Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Eighteen

南平人。上堂。不是心。不是佛。不是物。瀝盡野狐涎。趯飜山鬼窟。平田淺草裡。露出焦尾大蟲。太虗寥廓中。放出遼天俊鶻。阿呵呵。露風骨。等閑拈出眾人前。畢竟分明是何物。咄咄。上堂。玉露垂青草。金風動白蘋。一聲寒鴈叫。喚起未惺人。

He was a man of Nanping. Ascending the hall: 'Not mind, not Buddha, not a thing. Drain dry the wild fox's spittle, kick over the mountain ghost's cave. In the level fields and shallow grass, expose the fierce tiger with the singed tail. In the vast emptiness, release the fine falcon of the vast sky. Ha ha ha. Reveal the wind and bone. Casually picked up and held out before the crowd — after all, what clearly is it? Ho, ho.' Ascending the hall: 'Jade dew hangs on the green grass; the golden wind stirs the white duckweed. One cry of the cold wild goose wakes the man who has not yet awakened.'

汀州報恩法演禪師

Chan Master Fayen of Bao'en in Tingzhou

果州人。上堂。舉俱胝竪指因緣。師曰。佳人睡起懶梳頭。把得金釵插便休。大抵還他肌骨好。不塗紅粉也風流。

He was a man of Guozhou. Ascending the hall, he brought up the cause and condition of Juzhi raising his finger. The Master said, 'The beauty wakes from sleep too lazy to comb her hair; she takes the golden hairpin and puts it in and is done. Most likely it is her fine bone and flesh; without rouge she is still elegant.'

臨安府淨慈肯堂彥充禪師

Chan Master Yancong of the Kentang Hall at Jingci in Lin'an Prefecture

於潛盛氏子。幼依明空院義堪為師。首參大愚宏智．正堂大圓。後聞東林謂眾曰。我此間別無玄妙。祇有木札羹。鐵釘飯。任汝咬嚼。師竊喜之。直造謁。陳所見解。林曰。據汝見處。正坐在鑑覺中。師疑不已。將從前所得底一時颺下。一日。聞僧舉南泉道。時人見此一株華。如夢相似。默有所覺。曰。打草祇要虵驚。次日入室。林問。那裡是巖頭密啟其意處。師曰。今日捉敗這老賊。林曰。達磨大師性命在汝手裡。師擬開口。驀被攔胷一拳。忽大悟。直得汗流浹背。點首自謂曰。臨濟道。黃檗佛法無多子。豈虗語邪。遂呈頌曰。為人須為徹。殺人須見血。德山與巖頭。萬裡一條鐵。林然之。住後。上堂。世尊不說說。迦葉不聞聞。卓拄杖曰。水流黃葉來何處。牛帶寒鴉過遠村。上堂。舉雪峰示眾雲。盡大地是箇解脫門。因甚把手拽不入。師曰。大小雪峰話作兩橛。既盡大地是箇解脫門。用拽作麼。上堂。一向與麼去。法堂前草深一丈。一向與麼來。腳下泥深三尺。且道如何即是。三年逢一閏。鷄向五更啼。上堂。舉卍庵先師道。坐佛床。斫佛腳。不敬東家孔夫子。卻向他鄉習禮樂。師曰。入泥入水即不無。先師爭奈寒蟬抱枯木。泣盡不回頭。卓拄杖曰。灼然。有不回頭底。淨慈向升子裡禮汝三拜。上堂。三世諸佛。無中說有。䕞𦿆拾華針。六代祖師。有裡尋無。猿猴探水月。去此二途。如何話會。儂家不管興亡事。盡日和雲占洞庭。元庵受智者請。引座曰。南山有箇老魔王。烱烱雙眸放電光。口似血盆呵佛祖。牙如劍樹罵諸方。幾度業風吹不動。吹得動。雲黃山畔與嵩頭陀．傅大士。一火破落戶。依舊孟八郎。賺他無限痴男女。開眼堂堂入鑊湯。忽有箇衲僧出來道。既是善知識。為甚賺人入鑊湯。只向他道。非公境界。後示寂。塔於寺之南庵。

