The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll One

初參藥山。山問。甚處來。師曰。南嶽來。山曰。何處去。師曰。江陵受戒去。山曰。受戒圖甚麼。師曰。圖免生死。山曰。有一人不受戒。亦無生死可免。汝還知否。師曰。恁麼則佛戒何用。山曰。這沙彌猶掛唇齒在。師禮拜而退。道吾來侍立。山曰。適來有箇跛腳沙彌。卻有些子氣息。吾曰。未可全信。更須勘過始得。至晚。山上堂。召曰。早來沙彌在甚麼處。師出眾立。山問。我聞長安甚閙。你還知否。師曰。我國晏然(法眼別雲。見誰說)。山曰。汝從看經得。請益得。師曰。不從看經得。亦不從請益得。山曰。大有人不看經．不請益。為甚麼不得。師曰。不道他不得。祇是不肯承當。山顧道吾．雲巖曰。不信道。師一日辭藥山。山問。甚麼處去。師曰。某甲在。眾有妨。且往路邊卓箇草菴。接待往來茶湯去。山曰。生死事大。何不受戒去。師曰。知是般事便休。更喚甚麼作戒。山曰。汝既如是。不得離吾左右。時復要與子相見。師住菴後。一日歸來。值雨。山曰。你來也。師曰。是。山曰。可煞濕。師曰。不打這箇鼓笛。雲巖曰。皮也無。打甚麼鼓。道吾曰。鼓也無。打甚麼皮。山曰。今日大好一場曲調。僧問。一句子還有該不得處否。師曰。不順世。藥山齋時。自打鼓。師捧缽作舞入堂。山便擲下鼓槌曰。是第幾和。師曰。是第二和。山曰。如何是第一和。師就桶舀一杓飯便出。

He first studied under Yaoshan. Shan asked, 'Where have you come from?' The Master said, 'From Nanyue.' Shan said, 'Where are you going?' The Master said, 'To Jiangling to receive the precepts.' Shan said, 'What do you receive the precepts for?' The Master said, 'In order to escape birth and death.' Shan said, 'There is one who does not receive the precepts and has no birth and death to escape. Do you know that?' The Master said, 'If so, what use are the Buddha's precepts?' Shan said, 'This novice still hangs on lips and teeth.' The Master bowed and withdrew. Daowu came and stood in attendance. Shan said, 'Just now there was a lame novice who has a bit of breath in him.' Wu said, 'He cannot be wholly trusted; he must be tested further.' That evening Shan ascended the hall and called, 'Where is the novice who came this morning?' The Master came out from the assembly and stood. Shan asked, 'I hear Chang'an is very noisy — do you know that?' The Master said, 'My country is peaceful.' (Fayan said in comment, 'Who said so?') Shan said, 'Did you get it from reading sutras, or from seeking instruction?' The Master said, 'Neither from reading sutras nor from seeking instruction.' Shan said, 'There are many who neither read sutras nor seek instruction — why do they not get it?' The Master said, 'I do not say they do not get it; they simply will not take it on.' Shan turned to Daowu and Yunyan and said, 'Do you believe me now?' One day the Master took leave of Yaoshan. Shan asked, 'Where are you going?' The Master said, 'With me here the assembly is hindered; I will go and set up a grass hut by the roadside, to receive those who come and go with tea and broth.' Shan said, 'Birth and death is a great matter — why not go and receive the precepts?' The Master said, 'Knowing it is this sort of thing is enough; what would you call precepts?' Shan said, 'Since that is so, you must not leave my side; from time to time I want to see you.' After the Master had settled in his hut, one day he came back and it was raining. Shan said, 'So you have come.' The Master said, 'Yes.' Shan said, 'You must be terribly wet.' The Master said, 'I do not beat this drum and pipe.' Yunyan said, 'If there is no skin, what drum do you beat?' Daowu said, 'If there is no drum, what skin do you beat?' Shan said, 'Today is a fine tune indeed.' A monk asked, 'Is there anything a single phrase cannot cover?' The Master said, 'It does not follow the world.' Once at mealtime Yaoshan himself beat the drum. The Master came into the hall carrying his bowl and dancing. Shan threw down the drumstick and said, 'What harmony is this?' The Master said, 'It is the second harmony.' Shan said, 'What is the first harmony?' The Master scooped a ladle of rice from the bucket and went out.

鼎州李翱刺史

The Prefect Li Ao of Dingzhou

嚮藥山玄化。屢請不赴。乃躬謁之。山執經卷不顧。侍者曰。太守在此。守性褊急。乃曰。見面不如聞名。拂袖便出。山曰。太守何得貴耳賤目。守回拱謝。問曰。如何是道。山以手指上下。曰。會麼。守曰。不會。山曰。雲在青天水在瓶。守忻愜作禮。而述偈曰。鍊得身形似鶴形。千株松下兩函經。我來問道無餘說。雲在青天水在瓶(玄覺雲。且道李太守是讚他語。明他語。須是行腳眼始得)。守又問。如何是戒定慧。山曰。貧道這裡無此閑傢俱。守莫測玄旨。山曰。太守欲得保任此事。直須向高高山頂立。深深海底行。閨閣中物。捨不得便為滲漏。守見老宿獨坐。問曰。端居丈室。當何所務。宿曰。法身凝寂。無去無來(法眼別雲。汝作甚麼來。法燈別雲。非公境界)。

