The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll One

初參馬祖。問曰。如何是西來的的意。祖曰。禮拜著。師才禮拜。祖乃當𮌎蹋倒。師大悟。起來拊掌呵呵大笑曰。也大奇。也大奇。百千三昧無量妙義。祇向一毫頭上。識得根源去。禮謝而退。住後。每告眾曰。自從一吃馬祖蹋。直至如今笑不休。有僧作一圓相。以手撮向師身上。師乃三撥。亦作一圓相。卻指其僧。僧便禮拜。師打曰。這虗頭漢。問。如何是沙門行。師曰。動則影現。覺則冰生。問。如何是佛法大意。師乃拊掌呵呵大笑。凡接機。大約如此。

He first visited Mazu and asked, ‘What is the true meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West?’ Mazu said, ‘Bow!’ Just as the master bowed, Mazu kicked him in the chest and knocked him down. The master awakened greatly. Getting up, he clapped and laughed, saying, ‘How wondrous! Of the countless samadhis and immeasurable subtle meanings, I have recognized the source in a single hair’s breadth.’ He thanked Mazu and withdrew. After settling at a monastery, he often told the assembly, ‘Ever since Mazu kicked me once, I have not stopped laughing.’ A monk drew a circle and made a squeezing gesture toward the master. The master pushed it away three times, drew a circle himself, and pointed at the monk. The monk bowed. The master struck him, saying, ‘You phony fellow!’ Asked, ‘What is the conduct of a monastic?’ the master said, ‘When you move, a shadow appears; when you awaken, ice forms.’ Asked, ‘What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?’ the master clapped his hands and laughed heartily. This was generally how he responded to students.

浮盃和尚

Master Fubei

凌行婆來禮拜。師與坐吃茶。婆乃問。盡力道不得底句分付阿誰。師曰。浮盃無剩語。婆曰。未到浮盃。不妨疑著。師曰。別有長處。不妨拈出。婆斂手哭曰。蒼天中更添冤苦。師無語。婆曰。語不知偏正。理不識倒邪。為人即禍生。後有僧舉似南泉。泉曰。苦哉浮盃。被這老婆摧折一上。婆後聞笑曰。王老師猶少機關在。澄一禪客逢見行婆。便問。怎生是南泉猶少機關在。婆乃哭曰。可悲可痛。一罔措。婆曰。會麼。一合掌而立。婆曰。伎死禪和。如麻似粟。一舉似趙州。州曰。我若見這臭老婆。問教口瘂。一曰。未審和尚怎生問他。州便打。一曰。為甚麼卻打某甲。州曰。似這伎死漢不打。更待幾時。連打數棒。婆聞。卻曰。趙州合吃婆手裡棒。後僧舉似趙州。州哭曰。可悲可痛。婆聞此語。合掌歎曰。趙州眼光。爍破四天下。州令僧問。如何是趙州眼。婆乃竪立拳頭。僧回。舉似趙州。州作偈曰。當機覿面提。覿面當機疾。報汝凌行婆。哭聲何得失。婆以偈答曰。哭聲師已曉。已曉復誰知。當時摩竭國。幾喪目前機。

Ling Xingpo came to pay her respects. The master invited her to sit and drink tea. She asked, ‘To whom do you entrust the phrase that cannot be spoken even with all one’s strength?’ The master said, ‘Fubei has no words to spare.’ She said, ‘Until I met Fubei, I could not help doubting.’ The master said, ‘If you have another strength, bring it out.’ She clasped her hands and wept, saying, ‘Heavens above, you have added another injustice to my suffering!’ The master had no reply. She said, ‘You do not know biased from balanced in speech or right side up from upside down in principle; trying to teach people will bring disaster.’ Later a monk recounted this to Nanquan. Nanquan said, ‘Alas! Fubei was thoroughly defeated by that old woman.’ When she later heard this, she laughed and said, ‘Master Wang still lacks a little skill.’ A Chan traveler named Chengyi met Xingpo and asked, ‘What does Nanquan still lack?’ She wept and said, ‘How sad, how painful!’ Chengyi was at a loss. She asked, ‘Do you understand?’ He stood with palms joined. She said, ‘Deadbeat Chan monks are as numerous as hemp and millet.’ Chengyi reported this to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou said, ‘If I met that stinking old woman, I would make her speechless with a question.’ Chengyi asked, ‘How would you question her, Master?’ Zhaozhou struck him. Chengyi said, ‘Why strike me?’ Zhaozhou said, ‘A deadbeat like you deserves a beating; when else would I give it?’ He struck him several times. When Xingpo heard, she said, ‘Zhaozhou deserves a beating from my hand.’ Later a monk told Zhaozhou this. Zhaozhou wept, saying, ‘How sad, how painful!’ When Xingpo heard, she joined her palms and sighed, ‘Zhaozhou’s eyes shine through the four worlds.’ Zhaozhou sent a monk to ask, ‘What are Zhaozhou’s eyes?’ Xingpo raised a clenched fist. The monk returned and told Zhaozhou, who composed this verse: ‘Face to face, the moment is raised; face to face, the moment is swift. I report to you, Ling Xingpo: how could a cry of grief be a mistake?’ Xingpo answered in verse: ‘The master has understood the sound of weeping; now that it is understood, who knows? In Magadha long ago, the present moment nearly was lost.’

潭州龍山和尚(亦云隱山)

Master Longshan of Tanzhou (also called Yinshan)

問僧。甚麼處來。曰。老宿處來。師曰。老宿有何言句。曰。說則千句萬句。不說則一字也無。師曰。恁麼則蠅子放卵。僧禮拜。師便打。洞山與密師伯經由。見溪流菜葉。洞曰。深山無人。因何有菜隨流。莫有道人居否。乃共議撥草溪行。五七里間。忽見師羸形異貌。放下行李問訊。師曰。此山無路。闍黎從何處來。洞曰。無路且置。和尚從何而入。師曰。我不從雲水來。洞曰。和尚往此山多少時邪。師曰。春秋不涉。洞曰。和尚先住。此山先住。師曰。不知。洞曰。為甚麼不知。師曰。我不從人天來。洞曰。和尚得何道理。便住此山。師曰。我見兩箇泥牛鬬入海。直至於今絕消息。洞山始具威儀禮拜。便問。如何是主中賓。師曰。青山覆白雲。曰。如何是賓中主。師曰。長年不出戶。曰。賓主相去幾何。師曰。長江水上波。曰。賓主相見。有何言說。師曰。清風拂白月。洞山辭退。師乃述偈曰。三間茅屋從來住。一道神光萬境閑。莫把是非來辨我。浮生穿鑿不相關。因茲燒庵。入深山不見。後人號為隱山和尚。

He asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' The monk said, 'From an old master's place.' The Master said, 'What words did the old master have?' He said, 'When he speaks, it is a thousand phrases and ten thousand phrases; when he does not speak, there is not even one word.' The Master said, 'Then the fly has laid its eggs.' The monk bowed. The Master hit him. Dongshan and his uncle, Master Mi, were passing by, and saw vegetable leaves floating in a stream. Dong said, 'Deep in the mountains there is no one—why are there vegetables floating along with the current? Perhaps a man of the Way lives here.' So they agreed to push aside the grass and follow the stream. After five or seven li they suddenly saw the Master, gaunt of form and strange of appearance. They put down their baggage and greeted him. The Master said, 'There is no road on this mountain—where have you come from, Acharya?' Dong said, 'Set the road aside; how did you enter, Master?' The Master said, 'I did not come by cloud and water.' Dong said, 'How long has the Master lived on this mountain?' The Master said, 'The spring and autumn do not reach here.' Dong said, 'The Master lived here first, or the mountain lived here first?' The Master said, 'I do not know.' Dong said, 'Why do you not know?' The Master said, 'I did not come from gods or men.' Dong said, 'What principle did the Master attain, that you live on this mountain?' The Master said, 'I saw two mud oxen fight and plunge into the sea, and to this day there has been no news.' Only then did Dongshan adjust his demeanor and bow, and he asked, 'What is the host within the guest?' The Master said, 'Green mountains cover white clouds.' 'What is the guest within the host?' The Master said, 'For many years not leaving the door.' 'How far apart are host and guest?' The Master said, 'Waves on the long river's water.' 'When host and guest meet, what is said?' The Master said, 'The clear wind brushes the white moon.' Dongshan took his leave. The Master then spoke a verse: 'In three thatched rooms I have always lived; one road of numinous light, ten thousand realms at ease. Do not use right and wrong to judge me; the floating life's contrivances are none of my business.' Thereupon he burned his hut and went deep into the mountains, and was seen no more. Later people called him the Hermit of Hidden Mountain.

襄州居士龐蘊者

The layman Pang Yun of Xiangzhou,

衡州衡陽縣人也。字道玄。世本儒業。少悟塵勞。志求真諦。唐貞元初謁石頭。乃問。不與萬法為侶者是甚麼人。頭以手掩其口。豁然有省。後與丹霞為友。一日。石頭問曰。子見老僧以來。日用事作麼生。士曰。若問日用事。即無開口處。乃呈偈曰。日用事無別。唯吾自偶諧。頭頭非取捨。處處沒張乖。朱紫誰為號。丘山絕點埃。神通並妙用。運水及搬柴。頭然之。曰。子以緇邪。素邪。士曰。願從所慕。遂不剃染。後參馬祖。問曰。不與萬法為侶者是甚麼人。祖曰。待汝一口吸盡西江水。即向汝道。士於言下頓領玄旨。乃留駐。參承二載。有偈曰。有男不婚。有女不嫁。大家團欒頭。共說無生話。自爾機辯迅捷。諸方嚮之。因辭藥山。山命十禪客相送至門首。士乃指空中雪曰。好雪。片片不落別處。有全禪客曰。落在甚處。士遂與一掌。全曰。也不得草草。士曰。恁麼稱禪客。閻羅老子未放你在。全曰。居士作麼生。士又掌曰。眼見如盲。口說如瘂。甞遊講肆。隨喜金剛經。至無我無人處致問曰。座主。既無我無人。是誰講誰聽。主無對。士曰。某甲雖是俗人。粗知信向。主曰。祇如居士意作麼生。士以偈答曰。無我復無人。作麼有疎親。勸君休歷座。不似直求真。金剛般若性。外絕一纖塵。我聞並信受。總是假名陳。主聞偈。欣然仰歎。居士所至之處。老宿多往復問醻。皆隨機應響。非格量軌轍之可拘也。元和中。北遊襄漢。隨處而居。有女名靈照。常鬻竹漉籬以供朝夕。士有偈曰。心如境亦如。無實亦無虗。有亦不管。無亦不拘。不是賢聖。了事凡夫。易復易。即此五蘊有真智。十方世界一乘同。無相法身豈有二。若捨煩惱入菩提。不知何方有佛地。護生須是殺。殺盡始安居。會得箇中意。鐵船水上浮。士坐次。問靈照曰。古人道。明明百草頭。明明祖師意。如何會。照曰。老老大大作這箇語話。

was a man of Hengyang County in Hengzhou. His courtesy name was Daoxuan. His family had followed the Confucian calling for generations. In youth he awakened to the weariness of the dust and set his mind on seeking the true meaning. In the early Zhenyuan era of the Tang he called on Shitou and asked, 'What sort of person is it who does not accompany the ten thousand dharmas?' Shitou covered his mouth with his hand, and he was suddenly enlightened. Later he became friends with Danxia. One day Shitou asked, 'Since you came to see this old monk, how do you handle your daily affairs?' The layman said, 'If you ask about daily affairs, there is no place to open my mouth.' Then he presented a verse: 'Daily affairs are nothing special; only I myself am in accord. In each thing there is no taking or rejecting, in every place no contrivance. Who names the red and the purple? The hills have not a speck of dust. Spiritual powers and wonderful functions—carrying water and hauling firewood.' Shitou agreed, and said, 'Will you be a monk or a layman?' The layman said, 'I will follow what I admire.' So he did not shave or dye his robes. Later he called on Mazu and asked, 'What sort of person is it who does not accompany the ten thousand dharmas?' Mazu said, 'When you can swallow the West River in one gulp, then I will tell you.' At these words the layman suddenly grasped the profound purport, and he stayed on, studying under him for two years. He had a verse: 'With a son, he does not marry; with a daughter, she does not wed. The whole family gathers round and together they speak the word of the unborn.' From then on his wit was swift and keen, and the various regions turned toward him. When he took leave of Yaoshan, the Master ordered ten Chan guests to see him to the gate. The layman pointed at the snow in the air and said, 'What fine snow—not a flake falls anywhere else.' A Chan guest named Quan said, 'Where does it fall?' The layman gave him a slap. Quan said, 'You should not be so careless.' The layman said, 'A Chan guest like you—King Yama has not let you off yet.' Quan said, 'What about you, layman?' The layman slapped him again and said, 'Eyes see as if blind, mouth speaks as if mute.' Once he visited a lecture hall and joined in rejoicing at the Diamond Sutra. When it came to the passage on no-self and no-person, he asked, 'Seat-master, since there is no self and no person, who is it that lectures and who is it that listens?' The seat-master had no reply. The layman said, 'Though I am a layman, I know a little about faith and direction.' The seat-master said, 'What then is the layman's own meaning?' The layman answered with a verse: 'With no self and no person, how could there be near or far? I urge you to give up the seat; it is not like seeking the truth directly. The nature of the Diamond Prajna cuts off even a thread of dust. That I hear and faithfully accept is all a matter of borrowed names.' Hearing the verse, the seat-master was delighted and sighed in admiration. Wherever the layman went, the old masters mostly exchanged questions and answers with him, and he always responded to the occasion like an echo, not to be confined by the tracks of measured rules. In the Yuanhe era he traveled north to Xiang and Han, dwelling wherever he happened to be. He had a daughter named Lingzhao, who often sold bamboo strainers to provide for their daily needs. The layman had a verse: 'When the mind is thus, the object is also thus; neither real nor void. Having, he does not care; not having, he does not cling. He is not a sage; he is a common man who has finished the matter. Easy it is, and easy again—these very five aggregates have true wisdom. The worlds of the ten directions are one vehicle alike; how could the signless dharma-body be two? If one abandons affliction to enter bodhi, who knows where there is a Buddha-land? To protect life one must kill; only when killing is finished does one dwell in peace. If you understand the meaning within this, an iron boat floats on the water.' As the layman sat in meditation, he asked Lingzhao, 'The ancients said, clearly the tips of a hundred grasses, clearly the intention of the patriarch. How do you understand it?' Zhao said, 'You are old and great, and yet you talk like this.'

