Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Eighteen

龍翔珪禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Gui of Longxiang

南康軍雲居頑庵德昇禪師

Chan Master Desheng of the Wan Hermitage at Yunju in Nankang Jun

漢州何氏子。二十得度。習講久之。棄謁文殊道禪師。問佛法省要。殊示偈曰。契丹打破波斯寨。奪得寶珠村裡賣。十字街頭窮乞兒。腰間掛箇風流裝。師擬對。殊曰。莫錯。師退參三年。方得旨趣。往見佛性。機不投。入閩至皷山禮覲。便問。國師不跨石門句。意旨如何。竹庵應聲喝曰。閑言語。師即領悟。住後。僧問。應真不借三界高超即不問。如何是無位真人。師曰。聞時富貴。見後貧窮。曰。擡頭須掩耳。側掌便飜身。師曰。無位真人在甚麼處。曰。老大宗師。話頭也不識。師曰。放你三十棒。

He was a son of the He family of Hanzhou. At twenty he was ordained. He practiced lecturing for a long time, then abandoned it and called on Chan Master Dao of Manjushri, asking about the essentials of the Buddha Dharma. Shu showed him a verse: 'The Khitan broke the Persian stockade and carried off the precious pearl to sell in the village. The poor beggar at the crossroads wears a jaunty ornament at his waist.' As the Master began to reply, Shu said, 'Do not mistake it.' The Master withdrew and consulted for three years before he got the purport. He went to see Foxing, but the mechanism did not match. He entered Fujian and reached Gushan to pay his respects, and at once asked, 'What is the purport of the National Master's phrase about not crossing the stone gate?' Zhuan of the Bamboo Hermitage shouted at the sound of his voice, saying, 'Idle words.' The Master at once awakened. After he took up residence, a monk asked, 'I do not ask about the true person who does not borrow or about the one who transcends the three realms. What is the true person of no rank?' The Master said, 'Rich when heard, poor when seen.' He said, 'Raise the head and you must cover your ears; turn the palm sideways and you turn over.' The Master said, 'Where is the true person of no rank?' He said, 'A great master of the school, and he does not even recognize a topic of conversation.' The Master said, 'I let you off thirty blows.'

通州狼山蘿庵慧溫禪師

Chan Master Huiwen of the Luo Hermitage at Langshan in Tongzhou

福州人。姓鄭氏。徧參諸老。晚依竹庵於東林。未幾。庵謝事。復謁高庵悟．南華昺．草堂清。皆蒙賞識。會竹庵徙閩之乾元。師歸省次。庵問。情生智隔。想變體殊。不用停囚長智。道將一句來。師乃釋然。述偈曰。拶出通身是口。何妨罵雨訶風。昨夜前村猛虎。咬殺南山大蟲。庵首肯。住後。上堂。釋迦老子。四十九年。坐籌帷幄。彌勒大士。九十一劫。帶水拖泥。凡情聖量。不能剗除。理照覺知。猶存露布。佛意祖意。如將魚目作明珠。大乘小乘。似認橘皮為猛火。諸人須是豁開𮌎襟寶藏。運出自己家珍。向十字街頭普施貧乏。眾中忽有箇靈利漢出來道。美食不中飽人吃。山僧只向他道。幽州猶自可。最苦是新羅。

He was a man of Fuzhou, of the Zheng family. He consulted all the venerable masters everywhere, and in late years relied on Zhuan of the Bamboo Hermitage at Donglin. Before long the hermit resigned his duties. He then called on Wuan Wu, Nanhua Bing and Caotang Qing, and was appreciated by them all. It happened that the Bamboo Hermitage moved to Qianyuan in Fujian. When the Master returned to pay his respects, the hermit asked, 'When feeling arises, wisdom is separated; when thought changes, the body differs. No need to halt the prisoner to grow wisdom — speak one phrase.' The Master was at once released. He spoke a verse: 'Pressed out, the whole body is mouth; what hinders scolding the rain and berating the wind? Last night in the front village a fierce tiger bit to death the great beast of the southern mountains.' The hermit approved it. After he took up residence, he ascended the hall: 'Old Sakyamuni, for forty-nine years, sat planning within the tent. The great being Maitreya, for ninety-one kalpas, dragged water and mud. Ordinary feeling and sage measure cannot be uprooted. Principle, illumination, awareness and knowing still leave a notice posted. The Buddha's meaning and the Ancestor's meaning are like taking a fish eye for a bright pearl. The Mahayana and the Hinayana are like mistaking orange peel for a blazing fire. You must all throw open the treasure house of your breast and bring out your own family jewels, and at the crossroads bestow them widely on the poor. If among the assembly a sharp fellow suddenly comes forward and says, "Fine food is not for the sated to eat," I will only say to him, "Youzhou is still bearable; what is bitterest is Xinluo."'