He admired Yaoshan's profound transformation, and after inviting him repeatedly without success he went in person to call on him. Shan held his scroll and paid no attention. The attendant said, 'The prefect is here.' The prefect was by nature narrow and hasty, and said, 'Seeing the face is not as good as hearing the name.' He flicked his sleeves and went out. Shan said, 'How can the prefect prize the ear and slight the eye?' The prefect turned back, bowed and apologized. He asked, 'What is the Way?' Shan pointed up and down with his finger and said, 'Do you understand?' The prefect said, 'I do not.' Shan said, 'Clouds are in the blue sky, water is in the bottle.' The prefect was delighted and bowed, and spoke a verse: 'Cultivated until the body is like a crane's, beneath a thousand pines two cases of sutras. I came to ask the Way with nothing else said: clouds are in the blue sky, water is in the bottle.' (Xuanjue said, 'Just say, was Prefect Li's verse praising him or clarifying him? One needs the eye of a pilgrim to tell.') The prefect also asked, 'What are precepts, concentration and wisdom?' Shan said, 'This poor monk has no such idle furniture here.' The prefect could not fathom the profound purport. Shan said, 'If the prefect wants to keep this matter, he must stand on the summit of a high mountain and walk on the bottom of the deep sea. The things of the women's quarters — if you cannot let them go, they become leaks.' Once the prefect saw an old recluse sitting alone, and asked, 'Sitting upright in the abbot's room — what should one attend to?' The recluse said, 'The dharma body is still and quiescent, neither coming nor going.' (Fayan said in comment, 'What have you come for?' Fadeng said in comment, 'Not the official's realm.')

丹霞然禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Ran of Danxia

京兆府翠微無學禪師

Chan Master Wuxue of Cuiwei in the Jingzhao Prefecture

初問丹霞。如何是諸佛師。霞咄曰。幸自可憐生。須要執巾帚作麼。師退身三步。霞曰。錯。師進前。霞曰。錯。錯。師翹一足。旋身一轉而出。霞曰。得即得。孤他諸佛。師由是領旨。住後。投子問。未審二祖初見達磨。有何所得。師曰。汝今見吾。復何所得。投子頓悟玄旨。一日。師在法堂內行。投子進前接禮。問曰。西來密旨。和尚如何示人。師駐步少時。子曰。乞師垂示。師曰。更要第二杓惡水那。子便禮謝。師曰。莫垛根。子曰。時至根苗自生。師因供養羅漢。僧問。丹霞燒木佛。和尚為甚麼供養羅漢。師曰。燒也不燒著。供養亦一任供養。曰。供養羅漢。羅漢還來也無。師曰。汝每日還吃飯麼。僧無語。師曰。少有靈利底。

At first he asked Danxia, 'What is the teacher of all Buddhas?' Xia shouted, 'You were pitiable enough as you were; what need to take up towel and broom?' The Master stepped back three paces. Xia said, 'Wrong.' The Master stepped forward. Xia said, 'Wrong, wrong.' The Master lifted one foot, spun around, and went out. Xia said, 'You have got it, but you wrong the Buddhas.' From this the Master received the purport. After he had settled there, Touzi asked, 'I wonder what the Second Ancestor gained when he first met Bodhidharma?' The Master said, 'What have you gained now in seeing me?' Touzi was at once awakened to the profound purport. One day the Master was walking in the Dharma hall. Touzi came up, greeted him, and asked, 'The secret purport of the coming from the West — how does the Reverend show it to people?' The Master halted a moment. Zi said, 'I beg the Master to reveal it.' The Master said, 'You want a second ladle of dirty water?' Zi then bowed in thanks. The Master said, 'Do not pile up roots.' Zi said, 'When the time comes, the root and sprout grow of themselves.' Once, when the Master was making offerings to the arhats, a monk asked, 'Danxia burned a wooden Buddha — why does the Reverend make offerings to the arhats?' The Master said, 'Burning does not burn it, and offering is offering as one pleases.' He said, 'In making offerings to the arhats, do the arhats come or not?' The Master said, 'Do you eat every day?' The monk said nothing. The Master said, 'Few are sharp.'

吉州孝義寺性空禪師

Chan Master Xingkong of Xiaoyi Monastery in Jizhou

僧參。師乃展手示之。僧近前。卻退後。師曰。父母俱喪。略不慘顏。僧呵呵大笑。師曰。少間與闍黎舉哀。僧打筋斗而出。師曰。蒼天。蒼天。僧參人事畢。師曰。與麼下去。還有佛法道理也無。曰。某甲結舌有分。師曰。老僧又作麼生。曰。素非好手。師便仰身合掌。僧亦合掌。師乃撫掌三下。僧拂袖便出。師曰。烏不前。兔不後。幾人於此茫然走。祇有闍黎達本源。結舌何曾著空有。

A monk came to study. The Master opened his hand and showed it to him. The monk came forward, then drew back. The Master said, 'Both your parents are dead, and your face does not show the least grief.' The monk laughed heartily. The Master said, 'In a little while I will hold a mourning rite with you, acharya.' The monk turned a somersault and went out. The Master said, 'O heavens, O heavens!' When the monk had finished his greetings, the Master said, 'Going down like that, is there still the principle of the Buddha Dharma or not?' He said, 'I am the one whose tongue is tied.' The Master said, 'And what about this old monk?' He said, 'You were never a skilled hand.' The Master then leaned back and joined his palms. The monk also joined his palms. The Master then clapped three times. The monk flicked his sleeves and went out. The Master said, 'The crow does not go forward, the hare does not go back — how many walk blindly here? Only the acharya reaches the source; with tongue tied, how could he fall into emptiness or existence?'

