違背。何異家中捨父。衣內忘珠。致使菩提路上。荊棘成林。解脫空中。迷雲蔽日。山僧今日。幸值眾僧自恣。化主還山。諸上善人得得光訪。不可緘默。隨分葛藤。曲為今時。少開方便。也須是諸人著眼。各自諦觀。若更擬議尋思。白雲萬裡。遂拈拄杖曰。於斯明得。靈山一會。儼在目前。其或未然。更待來晨分付。

He was a man of Hanzhou. At the end of the retreat he ascended the hall: 'Forest leaves fall in abundance; heaven and earth announce early autumn. The meaning of the Western Patriarch is clear—why seek it further? If you can understand it thus, you will begin to believe that the Way of Buddha and Patriarch is originally level and even, and that the great gate of liberation has never had a lock or key, filling the universe.' It presses and fills empty space; its measure cannot be exhausted, its wisdom cannot be fathomed. If you have not yet made clear this purport and have not penetrated its source, then even a hundred kalpas of perfuming effort and a thousand lives of refining practice will only weary you in vain, with no connection at all. If you deeply make clear this purport and thoroughly penetrate its source, then you will know that movement and stillness, action and doing, walking and sitting and lying down, everywhere accord with the Way, and thought after thought pays homage to the source. Did not the Patriarch say: deluded, one gives rise to stillness and chaos; awakened, one has no likes or dislikes. Gain and loss, right and wrong—at once let them go. If so, then who is deluded and who is awakened, who is right and who is wrong? It is you people yourselves who alone give rise to differing views, seeing great and seeing small, grasping being and grasping non-being. Your own spirit shines alone, yet you will not take it up; the mind-moon is round and lone, yet you give rise to opposition. How is that different from abandoning your father at home, or forgetting the pearl inside your robe? It causes the road of bodhi to become a forest of thorns, and in the sky of liberation the clouds of delusion to block the sun. Today this mountain monk is fortunate to meet the monks' self-invitation at the season's end, with the donor master returning to the mountain, and all you good people coming to visit. I cannot remain silent, and will according to my share offer some tangled vines, bending expedient means for the present time. But you people too must fix your eyes and each examine for yourselves. If you again deliberate and ponder, white clouds are ten thousand leagues away.' Then he picked up his staff and said, 'If you understand it here, the Vulture Peak assembly stands plainly before your eyes. If not, wait until tomorrow morning and I will hand it over.'

祖庵主

The Hermitage Master Zu

見青原之後。縛屋衡嶽間。三十餘年。人無知者。偶遣興作偈曰。小鍋煑菜上蒸飰。菜熟飰香人正饑。一補饑瘡了無事。明朝依樣畫貓兒。由是衲子披榛扣之。無盡張公力挽其開法。不從。竟終於此山。

After seeing Qingyuan he built a hut among the Heng mountains and lived there over thirty years, and no one knew of him. Once, idly giving vent to his mood, he made a verse: 'A small pot boils greens, on top steams rice; the greens are cooked and the rice fragrant, and one is just hungry. Once the hungry wound is patched, there is nothing to do; tomorrow I will copy the cat as before.' From this patch-robed monks pushed through the thickets to call on him. Duke Zhang Wujin earnestly pressed him to begin teaching, but he would not, and in the end he passed away on that mountain.

夾山純禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Chun of Jiashan

澧州欽山乾明普初禪師

Chan Master Puchu of Qianming, Mount Qin, Lishou

上堂。良久曰。舉揚宗旨。上祝皇基。伏願祥雲與景星俱現。醴泉與甘露雙呈。君乃堯舜之君。俗乃成康之俗。使林下野夫。不覺成太平曲。且作麼生是太平曲。無為而為。神而化之。灑德雨以霶霈。鼓仁風而雍熈。民如野鹿。上如標枝。十八子。知不知。哩哩囉。邏囉哩。拍一拍。下座。

Ascending the hall. After a long while he said, 'Raising and singing the school's purport, I above pray for the imperial foundation. I humbly wish that auspicious clouds and propitious stars appear together, and sweet springs and ambrosia be presented in pairs; that the ruler be a ruler like Yao and Shun, and the customs be customs like Cheng and Kang, so that the rustic fellow beneath the trees unwittingly becomes a song of great peace. What then is the song of great peace? Acting without acting.' Spiritedly transforming them. Scattering the rain of virtue in abundance, drumming the wind of benevolence in harmony. The people like wild deer, the ruler like a branch on high. Eighteen sons. Knowing or not knowing. Li-li-lo, lo-lo-li. He clapped once and left the seat.