He was a son of the Sheng family of Yuqian. In childhood he took Yikan of Mingkong Monastery as his teacher. He first consulted Dayu, Hongzhi, Zhengtang, and Dayuan. Later he heard Donglin tell the assembly, 'Here I have no mystery or wonder at all, only wooden-slip soup and iron-nail rice—chew them as you please.' The Master secretly liked this and went straight to call on him and set forth his own views. Lin said, 'According to what you have seen, you are sitting right in the midst of discerning awareness.' The Master's doubt was unceasing, and he threw down all he had attained before. One day, hearing a monk bring up Nanquan's words, 'People of the time see this one flower as if in a dream,' he was silently awakened and said, 'Beat the grass only to startle the snake.' The next day he entered the room. Lin asked, 'Where is the place where Yantou secretly disclosed his meaning?' The Master said, 'Today I have caught this old thief.' Lin said, 'Great Master Bodhidharma's life is in your hands.' The Master was about to open his mouth when suddenly he was struck a blow on the chest; he was suddenly greatly awakened, until the sweat streamed down his back. Nodding, he said to himself, 'Linji said Huangbo's Buddha dharma has nothing much to it—how could that be an empty saying?' Then he presented a verse: 'In dealing with people one must deal thoroughly; in killing a man one must see blood. Deshan and Yantou—ten thousand leagues, one bar of iron.' Lin approved. After he took up residence, he ascended the hall: 'The World-Honored One spoke the unspoken; Kashyapa heard the unheard.' He set down his staff and said, 'The flowing water carries yellow leaves—from where do they come? An ox with a winter crow crosses the far village.' Ascending the hall, he brought up Xuefeng's address to the assembly: 'The whole great earth is a gate of liberation—why can you not drag them in by the hand?' The Master said, 'Great Xuefeng broke his words into two halves. Since the whole great earth is a gate of liberation, what need is there to drag?' Ascending the hall: 'If you go on like that always, the grass before the dharma hall is ten feet deep. If you come on like that always, the mud underfoot is three feet deep. Tell me, how then is it right? Once in three years comes a leap month; the cock crows at the fifth watch.' Ascending the hall, he brought up the late master Wan'an's words: 'Sitting on the Buddha's bed, chopping the Buddha's feet; not respecting the Confucius of the east house, but going to another village to practice rites and music.' The Master said, 'Entering mud and entering water is not absent in him; but alas, my late master is like a cold cicada clinging to a withered tree, weeping itself out and never turning back.' He set down his staff and said, 'Quite so. If there is one who does not turn back, Jingci bows to you three times in a pint measure.' Ascending the hall: 'The Buddhas of the three ages speak of being within non-being, like gathering flowers among the henbane. The Patriarchs of the six generations seek non-being within being, like a monkey grasping at the moon in the water. Setting aside these two roads, how will you understand it? The whole family pays no heed to rise and fall; all day it takes the clouds and holds Dongting Lake.' When Yuan'an was invited by the Wise One, he introduced the seat and said, 'On the southern mountain there is an old demon king, his bright eyes shooting lightning; his mouth like a basin of blood, he scolds Buddha and Patriarch; his teeth like a forest of swords, he reviles every quarter. Many times the karma wind blew and could not move him. If it could move him—then by the clouds and yellow mountains, with Songtou Tuo and Upasaka Fu—one pack of bankrupts, still the same Meng the Eighth, cheating those countless foolish men and women, so that with open eyes they walk grandly into the cauldron of boiling water.' Suddenly a patch-robed monk came forward and said, 'Since you are a good friend of the Way, why do you cheat people into the cauldron?' He only told him, 'That is not your affair.' Later he passed away, and his stupa is at the southern hermitage of the monastery.

婺州智者元庵真慈禪師

Chan Master Zhenci of Yuan'an, Zhizhe, Wuzhou

潼川人。姓李氏。初依成都正法出家。具戒後遊講肆。聽講圓覺。至四大各離。今者妄身當在何處。畢竟無體。實同幻化。因而有省。作頌曰。一顆明珠。在我這裡。撥著動著。放光動地。以呈諸講師。無能曉之者。歸以呈其師。遂舉狗子無佛性話詰之。師曰。雖百千萬億公案。不出此頌也。其師以為不遜。乃叱出。師因南遊。至廬山圓通掛塔。時卍庵為西堂。為眾入室。舉。僧問雲門。撥塵見佛時如何。門雲。佛亦是塵。師隨聲便喝。以手指𮌎曰。佛亦是塵。師復頌曰。撥塵見佛。佛亦是塵。問了答了。直下飜身。勸君更盡一杯酒。西出陽關無故人。又頌塵塵三昧曰。缽裡飯。桶裡水。別寶崑崙坐潭底。一塵塵上走須彌。明眼波斯笑彈指。笑彈指。珊瑚枝上清風起。卍庵深肯之。

He was a man of Tongchuan, of the Li family. He first left home at Zhengfa in Chengdu. After receiving full precepts he wandered among the lecture halls. Hearing a lecture on the Perfect Enlightenment Sutra, he came to 'the four great elements each separate—where then is this deluded body? Ultimately it has no substance; it is truly like an illusion,' and thereby had an awakening. He composed a verse: 'One bright pearl is here in me. Touch it and move it, and it emits light and shakes the earth.' He showed it to the lecturers, but none could understand it. He returned and showed it to his teacher. His teacher then brought up the case of the dog and Buddha-nature and questioned him. The Master said, 'Though there be a hundred thousand million cases, they do not go beyond this verse.' The teacher thought him presumptuous and shouted him out. Because of this the Master travelled south and came to hang his staff at Yuantong on Mount Lu. At that time Wan'an was the western seat and gave the assembly private instruction. He brought up: 'A monk asked Yunmen, 'When one brushes off the dust and sees the Buddha, how is it?' Men said, 'The Buddha is also dust.'' The Master at the sound at once gave a shout, pointed at his breast with his hand, and said, 'The Buddha is also dust.' The Master also wrote a verse: 'Brushing off the dust to see the Buddha, the Buddha is also dust. The question asked and the answer given—turn the body over right there. I urge you to drink one more cup of wine; west of Yang Pass there is no old friend.' He also wrote a verse on the samadhi of dust upon dust: 'Rice in the bowl, water in the bucket. The jewel-appraising Kunlun sits at the bottom of the pool. On each mote of dust strides Sumeru; the clear-eyed Persian smiles and snaps his fingers. Smiles and snaps his fingers—on the coral branch a clear wind rises.' Wan'an deeply approved him.