士曰。你作麼生。照曰。明明百草頭。明明祖師意。士乃笑。士因賣漉籬。下橋吃撲。靈照見。亦去爺邊倒。士曰。你作甚麼。照曰。見爺倒地。某甲相扶。士將入滅。謂靈照曰。視日早晚及午以報。照遽報。日已中矣。而有蝕也。士出戶觀次。靈照即登父座。合掌坐亡。士笑曰。我女鋒捷矣。於是更延七日。州牧於公頔問疾次。士謂之曰。但願空諸所有。慎勿實諸所無。好住。世間皆如影響。言訖。枕於公膝而化。遺命焚棄江湖。緇白傷悼。謂禪門龐居士。即毗耶淨名矣。有詩偈三百餘篇傳於世。

The layman said, 'How do you understand it?' Zhao said, 'Clearly the tips of a hundred grasses, clearly the intention of the patriarch.' The layman laughed. Once, while selling strainers, the layman fell down off a bridge. Lingzhao saw it and also threw herself down beside her father. The layman said, 'What are you doing?' Zhao said, 'Seeing my father fall down, I help him up.' When the layman was about to pass into quiescence, he said to Lingzhao, 'Watch the sun and tell me when it is noon.' Zhao quickly reported, 'The sun is already at its height, but there is an eclipse.' As the layman went out the door to look, Lingzhao climbed onto her father's seat, pressed her palms together, and passed away sitting. The layman laughed and said, 'My daughter's edge is keen.' So he lived on another seven days. When the prefect Yu Di came to ask after his illness, the layman told him, 'I only wish you to empty all that you have, and be careful not to fill with what you do not have. Farewell. All in the world is like echo and shadow.' Having spoken, he rested his head on the prefect's knee and passed away. His last command was to burn his remains and scatter them on river and lake. Monks and laymen alike grieved, saying that the layman Pang of the Chan school was none other than Vimalakirti of Vaisali. More than three hundred of his verses and poems have been handed down in the world.

南嶽下三世

The Third Generation below Nanyue

百丈海禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Baizhang Hai

洪州黃檗希運禪師

Chan Master Xiyun of Huangbo in Hongzhou

閩人也。幼於本州黃檗山出家。額間隆起如珠。音辭朗潤。志意沖澹。後遊天台逢一僧。與之言笑。如舊相識。熟視之。目光射人。乃偕行。屬㵎水暴漲。捐笠植杖而止。其僧率師同渡。師曰。兄要渡自渡。彼即褰衣躡波。若履平地。回顧曰。渡來。渡來。師曰。咄。這自了漢。吾早知當斫汝脛。其僧歎曰。真大乘法器。我所不及。言訖不見。師後遊京師。因人啟發。乃往參百丈。丈問。巍巍堂堂。從何方來。師曰。巍巍堂堂。從嶺南來。丈曰。巍巍堂堂。當為何事。師曰。巍巍堂堂。不為別事。便禮拜。問曰。從上宗乘如何指示。丈良久。師曰。不可教後人斷絕去也。丈曰。將謂汝是箇人。乃起。入方丈。師隨後入。曰。某甲特來。丈曰。若爾。則他後不得孤負吾。丈一日問師。甚麼處去來。曰。大雄山下採菌子來。丈曰。還見大蟲麼。師便作虎聲。丈拈斧作斫勢。師即打丈一摑。丈吟吟而笑。便歸。上堂曰。大雄山下有一大蟲。汝等諸人也須好看。百丈老漢今日親遭一口。師在南泉普請擇菜次。泉問。甚麼處去。曰。擇菜去。泉曰。將甚麼擇。師竪起刀。泉曰。祇解作賓。不解作主。師以刀點三下。泉曰。大家擇菜去。泉一日曰。老僧有牧牛歌請長老和。師曰。某甲自有師在。師辭南泉。泉門送。提起師笠曰。長老身材沒量大。笠子太小生。師曰。雖然如此。大千世界總在裡許。泉曰。王老師聻。師戴笠便行。師在鹽宮殿上禮佛次。時唐宣宗為沙彌。問曰。不著佛求。不著法求。不著僧求。長老禮拜。當何所求。師曰。不著佛求。不著法求。不著僧求。常禮如是事。彌曰。用禮何為。師便掌。彌曰。大麤生。師曰。這裡是甚麼所在。說麤說細。隨後又掌。裴相國鎮宛陵。建大禪苑。請師說法。以師酷愛舊山。還以黃檗名之。公一日拓一尊佛於師前。跪曰。請師安名。師召曰。裴休。公應諾。師曰。

was a man of Min. In his youth he left home at Huangbo Mountain in his own prefecture. There was a raised ridge on his forehead like a pearl. His voice and speech were clear and smooth, his purpose calm and mild. Later, traveling in Tiantai, he met a monk, and their talk and laughter were like that of old acquaintances. Looking at him closely, the man's eyes shot light, so they traveled together. It happened that a mountain torrent rose suddenly, and they threw down their hats and planted their staffs and stopped. The monk urged the Master to cross with him. The Master said, 'If you want to cross, brother, cross by yourself.' The monk at once tucked up his robe and trod on the waves as if walking on level ground, then looked back and said, 'Come across, come across.' The Master said, 'Tut, this self-saved fellow. Had I known earlier, I would have cut your shins.' The monk sighed and said, 'A true vessel of the Great Vehicle—I cannot match you.' Having spoken, he disappeared. Later the Master traveled to the capital, and prompted by someone, went to call on Baizhang. Zhang asked, 'So imposing and magnificent—where do you come from?' The Master said, 'So imposing and magnificent—I come from Lingnan.' Zhang said, 'So imposing and magnificent—what is your business?' The Master said, 'So imposing and magnificent—nothing else.' Then he bowed. He asked, 'How do you instruct according to the ancestral vehicle?' Zhang was silent for a long while. The Master said, 'You must not let later generations be cut off.' Zhang said, 'I took you for a person.' Then he rose and entered his quarters. The Master followed him in and said, 'I came on purpose.' Zhang said, 'If so, then you must not fail me later.' One day Zhang asked the Master, 'Where have you been?' He said, 'I have been gathering mushrooms at the foot of Daxiong Mountain.' Zhang said, 'Did you see the great tiger?' The Master made the sound of a tiger. Zhang picked up an axe and made the gesture of chopping. The Master at once gave Zhang a slap. Zhang laughed softly and went back. Ascending the hall, he said, 'At the foot of Daxiong Mountain there is a great tiger; you people too must keep a good watch. Today old man Baizhang himself took a bite.' While the Master was picking vegetables with Nanquan at communal labor, Quan asked, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'To pick vegetables.' Quan said, 'With what will you pick them?' The Master raised his knife. Quan said, 'You only know how to be the guest, not how to be the host.' The Master tapped the knife three times. Quan said, 'Everyone go pick vegetables.' One day Quan said, 'This old monk has a Song of Herding the Ox—please, Elder, match it.' The Master said, 'I have my own teacher.' When the Master took leave of Nanquan, Quan saw him to the gate, picked up the Master's hat, and said, 'Elder, your frame is immeasurable, but the hat is too small.' The Master said, 'Even so, the great chiliocosm is entirely within it.' Quan said, 'What about old Wang?' The Master put on the hat and went on his way. Once, when the Master was worshipping the Buddha on the terrace of the Yanguan palace, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was then a novice, and asked, 'Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Sangha—when the Elder bows, what does he seek?' The Master said, 'Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Sangha—I always bow to this matter.' The novice said, 'What is the use of bowing?' The Master slapped him. The novice said, 'How coarse.' The Master said, 'What sort of place is this, to speak of coarse and fine?' Then he slapped him again. When Minister Pei was stationed at Wanling, he built a great Chan garden and invited the Master to teach the Dharma. Because the Master was deeply fond of his old mountain, he named it Huangbo after it. One day the Minister placed a statue of the Buddha before the Master, knelt, and said, 'Please, Master, give it a name.' The Master called out, 'Pei Xiu.' The Minister answered. The Master said,