泐潭乾禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Qian of Letan

楚州勝因戲魚鹹靜禪師

Chan Master Xianjing of Xiyu, Shengyin, Chuzhou

本郡高氏子。上堂。遊徧天下。當知寸步不曾移。歷盡門庭。家家灶底少煙不得。所以肩笻峭履。乘興而行。掣釣沉絲。任性而住。不為故鄉田地好。因緣熟處便為家。今日信手拈來。從前幾曾計較。不離舊時科段。一回舉著一回新。明眼底。瞥地便回。未悟者。識取面目。且道如何是本來面目。良久曰。前臺華發後臺見。上界鐘聲下界聞。以拂子擊禪床。下座。上堂。舉。世尊在摩竭陀國為眾說法。是時將欲白夏。乃謂阿難曰。諸大弟子。人天四眾。我常說法。不生敬仰。我今入因沙臼室中。坐夏九旬。忽有人來問法之時。汝代為我說。一切法不生。一切法不滅。言訖掩室而坐。師召眾曰。釋迦老子初成佛道之時。大都事不獲已。才方成箇保社。便生退倦之心。勝因當時若見。將釘釘卻室門。教他一生無出身之路。免得後代兒孫𮞏相倣斆。不見道。若不傳法度眾生。是不名為報恩者。擊拂子。下座。後晦處漣漪之天寧。示微疾。書偈曰。弄罷影戲。七十一載。更問如何。回來別賽。置筆而逝。

He was a son of the Gao family of the prefecture. Ascending the hall: 'Having wandered the whole world, you should know that not a single step has been taken; having passed through every gate and courtyard, you find no household whose stove lacks smoke. Therefore, shouldering a bamboo staff and wearing pointed sandals, one walks as the mood takes one; casting the fishing line and sinking the silk, one dwells as one pleases. It is not that the fields of one's native place are good; where conditions are ripe, there one makes a home.' Today he picks it up offhand; in the past when did he ever calculate? Without departing from the old grooves, each time it is raised it is new. Those with clear eyes see the ground and return at once. Those not yet awakened—recognize your face. Tell me, what is the original face?' After a long while he said, 'The flowers of the front terrace are seen from the back terrace; the bell of the upper realm is heard in the lower realm.' He struck the Chan bed with his fly whisk and left the seat. Ascending the hall: 'I bring up: when the World-Honored One was in the country of Magadha preaching to the assembly, it was then the time for the summer retreat to be announced. So he said to Ananda, 'The great disciples and the four assemblies of gods and men do not give rise to reverence when I constantly preach. Now I will enter the room of the sandalwood chamber and sit in summer retreat for ninety days. If someone comes to ask about the dharma, you speak for me: all dharmas do not arise, all dharmas do not cease.' Having said this he shut the room and sat.' The Master called the assembly and said, 'When Shakyamuni first accomplished the Buddha way, it was mostly that he had no choice in the matter. No sooner had he formed a little community than he gave rise to a mind of weariness and retreat. Had Shengyin seen him then, he would have nailed the door of the room shut and given him no road out for a whole lifetime, sparing the descendants of later generations from imitating one another. Do you not know the saying: if one does not transmit the dharma and save sentient beings, one is not called one who repays the debt of gratitude. He struck his fly whisk and left the seat. In later years he withdrew to Tianning by the rippling waters. When he showed slight illness he wrote a verse: 'The shadow play is done, seventy-one years; ask further how it is—come back and match yourself another day.' He set down his brush and passed away.