西禪需禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xu of Xichan

福州皷山木庵安永禪師

Chan Master Anyong of Mu'an, Gushan, Fuzhou

閩縣吳氏子。弱冠為僧。未幾謁懶庵於雲門。一日入室。庵曰。不問有言。不問無言。世尊良久。不得向世尊良久處會。隨後便喝。倐然契悟。作禮曰。不因今日問。爭喪目前機。庵許之。住後。上堂。要明箇事。須是具擊石火．閃電光底手段。方能嶮峻巖頭全身放捨。白雲深處得大安居。如其覷地覓金針。直下腦門須迸裂。到這裡假饒見機而變。不犯鋒鋩。全身獨脫。猶涉泥水。祇如本分全提一句。又作麼生道。擊拂子曰。淬出七星光燦爛。解拈天下任橫行。上堂。舉睦州示眾雲。諸人未得箇入處。須得箇入處。既得箇入處。不得忘卻老僧。師曰。恁麼說話。面皮厚多少。木庵則不然。諸人未得箇入處。須得箇入處。既得箇入處。直須颺下入處始得。上堂。拈拄杖曰。臨濟小廝兒。未曾當頭道著。今日全身放憨。也要諸人知有。擲拄杖。下座。僧問。須彌頂上飜身倒卓時如何。師曰。未曾見毛頭星現。曰。恁麼則傾湫倒嶽去也。師曰。莫亂做。僧便喝。師曰。雷聲浩大。雨點全無。

He was a son of the Wu family of Min County. At twenty he became a monk. Before long he called on Lan'an at Yunmen. One day he entered the room. An said, 'I do not ask about speaking, I do not ask about not speaking. The World-Honored One was silent a long while. You may not understand it at the place where the World-Honored One was silent a long while.' Then he at once shouted. The Master suddenly awakened, bowed, and said, 'Had it not been for today's question, I would have lost the mechanism before my eyes.' An approved him. After he took up residence he ascended the hall: 'If you want to make this matter clear, you must have the device of striking fire from stone and the flash of lightning, so that on the perilous cliff you can let go of the whole body and in the depths of the white clouds attain great peace. If you peer at the ground looking for a golden needle, your skull will split straight open. Arriving here, even if you see the mechanism and change with it, not offending the point, and the whole body escapes alone—you are still wading in mud and water. Tell me, how will you speak the phrase of wholly raising up one's own original share?' He struck his fly whisk and said, 'Quenched from the seven stars, it shines brilliantly; understanding how to take up the whole world, one walks freely.' Ascending the hall, he brought up Muzhou's address to the assembly: 'Until you people get a place to enter, you must get a place to enter. Once you have got a place to enter, you may not forget this old monk.' The Master said, 'Speaking like that, how thick is his face? Mu'an is not so. Until you people get a place to enter, you must get a place to enter. Once you have got a place to enter, you must throw the place of entry away—only then.' Ascending the hall, he picked up his staff and said, 'Linji the little brat never once spoke it to the point. Today I will play the fool with my whole body, and I want you all to know there is such a thing.' He threw down the staff and left the seat. A monk asked, 'What of when one turns over on the summit of Sumeru and stands upside down?' The Master said, 'I have never seen a hair-tip star appear.' He said, 'Then he overturns the waterfall and topples the mountain.' The Master said, 'Do not make a mess.' The monk gave a shout. The Master said, 'The thunder is vast, but there is not a drop of rain.'