米倉和尚

The Reverend of Micang

新到參。遶師三匝。敲禪床曰。不見主人公。終不下參眾。師曰。甚麼處情識去來。曰。果然不在。師便打一拄杖。僧曰。幾落情識。師曰。村草步頭逢著一箇。有甚麼話處。曰。且參眾去。

A newly arrived monk walked three times around the Master, struck the meditation seat, and said, 'Without seeing the host, I will not join the assembly.' The Master said, 'Where have you gone with your feeling and consciousness?' He said, 'Sure enough, he is not here.' The Master gave him a blow with his staff. The monk said, 'How nearly I fell into feeling and consciousness.' The Master said, 'Meeting one at a village ferry crossing — what is there to talk about?' He said, 'I will go and join the assembly for now.'

丹霞山義安禪師

Chan Master Yi'an of Danxia Mountain

僧問。如何是佛。師曰。如何是上座。曰。恁麼即無異去也。師曰。誰向汝道。

A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'What is the elder?' He said, 'If so, then there is no difference.' The Master said, 'Who told you that?'

本童禪師

Chan Master Bentong

因僧寫師真呈。師曰。此若是我。更呈阿誰。曰。豈可分外也。師曰。若不分外。汝卻收取。僧擬收。師打曰。正是分外強為。曰。若恁麼即須呈於師也。師曰。收取。收取。

Once, when a monk had drawn a portrait of the Master and presented it, the Master said, 'If this is me, to whom else should it be presented?' He said, 'How could it be beyond one's portion?' The Master said, 'If it is not beyond your portion, then take it back.' The monk was about to take it. The Master struck him and said, 'This is precisely forcing what is beyond your portion.' He said, 'If so, then it must be presented to the Master.' The Master said, 'Take it back, take it back.'

大川禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Dachuan

仙天禪師

Chan Master Xiantian

新羅僧參。方展坐具。擬禮拜。師捉住雲。未發本國時道取一句。僧無語。師便推出曰。問伊一句。便道兩句。僧參。展坐具。師曰。這裡會得孤負平生去也。曰。不向這裡會得。又作麼生。師曰。不向這裡會。更向那裡會。便打出。僧參。才展坐具。師曰。不用通時暄。還我文彩未生時道理來。曰。某甲有口。瘂卻即閑。苦死覓箇臘月扇子作麼。師拈棒作打勢。僧把住曰。還我未拈棒時道理。師曰。隨我者隨之南北。不隨我者死住東西。曰。隨與不隨且置。請師指出東西南北。師便打。披雲和尚來。才入方丈。師便問。未見東越老人時。作麼生為物。雲曰。祇見雲生碧嶂。焉知月落寒潭。師曰。祇與麼也難得。曰。莫是未見時麼。師便喝。雲展兩手。師曰。錯怪人者有甚麼限。雲掩耳而出。師曰。死卻這漢平生也。洛瓶和尚參。師問。甚處來。瓶曰。南溪。師曰。還將南溪消息來麼。曰。消即消已。息即未息。師曰。最苦是未息。瓶曰。且道未息箇甚麼。師曰。一回見面。千載忘名。瓶拂袖便出。師曰。弄死虵手有甚麼限。僧參。擬禮拜。師曰。野狐兒見甚麼了便禮拜。曰。老禿奴見甚麼了便恁麼問。師曰。苦哉。苦哉。仙天今日忘前失後。曰。要且得時。終不補失。師曰。爭不如此。曰。誰甘。師呵呵大笑曰。遠之遠矣。僧四顧便出。