與汝安名竟。公禮拜。師因有六人新到。五人作禮。中一人提起坐具。作一圓相。師曰。我聞有一隻獵犬甚惡。僧曰。尋𦏪羊聲來。師曰。𦏪羊無聲到汝尋。曰。尋𦏪羊跡來。師曰。𦏪羊無跡到汝尋。曰。尋𦏪羊蹤來。師曰。𦏪羊無蹤到汝尋。曰。與麼則死𦏪羊也。師便休去。明日陞堂曰。昨日尋𦏪羊僧出來。僧便出。師曰。昨日公案未了。老僧休去。你作麼生。僧無語。師曰。將謂是本色衲僧。元來祇是義學沙門。便打趂出。師一日揑拳曰。天下老和尚。總在這裡。我若放一線道。從汝七縱八橫。若不放過。不消一揑。僧問。放一線道時如何。師曰。七縱八橫。曰。不放過。不消一揑時如何。師曰。普。裴相國一日請師至郡。以所解一編示師。師接置於座。略不披閱。良久曰。會麼。裴曰。未測。師曰。若便恁麼會得。猶較些子。若也形於紙墨。何有吾宗。裴乃贈詩一章曰。自從大士傳心印。額有圓珠七尺身。掛錫十年棲蜀水。浮盃今日渡漳濵。一千龍象隨高步。萬裡香花結勝因。擬欲事師為弟子。不知將法付何人。師亦無喜色。自爾黃檗門風。盛於江表矣。一日上堂。大眾雲集。乃曰。汝等諸人慾何所求。以拄杖趂之。大眾不散。師卻復坐曰。汝等諸人盡是噇酒糟漢。恁麼行腳。取笑於人。但見八百一千人處便去。不可圖他熱閙也。老漢行腳時。或遇草根下有一箇漢。便從頂門上一錐。看他若知痛癢。可以布袋盛米供養他。可中總似汝如此容易。何處更有今日事也。汝等既稱行腳。亦須著些精神好。還知道大唐國內無禪師麼。時有僧問。諸方尊宿盡聚眾開化。為甚麼卻道無禪師。師曰。不道無禪。祇是無師。闍黎不見馬大師下有八十四人坐道場。得馬師正法眼者止三兩人。廬山歸宗和尚是其一。夫出家人。須知有從上來事分始得。且如四祖下牛頭。橫說竪說。猶未知向上關捩子。

(The Master went on:) 'I have finished naming it for you.' The Minister bowed. Six monks newly arrived, five of them made obeisance. One of them picked up his sitting cloth and drew a circle. The Master said, 'I hear there is a hunting dog that is very fierce.' The monk said, 'It comes following the sound of the antelope.' The Master said, 'The antelope makes no sound—how could you follow it?' He said, 'It comes following the tracks of the antelope.' The Master said, 'The antelope leaves no tracks—how could you follow it?' He said, 'It comes following the traces of the antelope.' The Master said, 'The antelope leaves no traces—how could you follow it?' He said, 'Then it is a dead antelope.' The Master then let it drop. The next day he ascended the hall and said, 'The monk who was seeking the antelope yesterday, come forward.' The monk came forward. The Master said, 'Yesterday the case was not finished and I let it drop. What do you say?' The monk was speechless. The Master said, 'I took you for a monk of true colors; it turns out you are only a scholar of doctrine.' Then he beat him and drove him out. One day the Master clenched his fist and said, 'The old monks of the whole world are all in here. If I let go a single thread of the way, you may go seven lengths and eight breadths. If I do not let it go, it will not need a single squeeze.' A monk asked, 'What about when you let go a single thread of the way?' The Master said, 'Seven lengths and eight breadths.' 'What about when you do not let it go, and it does not need a single squeeze?' The Master said, 'Pervasive.' One day Minister Pei invited the Master to the prefecture and showed him a volume of his own interpretations. The Master took it and laid it on his seat, without glancing at it at all. After a long while he said, 'Do you understand?' Pei said, 'I cannot fathom it.' The Master said, 'If you could understand it just like this, you would be somewhat better. But if it takes form in paper and ink, what has it to do with our school?' Pei then presented him with a poem: 'Since the great being transmitted the mind-seal, a round pearl on his brow, a body seven feet tall. For ten years he hung his staff, dwelling by the waters of Shu; today his floating bowl crosses the bank of the Zhang. A thousand dragons and elephants follow his high steps; ten thousand li of fragrant flowers form the surpassing cause. I wish to serve him as a disciple, but I do not know to whom he will transmit the Dharma.' The Master showed no joy either. From then on the Huangbo style of teaching flourished throughout the region south of the Yangtze. One day he ascended the hall. The assembly gathered in clouds, and he said, 'What do you people seek?' He drove them out with his staff. The assembly did not disperse. The Master sat down again and said, 'You people are all fellows stuffed with wine dregs. To go on pilgrimage like this is to make yourself a laughingstock. You only go wherever there are eight hundred or a thousand people, for you cannot resist the bustle. When this old monk was on pilgrimage, if I met a fellow at the root of the grass, I would give him a prod on the crown of the head. If he knew pain and itch, then a bag could be filled with rice to make offerings to him. If everyone were as casual as you are, where would today's business come from? Since you call yourselves pilgrims, you should show a little spirit. Do you know that in the whole land of Great Tang there is no Chan master?' Then a monk asked, 'The venerable masters everywhere all gather assemblies and open the teaching—why then do you say there is no Chan master?' The Master said, 'I do not say there is no Chan; I only say there is no master. Have you not seen that under Great Master Ma there were eighty-four men sitting in the practice places, yet of those who got Ma's true Dharma eye there were only two or three. The Master of Guizong on Mount Lu is one of them. One who has left home must know that there is a matter from of old to be divided and settled. Take the Fourth Patriarch's heir Niutou: he spoke this way and that, and still did not know the latch of what lies above.'

