Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Eighteen

南嶽下十一世

Eleventh Generation below Nanyue

石霜圓禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Yuan of Shishuang

袁州楊歧方會禪師

Chan Master Yangqi Fanghui of Yuanzhou

郡之宜春冷氏子。少警敏。及冠。不事筆硯。繫名徵商。課最坐不職。乃宵遯入瑞州九峰。恍若舊遊。眷不忍去。遂落髮。每閱經。心融神會。能折節扣參老宿。慈明自南源徙道吾石霜。師皆佐之。總院事。依之雖久。然未有省發。每諮參。明曰。庫司事繁。且去。他日又問。明曰。監寺異時兒孫徧天下在。何用忙為。一日。明適出。雨忽作。師偵之小徑。既見。遂搊住曰。這老漢今日須與我說。不說打你去。明曰。監寺知是般事便休。語未卒。師大悟。即拜於泥途。問曰。狹路相逢時如何。明曰。你且軃避。我要去那裡去。師歸。來日。具威儀。詣方丈禮謝。明呵曰。未在。自是明每山行。師輒瞰其出。雖晚必擊皷集眾。明遽還。怒曰。少叢林暮而陞座。何從得此規繩。師曰。汾陽晚參也。何謂非規繩乎。一日。明上堂。師出問。幽鳥語喃喃。辭雲入亂峰時如何。明曰。我行荒草裡。汝又入深村。師曰。官不容針。更借一問。明便喝。師曰。好喝。明又喝。師亦喝。明連喝兩喝。師禮拜。明曰。此事是箇人方能擔荷。師拂袖便行。明移興化。師辭歸九峰。後道俗迎居楊歧。次遷雲蓋。受請日。拈法衣示眾曰。會麼。若也不會。今日無端走入水牯牛隊裡去也。還知麼。筠陽九岫。萍實楊歧。遂陞座。時有僧出。師曰。漁翁未擲釣。躍鱗沖浪來。僧便喝。師曰。不信道。僧拊掌歸眾。師曰。消得龍王多少風。問。師唱誰家曲。宗風嗣阿誰。師曰。有馬騎馬。無馬步行。曰。少年長老。足有機籌。師曰。念汝年老。放汝三十棒。問。如何是佛。師曰。三腳驢子弄蹄行。曰。莫祇這便是麼。師曰。湖南長老。乃曰。更有問話者麼。試出來相見。楊歧今日性命。在汝諸人手裡。一任橫拖倒拽。為甚麼如此。大丈夫兒。須是當眾決擇。莫背地裡似水底按葫蘆相似。當眾引驗。莫便面赤。有麼。有麼。出來決擇看。

He was a son of the Leng family of Yichun in the prefecture. In youth he was alert and quick. When he came of age he did not occupy himself with brush and inkstone, but attached his name to the tax on traders. When his assessment was lowest he was held derelict in duty, so he fled by night into Mount Jiufeng in Ruizhou. It seemed like an old haunt, and he was so attached he could not bear to leave; so he had his head shaved. Whenever he read the sutras his mind melted and his spirit understood. He could bend his pride to consult and question the old worthies. Ciming moved from Nanyuan to Daowu and Shishuang, and the Master assisted him in every place, managing the affairs of the monastery. Though he relied on him a long while, he had no awakening. Whenever he came to consult, Ming would say, 'The storekeeper's duties are many; go for now.' Another day he asked again. Ming said, 'One day the prior's descendants will be spread throughout the world. What is the hurry?' One day Ming happened to go out and rain suddenly fell. The Master spied him on the small path, and when he saw him he seized him and said, 'Today, old man, you must speak to me. If you do not, I will beat you and go.' Ming said, 'When the prior knows a thing like this, he simply rests.' Before the words were finished the Master was greatly awakened. He bowed there in the mud and asked, 'What when we meet on a narrow road?' Ming said, 'You just dodge aside; I want to go over there.' The Master returned. The next day he came with full ceremonial to the abbot's quarters to bow in thanks. Ming scolded him, saying, 'Not yet.' From then on, whenever Ming went into the mountains, the Master would watch for his going out; though it was late he would always strike the drum and gather the assembly. Ming would hurry back and say angrily, 'In a small monastery, mounting the seat at dusk — where did you get such a rule?' The Master said, 'Fenyang's evening consultation — how is that not a rule?' One day when Ming ascended the hall, the Master came forward and asked, 'A hidden bird chirps and murmurs, leaves the clouds and enters the tangled peaks — what then?' Ming said, 'I walk in the wild grass; you again enter the deep village.' The Master said, 'The official way admits not a needle; I beg one more question.' Ming at once shouted. The Master said, 'A good shout.' Ming shouted again and the Master shouted too. Ming shouted twice in succession. The Master bowed. Ming said, 'This matter only a real man can shoulder.' The Master shook out his sleeves and went. When Ming moved to Xinghua, the Master took leave and returned to Jiufeng. Later clergy and laity welcomed him to reside at Yangqi, and afterwards he moved to Yungai. On the day he accepted the invitation, he picked up the Dharma robe and showed it to the assembly: 'Do you understand? If not, today I have wantonly walked into the herd of water buffalo. Do you know? Jiuxiu of Yunyang, Yangqi of Pingshi.' Then he mounted the seat. At that time a monk came forward. The Master said, 'The fisherman has not yet cast his line, and the leaping scale rushes through the waves.' The monk at once shouted. The Master said, 'I do not believe it.' The monk clapped his hands and returned to the assembly. The Master said, 'How much wind can the dragon king stand?' A monk asked, 'Whose family tune does the Master sing? Whose tradition does he inherit?' The Master said, 'With a horse, ride a horse; without a horse, walk.' He said, 'A young elder, full of clever devices.' The Master said, 'Out of regard for your age, I let you off thirty blows.' A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'A three-legged donkey kicks up its hooves and walks.' He said, 'Is this not just it?' The Master said, 'Elder of Hunan.' Then he said, 'Is there anyone else who would ask a question? Try coming forward and meeting me. Today Yangqi's life and death are in the hands of you all; drag me about and pull me upside down as you please. Why so? A great man must decide in the presence of the assembly. Do not be like a gourd pressed down under water in the dark. Test it openly; do not blush. Is there anyone? Is there anyone? Come forward and decide it for all to see.'

如無。楊歧今日失利。師便下座。九峰勤和尚把住雲。今日喜得箇同參。師曰。作麼生是同參底事。勤曰。九峰牽犂。楊歧拽耙。師曰。正恁麼時。楊歧在前。九峰在前。勤擬議。師拓開曰。將謂同參。元來不是。僧問。人法具遣。未是衲僧極則。佛祖雙亡。猶是學人疑處。未審和尚如何為人。師曰。你祇要勘破新長老。曰。恁麼則旋斫生柴帶葉燒。師曰。七九六十三。問。古人面壁。意旨如何。師曰。西天人不會唐言。上堂。霧鎻長空。風生大野。百草樹木。作大師子吼。演說摩訶大般若。三世諸佛在你諸人腳跟下轉大法輪。若也會得。功不浪施。若也不會。莫道楊歧山勢險。前頭更有最高峰。上堂。舉古人一轉公案。佈施大眾。良久曰。口祇堪吃飯。上堂。踏著秤錘硬似鐵。瘂子得夢向誰說。須彌頂上浪滔天。大洋海裡遭火爇。參。上堂。楊歧一要。千聖同妙。佈施大眾。拍禪床一下雲。果然失照。參。上堂。楊歧一句。急著眼覷。長連床上。拈匙把筯。上堂。拈拄杖雲。一即一切。一切即一。畫一畫雲。山河大地。天下老和尚百雜碎。作麼生是諸人鼻孔。良久雲。劒為不平離寶匣。藥因救病出金瓶。喝一喝。卓一下。上堂。楊岐無旨的。種田愽飯吃。說夢老瞿曇。何處覔蹤跡。喝一喝。拍禪床一下。上堂。薄福住楊岐。年來氣力衰。寒風凋敗葉。猶喜故人歸。囉囉哩。拈上死柴頭。且向無煙火。上堂。楊岐乍住屋壁疎。滿床盡佈雪真珠。縮卻項。更嗟吁。良久曰。翻憶古人樹下居。上堂。雲蓋是事不如。說禪似吞栗蒲。若向此處會得。佛法天地懸殊。上堂。擲下拄杖曰。釋迦老子著跌。偷笑雲蓋亂說。雖然世界坦平。也是將勤補拙。上堂。釋迦老子初生時。周行七步。目顧四方。一手指天。一手指地。今時衲僧。盡皆打模畫樣。便道天上天下。唯我獨尊。雲蓋不惜性命。亦為諸人打箇樣子。遂曰。

If there is none, then today Yangqi has lost the advantage.' The Master then descended from the seat. The venerable Qin of Jiufeng caught hold of him and said, 'Today I am glad to have found a fellow student.' The Master said, 'What is the matter of being fellow students?' Qin said, 'Jiufeng pulls the plow; Yangqi drags the harrow.' The Master said, 'Just at this moment, is Yangqi in front or is Jiufeng in front?' As Qin began to deliberate, the Master pushed him aside and said, 'I thought you were a fellow student; it turns out you are not.' A monk asked, 'When man and dharma are both dispensed with, it is still not the patch-robed monk's ultimate standard. When Buddha and Ancestor are both gone, it is still the student's place of doubt. May I ask how the Master works for others?' The Master said, 'You only want to see through the new elder.' He said, 'If so, then cut green firewood and burn it with the leaves on.' The Master said, 'Seven nines are sixty-three.' A monk asked, 'What is the purport of the ancients facing the wall?' The Master said, 'The man of the West does not understand the speech of Tang.' Ascending the hall: 'Mist locks the long sky; wind rises on the great plain. The hundred grasses and trees give the great lion's roar and expound the great prajna. The Buddhas of the three ages turn the great Dharma wheel at the heels of you all. If you can understand, your effort is not spent in vain. If you cannot, do not say the slopes of Mount Yangqi are steep — ahead there is an even higher peak.' Ascending the hall: he brought up an ancient case and gave it away to the assembly. After a long while he said, 'The mouth is only good for eating.' Ascending the hall: 'Step on the steelyard weight, and it is hard as iron; a mute man's dream, to whom does he tell it? On the summit of Sumeru the waves surge to the sky; in the great ocean a fire burns. Take heed.' Ascending the hall: 'Yangqi's one essential — a thousand sages share its wonder. I give it away to the assembly.' He slapped the meditation bed once and said, 'As expected, you have lost the illumination. Take heed.' Ascending the hall: 'One phrase of Yangqi — look at it quickly. On the long platform bed, pick up the spoon and hold the chopsticks.' Ascending the hall: he picked up his staff and said, 'One is all, all is one.' He drew a line and said, 'The mountains, rivers and great earth, and all the old monks under heaven, are smashed to bits. What are you all's nostrils?' After a long while he said, 'The sword leaves its precious sheath because of injustice; the medicine comes out of the golden bottle because it saves the sick.' He gave a shout, planted his staff once. Ascending the hall: 'Yangqi has no guiding principle; he farms for a living and eats. Old Gautama who talked in his dreams — where will you look for his traces?' He gave a shout and slapped the meditation bed once. Ascending the hall: 'Of slender fortune I dwell at Yangqi; these years my strength has failed. The cold wind withers the fallen leaves, yet I am glad the old friends return. Lo lo li! Pick up the dead firewood and go for now toward the smokeless fire.' Ascending the hall: 'Yangqi has just settled in with walls full of gaps; the whole bed is spread with pearls of snow. I draw in my neck and sigh the more.' After a long while he said, 'I recall the ancients who dwelt beneath the trees.' Ascending the hall: 'At Yungai I am no good at anything; talking of Chan is like swallowing a chestnut burr. If you can understand here, the Buddha Dharma is as far as heaven from earth.' Ascending the hall: he threw down his staff and said, 'Old Sakyamuni has fallen down; I laugh secretly that Yungai talks nonsense. Though the world is level, this too is making up for clumsiness with diligence.' Ascending the hall: 'When old Sakyamuni was first born, he walked seven steps in a circle, looked in the four directions, pointed one finger at heaven and one at earth. Patch-robed monks today all carve out the same mold and say, "Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am honored." Yungai does not spare his life, and will also make a model for you all.' Then he said:

陽氣發時無硬地。示眾。一切智通無障礙。拈起拄杖曰。拄杖子向汝諸人面前逞神通去也。擲下曰。直得乾坤震裂。山嶽搖動。會麼。不見道。一切智智清淨。拍禪床曰。三十年後。明眼人前。莫道楊歧龍頭虵尾。僧問。撥雲見日時如何。師曰。東方來者東方坐。問。天得一以清。地得一以寧。衲僧得一。堪作甚麼。師曰。缽盂口向天。慈明忌辰設齋。眾才集。師於真前。以兩手揑拳安頭上。以坐具畫一畫。打一圓相。便燒香。退身三步。作女人拜。首座曰。休捏怪。師曰。首座作麼生。座曰。和尚休捏怪。師曰。兔子吃牛嬭。第二座近前。打一圓相。便燒香。亦退身二步。作女人拜。師近前作聽勢。座擬議。師打一掌曰。這漆桶也亂做。龍興孜和尚遷化。僧至下遺書。師問。世尊入滅。槨示雙趺。和尚歸真。有何相示。僧無語。師槌胷曰。蒼天。蒼天。室中問僧。栗棘蓬你作麼生吞。金剛圈你作麼生透。一日。三人新到。師問。三人同行。必有一智。提起坐具曰。參頭上座。喚這箇作甚麼。曰。坐具。師曰。真箇那。曰。是。師復曰。喚作甚麼。曰。坐具。師顧視左右曰。參頭卻具眼。問第二人。欲行千里。一步為初。如何是最初一句。曰。到和尚這裡。爭敢出手。師以手畫一畫。僧曰。了。師展兩手。僧擬議。師曰。了。問第三人。近離甚處。曰。南源。師曰。楊歧今日被上座勘破。且坐吃茶。問僧。敗葉堆雲。朝離何處。曰。觀音。師曰。觀音腳跟下一句作麼生道。曰。適來相見了也。師曰。相見底事作麼生。僧無對。師曰。第二上座代參頭道看。亦無對。師曰。彼此相鈍置。示眾雲。春風如刀。春雨如膏。律令正行。萬物情動。你道腳踏實地一句。作麼生道出來。向東湧西沒處道看。直饒道得。也是梁山頌子。示眾雲。身心清淨。諸境清淨。諸境清淨。身心清淨。還知楊歧老人落處麼。

(The Master continued:) 'When the yang energy stirs, there is no hard ground.' Showing the assembly: 'All wisdom penetrates without obstruction.' He picked up his staff and said, 'The staff goes to display its spiritual powers before you all.' He threw it down and said, 'It makes heaven and earth quake and shatter, mountains and peaks shake. Do you understand? Have you not heard it said, "The wisdom of all wisdom is pure"?' He slapped the meditation bed and said, 'Thirty years from now, in the presence of clear-eyed men, do not say Yangqi is a dragon's head and a snake's tail.' A monk asked, 'What when the clouds are parted and the sun is seen?' The Master said, 'He who comes from the east sits in the east.' A monk asked, 'Heaven attained the one and became clear; earth attained the one and became peaceful; a patch-robed monk attaining the one — what is he good for?' The Master said, 'The bowl's mouth faces heaven.' On the death anniversary of Ciming a vegetarian feast was set out. When the assembly had just gathered, the Master, before the portrait, placed both fists on top of his head, drew a line with his sitting mat, made a circle, then offered incense, stepped back three paces, and bowed like a woman. The chief seat said, 'Stop this grotesque behavior.' The Master said, 'What will the chief seat do?' The seat said, 'The Master should stop this grotesque behavior.' The Master said, 'A rabbit drinking cow's milk.' The second seat came forward, made a circle, offered incense, also stepped back two paces, and bowed like a woman. The Master came forward and made as if to listen. As the seat began to deliberate, the Master slapped him once and said, 'This lacquer bucket is making a mess too.' When the venerable Zi of Longxing passed away, a monk came to deliver his farewell letter. The Master asked, 'When the World-Honored One entered quiescence, his coffin showed his twin feet. When the Master returned to the real, what sign does he show?' The monk had no reply. The Master beat his breast and said, 'Blue sky, blue sky!' In his room he asked a monk, 'The chestnut burr — how will you swallow it? The adamantine ring — how will you pass through it?' One day three new arrivals came. The Master asked, 'When three walk together, one of them must have wisdom.' He picked up the sitting mat and said, 'Head of the group, what do you call this?' He said, 'A sitting mat.' The Master said, 'Really?' He said, 'Yes.' The Master said again, 'What do you call it?' He said, 'A sitting mat.' The Master looked left and right and said, 'The head of the group does have an eye.' He asked the second man, 'To walk a thousand miles, the first step is the beginning. What is the very first phrase?' He said, 'Having come to the Master's place, how dare I put out a hand?' The Master drew a line with his hand. The monk said, 'Done.' The Master spread both hands. As the monk began to deliberate, the Master said, 'Done.' He asked the third man, 'Where have you recently come from?' He said, 'Nanyuan.' The Master said, 'Today Yangqi has been seen through by the senior seat. Sit down and have tea.' He asked a monk, 'Fallen leaves piled up like clouds — where did you leave this morning?' He said, 'Guanyin.' The Master said, 'What phrase is there at Guanyin's heels?' He said, 'We have already met just now.' The Master said, 'What is the matter of having met?' The monk had no reply. The Master said, 'Let the second seat answer in place of the head of the group.' He too had no reply. The Master said, 'You blunt each other.' Showing the assembly: 'The spring wind is like a knife; the spring rain is like grease. The ordinances are being carried out; the feelings of the ten thousand things stir. Tell me, that one phrase of standing with both feet on solid ground — how will you speak it out? Try speaking it where the east surges and the west sinks. Even if you can speak it, it is still only a verse of Liangshan.' Showing the assembly: 'Body and mind pure, all objects pure; all objects pure, body and mind pure. Do you understand where old man Yangqi has landed?'

河裡失錢河裡摝。示眾雲。景色乍晴。物情舒泰。舉步也千身彌勒。動用也隨處釋迦。文殊普賢總在這裡。眾中有不受人謾底。便道楊歧和麩糶麫。然雖如是。布袋裡盛錐子。示眾雲。雪。雪。處處光輝明皎潔。黃河凍鎻絕纖流。赫日光中須迸裂。須迸裂。那吒頂上吃蒺藜。金剛腳下流出血。皇祐改元。示寂。塔於雲蓋。

'When the money is lost in the river, you grope for it in the river.' Showing the assembly: 'The scenery has just cleared; the feelings of things are at ease. In raising a step there are a thousand bodies of Maitreya; in moving and acting there is Sakyamuni everywhere. Manjushri and Samantabhadra are all right here. Among the assembly, one who will not be fooled by others will say, "Yangqi sells bran mixed with his flour." Yet even so, it is putting an awl in a cloth bag.' Showing the assembly: 'Snow, snow — everywhere it shines bright and clear. The Yellow River is frozen and locked, cutting off the faintest flow. In the blazing sunlight it must burst open. It must burst open: Nata gets thorns on the crown of his head; blood flows from under the Vajra's feet.' In the first year of the Huangyou era he entered quiescence. His stupa is at Yungai.

南嶽下十二世

Twelfth Generation below Nanyue

楊歧會禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Hui of Yangqi

舒州白雲守端禪師

Chan Master Shouduan of Baiyun in Shuzhou

衡陽葛氏子。幼事翰墨。冠依茶陵鬱禪師披削。往參楊歧。歧一日忽問。受業師為誰。師曰。茶陵鬱和尚。歧曰。吾聞伊過橋遭攧有省。作偈甚奇。能記否。師誦曰。我有明珠一顆。久被塵勞關鎻。今朝塵盡光生。照破山河萬朵。歧笑而趨起。師愕然。通夕不寐。黎明。諮詢之。適歲暮。歧曰。汝見昨日打敺儺者麼。曰。見。歧曰。汝一籌不及渠。師復駭曰。意旨如何。歧曰。渠愛人笑。汝怕人笑。師大悟。巾侍久之。辭遊廬阜。圓通訥禪師舉住承天。聲名籍甚。又遜居圓通。次徙法華龍門．興化海會。所至眾如雲集。僧問。如何是佛。師曰。鑊湯無冷處。曰。如何是佛法大意。師曰。水底按葫蘆。曰。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。烏飛兔走。問。不求諸聖。不重己靈。未是衲僧分上事。如何是衲僧分上事。師曰。死水不藏龍。曰。便恁麼去時如何。師曰。賺殺你。到棲賢。上堂。承天自開堂後。便安排些葛藤來山南東葛西葛。卻為在歸宗開先萬杉打疊了也。今日到三峽會裡。大似臨嫁醫癭。卒著手腳不辨。幸望大眾不怪。伏惟珍重。上堂。鳥有雙翼。飛無遠近。道出一隅。行無前後。你衲僧家。尋常拈匙放箸。盡道知有。及至上嶺時。為甚麼卻氣急。不見道。人無遠慮。必有近憂。上堂。乾坤之內。宇宙之間。中有一寶。秘在形山。大眾。眼在鼻上。腳在肚下。且道寶在甚麼處。良久雲。人面不知何處去。桃華依舊笑春風。上堂。古者道。將此深心奉塵剎。是則名為報佛恩。圓通則不然。時挑野菜和根煑。旋斫生柴帶葉燒。上堂。江月照。松風吹。到這裡還有漏網者麼。良久曰。皇天無親。上堂。入林不動草。入水不動波。入鳥不亂行。大眾。這箇是把纜放船底手腳。且道衲僧家合作麼生。以手拍禪床曰。掀飜海嶽求知己。撥亂乾坤見太平。上堂。忌口自然諸病減。多情未免有時勞。貧居動便成違順。

He was a son of the Ge family of Hengyang. In childhood he occupied himself with brush and ink. At capping age he was ordained under Chan Master Yu of Chaling. He went to consult Yangqi. One day Qi suddenly asked, 'Who was your ordination teacher?' The Master said, 'The venerable Yu of Chaling.' Qi said, 'I hear that when he crossed the bridge he stumbled and had an awakening, and wrote a verse that was very strange. Can you remember it?' The Master recited: 'I have one bright pearl, long locked away by the toil of dust. Today the dust is gone and the light is born, illumining the mountains and rivers and ten thousand blossoms.' Qi laughed and rose to his feet. The Master was astonished and did not sleep all night. At dawn he went to ask about it. It happened to be the end of the year. Qi said, 'Did you see the people driving out the plague demon yesterday?' He said, 'I saw them.' Qi said, 'You are one notch below them.' The Master was startled again and said, 'What is the meaning?' Qi said, 'They like people to laugh; you fear people laughing.' The Master was greatly awakened. He served with towel and cap a long while, then took leave to wander on Mount Lu. Chan Master Ne of Yuantong recommended him to reside at Chengtian, and his fame was great. He then yielded and lived at Yuantong, and afterwards moved to Fahua, Longmen, Xinghua and Haihui. Wherever he went the assembly gathered like clouds. A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'In the cauldron of boiling water there is no cold spot.' He said, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'Pressing a gourd down under the water.' He said, 'What is the Ancestor's meaning in coming from the West?' The Master said, 'The crow flies, the hare runs.' A monk asked, 'Not seeking the sages and not esteeming one's own spirit is still not the patch-robed monk's own affair. What is the patch-robed monk's own affair?' The Master said, 'Dead water does not hide a dragon.' He said, 'What if one goes off just like that?' The Master said, 'It will cheat you to death.' When he arrived at Qixian he ascended the hall: 'Since Chengtian opened the hall, I have laid out some vines and creepers — south of the mountain, east vines and west vines — but I have folded them all up at Guizong, Kaixian and Wanshan. Today I have arrived at the assembly of the Three Gorges; it is very much like doctoring a goiter on the eve of a wedding — suddenly there is no time to sort out one's hands and feet. I hope the assembly will not take it amiss. Respectfully, take care.' Ascending the hall: 'A bird has two wings, and flies without far or near. The Way comes forth from one corner, and moves without before or after. You patch-robed monks ordinarily pick up the spoon and set down the chopsticks and all say you know it. But when you come to climbing the ridge, why are you short of breath? Have you not heard it said, "A man without far-reaching concerns must have near-at-hand sorrows"?' Ascending the hall: 'Within heaven and earth, between the cosmos, there is one treasure hidden in the mountain of form. Assembly, the eyes are above the nose, the feet below the belly — tell me, where is the treasure?' After a long while he said, 'No one knows where the human face has gone; the peach blossoms still smile in the spring wind.' Ascending the hall: 'The ancients said, "Offering this deep mind to the dust-motelike realms — this is called repaying the Buddha's grace." Yuantong is not like that: from time to time he picks wild greens and boils them with the roots; now and then he cuts green firewood and burns it with the leaves on.' Ascending the hall: 'The river moon shines; the pine wind blows. Having come here, is there still anyone who has slipped through the net?' After a long while he said, 'Imperial Heaven has no favorites.' Ascending the hall: 'Entering the forest one does not stir the grass; entering the water one does not stir the waves; entering the flock of birds one does not disorder their rows. Assembly, this is the skill of holding the hawser and launching the boat. Tell me, what should a patch-robed monk do?' He slapped the meditation bed with his hand and said, 'Overturn the seas and mountains to seek a kindred spirit; set heaven and earth in order and see the great peace.' Ascending the hall: 'Guarding the mouth, all illnesses naturally lessen; much feeling cannot avoid occasional toil; dwelling in poverty, every move turns into opposition or compliance.'