When a monk from Silla came to study, he had just spread his sitting cloth and was about to bow. The Master caught hold of him and said, 'Say one phrase from before you left your own country.' The monk said nothing. The Master then pushed him out, saying, 'I ask him one phrase and he says two.' A monk came to study and spread his sitting cloth. The Master said, 'To understand here is to betray your whole life.' He said, 'If one does not understand here, then how?' The Master said, 'If you do not understand here, where else will you understand?' And he drove him out. A monk came to study, and had just spread his sitting cloth. The Master said, 'No need for the usual greetings; give me back the principle from before literary flourish was born.' He said, 'My mouth is silenced, so I am at leisure. Why desperately seek a December fan?' The Master picked up his staff in a striking posture. The monk caught hold of it and said, 'Give me back the principle from before you picked up the staff.' The Master said, 'Those who follow me I take north and south; those who do not follow me stay dead in the east and west.' He said, 'Set aside following and not following. Please, Master, point out east, west, south and north.' The Master then hit him. When the Reverend Piyun came and had just entered the quarters, the Master asked, 'Before you met the old man of Dongyue, how did you act for the sake of beings?' Yun said, 'I only see clouds rising on the green peaks; how would I know the moon has set in the cold pool?' The Master said, 'Even that much is hard to come by.' He said, 'Is it not the time before seeing?' The Master then shouted. Yun spread both hands. The Master said, 'There is no limit to those who wrongly blame others.' Yun covered his ears and went out. The Master said, 'This fellow's whole life is dead.' When the Reverend Luoping came to study, the Master asked, 'Where have you come from?' Ping said, 'Nanxi.' The Master said, 'Have you brought news of Nanxi?' He said, 'The news has stopped, but the breath has not stopped.' The Master said, 'The most painful thing is that the breath has not stopped.' Ping said, 'Just say, what is it that has not stopped?' The Master said, 'One meeting, and for a thousand years the name is forgotten.' Ping flicked his sleeves and went out. The Master said, 'There is no limit to those who handle dead snakes.' A monk came to study and was about to bow. The Master said, 'Wild fox cub, what have you seen that you bow?' He said, 'Old bald slave, what have you seen that you ask like that?' The Master said, 'How painful, how painful. Today Xiantian has forgotten what came before and lost what came after.' He said, 'I would rather have the time than make up the loss.' The Master said, 'Why not just so?' He said, 'Who would be content?' The Master laughed heartily and said, 'Far, far away indeed.' The monk looked around and went out.

福州普光禪師

Chan Master Puguang of Fuzhou

僧侍立次。師以手開胷曰。還委老僧事麼。曰。猶有這箇在。師卻掩𮌎曰。不妨太顯。曰。有甚麼避處。師曰。的是無避處。曰。即今作麼生。師便打。

Once, as a monk stood in attendance, the Master opened his chest with his hand and said, 'Do you understand this old monk's matter?' He said, 'Still you have this.' The Master then closed his chest and said, 'It is quite manifest enough.' He said, 'What is there to avoid?' The Master said, 'Truly there is nothing to avoid.' He said, 'And just now, how is it?' The Master then hit him.

大顛通禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Tong of Dadian

漳州三平義忠禪師

Chan Master Yizhong of Sanping in Zhangzhou

福州楊氏子。初參石鞏。鞏常張弓架箭接機。師詣法席。鞏曰。看箭。師乃撥開胷曰。此是殺人箭。活人箭又作麼生。鞏彈弓弦三下。師乃禮拜。鞏曰。三十年張弓架箭。秖射得半箇聖人。遂拗折弓箭。後參大顛。舉前話。顛曰。既是活人箭。為甚麼向弓弦上辨。平無對。顛曰。三十年後。要人舉此話也難得。師問大顛。不用指東劃西。便請直指。顛曰。幽州江口石人蹲。師曰。猶是指東劃西。顛曰。若是鳳凰兒。不向那邊討。師作禮。顛曰。若不得後句。前話也難圓。師住三平。上堂曰。今時人出來盡學馳求造作。將當自己眼目。有甚麼相當。阿汝欲學麼。不要諸餘。汝等各有本分事。何不體取。作麼心憤憤．口悱悱。有甚麼利益。分明向汝說。若要修行路及諸聖建立化門。自有大藏教文在。若是宗門中事宜。汝切不得錯用心。僧問。宗門中還有學路也無。師曰。有一路滑如苔。曰。學人還攝得否。師曰。不擬心。汝自看。問。黑豆未生芽時如何。師曰。佛亦不知。講僧問。三乘十二分教。某甲不疑。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。龜毛拂子。兔角拄杖。大德藏向甚麼處。曰。龜毛兔角豈是有邪。師曰。肉重千斤。智無銖兩。上堂。諸人若未曾見知識即不可。若曾見作者來。便合體取些子意度。向巖谷間木食草衣恁麼去。方有少分相應。若馳求知解義句。即萬里望鄉關去也。珍重。問侍者。姓甚麼。者曰。與和尚同姓。師曰。你道三平姓甚麼。者曰。問頭何在。師曰。幾時問汝。者曰。問姓者誰。師曰。念汝初機。放汝三十棒。師有偈曰。即此見聞非見聞。無餘聲色可呈君。箇中若了全無事。體用何妨分不分。陞座次。有道士出眾從東過西。一僧從西過東。師曰。適來道士卻有見處。師僧未在。士出禮曰。謝師接引。師便打。僧出作禮曰。乞師指示。師亦打。復謂眾曰。此兩件公案作麼生斷。還有人斷得麼。