有此眼目。方辨得邪正宗黨。且當人事宜。不能體會得。但知學言語念。向皮袋裡安著。到處稱我會禪。還替得汝生死麼。輕忽老宿。入地獄如箭。我才見汝入門來。便識得了也。還知麼。急須努力。莫容易事。持片衣口食。空過一生。明眼人笑汝。久後總被俗漢筭將去在。宜自看遠近。是阿誰面上事。若會即便會。若不會即散去。珍重。問。如何是西來意。師便打。自餘施設。皆被上機。中下之流。莫窺涯涘。唐大中年終於本山。諡斷際禪師。

(The Master went on:) 'Only with such an eye can one distinguish the orthodox from the heterodox parties. And if one cannot grasp the matter according to circumstances, but only learns words and recites thoughts and stuffs them into the leather bag, claiming everywhere that I understand Chan—can that redeem you from birth and death? To slight the old masters is to fall into hell as swift as an arrow. No sooner do I see you come in the door than I recognize you. Do you understand? You must strive hard; do not take things lightly. Clutching a scrap of clothing and a mouthful of food, you pass a whole life in vain. Clear-eyed people laugh at you, and in time you will all be reckoned by worldly folk. You should look to your own nearness or distance—whose face is this matter on? If you understand, then understand at once; if you do not understand, then disperse. Take care.' A monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master hit him. All his other devices were directed at those of the highest capacity. People of middling and lesser ability could not glimpse his shores. In the Dazhong era of the Tang he passed away on his own mountain. He was posthumously titled Chan Master Duanji.

福州長慶大安禪師(號懶安)

Chan Master Da'an of Changqing in Fuzhou (also called Lazy An)

郡之陳氏子。受業於黃檗山。習律乘。甞自念言。我雖勤苦。而未聞玄極之理。乃孤錫遊方。將往洪井。路出上元。逢一老父謂師曰。師往南昌。當有所得。師即造百丈。禮而問曰。學人慾求識佛。何者即是。丈曰。大似騎牛覔牛。師曰。識得後如何。丈曰。如人騎牛至家。師曰。未審始終如何保任。丈曰。如牧牛人執杖視之。不令犯人苗稼。師自茲領旨。更不馳求。同參祐禪師。創居溈山。師躬耕助道。及祐歸寂。眾請接踵住持。上堂。汝諸人總來就安。求覔甚麼。若欲作佛。汝自是佛。擔佛傍家走。如渴鹿趂陽𦦨相似。何時得相應去。汝欲作佛。但無許多顛倒攀緣．妄想惡覺．垢淨眾生之心。便是初心正覺佛。更向何處別討所以。安在溈山三十來年。吃溈山飯。屙溈山屎。不學溈山禪。祇看一頭水牯牛。若落路入草。便把鼻孔拽轉來。才犯人苗稼。即鞭撻。調伏既久。可憐生受人言語。如今變作箇露地白牛。常在面前。終日露迥迥地。趂亦不去。汝諸人各自有無價大寶。從眼門放光。照見山河大地。耳門放光。領釆一切善惡音響。如是六門。晝夜常放光明。亦名放光三昧。汝自不識取。影在四大身中。內外扶持。不教傾側。如人負重擔。從獨木橋上過。亦不教失腳。且道是甚麼物任持。便得如是。且無絲髮可見。豈不見誌公和尚雲。內外追尋覔總無。境上施為渾大有。珍重。僧問。一切施為是法身用。如何是法身。師曰。一切施為是法身用。曰。離卻五蘊。如何是本來身。師曰。地水火風。受想行識。曰。這箇是五蘊。師曰。這箇異五蘊。問。此陰已謝．彼陰未生時如何。師曰。此陰未謝。那箇是大德。曰。不會。師曰。若會此陰。便明彼陰。問。大用現前．不存軌則時如何。師曰。汝用得但用。僧乃脫膊。遶師三匝。師曰。向上事何不道取。僧擬開口。師便打。曰。這野狐精出去。有僧上法堂。

was a son of the Chen family of that commandery. He studied under Huangbo Mountain and trained in the Vinaya. He once thought to himself, 'Though I am diligent and austere, I have not heard the principle of the profound ultimate.' So he traveled alone with his staff. About to go to Hongjing, his road passed through Shangyuan, where an old man told him, 'If you go to Nanchang, you will gain something.' The Master at once went to Baizhang, bowed, and asked, 'A student wishes to know the Buddha—which is it?' Zhang said, 'It is very much like riding an ox while looking for an ox.' The Master said, 'How is it after knowing?' Zhang said, 'Like a man riding an ox home.' The Master said, 'I do not yet understand how to keep and protect it from beginning to end.' Zhang said, 'Like an oxherd holding a staff and watching it, not letting it trample the young crops.' From then on the Master grasped the meaning and sought no further. His fellow student Chan Master You founded the settlement at Weishan. The Master plowed in person to aid the Way. When You passed into quiescence, the assembly asked him to succeed as abbot. Ascending the hall: 'You people all come to An seeking something. If you wish to become a Buddha, you are yourself a Buddha. To carry the Buddha on your shoulder and run around after it is like a thirsty deer chasing a mirage—when will you ever match it? If you wish to become a Buddha, simply be without all those inverted clingings, deluded thinkings, evil perceptions, and minds of defilement and purity, and you are the Buddha of first resolve and true enlightenment. Where else will you go looking for a reason? An has been at Weishan for thirty years or so, eating Weishan's rice and shitting Weishan's shit, and not learning Weishan's Chan. He only watches one water buffalo. If it strays into the grass, he hauls it back by the nostrils. If it tramples the young crops, he whips it. Having tamed it for a long time, it is pitiable how it heeds people's words. Now it has become a white ox in the open ground, always before his eyes, bare and clear all day long—drive it away and it will not go. Each of you has a priceless great treasure. It shines out from the gate of the eye, illuminating mountains, rivers, and the great earth. It shines out from the gate of the ear, gathering all good and evil sounds. Thus the six gates shine day and night, which is also called the samadhi of radiating light. You do not recognize it yourselves; it shadows within the body of the four elements, supporting you inside and out so that you do not topple. It is like a man carrying a heavy burden across a single-plank bridge, not letting his foot slip. Now tell me, what thing is it that holds you up so that you are like this? And there is not a hair of it to be seen. Have you not heard the monk Zhigong say: seek it inside and out and you find nothing at all; yet in the field of objects its workings are abundant. Take care.' A monk asked, 'All activities are the function of the dharma-body. What is the dharma-body?' The Master said, 'All activities are the function of the dharma-body.' 'Apart from the five aggregates, what is the original body?' The Master said, 'Earth, water, fire, wind; feeling, perception, formation, consciousness.' 'That is the five aggregates.' The Master said, 'That is different from the five aggregates.' A monk asked, 'When this aggregate has not yet ceased and that aggregate has not yet arisen, how is it?' The Master said, 'This aggregate has not yet ceased—who is the worthy one?' 'I do not understand.' The Master said, 'If you understand this aggregate, you will understand that aggregate.' A monk asked, 'When the great function appears before one and no rule is kept, how is it?' The Master said, 'If you can use it, just use it.' The monk then bared his shoulder and circled the Master three times. The Master said, 'Why do you not speak of the matter that lies above?' As the monk was about to open his mouth, the Master hit him and said, 'Get out, you wild fox spirit.' A monk went up to the Dharma hall,