潭州龍牙宗密禪師

Chan Master Zongmi of Longya, Tanzhou

豫章人。僧問。如何是佛。師曰。莫寐語。問。如何是一切法。師曰。早落第二。上堂。大眾集。師曰。已是團圞。不勞雕琢。歸堂吃茶。上堂。休把庭華類此身。庭華落後更逢春。此身一往知何處。三界茫茫愁殺人。

He was a man of Yuzhang. A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'Do not talk in your sleep.' He asked, 'What is all dharma?' The Master said, 'Already you have fallen into the second.' Ascending the hall: 'The great assembly is gathered.' The Master said, 'It is already round and complete; no need to carve and polish. Return to the hall and drink tea.' Ascending the hall: 'Do not liken this body to the flowers of the courtyard; when the courtyard flowers fall, spring comes again. This body once gone—who knows where? The three realms are vast and dreary, enough to kill one with grief.'

福州東禪祖鑑從密禪師

Chan Master Zujian Congmi of Dongchan, Fuzhou

汀州人也。上堂。開口不是禪。合口不是道。踏步擬進前。全身落荒草。

He was a man of Tingzhou. Ascending the hall: 'To open the mouth is not Chan; to close the mouth is not the Way. To step forward and try to advance—the whole body falls into the wild grass.'

慶元府天童普交禪師

Chan Master Pujiao of Tiantong, Qingyuanfu

郡之萬齡畢氏子。幼穎悟。未冠得度。往南屏聽臺教。因為檀越修懺摩。有問曰。公之所懺罪。為自懺耶。為他懺耶。若自懺罪。罪性何來。若懺他罪。他罪非汝。烏能懺之。師不能對。遂改服遊方。造泐潭。足才踵門。潭即呵之。師擬問。潭即曳杖逐之。一日。忽呼師至丈室曰。我有古人公案。要與你商量。師擬進語。潭遂喝。師豁然領悟。乃大笑。潭下繩床。執師手曰。汝會佛法耶。師便喝。復拓開。潭大笑。於是名聞四馳。學者宗仰。後歸桑梓。留天童。掩關卻掃者八年。寺偶虗席。郡僚命師開法。恐其遯。預遣吏候於道。故不得辭。受請日。上堂曰。咄哉。黃面老。佛法付王臣。林下無情客。官差逼殺人。莫有知心底。為我免得麼。若無。不免將錯就錯。便下座。師凡見僧來。必叱曰。楖栗未擔時。為汝說了也。且道說箇甚麼。招手洗缽。拈扇張弓。趙州柏樹子。靈雲見桃華。且擲放一邊。山僧無恁麼閑唇吻與汝打葛藤。何不休歇去。拈拄杖逐之。宣和六年三月二十日。沐浴。陞堂說偈。脫然示寂。偈曰。寶杖敲空觸處春。箇中消息特彌綸。昨宵風動寒巖冷。驚起泥牛耕白雲。壽七十七。臘五十八。

He was a son of the Bi family of Wanling in the prefecture. In childhood he was keen and quick; before he was capped he was ordained. He went to Nanping to hear the Tiantai teachings. Once, because a donor was performing a repentance ritual, someone asked him, 'The sin you are repenting—is it your own sin that you repent, or another's sin? If you repent your own sin, where does the nature of sin come from? If you repent another's sin, that sin is not yours—how can you repent it?' The Master could not answer. So he changed his robes and wandered. He came to Letan; his foot had barely crossed the threshold when Tan shouted at him. When the Master tried to ask a question, Tan dragged his staff and chased him out. One day he suddenly called the Master to the abbot's quarters and said, 'I have an ancient worthy's case and want to deliberate it with you.' The Master was about to speak when Tan gave a shout; the Master suddenly awakened and laughed aloud. Tan came down from his rope chair, took the Master's hand, and said, 'Do you understand the Buddha dharma?' The Master gave a shout and pushed him away; Tan laughed heartily. From this his fame spread in all directions, and students honored him. Later he returned to his native place and stayed at Tiantong, shutting the gate and sweeping away visitors for eight years. It happened that the monastery was vacant, and the prefectural officials ordered the Master to take up teaching. Fearing he would flee, they sent clerks ahead to wait for him on the road, so he could not refuse. On the day he accepted the invitation he ascended the hall and said, 'Ah! Old Yellow-Face! The Buddha dharma was entrusted to kings and ministers. A man of no feeling under the trees, hounded to death by official summons—is there anyone here who understands the matter and can save me from it? If not, I cannot avoid making the same mistake and carrying on with it.' He then left the seat. Whenever the Master saw a monk come, he would scold him, saying, 'Before you had shouldered your staff, I had already spoken it for you. Tell me, what did he say? Beckoning the hand and washing the bowl, holding the fan and drawing the bow, Zhaozhou's cypress tree, Lingyun seeing the peach blossom—set them all aside. This mountain monk has no such idle lips and mouth to tangle vines with you. Why not rest and stop?' He took up his staff and chased them out. On the twentieth day of the third month of the sixth year of Xuanhe he bathed, entered the hall, spoke a verse, and peacefully passed away. The verse said: 'The jeweled staff strikes the void; wherever it touches, there is spring. The message within it spreads and covers all. Last night the wind stirred and the cold cliff was chilled, startling the mud ox into plowing the white clouds. He lived seventy-seven years; his ordination age was fifty-eight.'