was a son of the Yang family of Fuzhou. He first studied under Shigong. Gong would always bend his bow and fit an arrow to receive the mechanism. When the Master came to his Dharma seat, Gong said, 'Watch the arrow.' The Master then bared his chest and said, 'This is the arrow that kills people. What is the arrow that brings people to life?' Gong plucked the bowstring three times. The Master then bowed. Gong said, 'Thirty years of bending the bow and fitting the arrow, and I have only shot half a sage.' Then he broke the bow and arrows. Later the Master studied under Dadian and brought up the earlier words. Dian said, 'Since it is the arrow that brings people to life, why distinguish it by the bowstring?' Ping had no reply. Dian said, 'Thirty years from now, it will be hard even to find someone to bring up these words.' The Master asked Dadian, 'Without pointing east or drawing west, please point directly.' Dian said, 'A stone man squats at the river mouth of Youzhou.' The Master said, 'Still you are pointing east and drawing west.' Dian said, 'If one is a phoenix chick, one does not seek it over there.' The Master bowed. Dian said, 'Without the last phrase, the earlier words would be hard to complete.' The Master lived at Sanping. Ascending the hall he said, 'People nowadays come forward and all learn to race after and construct, taking that as their own eye — how does that match? Do you want to learn? Then want nothing else. Each of you has your own original matter — why not realize it? Why is your heart so pent up and your mouth so halting? What benefit is there? I tell you plainly. If you want the path of practice and the gate of teaching established by the sages, the great canon is there. But as for the matters within the school of the Ancestors, you must not use your mind wrongly.' A monk asked, 'Within the school of the Ancestors is there still a path of learning?' The Master said, 'There is one path as slippery as moss.' He said, 'Can the student take it up?' The Master said, 'Do not intend your mind; look for yourself.' Someone asked, 'What about when the black bean has not yet sprouted?' The Master said, 'Even the Buddha does not know.' A lecturing monk asked, 'About the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teaching I have no doubt. What is the meaning of the Ancestor's coming from the West?' The Master said, 'A fly whisk of tortoise hair and a staff of rabbit horn — Great Virtue, where do you keep them?' He said, 'How could tortoise hair and rabbit horn exist?' The Master said, 'Your flesh weighs a thousand catties and your wisdom not an ounce.' Ascending the hall: 'If you people have not yet seen a good friend, you may not. But if you have seen an adept, you should realize a bit of his bearing. Living in the mountain valleys on tree-fruit and grass-cloth, going on like that, you will have a little accord. If you race after knowledge, interpretation and phrases of meaning, you will be ten thousand li away, gazing toward home. Take care.' He asked his attendant, 'What is your surname?' The attendant said, 'The same as the Reverend's.' The Master said, 'What do you say Sanping's surname is?' The attendant said, 'Where is the question?' The Master said, 'When did I ask you?' The attendant said, 'Who is it that asks the surname?' The Master said, 'In consideration of your being a beginner, I spare you thirty blows.' The Master had a verse: 'This very seeing and hearing is not seeing and hearing; there are no other sounds and forms to present to you. If you understand it fully, there is nothing at all; what harm if substance and function are divided or not?' Once, when he had ascended the seat, a Daoist priest came forward and walked from east to west, and a monk from west to east. The Master said, 'The Daoist just now has something of an insight; the monk does not.' The priest came forward, bowed, and said, 'Thank you, Master, for your guidance.' The Master hit him. The monk came forward, bowed, and said, 'I beg the Master to point it out.' The Master also hit him. Again he said to the assembly, 'How are these two public cases to be decided? Is there anyone who can decide them?'

如是三問。眾無對。師曰。既無人斷得。老僧為斷去。乃擲下拄杖。歸方丈。

(The Master continued:) Thus he asked three times, and the assembly had no reply. The Master said, 'Since no one can decide them, this old monk will decide them for you.' Then he threw down his staff and went back to his quarters.

馬頰山本空禪師

Chan Master Benkong of Majia Mountain

上堂。祇這施為動轉。還合得本來祖翁麼。若合得。十二時中無虗棄底道理。若合不得。吃茶說話往往喚作茶話在。僧便問。如何免得不成茶話去。師曰。你識得口也未。曰。如何是口。師曰。兩片皮也不識。曰。如何是本來祖翁。師曰。大眾前不要牽爺恃娘。曰。大眾欣然去也。師曰。你試點大眾性看。僧作禮。師曰。伊往往道一性一切性在。僧欲進語。師曰。孤負平生行腳眼。問。去卻即今言句。請師直指本來性。師曰。你迷源來得多少時。曰。即今蒙和尚指示。師曰。若指示你。我即迷源。曰。如何即是。師示頌曰。心是性體。性是心用。心性一如。誰別誰共。妄外迷源。祇者難洞。古今凡聖。如幻如夢。

Ascending the hall: 'Does this very activity and movement accord with the original ancestral one? If it accords, then in the twelve hours there is no principle of wasting anything. If it does not accord, then drinking tea and talking is usually called tea talk.' A monk then asked, 'How can one avoid its not becoming tea talk?' The Master said, 'Do you know your mouth?' He said, 'What is the mouth?' The Master said, 'You do not even know two flaps of skin.' He said, 'What is the original ancestral one?' The Master said, 'Do not hang on your father and lean on your mother before the assembly.' He said, 'The assembly is delighted and gone.' The Master said, 'Just try to see the assembly's nature.' The monk bowed. The Master said, 'He will always say that one nature is all natures.' The monk wanted to speak further. The Master said, 'You betray a lifetime's pilgrim's eye.' Someone asked, 'Setting aside the words of this moment, please, Master, point directly at the original nature.' The Master said, 'How long have you been deluded about the source?' He said, 'Just now I have received the Reverend's instruction.' The Master said, 'If I instruct you, then I am deluded about the source.' He said, 'Then how is it?' The Master gave a verse: 'Mind is the substance of nature, nature is the function of mind. Mind and nature are one suchness — who divides them, who shares them? Beyond delusion, deluded about the source, only this is hard to penetrate. Sages and ordinary men of ancient and modern times are like an illusion, like a dream.'