溫州龍翔栢堂南雅禪師

Chan Master Nanya of Baitang, Longxiang, Wenzhou

上堂曰。瑞峰頂上。棲鳳亭邊。一杯淡粥相依。百衲蒙頭打坐。二祖禮三拜。依位而立。已是周遮。達磨老臊胡。分盡髓皮。一場狼籍。其餘之輩。何足道哉。栢堂恁麼道。還免諸方檢責也無。拍繩床雲。洎合停囚長智。上堂曰。大機貴直截。大用貴頓發。縱有嚙鏃機。一鎚須打殺。何故。我王庫內無如是刀。上堂曰。紫蕨伸拳筍破梢。楊華飛盡綠陰交。分明西祖單傳句。黃鸝留鳴燕語巢。這裡見得諦。信得及。若約諸方決定。明窻下安排。龍翔門下直是一槌槌殺。何故。不是與人難共住。大都緇素要分明。

Ascending the hall he said, 'On the summit of Ruifeng, beside the Perching Phoenix Pavilion, a cup of thin gruel keeps us together, and with a hundred-patched robe over the head we sit in meditation. The Second Patriarch bowed three times and stood in his place—already that is a muddle. Old stinking-barbarian Bodhidharma, dividing up marrow and skin, made a fine mess. As for the rest of that crew, what is there to speak of? When Baitang speaks thus, does he escape the censure of every quarter?' He slapped his rope chair and said, 'I nearly fell into letting the prisoner grow wise.' Ascending the hall he said, 'The great mechanism values directness; the great function values sudden discharge. Even if you have the mechanism to bite an arrow, one blow of the hammer must kill you. Why? In my king's treasury there is no such blade.' Ascending the hall he said, 'The purple fern stretches its fists, the bamboo shoots break their sheaths; the willow catkins have all flown and the green shade is woven. Clearly the single-transmitted phrase of the Western Patriarch; the oriole lingers singing, the swallow talks in its nest. If you see it truly here and are able to believe it, then judged by the standards of every quarter you would be set up under a bright window. But at the gate of Longxiang you are simply killed with one blow of the hammer. Why? It is not that one cannot live with others; it is mostly that black and white must be clearly distinguished.'

福州天王志清禪師

Chan Master Zhiqing of Tianwang, Fuzhou

上堂。竪起拂子云。只這箇天不能蓋。地不能載。徧界徧空。成團成塊。到這裡三世諸佛向甚麼處摸索。六代祖師向甚麼處提持。天下衲僧向甚麼處名邈。除非自得自證。便乃敲唱雙行。雖然如是。未是衲僧行履處。作麼生是衲僧行履處。是非海裡橫身入。豺虎叢中縱步行。

Ascending the hall, he raised his fly whisk and said, 'This alone heaven cannot cover and earth cannot carry; it pervades every realm and all space, forming lumps and clods. Arriving here, where do the Buddhas of the three ages grope for it? Where do the Patriarchs of the six generations hold it up? Where do the patch-robed monks of the world describe it? Unless you have it yourself and realize it yourself, you can only strike and sing in double file. Even so, that is not the patch-robed monk's ground of practice. What is the patch-robed monk's ground of practice? Thrust the body crosswise into the sea of right and wrong; walk freely through the thicket of jackals and tigers.'

南劒州劒門安分庵主

The Hermitage Master Anfen of Jianmen, Nanjianzhou

少與木庵同隷業安國。後依懶庵。未有深證。辭謁徑山大慧。行次江干。仰瞻宮闕。聞街司喝侍郎來。釋然大悟。作偈曰。幾年箇事掛胷懷。問盡諸方眼不開。肝膽此時俱裂破。一聲江上侍郎來。遂徑回西禪。懶庵迎之。付以伽棃。自爾不規所寓。後庵居劒門。化被嶺表。學者從之。所作偈頌。走手而成。凡千餘首。盛行於世。示眾。這一片田地。汝等諸人。且道天地未分已前在甚麼處。直下徹去。已是鈍置分上座不少了也。更若擬議思量。何啻白雲萬裡。驀拈拄杖。打散大眾。示眾。上至諸佛。下及眾生。性命總在山僧手裡。檢點將來。有沒量罪過。還有檢點得出者麼。卓拄杖一下曰。冤有頭。債有主。遂左右顧視曰。自出洞來無敵手。得饒人處且饒人。示眾。十五日已前。天上有星皆拱北。十五日已後。人間無水不朝東。已前已後總拈卻。到處鄉談各不同。乃屈指曰。一二三四五。六七八九十。十一十二十三十四。諸兄弟今日是幾。良久曰。本店買賣。分文不賖。

In his youth he and Mu'an both studied at Anguo. Later he relied on Lan'an, but had no deep realization. He took leave to go and call on Dahui at Jingshan. When he reached the riverbank and looked up at the palace towers, he heard the street officer shout, 'The Vice Minister comes!' and was suddenly greatly awakened. He wrote a verse: 'For how many years has this matter hung on my breast? I have questioned every quarter and my eye has not opened. At this moment liver and gall both split apart—one cry from the river, 'The Vice Minister comes!'' So he went straight back to Xichan. Lan'an came out to receive him and handed over the robe to him. From then on he did not fix on any dwelling. Later he lived in a hermitage at Jianmen, and his teaching spread throughout Lingnan; students followed him. The verses and eulogies he composed came from his hand on the spot, over a thousand of them in all, and they circulated widely in the world. Addressing the assembly: 'This one field of ground—tell me, you people, where was it before heaven and earth were divided? To go straight through it is already to have dragged down Reverend Zuo not a little. And if you deliberate and ponder, it is not merely ten thousand leagues of white cloud.' Suddenly he picked up his staff and scattered the assembly. Addressing the assembly: 'From the Buddhas above down to sentient beings below, their lives are all in this mountain monk's hand. Examining it, there is an immeasurable offense. Is there anyone who can examine it? He set down his staff once and said, 'A wrong has its head, a debt has its master.' Then he looked left and right and said, 'Since I came out of the cave I have had no rival; where one may spare a man, spare him.' Addressing the assembly: 'Before the fifteenth, all the stars in the sky pay court to the north. After the fifteenth, every water in the world flows toward the east. Before and after alike are swept away; everywhere the local talk is different.' Then he bent his fingers and said, 'One, two, three, four, five; six, seven, eight, nine, ten; eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Brothers, what day is today?' After a long while he said, 'In this shop's business not a single coin is given on credit.'