落得清閑一味高。雖然如是。莫謂無心雲是道。無心猶隔一重關。示眾雲。泥佛不度水。木佛不度火。金佛不度罏。真佛內裡坐。大眾。趙州老子十二劑骨頭。八萬四千毛孔。一時拋向諸人懷裡了也。圓通今日路見不平。為古人出氣。以手拍禪床雲。須知海嶽歸明主。未信乾坤陷吉人。示眾雲。佛身充滿於法界。普現一切群生前。隨緣赴感靡不周。而常處此菩提座。大眾。作麼生說箇隨緣赴感底道理。祇於一彈指間。盡大地含生根機。一時應得周足。而未甞動著一毫頭。便且喚作隨緣赴感。而常處此座。祇如山僧。此者受法華請。相次與大眾相別去。宿松縣裡開堂了。方歸院去。且道還離此座也無。若道離。則世諦流佈。若道不離。作麼生見得箇不離底事。莫是無邊剎境。自他不隔於毫端。十世古今。始終不離於當念麼。又莫是一切無心。一時自徧麼。若恁麼。正是掉棒打月。到這裡直須悟始得。悟後更須遇人始得。你道既悟了便休。又何必更須遇人。若悟了遇人底。當垂手方便之時。著著自有出身之路。不瞎卻學者眼。若祇悟得乾蘿蔔頭底。不唯瞎卻學者眼。兼自已動。便先自犯鋒傷手。你看我楊歧先師問慈明師翁道。幽鳥語喃喃。辭雲入亂峰時如何。答雲。我行荒草裡。汝又入深村。進雲。官不容針。更借一問。師翁便喝。進雲好喝。師翁又喝。先師亦喝。師翁乃連喝兩喝。先師遂禮拜。大眾須知。悟了遇人者。向十字街頭與人相逢。卻在千峰頂上握手。向千峰頂上相逢。卻在十字街頭握手。所以山僧甞有頌雲。他人住處我不住。他人行處我不行。不是為人難共聚。大都緇素要分明。山僧此者臨行。解開布袋頭。一時撒在諸人面前了也。有眼者莫錯怪好。珍重。開堂示眾雲。昔日靈山會上。世尊拈華。迦葉微笑。世尊道。吾有正法眼藏。分付摩訶大迦葉。次第流傳。無令斷絕。至於今日。大眾。

'One gains a single flavor of pure leisure, high indeed. Yet even so, do not say that no-mind is the Way; no-mind still separates one by a barrier.' Showing the assembly: 'A mud Buddha does not cross water; a wood Buddha does not cross fire; a gold Buddha does not cross the furnace; the true Buddha sits within. Assembly, old man Zhaozhou's twelve-joint bones and eighty-four thousand pores — I have thrown them all into your bosoms at once. Yuantong today, seeing injustice on the road, will vent his anger for the ancients.' He slapped the meditation bed with his hand and said, 'You must know that seas and mountains return to a clear lord; I do not believe heaven and earth would ruin a fortunate man.' Showing the assembly: 'The Buddha's body fills the dharma realm and appears universally before all multitudes; following conditions it responds, never failing to reach, and yet it always sits on this bodhi seat. Assembly, how will you speak the principle of following conditions and responding? In a single snap of the fingers, the faculties of all beings throughout the great earth are at once fully answered — and yet not a hair's tip has ever moved. Then you may call it following conditions and responding, and always sitting on this seat. But take myself: this time I have accepted the invitation of Fahua, and soon I shall take leave of the assembly. After I have opened the hall in Susong County, I shall return to the monastery. Tell me, have I left this seat or not? If you say I have left, then that is the spreading of worldly truth. If you say I have not left, how will you see the matter of not leaving? Is it not that in the boundless realm of lands, self and other are not separated by a hair's tip, and that the ten ages, past and present, from beginning to end never depart from the present thought? Or is it that all is without mind and at once pervades by itself? If so, that is just flailing a stick at the moon. When you get here you must awaken, and after awakening you must meet a person. You may say that once awakened, one is done — why must one also meet a person? For one who is awakened and has met a person, when he extends his hand in skillful means, every move has its own way out; he does not blind the student's eye. But one who has awakened only to a dried radish head not only blinds the student's eye, but also, at his own slightest movement, first wounds his own hand on the blade. Look at how my late teacher Yangqi asked my grand-teacher Ciming: "A hidden bird chirps and murmurs, leaves the clouds and enters the tangled peaks — what then?" He answered, "I walk in the wild grass; you again enter the deep village." He pressed, "The official way admits not a needle; I beg one more question." The grand-teacher at once shouted. He said, "A good shout." The grand-teacher shouted again; my late teacher shouted too; the grand-teacher then shouted twice in succession, and my late teacher bowed. Assembly, you must know that one who is awakened and has met a person — meeting people at the crossroads, he yet clasps hands on the summit of a thousand peaks; meeting on the summit of a thousand peaks, he yet clasps hands at the crossroads. Therefore I have a verse: "Where others dwell, I do not dwell; where others walk, I do not walk. It is not that people are hard to gather with; mostly black and white must be clearly distinguished." This time, on the verge of departure, I have untied the mouth of the cloth bag and scattered it all before you. Those with eyes, do not mistake it. Take care.' Opening the hall, he showed the assembly: 'Formerly at the assembly on Vulture Peak, the World-Honored One held up a flower and Kasyapa smiled faintly. The World-Honored One said, "I have the treasury of the true Dharma eye; I entrust it to Mahakasyapa," to be transmitted in order without letting it be cut off, down to this day. Assembly —'

若是正法眼藏。釋迦老子自無分。將箇甚麼分付。將箇甚麼流傳。何謂如此。況諸人分上。各各自有正法眼藏。每日起來。是是非非。分南分北。種種施為。盡是正法眼藏之光影。此眼開時。乾坤大地。日月星辰。森羅萬象。祇在面前。不見有毫𨤲之相。此眼未開時。盡在諸人眼睛裡。今日已開者。不在此限。有未開者。山僧不惜手。為諸人開此正法眼藏看。乃舉手。竪兩指曰。看。看。若見得去。事同一家。若也未然。山僧不免重說偈言。諸人法眼藏。千聖莫能當。為君通一緜。光輝滿大唐。須彌走入海。六月降嚴霜。法華雖恁道。無句得商量。大眾。既滿口道了。為甚麼卻無句得商量。喝一喝曰。分身兩處看。上堂。釋迦老子有四弘誓願雲。眾生無邊誓願度。煩惱無盡誓願斷。法門無量誓願學。佛道無上誓願成。法華亦有四弘誓願。饑來要吃飯。寒到即添衣。困時伸腳睡。熱處愛風吹。上堂。古人留下一言半句。未透時撞著鐵壁相似。忽然一日覷得透後。方知自己便是鐵壁。如今作麼生透。復曰。鐵壁。鐵壁。上堂。若端的得一回汗出。便向一莖草上現瓊樓玉殿。若未端的得一回汗出。縱有瓊樓玉殿。卻被一莖草蓋卻。作麼生得汗出去。自有一雙窮相手。不曾容易舞三臺。上堂。安居之首。禁足為名。禁足之意。意在進道而護生。衲僧家更有何生而可護。何道而可進。唾一唾。唾破釋迦老子面門。踏一步。踏斷釋迦老子背脊骨。猶是隨群逐隊漢。未是本分衲僧。良久曰。無限風流慵賣弄。免教人指好郎君。上堂。絲毫有趣皆能進。畢竟無歸若可當。逐日退身行興盡。忽然得見本爺孃。作麼生是本爺孃。乃雲。萬福。便下座。示眾雲。如我按指。海印發光。拈起拄杖雲。山河大地。水鳥樹林。情與無情。今日盡向法華拄杖頭上作大師子吼。演說摩訶大般若。且道天台南嶽說箇甚麼法門。南嶽說。

'If it is the treasury of the true Dharma eye, old Sakyamuni himself had no share in it. What would he have entrusted? What would he have transmitted? Why is this so? Moreover, in each of your own portions, each of you has your own treasury of the true Dharma eye. Every day when you get up, right and wrong, south and north, all your various activities — all of it is the light and shadow of the treasury of the true Dharma eye. When this eye is open, heaven and earth, sun, moon and stars, the dense array of ten thousand images are only before you, and you do not see the least mark of a hair. When this eye is not yet open, it is all inside your eyes. Those of you whose eye is already open are not included in this. For those whose eye is not yet open, I will not spare my hand, and will open this treasury of the true Dharma eye for you to see.' Then he raised his hand, held up two fingers and said, 'Look, look. If you can see it, the matter is one family. If not, I cannot avoid speaking a verse again: "The Dharma eye treasury of you all, a thousand sages cannot match it. For you I open one thread of it; its radiance fills all of Tang. Sumeru walks into the sea; in the sixth month frost descends. Though Fahua speaks thus, no phrase can be discussed." Assembly, since I have spoken it with a full mouth, why is there no phrase to be discussed?' He gave a shout and said, 'Look at the divided body in two places.' Ascending the hall: 'Old Sakyamuni had four great vows: "Beings are boundless, I vow to save them; afflictions are endless, I vow to cut them off; Dharma gates are immeasurable, I vow to learn them; the Buddha Way is unsurpassed, I vow to accomplish it." Fahua also has four great vows: when hungry, eat; when cold, put on more clothes; when tired, stretch out the legs and sleep; when hot, love the wind blowing.' Ascending the hall: 'The ancients left behind a word or half a phrase; before you have penetrated it, it is like running into an iron wall. Suddenly one day, after you have seen through it, you know that you yourself are the iron wall. Now, how will you penetrate it?' Then he said, 'Iron wall, iron wall.' Ascending the hall: 'If you truly sweat once, then on a single blade of grass you manifest jeweled towers and jade palaces. If you do not truly sweat once, then even if you have jeweled towers and jade palaces, they are covered over by a single blade of grass. How will you get that sweat out? One naturally has a pair of poor man's hands; they have never lightly danced on the three terraces.' Ascending the hall: 'At the head of the summer retreat, the name is "restricting the feet." The meaning of restricting the feet is to advance in the Way and protect life. What life does a patch-robed monk have to protect, and what Way to advance? Spit once and you spit through old Sakyamuni's face; step once and you snap old Sakyamuni's backbone. Yet this is still one who follows the herd and goes with the crowd; he is not a patch-robed monk of the original portion.' After a long while he said, 'I am too lazy to show off the boundless elegance, lest people point and say, "What a fine young gentleman."' Ascending the hall: 'At the least hint of flavor one can advance; after all, if there is nowhere to return, how can one bear it? Day by day one retreats, and when the mood is exhausted, suddenly one sees one's true parents. What are one's true parents?' Then he said, 'Ten thousand blessings.' And he descended from the seat. Showing the assembly: 'As I press my finger, the ocean seal emits light.' He picked up his staff and said, 'The mountains, rivers and great earth, the water birds and forest trees, the sentient and the insentient — today they all give the great lion's roar on the tip of Fahua's staff and expound the great prajna. Tell me, what Dharma gate does Tiantai speak, and what does Nanyue speak? Nanyue says:'