本生禪師

Chan Master Bensheng

拈拄杖示眾曰。我若拈起。你便向未拈起時作道理。我若不拈起。你便向拈起時作主宰。且道老僧為人在甚處。時有僧出曰。不敢妄生節目。師曰。也知闍黎不分外。曰。低低處平之有餘。高高處觀之不足。師曰。節目上更生節目。僧無語。師曰。掩鼻偷香。空招罪犯。

He picked up his staff and said to the assembly, 'If I pick it up, you make a principle out of the time before I picked it up. If I do not pick it up, you make yourself master of the time when I pick it up. Just say, where does this old monk work for people?' Then a monk came forward and said, 'I would not dare rashly produce complications.' The Master said, 'I know the acharya does not go beyond his portion.' He said, 'Where it is low, leveling it leaves a surplus; where it is high, viewing it leaves a lack.' The Master said, 'On complications you pile more complications.' The monk said nothing. The Master said, 'Holding your nose to steal incense, you only bring guilt on yourself.'

長髭曠禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Kuang of Changzi

潭州石室善道禪師

Chan Master Shandao of the Stone Chamber in Tanzhou

作沙彌時。長髭遣令受戒。謂之曰。汝回日須到石頭和尚處禮拜。師受戒後。仍參石頭。一日隨頭遊山次。頭曰。汝與我斫卻面前樹子。免礙我。師曰。不將刀來。頭乃抽刀倒與。師曰。何不過那頭來。頭曰。你用那頭作甚麼。師即大悟。便歸長髭。髭問。汝到石頭否。師曰。到即到。秖是不通號。髭曰。從誰受戒。師曰。不依他。髭曰。在彼即恁麼。來我這裡作麼生。師曰。不違背。髭曰。太忉忉生。師曰。舌頭未曾點著在。髭喝曰。沙彌出去。師便出。髭曰。爭得不遇於人。師尋值沙汰。乃作行者。居於石室。每見僧。便竪起杖子曰。三世諸佛。盡由這箇。對者少得冥契。長沙聞。乃曰。我若見即令放下拄杖。別通箇消息。三聖將此語秖對。被師認破是長沙語。杏山聞三聖失機。乃親到石室。師見杏山。僧眾相隨。潛入碓坊碓米。杏曰。行者接待不易。貧道難消。師曰。開心椀子盛將來。無葢盤子合取去。說甚麼難消。杏便休。仰山問。佛之與道。相去幾何。師曰。道如展手。佛似握拳。曰。畢竟如何的當。可信可依。師以手撥空三下曰。無恁麼事。無恁麼事。曰。還假看教否。師曰。三乘十二分教是分外事。若與他作對。即是心境兩法。能所雙行。便有種種見解。亦是狂慧。未足為道。若不與他作對。一事也無。所以祖師道本來無一物。汝不見小兒出胎時。可道我解看教．不解看教。當恁麼時。亦不知有佛性義．無佛性義。及至長大。便學種種知解出來。便道我能我解。不知總是客塵煩惱。十六行中。嬰兒行為最哆哆和和時。喻學道之人離分別取捨心。故讚歎嬰兒。可況喻取之。若謂嬰兒是道。今時人錯會。師一夕與仰山翫月。山問。這箇月尖時。圓相甚麼處去。圓時。尖相又甚麼處去。師曰。尖時圓相隱。圓時尖相在(雲巖雲。尖時圓相在。圓時無尖相。道吾雲。尖時亦不尖。圓時亦不圓)。