東禪嶽禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Yue of Dongchan

福州皷山宗逮禪師

Chan Master Zongdai of Gushan, Fuzhou

上堂。世尊道。應如是知。如是見。如是信解。不生法相。遂喝曰。玉本無瑕卻有瑕。

Ascending the hall: 'The World-Honored One said: you should know thus, see thus, believe and understand thus, and not give rise to marks of dharma.' Then he gave a shout and said, 'Jade has no flaw, yet it has a flaw.'

西禪淨禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Jing of Xichan

福州乾元宗頴禪師

Chan Master Zongying of Qianyuan, Fuzhou

上堂。卓拄杖曰。性燥漢祇在一槌。靠拄杖曰。靈利人不勞再舉。而今莫有靈利底麼。良久曰。比擬張麟。兔亦不遇。

Ascending the hall, he set down his staff and said, 'A man of fiery nature needs only one blow. Leaning on the staff, he said, 'A sharp man need not be raised again. Is there any sharp one now?' After a long while he said, 'He set out to catch the qilin, and did not even meet a rabbit.'

開善謙禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Qian of Kaishan

建寧府仙州山吳十三道人

The Taoist Wu Shisan of Xianzhou Mountain, Jianningfu

每以己事扣諸禪。及開善歸。結茆於其左。遂往給侍。紹興庚申三月八日夜。適然啟悟。占偈呈善曰。元來無縫罅。觸著便光輝。既是千金寶。何須彈雀兒。善答曰。啐地折時真慶快。死生凡聖盡平沉。僊州山下呵呵笑。不負相期宿昔心。

He was always questioning the Chan masters about his own matter. When Kaishan returned, he built a hut on his left and went to serve him. On the night of the eighth day of the third month of the gengshen year of Shaoxing he suddenly awakened. He made a verse and presented it to Shan: 'From the first it has no seam or crack; touch it and it shines. Since it is a treasure worth a thousand gold, why use it to shoot sparrows?' Shan answered: 'When it cracks and splits, how truly joyous; birth and death, ordinary and sage, all sink level. Beneath Xianzhou Mountain there is hearty laughter, and the long-ago hope is not betrayed.'

天童華禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Hua of Tiantong

慶元府天童密庵鹹傑禪師

Chan Master Xianjie of Mi'an, Tiantong, Qingyuanfu

福州鄭氏子。母夢廬山老僧入舍而生。自幼頴悟。出家為僧。不憚遊行。徧參知識。後謁應庵於衢之明果。庵孤硬難入。屢遭呵。一日。庵問。如何是正法眼。師遽答曰。破沙盆。庵頷之。未幾。辭回省親。庵送以偈曰。大徹投機句。當陽廓頂門。相從今四載。徵詰洞無痕。雖未付缽袋。氣宇吞乾坤。卻把正法眼。喚作破沙盆。此行將省覲。切忌便跺跟。吾有末後句。待歸要汝遵。出世衢之烏巨。次遷祥符．蔣山．華藏。未幾詔住徑山．靈隱。晚居太白。僧問。虗空銷殞時如何。師曰。罪不重科。上堂。牛頭橫說竪說。不知有向上關棙子。有般漆桶輩。東西不辨。南北不分。便問如何是向上關棙子。何異開眼尿床。華藏有一轉語。不在向上向下。千手大悲摸索不著。雨寒無處曬㫰。今日普請。佈施大眾。良久曰。達磨大師。無當門齒。上堂。世尊不說說。拗曲作直。迦葉不聞聞。望空啟告。馬祖即心即佛。懸羊頭賣狗肉。趙州勘庵主。貴買賤賣。分文不直。祇如文殊是七佛之師。因甚出女子定不得。河天月暈魚分子。槲葉風微鹿養茸。上堂。卓拄杖曰。迷時祇迷這箇。復卓一下曰。悟時祇悟這箇。迷悟雙忘。糞埽堆頭重添搕𢶍。莫有向東湧西沒全機獨脫處道得一句底麼。若道不得。華藏自道去也。擲拄杖曰。三十年後。上堂。舉金峰和尚示眾雲。老僧二十年前。有老婆心。二十年後。無老婆心。時有僧問。如何是和尚二十年前有老婆心。峰雲。問凡答凡。問聖答聖。曰。如何是二十年後無老婆心。峰雲。問凡不答凡。問聖不答聖。師曰。烏巨當時若見。但冷笑兩聲。這老漢忽若瞥地。自然不墮聖凡窠臼。上堂。舉婆子燒庵話。師曰。這箇公案。叢林中少有拈提者。傑上座裂破面皮。不免納敗一上。也要諸方檢點。乃召大眾曰。這婆子洞房深穩。水洩不通。偏收枯木上糝華。寒巖中發燄。箇僧孤身迥迥。