顧視東西。不見師。乃曰。好箇法堂。祇是無人。師從門裡出。曰。作麼。僧無對。雪峰因入山採得一枝木。其形似虵。於背上題曰。本自天然。不假雕琢。寄與師。師曰。本色住山人。且無刀斧痕。僧問。佛在何處。師曰。不離心。又問。雙峰上人。有何所得。師曰。法無所得。設有所得。得本無得。問。黃巢軍來。和尚向甚麼處迴避。師曰。五蘊山中。曰。忽被他捉著時如何。師曰。惱亂將軍。師大化閩城。唐中和三年歸黃檗示寂。塔於楞伽山。諡圓智禪師。

looked east and west, did not see the Master, and said, 'What a fine Dharma hall—only there is no one in it.' The Master came out from inside the door and said, 'What is it?' The monk had no reply. Once Xuefeng, having gone into the mountains, picked a branch of wood shaped like a snake, and wrote on its back, 'Naturally so of itself, not made by carving.' He sent it to the Master. The Master said, 'A man of true colors dwelling in the mountains, with no trace of axe or knife.' A monk asked, 'Where is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'Not apart from the mind.' He asked again, 'What did the worthy one of Shuangfeng attain?' The Master said, 'The Dharma has nothing to attain. Even if there were something to attain, what is attained is originally non-attainment.' A monk asked, 'If the army of Huang Chao comes, where will the Master take refuge?' The Master said, 'In the mountain of the five aggregates.' 'And if he suddenly catches you?' The Master said, 'He would only trouble the general.' The Master greatly spread the teaching in the cities of Min. In the third year of Zhonghe of the Tang he returned to Huangbo and passed into quiescence. His stupa is on Mount Lengqie. He was posthumously titled Chan Master Yuanzhi.

杭州大慈山寰中禪師

Chan Master Huanzhong of Daci Mountain in Hangzhou

蒲坂盧氏子。頂骨圓聳。其聲如鐘。少丁母憂。廬於墓所。服闋思報罔極。乃於幷州童子寺出家。嵩嶽登戒。習諸律學。後參百丈。受心印。辭往南嶽常樂寺。結茅于山頂。一日。南泉至。問。如何是庵中主。師曰。蒼天。蒼天。泉曰。蒼天且置。如何是庵中主。師曰。會即便會。莫忉忉。泉拂袖而出。後住大慈。上堂。山僧不解答話。秖能識病。時有僧出。師便歸方丈。(法眼雲。眾中喚作病在目前。不識。玄覺雲。且道大慈識病不識病。此僧出來是病不是病。若言是病。每日行住不可總是病。若言不是病。出來又作麼生)。趙州問。般若以何為體。師曰。般若以何為體。州大笑而出。明日。州掃地次。師曰。般若以何為體。州置帚。拊掌大笑。師便歸方丈。僧辭。師問。甚麼處去。曰。江西去。師曰。我勞汝一段事得否。曰。和尚有甚麼事。師曰。將取老僧去得麼。曰。更有過於和尚者。亦不能將去。師便休。僧後舉似洞山。山曰。闍黎爭合恁麼道。曰。和尚作麼生。山曰。得(法眼別雲。和尚若去。某甲提笠子)。山又問其僧。大慈別有甚麼言句。曰。有時示眾曰。說得一丈。不如行取一尺。說得一尺。不如行取一寸。山曰。我不恁麼道。曰。和尚作麼生。山曰。說取行不得底。行取說不得底(雲居雲。行時無說路。說時無行路。不說不行時。合行甚麼路。洛浦雲。行說俱到。即本分事無。行說俱不到。即本分事在)。後屬武宗廢教。師短褐隱居。大中歲重剃染。大揚宗旨。咸通三年不疾而逝。僖宗諡性空大師。

A native of Lu in Puban, he had a rounded, prominent skull and a voice like a bell. He lost his mother young and lived in a hut beside her grave. After the mourning period, wishing to repay her boundless kindness, he became a monk at Tongzi Temple in Bingzhou. He received the precepts on Mount Song and studied the various Vinaya traditions. Later he visited Baizhang and received the mind-seal. He took leave and went to Chang Le Temple on Mount Heng, where he built a thatched hut on the summit. One day Nanquan arrived and asked, ‘Who is the master of this hermitage?’ The master said, ‘Heavens, heavens!’ Quan said, ‘Set the heavens aside. Who is the master here?’ The master said, ‘If you understand, then understand; do not chatter.’ Quan flicked his sleeve and left. Later the master dwelt at Daci. At a teaching he said, ‘This mountain monk cannot answer questions; I can only recognize illness.’ A monk stepped forward. The master immediately returned to his room. (Fayan said, ‘People in the assembly call this “the illness is right before you,” but they do not recognize it.’ Xuanjue said, ‘Tell me, did Daci recognize illness or not? Was this monk’s coming forward illness or not? If it was illness, then surely every daily act of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down would be illness. If it was not illness, why did he come forward?’) Zhaozhou asked, ‘What is the substance of prajna?’ The master replied, ‘What is the substance of prajna?’ Zhou laughed loudly and left. The next day, while Zhou was sweeping, the master asked, ‘What is the substance of prajna?’ Zhou set down his broom and clapped, laughing. The master returned to his room. A monk took leave. The master asked, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To Jiangxi.’ The master said, ‘May I trouble you with a task?’ ‘What task does the master have?’ ‘Could you take this old monk with you?’ The monk said, ‘Even one greater than you could not be carried away.’ The master let it go. Later the monk recounted this to Dongshan. Shan said, ‘How could you have answered that way?’ ‘What would the master have said?’ Shan said, ‘I could.’ (Fayan offered another answer: ‘If the master went, I would carry his hat.’) Shan then asked, ‘Did Daci have any other sayings?’ The monk said, ‘Sometimes he told the assembly: “To speak a yard is not as good as to practice an inch; to speak an inch is not as good as to practice a hairbreadth.”’ Shan said, ‘I would not put it that way.’ ‘What would the master say?’ Shan said, ‘Speak what cannot be practiced; practice what cannot be spoken.’ (Yunju said, ‘When practicing, there is no road of speech; when speaking, there is no road of practice. When neither speaking nor practicing, what road should one take?’ Luopu said, ‘If practice and speech both reach it, then there is no matter of one’s own; if neither reaches it, then the matter of one’s own remains.’) Later, during Emperor Wuzong’s suppression of Buddhism, the master wore coarse clothes and lived in seclusion. In the Dazhong era he again received the tonsure and widely proclaimed the teaching. He died without illness in the third year of Xiantong. Emperor Xizong posthumously honored him as Master Xingkong.