When he was a novice, Changzi sent him to receive the precepts and told him, 'On the day you return you must go and pay respects to the Reverend Shitou.' After the Master had received the precepts, he still went to study under Shitou. One day, as he was wandering the mountain with Tou, Tou said, 'Cut down the tree in front of me for me, so it does not block me.' The Master said, 'I did not bring a knife.' Tou then drew his knife and handed it back to him. The Master said, 'Why not hand it over by the other end?' Tou said, 'What would you do with the other end?' The Master was at once greatly awakened, and went back to Changzi. Zi asked, 'Did you reach Shitou?' The Master said, 'I reached him, but I did not announce myself.' Zi said, 'From whom did you receive the precepts?' The Master said, 'I did not rely on him.' Zi said, 'That may be so there, but how is it here with me?' The Master said, 'I do not go against it.' Zi said, 'How long-winded.' The Master said, 'My tongue has not even touched it.' Zi shouted, 'Novice, get out!' The Master then went out. Zi said, 'How is it that one meets no one?' Later the Master met with the persecution, and became a postulant, living in the Stone Chamber. Whenever he saw a monk he would hold up his staff and say, 'The Buddhas of the three ages all come from this.' Few of those who answered had a hidden accord. When Changsha heard of it he said, 'If I saw him, I would make him put down his staff and give another message.' The Three Sages brought this up as a reply, and the Master saw through it as Changsha's words. When Xingshan heard that the Three Sages had lost the mechanism, he came in person to the Stone Chamber. When the Master saw Xingshan, with the monks following him, he slipped into the pounding shed and pounded rice. Xing said, 'Postulant, receiving guests is not easy; this poor monk can hardly digest it.' The Master said, 'Serve it in an open-mouthed bowl, take it away on a lidless plate. What is this talk of hard to digest?' Xing then let it be. Yangshan asked, 'Between Buddha and the Way, how far apart are they?' The Master said, 'The Way is like opening the hand, Buddha is like closing the fist.' He said, 'After all, what is reliable, what can be trusted and relied on?' The Master brushed the air three times with his hand and said, 'There is no such thing, there is no such thing.' He said, 'Does it still depend on studying the teachings?' The Master said, 'The three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teaching are outside the matter. If you set them up against yourself, then there are the two dharmas of mind and object, and subject and object run together, and there are all kinds of views — this too is mad wisdom, not yet fit to be the Way. If you do not set them up against yourself, there is not a single thing. Therefore the Ancestor said, originally there is not a single thing. Have you not seen a baby just born from the womb? Can it say, I understand the teachings, or I do not? At such a time it does not even know whether there is the meaning of Buddha-nature or not. When it grows up, it learns all kinds of knowledge and understanding, and says, I can, I understand — not knowing that all this is guest-dust affliction. Among the sixteen practices, the practice of an infant is the foremost. In its babbling and cooing it shows that a student of the Way is apart from the mind of discrimination and grasping, and so the infant is praised and can be taken as a comparison. If you say the infant is the Way, people nowadays misunderstand.' One evening the Master was enjoying the moon with Yangshan. Shan asked, 'With this moon, when it is pointed, where does the round mark go? When it is round, where does the pointed mark go?' The Master said, 'When pointed, the round mark is hidden; when round, the pointed mark remains.' (Yunyan said, 'When pointed, the round mark remains; when round, there is no pointed mark.' Daowu said, 'When pointed it is not pointed either, and when round it is not round either.')

仰山辭。師送出門。乃召曰。闍黎。山應諾。師曰。莫一向去。卻回這邊來。僧問。曾到五臺否。師曰。曾到。曰。還見文殊麼。師曰。見。曰。文殊向行者道甚麼。師曰。文殊道。你生身父母在深草裡。

Yangshan took his leave. The Master saw him to the gate, then called, 'Acharya!' Shan answered. The Master said, 'Do not keep going that way; come back over here.' A monk asked, 'Have you ever been to Mount Wutai?' The Master said, 'I have been there.' He said, 'Did you see Manjushri?' The Master said, 'I saw him.' He said, 'What did Manjushri say to the postulant?' The Master said, 'Manjushri said, your own living father and mother are in the deep grass.'

青原下四世

The Fourth Generation under Qingyuan

道吾智禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Zhi of Daowu

潭州石霜山慶諸禪師

Chan Master Qingzhu of Shishuang Mountain in Tanzhou

廬陵新淦陳氏子。依洪井西山紹鑾禪師落髮。詣洛下學毗尼教。雖知聽制。絡為漸宗。回抵溈山。為米頭。一日篩米次。溈曰。施主物。莫拋散。師曰。不拋撒。溈於地上拾得一粒曰。汝道不拋撒。這箇是甚麼。師無對。溈又曰。莫輕這一粒。百千粒盡從這一粒生。師曰。百千粒從這一粒生。未審這一粒從甚麼處生。溈呵呵大笑。歸方丈。溈至晚。上堂曰。大眾。米裡有蟲。諸人好看。後參道吾。問。如何是觸目菩提。吾喚沙彌。彌應諾。吾曰。添淨瓶水著。良久卻問師。汝適來問甚麼。師擬舉。吾便起去。師於此有省。吾將順世。垂語曰。我心中有一物。久而為患。誰能為我除之。師曰。心物俱非。除之益患。吾曰。賢哉。賢哉。師後避世。混俗於長沙瀏陽陶家坊。朝遊夕處。人莫能識。後因僧自洞山來。師問。和尚有何言句示徒。曰。解夏上堂雲。秋初夏末。兄弟或東去西去。直須向萬裡無寸草處去。良久曰。秖如萬裡無寸草處作麼生去。師曰。有人下語否。曰。無。師曰。何不道。出門便是草。僧回。舉似洞山。山曰。此是一千五百人善知識語。因茲囊錐始露。果熟香飄。眾命住持。上堂。汝等諸人自有本分事。不用馳求。無你是非處。無你齩嚼處。一代時教。整理時人腳手。凡有其由。皆落今時。直至法身非身。此是教家極則。我輩沙門全無肯路。若分則差。不分則坐著泥水。但由心意妄說見聞。僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。空中一片石。僧禮拜。師曰。會麼。曰。不會。師曰。賴汝不會。若會即打破汝頭。問。如何是和尚本分事。師曰。石頭還汗出麼。問。到這裡。為甚麼卻道不得。師曰。腳底著口。問。真身還出世也無。師曰。不出世。曰。爭奈真身何。師曰。瑠璃缾子口。問。如何是和尚深深處。師曰。無鬚鎻子兩頭搖。師在方丈內。僧在牕外問。咫尺之間為甚麼不覩師顏。師曰。