洞上五位修行。君臣父子各得其宜。莫守寒巖異草青。坐卻白雲宗不妙。天台說。臨濟下。三玄三要四料揀。一喝分賓主。照用一時行。要會箇中意。日午打三更。廬山出來道。你兩箇正在葛藤窠裡。不見道。欲得不招無間業。莫謗如來正法輪。大眾據此三箇漢見解。若上衲僧秤子上稱。一箇重八兩。一箇重半斤。一箇不直半分錢。且道那箇不直半分錢。良久雲。但願春風齊著力。一時吹入我門來。卓拄杖。下座。熈寧五年遷化。壽四十八。

'On the five positions of practice of Dongshan, lord and minister, father and son each get their proper place: do not keep to the bluish strange grass on the cold cliff; sitting in the white clouds, the school is not wondrous.' Tiantai says: 'Under Linji, the three mysteries, the three essentials and the four alternatives; one shout divides host and guest; illumination and function proceed at once. If you would know the meaning in it, at noon strike the third watch.' Lushan came out and said: 'You two are right in the nest of vines and creepers. Have you not heard it said, "If you would not incur the karma of the uninterrupted hell, do not slander the Tathagata's wheel of the true Dharma"?' Assembly, if you take these three men's views and weigh them on a patch-robed monk's scale, one weighs eight ounces, one weighs half a catty, and one is not worth half a penny. But tell me, which one is not worth half a penny?' After a long while he said, 'Only may the spring wind put forth its strength together and blow us all in at one gate.' He planted his staff and descended from the seat. In the fifth year of Xining he passed away. He was forty-eight.

金陵保寧仁勇禪師

Chan Master Renyong of Baoning in Jinling

四明竺氏子。容止淵秀。齠為大僧。通天台教。更衣謁雪竇明覺禪師。覺意其可任大法。誚之曰。央庠座主。師憤悱下山。望雪竇拜曰。我此生行腳參禪。道不過雪竇。誓不歸鄉。即往泐潭。踰紀疑情未泮。聞楊岐移雲蓋。能鈴鍵學者。直造其室。一語未及。頓明心印。岐歿。從同參白雲端禪師遊。研極玄奧。後出世兩住保寧而終。僧問。如何是佛。師曰。近火先焦。曰。如何是道。師曰。泥裡有刺。曰。如何是道中人。師曰。切忌踏著。問。先德道。寒風凋敗葉。猶喜故人歸。未審誰是故人。師曰。楊岐和尚遷化久矣。曰。正當恁麼時。更有甚麼人為知音。師曰。無眼村翁暗點頭。問。如何是佛。師曰。自屎不覺臭。問。如何是保寧境。師曰。主山頭倒卓。曰。如何是境中人。師曰。鼻孔無半邊。問。如何是塵中自在底人。師曰。因行不妨掉臂。問。如何是佛。師曰。鐵鎚無孔。曰。如何是佛法大意。師曰。鑊湯無冷處。問。靈山指月。曹谿話月。未審保寧門下如何。師曰。嗄。曰。有華當面貼。師便喝。問。摘葉尋枝即不問。如何是直截根源。師曰。蚊子上鐵牛。曰。直截根源人已曉。中下之流如何指示。師曰。石人脊背汗通流。上堂。山僧二十餘年。挑囊負缽。向寰海之內。參善知識十數餘人。自家並無箇見處。有若頑石相似。參底尊宿。亦無長處可相利益。自此一生。作箇百無所解底人。幸自可憐生。忽然被業風吹到江寧府。無端被人上當。推向十字路頭。住箇破院。作粥飯主人。接待南北。事不獲已。隨分有鹽有醋。粥足飯足。且恁過時。若是佛法。不曾夢見。上堂。侍者燒香罷。師指侍者曰。侍者已為諸人說法了也。上堂。看看。山僧入拔舌地獄去也。以手拽舌雲。阿㖿阿㖿。上堂。相罵無好言。相打無好拳。大眾。直須恁麼。始得一句句切害。一拳拳著實。忽然打著箇無面目漢。

He was a son of the Zhu family of Siming. His bearing was deep and refined. As a child he became a full monk and mastered the Tiantai teaching. He changed his robes and called on Chan Master Mingjue of Xuedou. Jue thought he could bear the great Dharma, and teased him, saying, 'A lop-sided lecturer.' The Master left the mountain in vexation, bowed toward Xuedou and said, 'In this life, as I wander and study Chan, if my Way does not surpass Xuedou's, I swear never to return home.' He went at once to Letan. Over more than twelve years his doubt was not cleared. Hearing that Yangqi had moved to Yungai and could lock up students, he went straight to his room. Before a single word was finished he suddenly understood the mind seal. After Qi passed away he wandered with his fellow student Chan Master Duan of Baiyun and investigated the depths of the mystery. Later he came forth into the world and twice resided at Baoning before his end. A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'What comes near the fire is scorched first.' He said, 'What is the Way?' The Master said, 'There are thorns in the mud.' He said, 'What is the man in the Way?' The Master said, 'Above all do not step on them.' A monk asked, 'A former worthy said, "The cold wind withers the fallen leaves, yet I am glad the old friends return." May I ask who the old friend is?' The Master said, 'The venerable Yangqi passed away long ago.' He said, 'At just such a time, who else is a kindred spirit?' The Master said, 'The eyeless village elder nods in the dark.' A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'One does not smell one's own dung.' A monk asked, 'What is the realm of Baoning?' The Master said, 'The mountain's head stands upside down.' He said, 'What is the man in the realm?' The Master said, 'His nostrils have no half.' A monk asked, 'What is the man who is at ease in the dust?' The Master said, 'Going along, one may as well swing the arms.' A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'An iron hammer without a hole.' He said, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'In the cauldron of boiling water there is no cold spot.' A monk asked, 'At Vulture Peak they pointed at the moon; at Caoxi they talked of the moon. May I ask what it is under the gate of Baoning?' The Master said, 'Ah.' He said, 'A flower is pasted on the face.' The Master at once shouted. A monk asked, 'I do not ask about plucking leaves and seeking branches; what is the direct root?' The Master said, 'A mosquito climbs an iron ox.' He said, 'The direct root is already understood by men; how do you instruct those of middle and lower capacity?' The Master said, 'A stone man's back streams with sweat.' Ascending the hall: 'For more than twenty years I have carried my bag and shouldered my bowl, and within the four seas I have consulted more than ten good teachers. In myself I have no view at all; I am like a stubborn stone. The venerable masters I consulted also had no strong point to benefit me. From then on, all my life I have been a man who understands nothing. I had thought myself quite pitiable. Suddenly the wind of karma blew me to Jiangning Prefecture, and for no reason people took me in and pushed me to the crossroads to dwell in a broken monastery and be the master of gruel and rice, receiving north and south. Since matters could not be otherwise, I have followed my portion with salt and vinegar, enough gruel and enough rice, and passed the time like this. As for the Buddha Dharma, I have never even dreamed of it.' Ascending the hall: when the attendant had finished burning incense, the Master pointed at the attendant and said, 'The attendant has already expounded the Dharma for you all.' Ascending the hall: 'Look, look — I am entering the tongue-pulling hell.' He pulled his tongue with his hand and said, 'Ah ya, ah ya.' Ascending the hall: 'In a quarrel there are no good words; in a fight there are no good fists. Assembly, it must be just so for every phrase to cut home and every fist to land solidly. And if by chance you strike a man with no face —'

也不妨暢快殺人。上堂。滿口是舌。都不能說。碧眼胡僧。當門齒缺。上堂。秋風涼。松韻長。未歸客。思故鄉。且道誰是未歸客。何處是故鄉。良久曰。長連床上。有粥有飯。上堂。天上無彌勒。地下無彌勒打破太虗空。如何尋不得。垂下一足曰。大眾向甚麼處去也。上堂。若說佛法供養大眾。未免眉鬚墮落。若說世法供養大眾。入地獄如箭射。去此二途。且道保寧今日當說甚麼。三寸舌頭無用處。一雙空手不成拳。上堂。古人底今人用。今人底古人為。古今無背面。今古幾人知。㖿鳴咿。一九與二九。相逢不出手。上堂。有手腳。無背面。明眼人。看不見。天左旋。地右轉。拍膝曰。西風一陣來。落葉兩三片。上堂。風鳴條。雨破塊。曉來枕上鶯聲碎。蝦䗫蚯蚓一時鳴。妙德空生都不會。都不會。三箇成群。四箇作隊。窈窈窕窕。飃飄颻颻。向南北東西。折得棃華李華。一佩兩佩。上堂。智不到處。切忌道著。道著則頭角生。大眾頭角生了也。是牛是馬。上堂。無漏真淨。云何是中更容他物。喝一喝。曰。好人不肯做。須要屎裡臥。上堂。夜靜月明。水清魚現。金鉤一擲。何處尋蹤。提起拄杖曰。歷細歷細。示眾雲。有箇漢。怪復醜。眼直鼻藍鑱。面南看北斗。解使日午金烏啼。夜半鐵牛吼。天地旋。山河走。羽族毛群。失其所守。直得文殊普賢出此沒彼。七縱八橫。千生萬受。驀然逢著箇黃面瞿曇。不惜眉毛。再三與伊摩頂授記。雲善哉善哉。大作佛事。希有希有。於是乎自家懡懡㦬㦬。慞慞惶惶。藏頭縮手。召雲。大眾。此話大行。何必更待三十年後。示眾雲。大方無外。大圓無內。無內無外。聖凡普會。瓦礫生光。須彌粉碎。無量法門。百千三昧。拈起拄杖雲。總在這裡。會麼。蘇嚕蘇嚕。㗭哩㗭哩娑訶。示眾雲。釋迦老子四十九年說法。不曾道著一字。優波毱多丈室盈籌。不曾度得一人。

'— that is no hindrance to killing a man with delight.' Ascending the hall: 'The whole mouth is tongue, yet it cannot speak at all. The blue-eyed barbarian monk is missing his front teeth.' Ascending the hall: 'The autumn wind is cool; the pine's music is long. The guest who has not returned thinks of his old home. But tell me, who is the guest who has not returned, and where is the old home?' After a long while he said, 'On the long platform bed there is gruel and there is rice.' Ascending the hall: 'In heaven there is no Maitreya; on earth there is no Maitreya. Smashing open the great empty space, how is it that he cannot be found?' He let down one foot and said, 'Assembly, where has he gone?' Ascending the hall: 'If I speak the Buddha Dharma to make offerings to the assembly, I cannot avoid my eyebrows and beard falling out. If I speak worldly dharma to make offerings to the assembly, I enter hell swift as an arrow. Apart from these two roads, tell me, what should Baoning speak today? A three-inch tongue has no use; a pair of empty hands cannot make a fist.' Ascending the hall: 'What the ancients had, the men of today use; what the men of today have, the ancients made. Past and present have no front or back; how many today and anciently know it? Ya ming yi! One nine and two nines — meeting, they do not put out a hand.' Ascending the hall: 'There are hands and feet, but no front or back; a clear-eyed man does not see it. Heaven revolves left; earth turns right.' He slapped his knee and said, 'A gust of west wind comes, and two or three fallen leaves.' Ascending the hall: 'The wind sings in the branches; the rain breaks the clods. At dawn the oriole's voice is shattered on the pillow. Toads and earthworms all sing at once. Wondrous Virtue and the Empty-Born do not understand at all. They do not understand at all — three banding together, four making a file, graceful and slender, fluttering and floating, to north and south, east and west, plucking pear blossoms and plum blossoms, one to wear and two to wear.' Ascending the hall: 'Where wisdom does not reach, above all do not speak of it; if you speak of it, horns and head grow. Assembly, horns and head have grown — is it an ox or a horse?' Ascending the hall: 'Without outflows, truly pure — how can anything else be tolerated in the midst of it?' He gave a shout and said, 'A good man will not do it; he must lie down in the dung.' Ascending the hall: 'The night is still and the moon bright; the water clear and the fish appear. One cast of the golden hook — where will you seek its trace?' He picked up his staff and said, 'Carefully, carefully.' Showing the assembly: 'There is a fellow, grotesque and ugly, with straight eyes and a blue nose and a pointed face, facing south and looking at the North Star. He can make the golden crow cry at noon and the iron ox bellow at midnight. Heaven and earth spin, mountains and rivers run. The feathered tribes and the furry herds lose their places. It reaches the point where Manjushri and Samantabhadra come forth here and vanish there, seven vertical and eight horizontal, a thousand births and ten thousand sufferings. Suddenly he meets a yellow-faced Gautama, who does not spare his eyebrows and again and again rubs his crown and gives him a prediction, saying, "Excellent, excellent! You will do great Buddha-work. Rare, rare!" Thereupon he himself is abashed and confused, frightened and flustered, hiding his head and drawing in his hands. He called out, "Assembly! This talk will spread widely — why wait another thirty years?"' Showing the assembly: 'The great square has no outside; the great circle has no inside. Without inside or outside, sage and ordinary meet universally. Tiles and pebbles emit light; Sumeru is pulverized. Measureless Dharma gates, a hundred thousand samadhis.' He picked up his staff and said, 'All are right here. Do you understand? Su lu su lu, chi li chi li svaha.' Showing the assembly: 'Old Sakyamuni taught the Dharma for forty-nine years and never spoke a single character. Upagupta's room was full of counting rods, and he never saved a single person.'