雲居悟禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Wu of Yunju

婺州雙林德用禪師

Chan Master Deyong of Shuanglin in Wuzhou

本郡戴氏子。上堂。拈槌竪拂。祖師門下。將黃葉以止啼。說妙談玄。衲僧面前。望梅林而止渴。際山今日去卻之乎者也。更不指東畫西。向三世諸佛命脈中。六代祖師骨髓裡。盡情傾倒。為諸人說破。良久曰。啼得血流無用處。不如緘口過殘春。

He was a son of the Dai family of the prefecture. Ascending the hall: 'Holding the mallet and raising the whisk under the Ancestor's gate is using a yellow leaf to stop a child's crying. Speaking of the wondrous and discussing the profound before a patch-robed monk is gazing at a plum grove to quench thirst. Jishan today puts aside "the one who says and the things said of," and no longer points east or draws west. In the lifeline of the Buddhas of the three ages and in the marrow of the Ancestors of the six generations, I will pour it all out and break it open for you all.' After a long while he said, 'Crying till the blood flows is of no use; better to seal the mouth and pass the remnant of spring.'

台州萬年無著道閑禪師

Chan Master Wuzhuo Daoxian of Wannian in Taizhou

本郡洪氏子。上堂。全機敵勝。猶在半途。啐啄同時。白雲萬裡。才生眹兆。已落二三。不露鋒鋩。成何道理。且道從上來事合作麼生。誣人之罪。以罪加之。上堂。舉乾峰示眾雲。舉一不得舉二。放過一著。落在第二。雲門出眾雲。昨日有人從天台來。卻往徑山去。峰曰。典座來日不得普請。師曰。相見不須瞋。君窮我亦貧。謂言侵早起。更有夜行人。

He was a son of the Hong family of the prefecture. Ascending the hall: 'To match the whole mechanism and overcome the victory is still halfway. Pecking and tapping at the same moment is white clouds ten thousand miles away. As soon as a sign is born, one has fallen into two and three. Not revealing the sharp point — what principle is that? Tell me, how should the matter from of old be handled? To accuse a man of a crime, add the crime to him.' Ascending the hall, he brought up Qianfeng showing the assembly: 'Raise one and you may not raise two. Let one move pass and you fall into the second.' Yunmen came forward and said, 'Yesterday someone came from Tiantai and went on to Jingshan.' Feng said, 'The cook may not go to the communal labor tomorrow.' The Master said, 'Meeting, there is no need to be angry; you are poor and I am poor too. You say you rose early — but there are still night travelers.'

福州中際善能禪師

Chan Master Shanneng of Zhongji in Fuzhou

嚴陵人。往來龍門雲居有年。未有所證。一日。普請擇菜次。高庵忽以貓兒擲師懷中。師擬議。庵攔胷踏倒。於是大事洞明。上堂。萬古長空。一朝風月。不可以一朝風月昧卻萬古長空。不可以萬古長空不明一朝風月。且如何是一朝風月。人皆畏炎熱。我愛夏日長。燻風自南來。殿閣生微涼。會與不會。切忌承當。

He was a man of Yanling. He went to and fro at Longmen and Yunju for years without realizing anything. One day, during the communal vegetable-picking, Wuan suddenly tossed a cat into the Master's bosom. As the Master began to deliberate, the hermit tripped him and pressed him down on his chest. Thereupon the great matter was thoroughly clear. Ascending the hall: 'The long sky of ten thousand ages; the wind and moon of a single morning. One may not, for the wind and moon of a single morning, obscure the long sky of ten thousand ages. One may not, for the long sky of ten thousand ages, fail to illumine the wind and moon of a single morning. But what is the wind and moon of a single morning? Everyone fears the blazing heat; I love the length of the summer day. The warm wind comes of itself from the south, and the halls and pavilions give rise to a faint coolness.' Understanding or not understanding, above all do not take it on.