江州圓通道旻圓機禪師

Chan Master Daomin Yuanji of Yuantong, Jiangzhou

世稱古佛。興化蔡氏子。母夢吞摩尼寶珠。有孕。生五歲。足不履。口不言。母抱遊西明寺。見佛像遽履地。合爪稱南無佛。仍作禮。人大異之。及宦學大梁。依景德寺德祥出家。試經得度。徧往參激。皆染指。親溈山喆禪師最久。晚慕泐潭。往謁。潭見默器之。師陳歷參所得。不蒙印可。潭舉世尊拈華。迦葉微笑語以問。復不契。後侍潭行次。潭以拄杖架肩長噓。曰。會麼。師擬對。潭便打。有頃。復拈草示之曰。是甚麼。師亦擬對。潭遂喝。於是頓明大法。作拈華勢。乃曰。這回瞞旻上座不得也。潭挽曰。更道。更道。師曰。南山起雲。北山下雨。即禮拜。潭首肯。後開法灌溪。次居圓通。以符道濟禪師之記。學者嚮臻。朝廷聞其道會。宰臣復為之請。錫以命服。與圓機號。上堂。諸佛出世。無法與人。祇是抽釘拔楔。除疑斷惑。學道之士。不可自謾。若有一疑如芥子許。是汝真善知識。喝一喝曰。是甚麼。切莫刺腦入膠盆。

He was known in the world as the Ancient Buddha. He was a son of the Cai family of Xinghua. His mother dreamed she swallowed a mani jewel and became pregnant. When he was born, for five years he would not set foot to the ground and would not speak. His mother carried him on a visit to Ximing Monastery; when he saw the Buddha image he suddenly set foot on the ground, joined his palms, and called on the name of the Buddha, bowing as well. People found this very strange. When he was grown he went as an official student to Daliang and was ordained under Dexiang of Jingde Monastery. He passed the scripture examination and received full ordination. He went everywhere to consult and rouse himself, dipping a finger into all of it. He attended Chan Master Zhe of Weishan the longest. In his late years he admired Letan and went to call on him. Tan, seeing him, silently prized him. The Master set forth what he had gained over the years of study, but did not receive his seal of approval. Tan brought up the World-Honored One holding up the flower and Kashyapa smiling, and asked him about it. Again he did not accord. Later, as he was attending Tan on a walk, Tan put his staff across his shoulder and gave a long sigh, saying, 'Do you understand?' The Master was about to answer, and Tan struck him. After a while Tan again picked up a blade of grass, showed it, and said, 'What is this?' The Master again was about to answer, and Tan gave a shout. Thereupon he suddenly understood the great dharma. He made the gesture of holding up a flower and said, 'This time you cannot fool Reverend Min.' Tan held him and said, 'Say more, say more.' The Master said, 'Clouds rise on the southern mountain; rain falls on the northern mountain.' Then he bowed, and Tan nodded. Afterwards he began teaching at Guanxi, then dwelt at Yuantong, in accord with the prophecy of Chan Master Daoji. Students gathered to him, and the court heard of his way. The prime minister again requested it for him, and he was granted the purple robe and the title Yuanji. Ascending the hall: 'When the Buddhas appear in the world, they have no dharma to give to people; they only draw out nails and pull out wedges, removing doubt and cutting off confusion. A student of the Way must not deceive himself; if there is a single doubt the size of a mustard seed, it is your true good friend.' He gave a shout and said, 'What is it? By no means thrust your head into a glue pot.'

慶元府二靈知和庵主

The Hermitage Master Zhihe of Erling, Qingyuanfu