達磨不居少室。六祖不住曹谿。誰是後昆。誰為先覺。既然如是。彼自無瘡。勿傷之也。拍膝。顧眾雲。且喜得天下太平。示眾雲。真相無形。示形現相。千怪萬狀。自此而彰。喜則滿面光生。怒則雙眉陡竪。非凡非聖。或是或非。人不可量。天莫能測。直下搆得。未稱丈夫。喚不回頭。且莫錯怪。

'Bodhidharma did not dwell at Shaoshi; the Sixth Ancestor did not dwell at Caoxi. Who are the later descendants, who the earlier awakened? Since it is so, they themselves have no wound; do not injure them.' He slapped his knee, looked at the assembly and said, 'I am glad to have obtained the great peace under heaven.' Showing the assembly: 'The true mark has no form; showing form it manifests marks. A thousand grotesqueries and ten thousand shapes are made plain from this. When pleased, the whole face gives forth light; when angry, both eyebrows suddenly stand up. It is neither ordinary nor sage; it may be so or not. Men cannot measure it; heaven cannot fathom it. To seize it directly is still not to be called a great man. If you cannot be called back, do not mistake it.'

潭州石霜守孫禪師

Chan Master Shousun of Shishuang in Tanzhou

僧問。生也不道。死也不道。為甚麼不道。師曰。一言已出。曰。從東過西。又作麼生。師曰。駟馬難追。曰。學人總不與麼。師曰。易開終始口。難保歲寒心。

A monk asked, 'Birth is not spoken of, and death is not spoken of — why are they not spoken of?' The Master said, 'One word has already gone forth.' He said, 'From east passing to west — what then?' The Master said, 'A team of four horses cannot overtake it.' He said, 'The student never does that.' The Master said, 'Easy to open the mouth at the beginning and end; hard to keep a heart constant through the cold season.'

比部孫居士

The layman Sun, Vice Director

因楊岐會禪師來謁。值視斷次。公曰。某為王事所牽。何由免離。岐指曰。委悉得麼。公曰。望師點破。岐曰。此是比部弘願深廣。利濟群生。公曰。未審如何。岐示以偈曰。應現宰官身。廣弘悲願深。為人重指處。棒下血淋淋。公於此有省。

Because Chan Master Hui of Yangqi came to call on him, when he was in the midst of judging a case, the lord said, 'I am dragged about by official business — how can I escape?' Qi pointed and said, 'Do you understand?' The lord said, 'I beg the Master to point it out.' Qi said, 'This is the vice director's vow, deep and vast, to benefit and save living beings.' The lord said, 'I do not understand how.' Qi showed him a verse: 'He manifests the body of a magistrate and broadly spreads his deep compassionate vow. Where he points again for men, under the staff the blood drips.' The lord had an awakening here.

南嶽下十三世

Thirteenth Generation below Nanyue

白雲端禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Duan of Baiyun

蘄州五祖法演禪師

Chan Master Fayan of the Fifth Patriarch's place in Qizhou

綿州鄧氏子。三十五始棄家。祝髮受具。往成都。習唯識．百法論。因聞菩薩入見道時。智與理冥。境與神會。不分能證所證。西天外道甞難比丘曰。既不分能證所證。卻以何為證。無能對者。外道貶之。令不鳴鐘皷。反披袈裟。三藏奘法師至彼。救此義曰。如人飲水。冷暖自知。乃通其難。師曰。冷暖則可知矣。作麼生是自知底事。遂質本講曰。不知自知之理如何。講莫疏其問。但誘曰。汝欲明此。當往南方。扣傳佛心宗者。師即負笈出關。所見尊宿。無不以此諮決所疑。終不破。洎謁圓照本禪師。古今因緣會盡。唯不會。僧問興化。四方八面來時如何。化雲。打中間底。僧作禮。化雲。我昨日赴箇村齋。中途遇一陣卒風暴雨。卻向古廟裡避得過。請益本。本雲。此是臨濟下因緣。須是問他家兒孫始得。師遂謁浮山遠禪師。請益前話。遠雲。我有箇譬喻。說似你。你一似箇三家村裡賣柴漢子。把箇匾擔向十字街頭。立地問人。中書堂今日商量甚麼事。師默計雲。若如此大故未在。遠一日語師曰。吾老矣。恐虗度子光陰。可往依白雲。此老雖後生。吾未識面。但見其頌臨濟三頓棒話。有過人處。必能了子大事。師潸然禮辭。至白雲。遂舉僧問南泉摩尼珠話。請問。雲叱之。師領悟。獻投機偈曰。山前一片閑田地。叉手叮嚀問祖翁。幾度賣來還自買。為憐松竹引清風。雲特印可。令掌磨事。未幾。雲至。語師曰。有數禪客自廬山來。皆有悟入處。教伊說。亦說得有來由。舉因緣。問伊亦明得。教伊下語亦下得。祇是未在。師於是大疑。私自計曰。既悟了。說亦說得。明亦明得。如何卻未在。遂參究累日。忽然省悟。從前寶惜。一時放下。走見白雲。雲為手舞足蹈。師亦一笑而已。師後曰。吾因茲出一身白汗。便明得下載清清風。一日示眾曰。古人道。如鏡鑄像。像成後鏡在甚麼處。眾下語不契。舉以問師。

He was a son of the Deng family of Mianzhou. At thirty-five he finally abandoned his household, shaved his head, and received full ordination. He went to Chengdu and studied the Consciousness-Only and Hundred Dharmas treatises. There he heard that when a bodhisattva enters the path of seeing, wisdom and principle are merged, object and spirit meet, and one does not distinguish the attainer from the attained. Once a non-Buddhist of the Western Heaven pressed a monk, saying: 'Since you do not distinguish the attainer from the attained, what then serves as the proof?' The monk could not answer. The non-Buddhist disgraced him, forbidding the sounding of bells and drums and making him wear his robe reversed. When the Tripitaka Master Xuanzang arrived there, he rescued this meaning, saying: 'It is like a man drinking water, knowing for himself whether it is cold or warm.' Thus he resolved the difficulty. The master said: 'Cold and warmth can be known. But what is the matter of knowing for oneself?' He then pressed his own lecturer, saying: 'I do not know what the principle of knowing for oneself is.' The lecturer could not clarify his question, but only coaxed him, saying: 'If you want to understand this, you should go south and question one who transmits the Buddha-mind school.' The master at once shouldered his book box and left the pass. Of the venerable worthies he met, he consulted every one of them on this doubt, but none could break it open. When he paid homage to Chan Master Yuanzhao Ben, he understood all the ancient and modern cases except this one. There was a monk who asked Xinghua: 'What about when it comes from the four quarters and eight directions?' Hua said: 'Strike the one in the middle.' The monk bowed. Hua said: 'Yesterday I went to a village feast, and on the way met a burst of sudden wind and rain, so I took shelter in an old shrine.' He asked Ben for instruction. Ben said: 'This is a case from under Linji; you must ask his own sons and grandsons.' The master then paid homage to Chan Master Yuan of Fushan and asked for instruction on the earlier words. Yuan said: 'I have a simile to tell you. You are just like a firewood-selling fellow from a three-house village who stands at a crossroads with his carrying pole and asks people: what business is being discussed today in the Secretariat Hall?' The master silently reckoned: 'If that is all, I have not got it at all.' One day Yuan said to the master: 'I am old, and I fear I shall waste your time in vain. You should go and rely on Baiyun. Though this old man is young and I have not met him face to face, when I saw his verse on Linji's three blows I saw something surpassing others in it. He will surely settle your great matter.' The master wept, bowed, and took his leave. When he reached Baiyun, he brought up the monk's question to Nanquan about the mani pearl and asked for instruction. Yun shouted at him. The master was awakened and offered a verse of accord: 'Before the mountain lies a stretch of idle field; with folded hands I earnestly asked the ancestral old man. Several times it was sold and I bought it back myself, only pitying the pines and bamboo that draw the clear breeze.' Yun expressly certified him and put him in charge of the mill. Before long Yun came and said to the master: 'Several Chan guests have come from Mount Lu; all of them have a place of entry. When you tell them to speak, they can speak with reasons. When you raise a case and ask them, they understand it too. When you tell them to produce a phrase, they can produce one too. Only they are not there yet.' At this the master was greatly doubtful. He thought to himself: 'Since they are awakened, they can speak it and understand it — why then are they not there yet?' He investigated for several days, and suddenly was enlightened. What he had treasured before, he let go of all at once. He ran to see Baiyun. Yun danced for joy. The master only laughed. The master later said: 'Because of this I broke into a cold sweat all over, and then understood the clear breeze below the ferry.' One day he addressed the assembly: 'The ancients said: it is like casting an image in a mirror — after the image is formed, where is the mirror?' The assembly's phrases did not match. They brought this up and asked the master.