南康軍雲居普雲自圓禪師

Chan Master Puyun Ziyuan of Yunju in Nankang Jun

綿州雍氏子。年十九。試經得度。留教苑五祀。出關南下。歷扣諸大尊宿。始詣龍門。一日。於廊廡間覩繪胡人。有省。夜白高庵。庵舉法眼偈曰。頭戴貂鼠帽。腰懸羊角錐。語不令人會。須得人譯之。復筴火示之曰。我為汝譯了也。於是大法明瞭。呈偈曰。外國言音不可窮。起雲亭下一時通。口門廣大無邊際。吞盡楊岐栗棘蓬。庵遣師依佛眼。眼謂曰。吾道東矣。上堂。舉。僧問雲門。如何是透法身句。門曰。北斗裡藏身。師曰。南北東西萬萬千。乾坤上下兩無邊。相逢相見呵呵笑。屈指擡頭月半天。

He was a son of the Yong family of Mianzhou. At nineteen he was ordained after examination on the sutras. He stayed in the teaching colleges five years, then went out of the pass and south, consulting all the great venerable masters one by one. He first reached Longmen. One day, in the corridor, he saw a painting of a foreigner and had an awakening. At night he told Wuan. The hermit brought up Fayan's verse: 'He wears a sable hat on his head and hangs a goat's-horn awl at his waist. His words no one can understand; someone must translate for him.' Then he lit a torch and held it out to him, saying, 'I have translated it for you.' Thereupon the great Dharma was made clear. He presented a verse: 'The sounds of foreign lands cannot be exhausted; beneath the rising-cloud pavilion they are understood at once. The gate of the mouth is vast and boundless — it swallows whole Yangqi's chestnut burr.' The hermit sent him to rely on Foyan. Yan said, 'My Way goes east.' Ascending the hall, he brought up: a monk asked Yunmen, 'What is the phrase that penetrates the Dharma body?' Men said, 'Hiding the body in the North Star.' The Master said, 'North, south, east, west — ten thousand times ten thousand; above and below heaven and earth, the two are boundless. Meeting and seeing each other, ha ha, we laugh; crooking a finger and raising the head, the moon is half the sky.'

烏巨行禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Xing of Wuju

饒州薦福退庵休禪師

Chan Master Xiu of the Retreat Hermitage at Jianfu in Raozhou

上堂。風動邪。幡動邪。風鳴邪。鈴鳴邪。非風鈴鳴。非風幡動。此土與西天。一隊黑漆桶。誑惑世間人。看看滅胡種。山僧不奈何。趂後也打閧。瓠子曲彎彎。冬瓜直儱侗。上堂。結夏時左眼半斤。解夏時右眼八兩。謾雲九十日安居。嬴得一肚皮妄想。直饒七穴八穿。未免山僧拄杖。雖然如是。千鈞之弩。不為鼷鼠而發機。上堂。先師尋常用腦後一鎚。卸卻學者胷中許多屈曲。當年克賓維那。曾中興化此毒。往往天下叢林。喚作超宗異目。非唯孤負興化。亦乃克賓受辱。若是臨濟兒孫。終不依草附木。資福喜見同參。今日傾腸倒腹。遂卓拄杖。喝一喝曰。還知先師落處麼。伎死禪和。如麻似粟。上堂。言發非聲。是箇甚麼。色前不物。莫亂針錐。透過禹門。風波更險。咄。

Ascending the hall: 'Is it the wind that moves, or the banner? Is it the wind that sounds, or the bell? It is not the wind or the bell that sounds, nor the wind or the banner that moves. This land and the West — a whole troop of black lacquer buckets, deluding and confusing the people of the world. Look out — the barbarian seed will be wiped out. This mountain monk can do nothing about it; I too join in the noise from behind. The gourd is crooked and bent; the winter melon is straight and lumpish.' Ascending the hall: 'At the beginning of the summer retreat the left eye weighs half a catty; at the end of the retreat the right eye weighs eight ounces. You may claim ninety days of peaceful dwelling, but you have won a bellyful of deluded thinking. Even if you are pierced through seven holes and eight, you cannot escape this mountain monk's staff. Yet even so, a crossbow of a thousand catties is not triggered for a field mouse.' Ascending the hall: 'When the word goes forth it is not a sound — what is it? Before form, not a thing — do not jab blindly. Pass through the Dragon Gate and the wind and waves are more dangerous still. Ho!'