He was a son of the Zheng family of Fuzhou. His mother dreamed that an old monk from Mount Lu entered the house, and then he was born. From childhood he was keen and quick; he left home and became a monk. He did not shrink from travel and consulted teachers everywhere. Later at Mingguo in Quzhou he called on Ying'an. An was hard and solitary and difficult to enter; the Master was repeatedly scolded and driven off. One day An asked, 'What is the true dharma eye?' The Master answered at once, 'A broken slop basin.' An nodded. Before long he took leave to return and visit his parents. An gave him a verse in farewell: 'The phrase of great awakening that accords with the mechanism stands plainly, opening the crown of the head. I have followed you now four years; questioning and probing, you are thoroughly without trace. Though I have not yet handed over the bowl and bag, your spirit swallows heaven and earth: you take the true dharma eye and call it a broken slop basin. This journey is to visit your parents—by no means stamp your heel and turn back. I have a final phrase; when you return, I want you to follow it.' He appeared in the world at Wuju in Quzhou. Later he moved to Xiangfu, Jingshan, and Huazang. Before long he was summoned to dwell at Jingshan and Lingyin. In his late years he lived at Taibai. A monk asked, 'What of when empty space perishes?' The Master said, 'The offense is not doubled.' Ascending the hall: 'Niutou speaks crosswise and lengthwise, but does not know there is a latch above. There is a kind of lacquer-bucket breed who cannot tell east from west and north from south, and yet asks, 'What is the latch above?' How is that different from pissing in bed with your eyes open? Huazang has one turning phrase, not above, not below; the thousand-handed Great Compassion cannot grope for it. The rain is cold, and there is nowhere to spread it to dry. Today is the general invitation; I will distribute it to the assembly.' After a long while he said, 'Great Master Bodhidharma had no front teeth.' Ascending the hall: 'The World-Honored One spoke the unspoken, bending the crooked into the straight. Kashyapa heard the unheard, gazing at the void and making report. Mazu's mind itself is Buddha—hanging a sheep's head and selling dog meat. Zhaozhou's appraisal of the hermit master—buying dear and selling cheap, not worth a single coin. And as for Manjushri, teacher of the seven Buddhas—why could he not bring the woman out of samadhi? The river sky, the moon's halo, the fish dividing; oak leaves, the light wind, the deer growing antlers.' Ascending the hall, he set down his staff and said, 'In delusion one is deluded only about this.' He set it down again and said, 'In awakening one awakens only to this. Delusion and awakening both forgotten, on the rubbish heap one adds another scrap.' Is there anyone who can speak a phrase at the place where one emerges in the east and sinks in the west, wholly escaping with the whole mechanism? If you cannot speak it, Huazang will speak it himself.' He threw down his staff and said, 'Thirty years from now.' Ascending the hall, he brought up Chan Master Jinfeng's address to the assembly: 'Twenty years ago this old monk had the mind of an old woman; twenty years after, he has no mind of an old woman. At that time a monk asked, 'What was the Reverend's mind of an old woman twenty years ago?' Feng said, 'Asked about the ordinary, he answers the ordinary; asked about the sage, he answers the sage.' He asked, 'What is having no mind of an old woman twenty years after?' Feng said, 'Asked about the ordinary he does not answer the ordinary; asked about the sage he does not answer the sage.'' The Master said, 'Had Wuju seen it then, he would merely have laughed coldly twice. If this old man suddenly saw the ground, he would naturally not fall into the old nest of sage and ordinary.' Ascending the hall, he brought up the case of the old woman burning the hermitage. The Master said, 'This case is rarely raised in the monasteries. Upasaka Jie tears his face open; he cannot avoid admitting a defeat once, and he wants every quarter to examine it.' Then he called the assembly and said, 'This old woman's inner chamber is deep and steady, not a drop leaks out; she especially gathers flowers scattered on a withered tree and makes flame in the cold cliff. This monk is solitary and aloof, '