師近前問訊曰。也不較多。雲笑曰。須是道者始得。乃命分座。開示方來。初住四面。遷白雲。晚居東山。僧問。𢹂笻領眾。祖令當行。坐斷要津。師意如何。師曰。秋風吹渭水。落葉滿長安。曰。四面無門山嶽秀。今朝且得主人歸。師曰。你道路頭在甚麼處。曰。為甚麼對面不相識。師曰。且喜到來。問。祖意教意。是同是別。師曰。人貧智短。馬瘦毛長。問。如何是白雲為人親切處。師曰。棙轉鼻孔。曰。便恁麼去時如何。師曰。不知痛癢。漢問。達磨面壁。意旨如何。師曰。計較未成。曰。二祖立雪時如何。師曰。將錯就錯。曰。祇如斷臂安心。又作麼生。師曰。煬帝開汴河。問。百尺竿頭。如何進步。師曰。快走始得。問。如何是臨濟下事。師曰。五逆聞雷。曰。如何是雲門下事。師曰。紅旗閃爍。曰。如何是曹洞下事。師曰。馳書不到家。曰。如何是溈仰下事。師曰。斷碑橫古路。僧禮拜。師曰。何不問法眼下事。曰。留與和尚。師曰。巡人犯夜。問。如何是白雲一滴水。師曰。打碓打磨。曰。飲者如何。師曰。教你無著面處。問。天下人舌頭。盡被白雲坐斷。白雲舌頭。甚麼人坐斷。師曰。東村王大翁。師乃曰。適來思量得一則因緣。而今早忘了也。卻是拄杖子記得。乃拈拄杖曰。拄杖子也忘了。遂卓一下。曰。同坑無異土。咄。上堂。幸然無一事。行腳要參禪。卻被禪相惱。不透祖師關。如何是祖師關。把火入牛欄。上堂。恁麼恁麼。鰕跳不出鬥。不恁麼不恁麼。弄巧成拙。輭似鐵。硬如泥。金剛眼睛十二兩。衲僧手裡秤頭低。有價數。沒商量。無鼻孔底將甚麼聞香。上堂。難難幾何般。易易沒巴鼻。好好催人老。默默從此得。過這四重關了。泗州人見大聖。參。上堂。若要七縱八橫。見老和尚打皷陞堂。七十三。八十四。將拄杖驀曰便築。然雖如是。拈卻門前下馬臺。剪卻五色索。

The master came forward, greeted him, and said: 'That is not much more either.' Yun laughed and said: 'It must be you, man of the Way, and no one else.' He then had him share the seat and instruct those who came. He first resided at Simian, moved to Baiyun, and in later years lived at Dongshan. A monk asked: 'Carrying your staff and leading the assembly, the ancestral command should be carried out; sitting and cutting off the vital ford — what is the master's meaning?' The master said: 'The autumn wind blows on the Wei River; fallen leaves fill Chang'an.' [The monk] said: 'Simian has no gate and its mountains are fair; today the master has at last come home.' The master said: 'Where do you say the road's head is?' [The monk] said: 'Why do you not recognize me face to face?' The master said: 'I am glad you have come.' [A monk] asked: 'Are the patriarch's meaning and the teaching's meaning the same or different?' The master said: 'When a man is poor his wits are short; when a horse is lean its hair is long.' [A monk] asked: 'What is Baiyun's intimate place in dealing with people?' The master said: 'Turning the nostril around.' [The monk] said: 'What about going off just like that?' The master said: 'He does not know ache or itch.' A monk asked: 'What was the meaning of Bodhidharma facing the wall?' The master said: 'The reckoning was not yet done.' [The monk] said: 'What about when the Second Patriarch stood in the snow?' The master said: 'Compounding one mistake with another.' [The monk] said: 'What about cutting off the arm and pacifying the mind?' The master said: 'Emperor Yang opened the Bian Canal.' [A monk] asked: 'At the top of a hundred-foot pole, how does one step forward?' The master said: 'You must walk fast.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the matter under Linji?' The master said: 'The five heinous crimes meet thunder.' [The monk] said: 'What is the matter under Yunmen?' The master said: 'Red banners flashing.' [The monk] said: 'What is the matter under Caodong?' The master said: 'The urgent letter does not reach home.' [The monk] said: 'What is the matter under Weiyang?' The master said: 'A broken stele across the ancient road.' The monk bowed. The master said: 'Why do you not ask about the matter under Fayan?' [The monk] said: 'I leave that to the master.' The master said: 'A patrolman breaking the night curfew.' [A monk] asked: 'What is Baiyun's single drop of water?' The master said: 'Pounding in the mortar and grinding at the mill.' [The monk] said: 'What about the one who drinks it?' The master said: 'It leaves you with no place to put your face.' [A monk] asked: 'The tongues of all the people under heaven have been sat to pieces by Baiyun. Baiyun's own tongue — who sits it to pieces?' The master said: 'Old man Wang of the eastern village.' The master then said: 'Just now I thought of a case, and now I have already forgotten it. But my staff remembers it.' He then picked up his staff and said: 'The staff has forgotten it too.' He then planted it once and said: 'In the same pit there is no different earth. Bah.' He ascended the hall: 'Luckily there is not a single thing; on pilgrimage one seeks to study Chan. Yet one is vexed by the marks of Chan and does not pass through the patriarch's gate. What is the patriarch's gate? Carrying fire into the ox pen.' He ascended the hall: 'Thus, thus — a shrimp cannot jump out of a peck measure. Not thus, not thus — cleverness turns to clumsiness. Soft as iron, hard as mud. The diamond eye weighs twelve ounces; in the patch-robed monk's hand the scale's beam hangs low. It has a price, it has no room for deliberation; one without nostrils — with what does he smell fragrance?' He ascended the hall: 'Hard, hard — how many kinds? Easy, easy — no handle to grasp. Good, good — hurries a man to old age. Silent, silent — from this one attains. Having passed these four barriers, the man of Sizhou sees the Great Sage. Call!' He ascended the hall: 'If you want to be free in the seven directions and eight, see the old master beat the drum and ascend the hall. Seventy-three, eighty-four — with the staff just plant it and strike. Yet even so, take away the mounting platform before the gate, cut away the five-coloured rope.'

方始得安樂。僧問。承師有言。山前一片閑田地。祇如威音王已前。未審甚麼人為主。師曰。問取寫契書人。曰。和尚為甚倩人來答。師曰。祇為你教別人問。曰。與和尚平出去也。師曰。大遠在。問。如何是佛。師曰。口是禍門。又曰。肥從口入。問。一代時教是箇切腳。未審切那箇字。師曰。缽囉娘。曰。學人祇問一字。為甚麼卻答許多。師曰。七字八字。問。如何是和尚家風。師曰。鐵旗鐵皷。曰。祗有這箇。為復別有。師曰。採石渡頭看。曰。忽遇客來。將何祇待。師曰。龍肝鳳髓。且待別時。曰。客是主。人相師。師曰。謝供養。問。如何是先照後用。師曰。王言如絲。曰。如何是先用後照。師曰。其出如綸。曰。如何是照用同時。師曰。舉起軒轅鑑。蚩尤頓失威。曰。如何是照用不同時。師曰。金將火試。問。佛未出世時如何。師曰。大憨不如小憨。曰。出世後如何。師曰。小憨不如大憨。問。牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。頭上戴纍垂。曰。見後如何。師曰。青布遮前。曰。未見時為甚麼百鳥銜華獻。師曰。富與貴是人之所欲。曰。見後為甚麼不銜華獻。師曰。貧與賤是人之所惡。問。如何是佛。師曰。露𮌎跣足。曰。如何是法。師曰。大赦不放。曰。如何是僧。師曰。釣魚船上謝三郎。問。四面無門山嶽秀。箇中時節若為分。曰。東君知子細。徧地發萌芽。曰。春去秋來。事宛然也。師曰。才方搓彈子。便要揑金剛。上堂。古人道。我若向你道。即禿卻我舌。若不向你道。即瘂卻我口。且道還有為人處也無。四面有時擬為你吞卻。祇被當門齒礙。擬為你吐卻。又為咽喉小。且道還有為人處也無。乃曰。四面自來柳下惠。上堂。結夏無可供養。作一家燕。管顧諸人。遂擡手曰。囉邏招。囉邏搖。囉邏送。莫怪空疎。伏惟珍重。上堂。白雲不會說禪。三門開向兩邊。有人動著關捩。

'Only then will you have peace and ease.' A monk asked: 'I have heard the master say, 'Before the mountain lies a stretch of idle field.' But before King Weiyin, I wonder who was its owner?' The master said: 'Ask the man who wrote the deed.' [The monk] said: 'Why does the master have someone else answer?' The master said: 'Only because you had someone else ask.' [The monk] said: 'I will come out even with the master.' The master said: 'Very far from it.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the Buddha?' The master said: 'The mouth is the gate of calamity.' He also said: 'Fat enters by the mouth.' [A monk] asked: 'The whole teaching of one age is a phonetic splice — what character does it splice?' The master said: 'Bo-la-niang.' [The monk] said: 'The student asks about only one character — why answer so many?' The master said: 'Seven characters, eight characters.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the master's family style?' The master said: 'Iron banner, iron drum.' [The monk] said: 'Is there only this, or is there something else besides?' The master said: 'Look at the Caishi ferry landing.' [The monk] said: 'If a guest suddenly arrives, with what will you receive him?' The master said: 'Dragon liver and phoenix marrow — wait for another time.' [The monk] said: 'The guest is the host, and a man takes his master as teacher.' The master said: 'Thank you for the offering.' [A monk] asked: 'What is illuminating first and using afterward?' The master said: 'The king's words are like silk thread.' [The monk] said: 'What is using first and illuminating afterward?' The master said: 'What comes out is like a cord.' [The monk] said: 'What is illuminating and using at the same time?' The master said: 'Raise the Xuanyuan mirror, and Chiyou at once loses his might.' [The monk] said: 'What is illuminating and using at different times?' The master said: 'Gold is tested by fire.' [A monk] asked: 'What about before the Buddha appeared in the world?' The master said: 'The greatly foolish is not as good as the slightly foolish.' [The monk] said: 'And after he appeared?' The master said: 'The slightly foolish is not as good as the greatly foolish.' [A monk] asked: 'What about before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch?' The master said: 'Wearing a heavy weight on the head.' [The monk] said: 'And after meeting him?' The master said: 'A blue cloth covers the front.' [The monk] said: 'Why did a hundred birds carry flowers as offerings before he met him?' The master said: 'Wealth and honour are what men desire.' [The monk] said: 'Why did they not carry flowers after he met him?' The master said: 'Poverty and meanness are what men hate.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the Buddha?' The master said: 'Bare chest and bare feet.' [The monk] said: 'What is the dharma?' The master said: 'A great amnesty that is not granted.' [The monk] said: 'What is the Sangha?' The master said: 'Third Brother Xie on the fishing boat.' [A monk] asked: 'Simian has no gate and its mountains are fair — how is the season within it to be divided?' [The master] said: 'The Lord of the East knows the details, and sprouts come up everywhere.' [The monk] said: 'Spring goes and autumn comes, and the matter is just as it is.' The master said: 'You have only just rolled a pellet, and already you want to knead a diamond.' He ascended the hall: 'The ancients said: if I speak it to you, my tongue will rot away; if I do not speak it to you, my mouth will be struck dumb. Tell me, is there still a way of dealing with people or not? Simian sometimes means to swallow it for you, but is blocked by the front teeth. He means to spit it out for you, but his throat is too small. Tell me, is there still a way of dealing with people or not?' He then said: 'Simian has always been a Liuxiahui.' He ascended the hall: 'At the summer retreat I have nothing to offer, so I will make a family banquet and entertain you all.' He then raised his hand and said: 'Lo-lo, invite them. Lo-lo, shake them. Lo-lo, send them off. Do not blame the emptiness and scantiness. I respectfully wish you all take care.'

兩片東扇西扇。上堂。一向恁麼去。路絕人稀。一向恁麼來。孤負先聖。去此二途。祖佛不能近。設使與白雲同生同死。亦未稱平生。何也。鳳凰不是凡間物。不得梧桐誓不棲。上堂。千峰列翠。岸柳垂金。樵父謳歌。漁人鼓舞。笙簧聒地。鳥語呢喃。紅粉佳人。風流公子。一一為汝諸人發上上機。開正法眼。若向這裡薦得。金色頭陀無容身處。若也不會。吃粥吃飯。許你七穿八穴。上堂。此箇物。上拄天。下拄地。皖口作眼。皖山作鼻。太平退身三步。放你諸人出氣。上堂。狗子還有佛性也無。也勝貓兒十萬倍。上堂。太平淈𣸩漢。事事盡經徧。如是三十年。也有人讚歎。且道讚歎箇甚麼。好箇淈𣸩漢。上堂。汝等諸人。見老和尚鼓動唇吻。竪起拂子。便作勝解。及乎山禽聚集。牛動尾巴。卻將作等閑。殊不知簷聲不斷前旬雨。電影還連後夜雷。謝監收。上堂。人之性命事。第一須是○。欲得成此○。先須防於○。若是真○人○。○上堂。有佛處不得住。換卻你心肝五臟。無佛處急走過。鴈過留聲。三千里外逢人。不得錯舉。出門便錯。恁麼則不去也。種粟卻生豆。摘楊華。摘楊華。不覺日又夜。爭教人少年。上堂。悟了同未悟。歸家尋舊路。一字是一字。一句是一句。自小不脫空。兩歲學移步。湛水生蓮華。一年生一度。僧問。如何是奪人不奪境。師曰。秋風吹渭水。落葉滿長安。曰。如何是奪境不奪人。師曰。路上逢人半是僧。曰。如何是人境兩俱奪。師曰。高空有月千門照。大道無人獨自行。曰。如何是人境俱不奪。師曰。少婦棹孤舟。歌聲逐水流。小參。舉。德山雲。今夜不答話。問話者三十棒。眾中舉者甚多。會者不少。且道向甚處見德山。有不顧性命者。試出來道看。若無。山僧為大眾與德山老人相見去也。待德山道。今夜不答話。問話者三十棒。但向伊道。某甲話也不問。棒也不吃。