天台平田普岸禪師

Chan Master Puan of Pingtian on Mount Tiantai

洪州人也。於百丈門下得旨。後聞天台勝槩。聖賢間出。思欲高蹈方外。遠追遐躅。乃結茅薙草。宴寂林下。日居月諸。為四眾所知。創平田禪院居之。上堂。神光不昧。萬古徽猷。入此門來。莫存知解。便下座。僧參。師打一拄杖。其僧近前把住拄杖。師曰。老僧適來造次。僧卻打師一拄杖。師曰。作家。作家。僧禮拜。師把住曰。是闍黎造次。僧大笑。師曰。這箇師僧今日大敗也。臨濟訪師。到路口先逢一嫂在田使牛。濟問嫂。平田路向甚麼處去。嫂打牛一棒曰。這畜生到處走。到此路也不識。濟又曰。我問你平田路向甚麼處去。嫂曰。這畜生五歲尚使不得。濟心語曰。欲觀前人。先觀所使。便有抽釘拔楔之意。及見師。師問。你還曾見我嫂也未。濟曰。已收下了也。師遂問。近離甚處。濟曰。江西黃檗。師曰。情知你見作家來。濟曰。特來禮拜和尚。師曰。已相見了也。濟曰。賓主之禮。合施三拜。師曰。既是賓主之禮。禮拜著。有偈示眾曰。大道虗曠。常一真心。善惡莫思。神清物表。隨緣飲啄。更復何為。終於本院。遺塔存焉。

He was a native of Hongzhou and received the essential teaching in Baizhang’s community. Later he heard of Tiantai’s splendid scenery and the sages who had appeared there. Wishing to live beyond the world and follow their distant traces, he built a hut, cleared the grass, and sat in quiet meditation in the woods. As days and months passed, the four groups came to know him, and they established Pingtian Monastery for him. At a teaching he said, ‘The spiritual light is never obscured; its fine way endures through the ages. Once you enter this gate, do not keep conceptual understanding.’ Then he descended. A monk came to pay respects, and the master struck him with his staff. The monk stepped forward and held the staff. The master said, ‘This old monk was careless just now.’ The monk then struck the master with his staff. The master said, ‘A capable fellow, a capable fellow!’ The monk bowed. The master held him and said, ‘You were the careless one.’ The monk laughed loudly. The master said, ‘This monk has been thoroughly defeated today.’ Linji visited the master. At the road junction he first met a woman working an ox in the field. Ji asked her, ‘Which way is the road to Pingtian?’ She struck the ox once and said, ‘This beast wanders everywhere, yet does not even know the road here.’ Ji repeated, ‘I asked you which way the road to Pingtian goes.’ She said, ‘At five years old this beast is still no use.’ Linji thought, ‘To assess a person, first observe what he employs,’ and formed the intention to pull out nails and wedges. When he met the master, the master asked, ‘Have you seen my sister-in-law?’ Linji said, ‘I have already taken her in.’ The master then asked, ‘Where have you recently come from?’ ‘Huangbo in Jiangxi.’ The master said, ‘I knew you had met a capable teacher.’ Linji said, ‘I have come especially to pay respects to you.’ The master said, ‘We have already met.’ Linji said, ‘The rites between guest and host call for three bows.’ The master said, ‘Since these are the rites between guest and host, bow.’ He showed the assembly this verse: ‘The Great Way is vast and empty, the one true mind always so. Think neither good nor evil; the spirit is clear, beyond things. Take food and drink as conditions provide; what else is there to do?’ He died at this monastery, where his memorial stupa remains.

瑞州五峰常觀禪師

Chan Master Changguan of Wufeng in Ruizhou

僧問。如何是五峰境。師曰。險。曰。如何是境中人。師曰。塞。僧辭。師曰。甚麼處去。曰。臺山去。師竪一指曰。若見文殊了。卻來這裡與汝相見。僧無語。師問。僧甚麼處來。曰。莊上來。師曰。汝還見牛麼。曰。見。師曰。見左角。見右角。僧無語。師代曰。見無左右(仰山別雲。還辨左右麼)。又僧辭。師曰。汝諸方去。莫謗老僧在這裡。曰。某甲不道和尚在這裡。師曰。汝道老僧在甚麼處。僧竪起一指。師曰。早是謗老僧也。

A monk asked, ‘What is the scene at Wufeng?’ The master said, ‘Precarious.’ ‘Who is the person within that scene?’ ‘Blocked.’ A monk took leave. The master asked, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To Mount Tai.’ The master raised one finger and said, ‘If you see Manjushri, then come back here and meet me.’ The monk had no reply. The master asked another monk, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘The estate.’ ‘Did you see the ox?’ ‘I did.’ The master said, ‘Did you see its left horn or its right horn?’ The monk had no reply. The master answered for him, ‘I saw neither left nor right.’ (Yangshan offered another answer: ‘Can you distinguish left from right?’) Another monk took leave. The master said, ‘When you go to other communities, do not slander this old monk by saying he is here.’ The monk said, ‘I would never say that the master is here.’ The master asked, ‘Where do you say this old monk is?’ The monk raised one finger. The master said, ‘You have already slandered this old monk.’

潭州石霜山性空禪師

Chan Master Xingkong of Shishuang Mountain in Tanzhou

僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。如人在千尺井中。不假寸繩。出得此人。即答汝西來意。僧曰。近日湖南暢和尚出世。亦為人東語西話。師喚沙彌。拽出這死屍著(沙彌即仰山。山後問耽源。如何出得井中人。源曰。咄。痴漢。誰在井中。山復問溈山。溈召慧寂。山應諾。溈曰。出也。仰山住後。常舉前語謂眾曰。我在耽源處得名。溈山處得地)。

A monk asked, ‘What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?’ The master said, ‘Suppose a person were at the bottom of a thousand-foot well. Without using even an inch of rope, get that person out, and then I will answer your question about the Patriarch’s coming from the West.’ The monk said, ‘Recently the Venerable Chang of Hunan has appeared in the world and is also explaining things east and west for people.’ The master called to a novice, ‘Drag this corpse out!’ (The novice was Yangshan. Later he asked Damyuan, ‘How can the person in the well be brought out?’ Yuan said, ‘Bah, fool! Who is in the well?’ Yangshan then asked Weishan. Wei called, ‘Huiji!’ The mountain answered, ‘Yes?’ Wei said, ‘You are out.’ After Yangshan took up residence, he often cited the earlier exchange to the assembly and said, ‘At Damyuan’s place I received my name; at Weishan’s place I found my ground.’)