慣入洪波。等閑坐斷潑天潮。到底身無涓滴水。子細檢點將來。敲枷打鎻則不無二人。若是佛法未夢見在。烏巨與麼提持。畢竟意歸何處。良久曰。一把柳絲收不得。和煙搭在玉欄幹。上堂。動絃別曲。葉落知秋。舉一明三。目機銖兩。如王秉劒。殺活臨時。猶是無風帀帀之波。向上一路。千聖把手共行。合入泥犂地獄。正當與麼時。合作麼生。江南兩淛。春寒秋熱。上堂。盡乾坤大地。喚作一句子。擔枷帶鎻。不喚作一句子。業識茫茫。兩頭俱透脫。淨倮。倮赤灑灑。沒可把。達磨一宗。掃土而盡。所以雲門大師道。盡乾坤大地。無纖毫過患。猶是轉句。不見一法。始是半提。更須知有全提底時節。大小雲門。劒去久矣。方乃刻舟。後示寂。塔於寺之中峰。

'—accustomed to entering the vast waves. Offhand he cuts off the sky-soaking tide, and in the end his body holds not a drop of water. Examining it closely, as for breaking the cangue and smashing the lock, there are indeed two men who can do it. But as for the Buddha dharma, they have not even dreamed of it. When Wuju raises it thus, where after all does the meaning come home?' After a long while he said, 'One handful of willow silk cannot be gathered up; with the mist it drapes over the jade railing.' Ascending the hall: 'Stirring the string to a different tune, a leaf falls and one knows autumn. Raise one and understand three; the eye measures pennyweights and ounces. Like a king holding his sword, killing and sparing according to the moment—even so, that is the ripple of windless waves. The road above, where a thousand sages walk hand in hand, enters the hell of mud and iron. Just at such a time, what will you do? South of the River, in the two Zhe, spring is cold and autumn hot.' Ascending the hall: 'To call the whole of heaven and earth a single phrase is to shoulder a cangue and wear chains. Not to call it a single phrase is the vastness of karmic consciousness. If you pass through both ends, then you are pure and bare, red and free, with nothing to grasp. And the whole lineage of Bodhidharma is swept away to the ground. Therefore Great Master Yunmen said: 'The whole of heaven and earth without the least fault or trouble is still a turning phrase. Only when not a single dharma is seen is it half-raised. You must further know there is a time of full raising.' Great and small Yunmen! The sword has long gone, and only then does he carve the boat.' Later he passed away, and his stupa is on the central peak of the monastery.

南書記者

The Scribe Nan

福州人。久依應庵。於趙州狗子無佛性話。豁然契悟。有偈曰。狗子無佛性。羅睺星入命。不是打殺人。被人打殺定。庵見。喜其脫略。紹興末終於歸宗。

He was a man of Fuzhou. He long relied on Ying'an and was suddenly awakened on the case of Zhaozhou's dog and Buddha-nature. He had a verse: 'The dog has no Buddha-nature; Rahu's star enters the fate. It is not that he kills a man; he is certainly killed by a man's blow.' When An saw it he delighted in his freedom. At the end of the Shaoxing era he died at Guizong.

侍郎李浩居士

Layman Li Hao, Vice Minister

字德遠。號正信。幼閱首楞嚴經。如遊舊國。志而不忘。持橐後。造明果。投誠入室。應庵揕其𮌎曰。侍郎死後。向甚麼處去。公駭然汗下。庵喝出。公退參。不旬日竟躋堂奧。以偈寄同參嚴康朝曰。門有孫臏鋪。家存甘贄妻。夜眠還早起。誰悟復誰迷。庵見稱善。有鬻胭脂者。亦久參應庵。頗自負。公贈之偈曰。不塗紅粉自風流。往往禪徒到此休。透過古今圈䙡後。卻來這裡吃拳頭。

His courtesy name was Deyuan; his sobriquet Zhengxin. In childhood he read the Surangama Sutra and it was like wandering in a former country; he kept it in mind and did not forget it. After he took up his office, he visited Mingguo and with a sincere heart entered the room. Ying'an pressed his chest and said, 'After the Vice Minister dies, where will he go?' The Duke was startled and broke into sweat. An shouted him out. The Duke retired to study, and within ten days he reached the inner chamber. He sent a verse to his fellow student Yan Kangchao: 'At the gate there is Sun Bin's shop; in the house lives Gan Zhi's wife. Sleeping at night and still rising early—who awakens and who is deluded?' When An saw it he praised it. There was a rouge seller who had also long consulted Ying'an and was rather conceited. The Duke gave him a verse: 'Without rouge he is a gentleman by nature; often Chan students stop here. After passing through the ancient and modern hoop, he comes here to eat a fist.'