'Two pieces, one fanning east and one fanning west.' He ascended the hall: 'If you always go off like that, the road is cut off and men are few. If you always come like that, you fail the ancient sages. Apart from these two roads, patriarchs and Buddhas cannot come near. Even if you were born and died together with Baiyun, it would still not be reckoned a life. Why? The phoenix is not a thing of the mortal world; until it finds the wutong tree it swears not to perch.' He ascended the hall: 'A thousand peaks array their green; the willows on the bank trail gold. Woodcutters sing, fishermen dance. Pipes and reeds clamour over the earth; birds twitter. Painted beauties and elegant young gentlemen — each and every one sets forth for you the highest device and opens the eye of the true dharma. If you can recognize it here, the golden-complexioned one has no place to stand. If you cannot, then eat your gruel and rice — and I will grant you seven holes and eight openings.' He ascended the hall: 'This thing props up heaven above and props up earth below. Wankou for eyes, Mount Wan for a nose. Taiping steps back three paces and lets you all have room to breathe.' He ascended the hall: 'Does the dog have Buddha-nature? It is better than a cat by a hundred thousand times.' He ascended the hall: 'The muddling fellow of Taiping has been through everything. Thirty years like this, and there are those who praise him. Tell me, what do they praise? A fine muddling fellow.' He ascended the hall: 'You people, when you see the old master move his lips and raise his whisk, make a superior understanding of it. But when the mountain birds gather and the ox flicks its tail, you take it as ordinary. You do not realize that the eaves' dripping is the rain of ten days ago, and the lightning still links to the thunder of the night before.' Thanking the harvest overseer, he ascended the hall: 'In the matter of a man's life and nature, the first thing needed is a circle. If you want to complete this circle, you must first guard against the circle. If you are a true circle-man, circle.' He ascended the hall: 'Where there is a Buddha, do not stay — it will change your heart, liver, and five viscera. Where there is no Buddha, pass by quickly — a wild goose passing leaves its cry. Meeting a man three thousand li away, do not report it wrongly. Going out the door is already wrong. In that case, do not go. Sowing millet you get beans instead. Picking the willow flowers, picking the willow flowers, before you know it the day has turned to night. How can one keep a man young?' He ascended the hall: 'Awakened is the same as not awakened; returning home, one seeks the old road. One character is one character, one phrase is one phrase. From childhood one never fails in earnest; at two years old one learns to shift one's steps. In the clear water a lotus grows, once a year.' A monk asked: 'What is snatching the man but not the surroundings?' The master said: 'The autumn wind blows on the Wei River; fallen leaves fill Chang'an.' [The monk] said: 'What is snatching the surroundings but not the man?' The master said: 'Half the people met on the road are monks.' [The monk] said: 'What is snatching both man and surroundings together?' The master said: 'In the high sky the moon shines on a thousand gates; on the great road a man walks alone.' [The monk] said: 'What is snatching neither man nor surroundings?' The master said: 'A young wife rows a lone boat; her song follows the flowing water.' At a minor gathering he brought up: Deshan said, 'Tonight I will not answer questions; whoever asks a question gets thirty blows.' Many in the assembly bring this up, and not a few understand it. Tell me, where do you see Deshan? If there is anyone who disregards his life, try coming out and speaking. If there is no one, this mountain monk will go and meet old man Deshan on behalf of the assembly. When Deshan says, 'Tonight I will not answer questions; whoever asks a question gets thirty blows,' I will simply say to him: I will not ask a question, and I will not eat a blow either.

你道還契他德山老人麼。到這裡。須是箇漢始得。況某甲十有餘年。海上參尋。見數人尊宿。自為了當。及到浮山會裡。直是開口不得。後到白雲門下。齩破一箇鐵酸豏。直得百味具足。且道豏子一句作麼生道。乃曰。華發鷄冠媚早秋。誰人能染紫絲頭。有時風動頻相倚。似向堦前鬪不休。上堂。山僧昨日入城。見一棚傀儡。不免近前看。或見端嚴奇特。或見醜陋不堪。動轉行坐。青黃赤白。一一見了。子細看時。元來青布幔裡有人。山僧忍俊不禁。乃問。長史高姓。他道。老和尚看便了。問甚麼姓。大眾。山僧被他一問。直得無言可對。無理可伸。還有人為山僧道得麼。昨日那裡落節。今日這裡拔本。上堂。說佛說法。拈槌竪拂。白雲萬裡。德山入門便棒。臨濟入門便喝。白雲萬裡。然後恁麼也不得。不恁麼也不得。恁麼不恁麼。總不得。也則白雲萬裡。忽有箇漢出來道。長老你恁麼道。也則白雲萬裡。這箇說話。喚作矮子看戲。隨人上下。三十年後。一場好笑。且道笑箇甚麼。笑白雲萬裡。示眾雲。祖師道。吾本來茲土。傳法救迷情。一華開五葉。結果自然成。達磨大師信腳來。信口道。後代兒孫。多成計較。要會開華結果處麼。鄭州棃。青州棗。萬物無過出處好。示眾雲。真如凡聖。皆是夢言。佛及眾生。竝為增語。或有人出來道。盤山老聻。但向伊道。不因紫陌華開早。爭得黃鸎下柳條。若更問道。五祖老聻。自雲。諾。惺惺著。示眾雲。十方諸佛。六代祖師。天下善知識。皆同這箇舌頭。若識得這箇舌頭。始解大脫空。便道山河大地是佛。草木叢林是佛。若也未識得這箇舌頭。祇成小脫空。自謾去。明朝後日。大有事在。五祖恁麼說話。還有實頭處也無。自雲。有。如何是實頭處。歸堂吃茶去。示眾雲。每日起來。拄卻臨濟棒。吹雲門曲。應趙州拍。擔仰山鍬。驅溈山牛。耕白雲田。七八年來。

'Do you say that accords with old man Deshan?' To get there, one must be a real man. Moreover, for more than ten years I sought on the seas, and saw several venerable worthies, and thought I was done. But when I reached the Fushan assembly, I simply could not open my mouth. Later, under Baiyun's gate, I cracked open an iron sour dumpling, and it was full of a hundred flavours. Tell me, how would you speak the one phrase of the dumpling?' He then said: 'Hoary cock's-comb flatters the early autumn; who can dye the purple silk threads? Sometimes when the wind moves they lean on one another, as if quarrelling endlessly before the steps.' He ascended the hall: 'Yesterday this mountain monk went into the city and saw a puppet stage, and could not help going close to look. Some were dignified and extraordinary, some ugly beyond bearing. Moving, turning, walking, sitting, blue, yellow, red, white — I saw them all. But looking carefully, it turned out that there were people inside the blue cloth curtain. This mountain monk could not hold back his laughter, and asked: 'What is your honourable surname, steward?' He said: 'The old master may just look. Why ask my surname?' Assembly, at his one question I was left with no words to answer and no principle to set forth. Is there anyone who can speak for this mountain monk? Yesterday I lost there; today I pull it up by the root here.' He ascended the hall: 'To speak of Buddha and speak of dharma, to pick up the mallet and raise the whisk — ten thousand li of white clouds. Deshan strikes with his staff as soon as one enters the gate; Linji shouts as soon as one enters the gate — ten thousand li of white clouds. And then, thus also is not allowed, not thus also is not allowed, thus and not thus altogether is not allowed — that too is ten thousand li of white clouds. If a fellow suddenly comes out and says, 'Elder, speaking like that is also ten thousand li of white clouds,' this kind of talk is called a dwarf watching a play, bobbing up and down with others. Thirty years from now it will be one great laugh. Tell me, what is the laugh? Laughing at ten thousand li of white clouds.' He addressed the assembly: 'The patriarch said: 'I originally came to this land to transmit the dharma and save deluded beings. One flower opens five leaves, and the fruit forms of itself.' Great Master Bodhidharma came with careless feet and spoke with a careless mouth; the sons and grandsons of later generations mostly turned it into calculations. Do you want to understand where the flower opens and the fruit forms? Zhengzhou pears, Qingzhou dates — nothing is better than where it comes from.' He addressed the assembly: 'True suchness and ordinary and sage are all dream talk; Buddha and living beings are alike added words. If someone comes out and says, 'What of old man Panshan?' I will simply say to him: if the purple paths did not bloom early, how could the oriole come down to the willow branch? If he asks further, 'What of old man the Fifth Patriarch?' I will answer myself: Yes. Be alert.' He addressed the assembly: 'The Buddhas of the ten directions, the patriarchs of six generations, and the good friends under heaven all share this one tongue. If you recognize this tongue, you will begin to understand the great emptying. Then you can say the mountains and rivers and the great earth are the Buddha, and the grasses, trees, and forests are the Buddha. If you have not yet recognized this tongue, then it is only a small emptying, and you deceive yourself. Tomorrow and the day after, you will have plenty to deal with. When the Fifth Patriarch speaks like this, is there anything solid in it or not?' He answered himself: 'There is.' 'What is the solid place?' 'Go back to the hall and drink tea.' He addressed the assembly: 'Every day when I rise, I tuck away Linji's staff, blow Yunmen's tune, keep time with Zhaozhou's clapping, carry Yangshan's spade, drive Weishan's ox, and plough Baiyun's field. For seven or eight years

漸成家活。更告諸公。每人出一隻手。相共扶助。唱村田樂。麤羹淡飯。且恁麼過。何也。但願今年蠶麥熟。羅睺羅兒與一文。示眾。舉。德山和尚因僧問。從上諸聖。以何法示人。山雲。我宗無語句。亦無一法與人。雪峰從此有省。後有僧問雪峰雲。和尚見德山。得箇甚麼便休去。峰雲。我當時空手去．空手歸。白雲今日說向透未過者。有箇人從東京來。問伊甚處來。他卻道蘇州來。問伊蘇州事如何。伊道。一切尋常。雖然如是。謾白雲不過。何故。祇為語音各別。畢竟如何。蘇州菱。邵伯藕。示眾。佛祖生冤家。悟道染泥土。無為無事人。聲色如聾瞽。且道如何即是。恁麼也不得。不恁麼也不得。恁麼不恁麼總不得。忽有箇出來道。恁麼也得。不恁麼也得。恁麼不恁麼總得。祇向伊道。我也知你向鬼窟裡作活計。小參。舉。陸亙大夫問南泉。弟子家中有一片石。也曾坐。也曾臥。擬鐫作佛。得麼。雲。得。陸曰。莫不得麼。雲。不得。大眾。夫為善知識。須明決擇。為甚麼他人道得也道得。他人道不得也道不得。還知南泉落處麼。白雲不惜眉毛。與汝注破。得又是誰道來。不得又是誰道來。汝若更不會。老僧今夜為汝作箇樣子。乃舉手雲。將三界二十八天作箇佛頭。金輪水際作箇佛腳。四大洲作箇佛身。雖然作此佛兒子了。汝諸人又卻在那裡安身立命。大眾還會也未。老僧作第二箇樣子去也。將東弗於逮作一箇佛。南贍部洲作一箇佛。西瞿耶尼作一箇佛。北鬱單越作一箇佛。草木叢林是佛。蠢動含靈是佛。既恁麼。又喚甚麼作眾生。還會也未。不如東弗於逮還他東弗於逮。南贍部洲還他南贍部洲。西瞿耶尼還他西瞿耶尼。北鬱單越還他北鬱單越。草木叢林還他草木叢林。蠢動含靈還他蠢動含靈。所以道。是法住法位。世間相常住。既恁麼。汝又喚甚麼作佛。還會麼。忽有箇漢出來道。白雲休寐語。