福州古靈神贊禪師

Chan Master Shenzan of Guling in Fuzhou

本州大中寺受業。後行腳遇百丈開悟。卻回受業。本師問曰。汝離吾在外。得何事業。曰。並無事業。遂遣執役。一日。因澡身命師去垢。師乃拊背曰。好所佛堂而佛不聖。本師回首視之。師曰。佛雖不聖。且能放光。本師又一日在牕下看經。蜂子投牕紙求出。師覩之曰。世界如許廣濶不肯出。鑽他故紙驢年去。遂有偈曰。空門不肯出。投窓也大痴。百年鑽故紙。何日出頭時。本師置經。問曰。汝行腳遇何人。吾前後見汝發言異常。師曰。某甲蒙百丈和尚指箇歇處。今欲報慈德耳。本師於是告眾致齋。請師說法。師乃登座。舉唱百丈門風曰。靈光獨耀。迥脫根塵。體露真常。不拘文字。心性無染。本自圓成。但離妄緣。即如如佛。本師於言下感悟曰。何期垂老得聞極則事。師後住古靈。聚徒數載。臨遷化。剃浴聲鐘告眾曰。汝等諸人。還識無聲三昧否。眾曰。不識。師曰。汝等靜聽。莫別思惟。眾皆側聆。師儼然順寂。塔存本山。

He first trained at Dazhong Temple in his home region. Later, while traveling, he met Baizhang and awakened. He then returned to his original temple. His former teacher asked, ‘When you left me to travel, what did you accomplish?’ ‘Nothing at all.’ So he was assigned to work. One day, while bathing, he asked the master to scrub his back. The master patted him and said, ‘What a fine Buddha hall, yet the Buddha is not holy.’ His former teacher turned to look. The master said, ‘Though the Buddha is not holy, he can still emit light.’ Another day, his former teacher was reading a sutra by the window. A bee kept striking the paper window, trying to get out. Seeing it, the master said, ‘The world is so vast, yet it refuses to leave and keeps boring into old paper. It will go on like that until the year of the donkey!’ He then composed a verse: ‘It will not leave the gate of emptiness; striking the window is truly foolish. A hundred years boring into old paper—when will it ever get out?’ His former teacher put down the book and asked, ‘Whom did you meet while traveling? I have heard you speak unusually more than once.’ The master said, ‘I received from Master Baizhang a pointer to the place of rest. I now wish to repay his kindness.’ His former teacher therefore told the assembly to prepare a meal and invited the master to teach. The master ascended the seat and proclaimed Baizhang’s tradition: ‘The spiritual light shines alone, detached from sense faculties and their objects. Its essence reveals the ever-true, unconfined by words. Mind-nature is unstained and complete from the beginning. Simply leave deluded conditions, and you are the Thus-Come Buddha.’ His former teacher awakened at these words and said, ‘Who would have thought that in my old age I would hear the ultimate matter?’ The master later resided at Guling and gathered disciples for several years. When he was about to die, he shaved, bathed, rang the bell, and told the assembly, ‘Do you recognize the samadhi without sound?’ They said, ‘We do not.’ The master said, ‘Listen quietly, and do not entertain other thoughts.’ Everyone listened intently. The master then passed away peacefully, sitting upright. His stupa remains on the mountain.

廣州和安寺通禪師

Chan Master Tong of He'an Temple in Guangzhou

婺州雙林寺受業。自幼寡言。時人謂之不語通。因禮佛次。有禪者問。座主禮底是甚麼。師曰。是佛。禪者乃指像曰。這箇是何物。師無對。至夜。具威儀禮問。今日所問。某甲未知意旨如何。禪者曰。座主幾夏邪。師曰。十夏。禪者曰。還曾出家也未。師轉茫然。禪者曰。若也不會。百夏奚為。乃命同參馬祖。及至江西。祖已圓寂。遂謁百丈。頓釋疑情。有人問師。是禪師否。師曰。貧道不曾學禪。師良久。召其人。其人應諾。師指椶櫚樹子。其人無對。師一日召仰山將床子來。山將到。師曰。卻送本處著。山從之。師召。慧寂。山應諾。師曰。床子那邊是甚麼物。山曰。枕子。師曰。枕子這邊是甚麼物。山曰。無物。師復召。慧寂。山應諾。師曰。是甚麼。山無對。師曰。去。

He trained at Shuanglin Temple in Wuzhou. From childhood he spoke little, and people called him Tong the Silent. Once, while he was worshipping the Buddha, a meditation master asked, ‘What is the thing you are bowing to?’ He said, ‘The Buddha.’ The meditation master pointed at the image and asked, ‘What is this?’ Tong could not answer. That night he put on formal robes, bowed, and asked, ‘I did not understand the meaning of your question today. What did you mean?’ The meditation master asked, ‘How many summers have you been here?’ ‘Ten.’ ‘Have you ever left home?’ Tong was perplexed. The master said, ‘If you do not understand this, what use are a hundred summers?’ He told him to join Mazu’s community. By the time Tong reached Jiangxi, Mazu had already passed away, so he visited Baizhang and suddenly resolved his doubts. Someone asked him, ‘Are you a Chan master?’ He said, ‘This poor monk has never studied Chan.’ After a while he called the person, who answered. Tong pointed to a palm tree. The person had no reply. One day Tong called Yangshan, ‘Bring the bedstand here.’ The mountain brought it. Tong said, ‘Put it back where it belongs.’ Yangshan did so. Tong called, ‘Huiji!’ The mountain answered, ‘Yes?’ Tong asked, ‘What is on the other side of the bedstand?’ ‘A pillow.’ ‘What is on this side of the pillow?’ ‘Nothing.’ Tong called again, ‘Huiji!’ ‘Yes?’ ‘What is it?’ Yangshan had no reply. Tong said, ‘Go.’

江州龍雲臺禪師

Chan Master of Longyuntai in Jiangzhou

僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。昨夜欄中失卻牛。

A monk asked, ‘What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?’ The master said, ‘Last night the ox escaped from its pen.’

京兆衛國院道禪師

Chan Master Dao of Weiguo Monastery in Jingzhao

新到參。師問。何方來。曰。河南來。師曰。黃河清也未。僧無對(溈山代雲。小小狐兒。要過但過。用疑作甚麼)。師不安。不見客。有人來謁。乃曰。久聆和尚道德。忽承法體違和。略請和尚相見。師將缽鐼盛缽楮。令侍者擎出呈之。其人無對。

A newly arrived monk came to pay respects. The master asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘Henan.’ The master said, ‘Has the Yellow River cleared yet?’ The monk had no reply. (Weishan answered for him: ‘A little fox—if it wants to cross, let it cross. Why hesitate?’) When the master was unwell, he received no visitors. Someone came to call on him and said, ‘I have long heard of the master’s virtue. Now I hear that your health is poor, so I humbly ask to see you briefly.’ The master filled a bowl and a bowl-shaped paper container with scraps, then had an attendant carry them out as a presentation. The visitor had no reply.

鎮州萬歲和尚

The Venerable of Wansui in Zhenzhou

僧問。大眾雲集。合譚何事。師曰。序品第一(歸宗柔別雲。禮拜了去)。

A monk asked, ‘Now that the assembly has gathered, what should we discuss?’ The master said, ‘The first chapter, the introductory chapter.’ (Guizong Rou offered another answer: ‘Bow and go.’)

洪州東山慧禪師

Chan Master Hui of Dongshan in Hongzhou