信州龜峰晦庵慧光禪師

Chan Master Huiguang of the Hui Hermitage at Guifeng in Xinzhou

建寧人。上堂。數日暑氣如焚。一箇渾身無處安著。思量得也是煩惱人。這箇未是煩惱。更有己躬下事不明。便是煩惱。所以達磨大師煩惱。要為諸人吞卻。又被咽喉小。要為諸人吐卻。又被牙齒礙。取不得。捨不得。煩惱九年。若不得二祖不惜性命。往往轉身無路。煩惱教死。所謂祖禰不了。殃及兒孫。後來蓮華峰庵主到這裡。煩惱不肯住。南嶽思大到這裡。煩惱不肯下山。更有臨濟德山。用盡自己查棃。煩惱缽盂無柄。龜峰今日為他閑事長無明。為你諸人從頭點破。卓拄杖一下。曰。一人腦後露腮。一人當門無齒。更有數人鼻孔沒半邊。不勞再勘。你諸人休向這裡立地瞌睡。殊不知家中飯籮鍋子一時失卻了也。你若不信。但歸家檢點看。

He was a man of Jianning. Ascending the hall: 'For several days the summer heat has been like fire; one has no place to put one's whole body. Thinking it over, one is indeed an afflicted person. But this is not yet affliction. If the matter under one's own feet is not clear, that is affliction. So Bodhidharma the Great Master was afflicted: he wanted to swallow it for everyone, but his throat was too small. He wanted to spit it out for everyone, but his teeth got in the way. He could not take it; he could not let it go. He was afflicted for nine years. Had the Second Ancestor not spared his life, he would often have had nowhere to turn, and affliction would have killed him. This is what is meant by "if the ancestors are not clear, the calamity reaches the children and grandchildren." Later the hermit master of Lotus Peak reached this point and, being afflicted, would not stay. Great Master Si of Nanyue reached this point and, being afflicted, would not come down the mountain. And there were Linji and Deshan, who used up their own medlars and pears, and were afflicted that their bowls had no handles. Today Guifeng, for the sake of their idle business, has stirred up long vexation, and will point it out to you all from the beginning.' He planted his staff once and said, 'One man has his cheeks exposed behind his head; one man has no front teeth; several more have half a nostril missing. No need to inspect them again. You all should not stand here nodding off. You do not realize that the rice basket and the cooking pot at home have at once been lost. If you do not believe it, go home and check.'

真州長蘆且庵守仁禪師

Chan Master Shouren of the Qie Hermitage at Changlu in Zhenzhou

越之上虞人。依雪堂於烏巨。聞普說曰。今之兄弟做工夫。正如習射。先安其足。後習其法。後雖無心。以久習故。箭發皆中。喝一喝雲。只今箭發也。看。看。師不覺倒身作避箭勢。忽大悟。上堂。百千三昧。無量妙門。今日且庵不惜窮性命。祇做一句子說與諸人。乃卓拄杖。下座。嘗頌臺山婆話雲。開箇燈心皂角鋪。日求升合度朝昏。只因風雨連綿久。本利一空愁倚門。

He was a man of Shangyu in Yue. He relied on Xuetang at Wuju. He heard him give a general talk: 'When students today work at it, it is just like practicing archery. First settle the feet, then practice the method. Afterwards, though there be no mind, because of long practice every arrow hits.' He gave a shout and said, 'Just now the arrow is loosed. Look, look!' The Master unwittingly threw himself down in the posture of dodging an arrow, and was suddenly greatly awakened. Ascending the hall: 'A hundred thousand samadhis, measureless wondrous gates — today the Qie Hermitage will not spare his poor life; he will speak them to you all in a single phrase.' Then he planted his staff and descended from the seat. He once praised the case of the old woman of Mount Tai in verse: 'He opened a shop of lamp-wicks and soap-pods, seeking a pint or a peck each day to pass morning and dusk. But because wind and rain went on for so long, principal and interest were both gone, and he leans sorrowfully on the door.'

白楊順禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Shun of Baiyang

吉州青原如禪師

Chan Master Ru of Qingyuan in Jizhou

僧問。達磨未來時如何。師曰。生鐵鑄崑崙。曰。來後如何。師曰。五彩畫門神。

A monk asked, 'What was it like before Bodhidharma came?' The Master said, 'A Kunlun cast in pig iron.' He asked, 'And after he came?' The Master said, 'A door god painted in many colors.'