道場全禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Quan of Daochang

常州華藏伊庵有權禪師

Chan Master Youquan of Yi'an, Huazang, Changzhou

臨安昌化祁氏子。年十四得度。十八歲。禮佛智裕禪師於靈隱。時無庵為第一座。室中以從無住本。建一切法問之。師久而有省。答曰。暗裡穿針。耳中出氣。庵可之。遂密付心印。嘗夜坐達旦。行粥者至。忘展缽。鄰僧以手觸之。師感悟。為偈曰。黑漆崑崙把釣竿。古帆高掛下驚湍。蘆華影裡弄明月。引得盲龜上釣船。佛智嘗問。心包太虗。量廓沙界時如何。師曰。大海不宿死屍。智撫其座曰。此子他日當據此座。呵佛罵祖去在。師自是埋藏頭角。益自韜晦。遊歷湖湘江淛幾十年。依應庵於歸宗。參大慧於徑山。無庵住道場。招師分座說法。於是聲名隱然。住後。上堂。今朝結卻布袋口。明眼衲僧莫亂走。心行滅處解飜身。噴嚏也成師子吼。栴檀林。任馳驟。剔起眉毛頂上生。剜肉成瘡露家醜。上堂。禪禪。無黨無偏。迷時千里隔。悟在口皮邊。所以僧問石霜。如何是禪。霜雲㼾甎。又僧問睦州。如何是禪。州雲。猛火著油煎。又僧問首山。如何是禪。山雲。猢猻上樹尾連顛。大眾。道無橫徑。立處孤危。此三大老。行聲前活路。用劫外靈機。若以衲僧正眼檢點將來。不無優劣。一人如張良入陣。一人如項羽用兵。一人如孔明料敵。若人辨白得。可與佛祖齊肩。雖然如是。忽有箇衲僧出來道。長老話作兩橛也。適來道。道無橫徑。無黨無偏。而今又卻分許多優劣。且作麼生祇對。還委悉麼。把手上山齊著力。咽喉出氣自家知。淳熈庚子秋。示微疾。留偈。趺坐而逝。茶毗齒舌不壞。獲五色舍利無數。瘞於橫山之塔。分骨歸葬萬年山寺。

He was a son of the Qi family of Changhua in Lin'an. He received ordination at fourteen. At eighteen he paid respects to Chan Master Fozhi Yu at Lingyin. At that time Wu'an was the chief seat. In his room he questioned him with 'from the root of non-abiding, establish all dharmas.' After a long while the Master had an awakening and answered, 'Threading a needle in the dark; breath coming out of the ear.' An approved him, and secretly entrusted him with the mind seal. He once sat through the night until dawn. When the gruel-carrier came, he forgot to unfold his bowl. A neighboring monk touched him with his hand, and the Master was awakened and composed a verse: 'The black-lacquered Kunlun holds the fishing pole; the ancient sail hangs high and descends the swift rapids. Playing with the bright moon in the shadow of the reeds, he draws the blind turtle onto the fishing boat.' Fozhi once asked, 'What of when the mind encompasses the great void and its measure extends to the sands of the Ganges?' The Master said, 'The great sea does not lodge a corpse.' Zhi stroked his seat and said, 'This fellow will one day occupy this seat and scold Buddha and revile the Patriarchs.' From then the Master buried his horns and hid himself the more, traveling through Hu, Xiang, Jiang, and Zhe for several decades. At Guizong he relied on Ying'an; at Jingshan he consulted Dahui. When Wu'an dwelt at Daochang, he invited the Master to share the seat and preach. From this his fame grew quietly. After he took up residence he ascended the hall: 'Today the mouth of the cloth bag is tied shut; clear-eyed patch-robed monks, do not run about. Where mind and its workings are extinguished, one knows how to turn the body; even a sneeze becomes a lion's roar. In the sandalwood grove, gallop as you please. Lift your eyebrows and it grows on the crown of the head; cutting flesh into a wound exposes the family's shame.' Ascending the hall: 'Chan, Chan—no party, no bias. In delusion it is a thousand leagues apart; awakening is at the edge of the lips. Therefore a monk asked Shishuang, 'What is Chan?' Shuang said, 'A common brick.' Another monk asked Muzhou, 'What is Chan?' Zhou said, 'Fierce fire with oil poured on it.' Another monk asked Shoushan, 'What is Chan?' Shan said, 'A monkey climbing a tree, tail dragging behind.' Great assembly, the Way has no sideways path; where one stands is solitary and perilous. These three elders walked the living road before sound and used the numinous mechanism beyond the kalpas. If you examine them with a patch-robed monk's true eye, there is no lack of superior and inferior. One is like Zhang Liang entering the battle line, one is like Xiang Yu using troops, one is like Zhuge Liang measuring the enemy. If a man can distinguish them clearly, he may stand shoulder to shoulder with Buddha and Patriarch. Even so, suppose a patch-robed monk comes forward and says, 'The Elder's words are split in two. Just now you said the Way has no sideways path, no party and no bias, and now you divide them into so many superior and inferior.' How would you answer? Do you fully understand? Pulling hands up the mountain, all put forth strength; the breath from the throat—each knows it himself.' In the autumn of the gengzi year of Chunxi he showed slight illness, left a verse, and sat cross-legged and passed away. After cremation his teeth and tongue were unspoiled, and countless five-colored relics were obtained. They were buried in a stupa on Mount Heng; part of his bones were returned for burial at the Wannianshan Monastery.