'it has gradually become my livelihood. I further ask you all, each of you put out a hand and help one another along. Sing the village field song; coarse soup and plain rice — let us get by like this. Why? If only this year the silkworms and wheat ripen, Rahula's child will get a coin.' He addressed the assembly, bringing up: Because a monk asked the Reverend Deshan, 'By what dharma did all the sages from of old show people?' Shan said, 'My school has no phrases, and there is not a single dharma to give to anyone.' Xuefeng was awakened by this. Later a monk asked Xuefeng, 'What did the master get from seeing Deshan, that he then gave up?' Feng said, 'At the time I went empty-handed and returned empty-handed.' Today Baiyun will speak for those who have not yet passed through. There was a man who came from the Eastern Capital, and when asked where he had come from, he said he came from Suzhou. Asked how matters were in Suzhou, he said, 'Everything is ordinary.' Even so, he cannot deceive Baiyun. Why? Only because the words and accents differ. After all, what is it? Suzhou water-chestnuts, Shaobo lotus roots.' He addressed the assembly: 'Buddhas and patriarchs are born enemies; awakening to the Way stains one with mud. The man of no doing and no business is deaf and blind to sound and form. Tell me, what then is right? Thus also is not allowed, not thus also is not allowed, thus and not thus altogether is not allowed. If someone suddenly comes out and says, thus also is allowed, not thus also is allowed, thus and not thus altogether is allowed, I will simply say to him: I know you make your living in a ghost's cave.' At a minor gathering he brought up: The minister Lu Gen asked Nanquan, 'In my house there is a piece of stone; I have sat on it and lain on it. I intend to carve it into a Buddha — may I?' Quan said, 'You may.' Lu said, 'Surely not?' Quan said, 'You may not.' Assembly, one who is a good friend must be clear in deciding and choosing. Why did he say 'you may' when the other said 'you may', and 'you may not' when the other said 'you may not'? Do you know where Nanquan landed? Baiyun will not begrudge his eyebrows and will break it open for you. Who was it that said 'you may'? Who was it that said 'you may not'? If you still do not understand, this old monk will make a model for you tonight.' He then raised his hand and said: 'Take the three realms and twenty-eight heavens and make them the Buddha's head. Take the golden wheel and the water's edge and make them the Buddha's feet. Take the four continents and make them the Buddha's body. But though you have made this son of the Buddha, where will you people settle your bodies and establish your lives? Assembly, do you understand? This old monk will make a second model. Take Purvavideha as one Buddha, Jambudvipa as one Buddha, Aparagodaniya as one Buddha, and Uttarakuru as one Buddha. The grasses, trees, and forests are the Buddha; the moving and breathing creatures are the Buddha. That being so, what then do you call living beings? Do you understand? Better to give Purvavideha back to Purvavideha, Jambudvipa back to Jambudvipa, Aparagodaniya back to Aparagodaniya, and Uttarakuru back to Uttarakuru. Give the grasses, trees, and forests back to the grasses, trees, and forests, and the moving and breathing creatures back to the moving and breathing creatures. Therefore it is said: dharmas abide in their dharma positions, and the marks of the world are permanently abiding. That being so, what then do you call the Buddha? Do you understand? If a fellow suddenly comes out and says, 'Baiyun, stop talking in your sleep,'

大眾記取這一轉。三佛侍師於一亭上夜話。及歸燈已滅。師於暗中曰。各人下一轉語。佛鑑曰。彩鳳舞丹霄。佛眼曰。鐵虵橫古路。佛果曰。看腳下。師曰。滅吾宗者。乃克勤爾。崇寧三年六月二十五日。上堂。辭眾曰。趙州和尚有末後句。你作麼生會。試出來道看。若會得去。不妨自在快活。如或未然。這好事作麼說。良久曰。說即說了。也祇是諸人不知。要會麼。富嫌千口少。貧恨一身多。珍重。時山門有土木之役。躬往督之。且曰。汝等勉力。吾不復來矣。歸丈室淨髮澡身。迄旦吉祥而化。是夕山摧石隕。四十里內巖谷震吼。闍維設利如雨。塔於東山之南。

'assembly, remember this turning.' The three Buddhas were sitting with the master in a pavilion one night, talking, and by the time they returned the lamp had gone out. In the darkness the master said: 'Each of you, produce a turning phrase.' Fojian said: 'A painted phoenix dances in the crimson sky.' Foyan said: 'An iron snake lies across the ancient road.' Foguo said: 'Look at your feet.' The master said: 'The one who will extinguish my school is Keqin.' On the twenty-fifth day of the sixth month of the third year of Chongning, he ascended the hall, took leave of the assembly, and said: 'The Reverend Zhaozhou had a last phrase. How will you understand it? Try coming forward and speaking. If you can understand it, you may well be free and happy. If not, what shall we say of this fine thing?' After a long pause he said: 'I have spoken it, that is all; it is only that you people do not know. Do you want to understand? The rich resent a thousand mouths as too few; the poor resent a single body as too many. Take care.' At the time the monastery had building work in hand, and he went himself to supervise it, saying: 'You must all do your best. I shall not come again.' He returned to his room, shaved his head, and bathed. By dawn he passed away auspiciously. That night the mountain crumbled and rocks fell; within forty li the cliffs and valleys roared. After the cremation the relics fell like rain. His stupa was raised south of Dongshan.

潭州雲蓋山智本禪師

Chan Master Zhiben of Mount Yungai in Tanzhou

瑞州郭氏子。開堂日。僧問。諸佛出世。天雨四華。和尚出世。有何祥瑞。師曰。千聞不如一見。曰。見後如何。師曰。瞎。問。如何是清淨法身。師曰。家無小使。不成君子。問。將心覓心。如何覓得。師曰。波斯學漢語。問。如何是學人出身處。師曰。雪峰元是嶺南人。問。素面相呈時如何。師曰。一場醜拙。問。人人盡有一面古鏡。如何是學人古鏡。師曰。打破來。向你道。曰。打破了也。師曰。胡地冬抽筍。問。古人道。說取行不得底。行取說不得底。未審行不得底作麼生說。師曰。口在腳下。曰。說不得底。作麼生行。師曰。踏著舌頭。問。知師久蘊囊中寶。今日當場略借看。師曰。適來恰被人借去。上堂。去者鼻孔遼天。來者腳踏實地。且道祖師意向甚麼處著。良久曰。長恨春歸無覓處。不知流入此中來。上堂。高臺巴鼻。開口便是。若也便是。有甚巴鼻。月冷風高。水清山翠。上堂。以楔出楔。有甚休歇。欲得休歇。以楔出楔。喝一喝。上堂。高聲喚侍者。侍者應諾。師曰。大眾集也未。侍者曰。大眾已集。師曰。那一箇為甚麼不來赴參。侍者無語。師曰。到即不點。上堂。滿口道不出。句句甚分明。滿目覷不見。山山疊亂青。皷聲猶不會。何況是鐘鳴。喝一喝。上堂。祖翁卓卓犖犖。兒孫齷齷齪齪。有處藏頭。沒處露角。借問衲僧。如何摸索。上堂。橫按拄杖曰。牙如刀劍面如鐵。眼放電光光不歇。手把蒺棃一萬斤。等閑敲落天邊月。卓一下。僧問。如何是齩人師子。師曰。五老峰前。曰。這箇豈會齩人。師曰。今日拾得性命。上堂。頭戴須彌山。腳踏四大海。呼吸起風雷。動用生五彩。若能識得渠。一任歲月改。且道誰人識得渠。喝一喝。雲。田庫奴。

A son of the Guo family of Ruizhou. On the day he opened the hall, a monk asked: 'When the Buddhas come into the world, the heavens rain four flowers. Now that the master has come into the world, what auspicious sign is there?' The master said: 'A thousand hearings are not worth one seeing.' [The monk] said: 'What is it like after seeing?' The master said: 'Blind.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the pure dharma body?' The master said: 'A house with no young servant does not make a gentleman.' [A monk] asked: 'Taking the mind to seek the mind, how can it be found?' The master said: 'A Persian learning Chinese.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the place a student comes from?' The master said: 'Xuefeng was originally a man of Lingnan.' [A monk] asked: 'What about when one presents one's plain face?' The master said: 'One scene of ugliness and clumsiness.' [A monk] asked: 'Every person has one ancient mirror. What is the student's ancient mirror?' The master said: 'Break it and bring it, then I will tell you.' [The monk] said: 'It is broken.' The master said: 'In the Hu lands winter puts out bamboo shoots.' [A monk] asked: 'The ancients said: speak what cannot be practised, practise what cannot be spoken. I wonder, how does one speak what cannot be practised?' The master said: 'The mouth is under the feet.' [The monk] said: 'And what cannot be spoken, how does one practise it?' The master said: 'Tread on your tongue.' [A monk] asked: 'We know the master has long stored the jewel in his bag; today, on this spot, let us borrow a look at it.' The master said: 'It has just now been borrowed away by someone.' He ascended the hall: 'Those who go have nostrils reaching the sky; those who come have feet planted on solid ground. Tell me, where does the ancestral teachers' meaning come to rest?' After a long pause he said: 'I have always grieved that spring goes with nowhere to be found, not knowing it flows in here.' He ascended the hall: 'The high terrace has a nose; opening the mouth is it. If it is just that, what nose is there? Moon cold, wind high; water clear, mountains green.' He ascended the hall: 'Driving out a wedge with a wedge, what rest is there? If you would have rest, drive out a wedge with a wedge.' He gave a shout. He ascended the hall: 'He called the attendant in a loud voice. The attendant answered. The master said: Is the assembly gathered? The attendant said: The assembly has gathered. The master said: Then why has that one not come to attend the gathering? The attendant had no words. The master said: When he arrives, he is not marked.' He ascended the hall: 'With a full mouth one cannot speak it out, yet phrase by phrase it is most distinct. With full eyes one cannot see it, yet mountain upon mountain piles in tangled green. You do not yet understand even the drum; how much less the bell.' He gave a shout. He ascended the hall: 'The ancestral grandfather stands out towering; the sons and grandsons are petty and filthy. Where there is a place they hide the head; where there is none they show the horn. Let me ask you patch-robed monks: how will you grope for him?' He ascended the hall: holding his staff crosswise, he said: 'Teeth like swords, face like iron; the eyes shoot lightning and the light never rests. In his hand a ten-thousand-catty caltrop; at his leisure he knocks down the moon at the sky's edge.' He planted it once. A monk asked: 'What is the lion that bites people?' The master said: 'Before the Five Elders Peak.' [The monk] said: 'Would this one bite people?' The master said: 'Today I have picked up my life.' He ascended the hall: 'Wearing Mount Sumeru on the head, treading the four great seas underfoot; breathing raises wind and thunder, movement brings forth five colours. If you can recognize him, let the years and months change as they will. Tell me, who recognizes him?' He gave a shout and said: 'Field-storehouse slave.'

滁州琅邪永起禪師

Chan Master Yongqi of Langya in Chuzhou

襄陽人也。僧問。庵內人為甚麼不見庵外事。師曰。東家點燈。西家暗坐。曰。如何是庵內事。師曰。眼在甚麼處。曰。三門頭合掌。師曰。有甚交涉。乃曰。五更殘月落。天曉白雲飛。分明目前事。不是目前機。既是目前事。為甚麼不是目前機。良久曰。此去西天路。迢迢十萬餘。上堂。良久拊掌一下。曰。阿呵呵。阿呵呵。還會麼。法法本來法。遂拈拄杖曰。這箇是山僧拄杖。那箇是本來法。還定當得麼。卓一下。

A man of Xiangyang. A monk asked: 'Why does the man inside the hut not see the affairs outside the hut?' The master said: 'The eastern house lights a lamp; the western house sits in the dark.' [The monk] said: 'What are the affairs inside the hut?' The master said: 'Where are your eyes?' [The monk] said: 'At the gate of the three doors he joins his palms.' The master said: 'What connection is there?' He then said: 'At the fifth watch the waning moon sets; at dawn the white clouds fly. Clearly it is the affair before the eyes, yet it is not the working before the eyes. Since it is the affair before the eyes, why is it not the working before the eyes?' After a long pause he said: 'From here to the road to the Western Heaven is a long, long hundred thousand li.' He ascended the hall: after a long pause he clapped his hands once and said: 'Ah, ha ha! Ah, ha ha! Do you understand? Every dharma is originally the dharma.' Then he picked up his staff and said: 'This is the mountain monk's staff. Which is the original dharma? Can you settle it?' He planted it once.