雲居如禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Ru of Yunju

太平州隱靜圓極彥岑禪師

Chan Master Yancen of Yuanji at Yinjing in Taiping Prefecture

臺城人也。上堂。韓信打關。未免傷鋒犯手。張良燒棧。大似曳尾靈龜。既然席捲三秦。要且未能囊弓褁革。煙塵自靜。我國晏然。四海九州。盡歸皇化。自然牛閑馬放。風以時。雨以時。五穀熟。萬民安。大家齊唱村田樂。月落參橫夜向闌。上堂。今朝八月初五。好事分明為舉。嶺頭漠漠秋雲。樹底鳴鳩喚雨。昨夜東海鯉魚。吞卻南山猛虎。雖然有照有用。畢竟無賓無主。唯有文殊普賢。住。住。我識得你。上堂。舉正堂辯和尚室中問學者。蚯蚓為甚麼化為百合。師曰。客舍幷州已十霜。歸心日夜憶鹹陽。無端更度桑乾水。卻望幷州是故鄉。

He was a man of Taicheng. Ascending the hall: 'Han Xin's forcing the pass could not avoid injuring the sharp point and hurting the hand. Zhang Liang's burning of the plank road was very like a sacred tortoise dragging its tail. Though the three Qin were swept up like a mat, he still could not wrap up his bow and roll up his armor. The smoke and dust settle of themselves, and our country is at peace. The four seas and nine provinces all return to imperial transformation. Naturally the ox is idle and the horse is let go. The wind comes in its season, the rain comes in its season; the five grains ripen, the ten thousand people are at peace. Everyone sings together the village field song, as the moon sets and the Dipper sinks and the night draws to a close.' Ascending the hall: 'Today is the fifth of the eighth month; let me set out the good matter clearly for you. On the ridge the autumn clouds are vast and dim; beneath the trees the dove calls for rain. Last night the carp of the Eastern Sea swallowed the fierce tiger of the southern mountains. Though there is illumination and function, after all there is neither guest nor host. Only Manjushri and Samantabhadra — stop, stop. I know you.' Ascending the hall, he brought up Chan Master Bian of Zhengtang asking a student in his room: 'Why does the earthworm turn into a lily?' The Master said, 'A stranger in Bingzhou ten frosts have passed, and my heart turns home to Xianyang day and night. For no reason I crossed the Sanggan River, and now I look back on Bingzhou as my old home.'

鄂州報恩成禪師

Chan Master Cheng of Bao'en in Ezhou

上堂。秋雨乍寒。汝等諸人。青州布衫成就也未。良久。喝曰。雲溪今日。冷處著一把火。便下座。

Ascending the hall: 'Autumn rain and sudden cold — have you all finished your Qingzhou cloth robe?' After a long while he shouted and said, 'Today at Yunxi, light a fire in the cold place.' And he descended from the seat.

道場辯禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Bian of Daochang

平江府覺報清禪師

Chan Master Qing of Juebao in Pingjiang Prefecture

上堂。舉。僧問雲門。如何是諸佛出身處。門曰。東山水上行。師曰。諸佛出身處。東山水上行。石壓筍斜出。岸懸華倒生。

Ascending the hall, he brought up: a monk asked Yunmen, 'Where do the Buddhas come from?' Men said, 'The eastern mountain walks on the water.' The Master said, 'Where the Buddhas come from: the eastern mountain walks on the water. Pressed by a stone, the bamboo shoot comes out crooked; on the overhanging bank the flower blooms upside down.'

安吉州何山然首座

Head Seat Ran of He Mountain in Anji Prefecture

姑蘇人。侍正堂之久。入室次。堂問。貓兒為甚麼偏愛捉老鼠。曰。物見主。眼卓竪。堂欣然。因命分座。

He was a man of Gusu. He attended Zhengtang for a long time. When he entered the room, Tang asked, 'Why is the cat so fond of catching mice?' He answered, 'When a thing sees its master, its eyes stand up.' Tang was delighted, and on this account appointed him to share the seat.

黃龍忠禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Zhong of Huanglong

成都府信相戒修禪師

Chan Master Jiexiu of Xinxiang in Chengdu Prefecture