was a son of the Chen family of Xingan in Luling. He left home under Chan Master Shaoluan of Xishan in Hongjing. He went to Luoyang to study the Vinaya teachings. Though he knew how to hear the rules, he still took gradual instruction as his school. Returning, he reached Weishan, where he was rice head. One day, while sifting rice, Wei said, 'It is the donor's property; do not throw it about.' The Master said, 'I am not throwing it about.' Wei picked up one grain from the ground and said, 'You say you are not throwing it about — what is this?' The Master had no reply. Wei also said, 'Do not slight this one grain. A hundred thousand grains all grow from this one grain.' The Master said, 'A hundred thousand grains grow from this one grain. I wonder from what this one grain grows?' Wei laughed heartily and went back to his quarters. That evening Wei ascended the hall and said, 'Assembly, there are worms in the rice; you should all look carefully.' Later the Master studied under Daowu and asked, 'What is enlightenment at whatever meets the eye?' Wu called the novice. The novice answered. Wu said, 'Go add water to the pure bottle.' After a long while he asked the Master, 'What did you just ask?' The Master was about to bring it up. Wu then got up and left. At this the Master had an awakening. When Wu was about to pass away, he dropped a word: 'In my mind there is a thing that has long been a trouble; who can remove it for me?' The Master said, 'Mind and thing are both not it; removing it adds trouble.' Wu said, 'How worthy, how worthy.' The Master afterwards withdrew from the world and mixed with the common folk at the Tao family workshop in Liuyang, Changsha, roaming by day and resting by night, and no one could recognize him. Later, because a monk came from Dongshan, the Master asked, 'What words and phrases does the Reverend use to instruct his students?' He said, 'At the end of the summer retreat he ascended the hall and said: at the beginning of autumn and the end of summer, you brothers may go east or west, but you must go where there is not a blade of grass for ten thousand li. After a long pause he said: just as for that place with not a blade of grass for ten thousand li, how do you go there?' The Master said, 'Did anyone give a reply?' He said, 'No.' The Master said, 'Why did he not say, the moment you go out the door, there is grass?' When the monk returned he brought this up to Dongshan. Shan said, 'These are the words of a good friend of fifteen hundred people.' Because of this the awl in the bag was revealed, and the fruit ripened and its fragrance spread, and the assembly asked him to be abbot. Ascending the hall: 'Each of you has your own original matter; you need not race after it. There is no place for your right and wrong, no place for your chewing. The teaching of one age sets people's hands and feet in order. Whatever has a cause falls into the present. Up to the dharma body that is no body — this is the ultimate standard of the teaching schools. We monks have no path of assent at all. If you divide, you err; if you do not divide, you sit in the mud and water. It is only from the mind's intent that you falsely speak of seeing and hearing.' A monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'A piece of stone in the sky.' The monk bowed. The Master said, 'Do you understand?' He said, 'I do not.' The Master said, 'Thank goodness you do not. If you did, I would break your head.' Someone asked, 'What is the Reverend's original matter?' The Master said, 'Does the stone still sweat?' Someone asked, 'Having arrived here, why can one not speak?' The Master said, 'A mouth at the sole of the foot.' Someone asked, 'Does the true body still appear in the world or not?' The Master said, 'It does not appear.' He said, 'What is to be done about the true body?' The Master said, 'The mouth of a glass bottle.' Someone asked, 'What is the Reverend's deepest place?' The Master said, 'A lockless lock rattling at both ends.' Once, when the Master was inside his quarters, a monk asked from outside the window, 'Why, when so near, do I not see the Master's face?' The Master said,

徧界不曾藏。僧舉問雪峰。徧界不曾藏。意旨如何。峰曰。甚麼處不是石霜。師聞曰。這老漢著甚麼死急。峰聞曰。老僧罪過(東禪齊雲。祇如雪峰是會石霜意不會石霜意。若會。他為甚麼道死急。若不會。雪峰作麼不會。然法且無異。奈以師承不同。解之差別。他雲。徧界不曾藏。也須曾學來始得會。亂說即不可)。裴相公來。師拈起裴笏問。在天子手中為珪。在官人手中為笏。在老僧手中且道喚作甚麼。裴無對。師乃留下笏。示眾初機。未覯大事。先須識取頭。其尾自至。疎山仁參。問。如何是頭。師曰。直須知有。曰。如何是尾。師曰。盡卻今時。曰。有頭無尾時如何。師曰。吐得黃金堪作甚麼。曰。有尾無頭時如何。師曰。猶有依倚在。曰。直得頭尾相稱時如何。師曰。渠不作箇解。會亦未許渠在。僧辭。師問。船去陸去。曰。遇船即船。遇陸即陸。師曰。我道半途稍難。僧無對。僧問。三千里外。遠聞石霜有箇不顧。師曰。是。曰。祇如萬象歷然。是顧不顧。師曰。我道不驚眾。曰。不驚眾是與萬象合。如何是不顧。師曰。徧界不曾藏。問。如何是祖師西來意。師乃齩齒示之。僧不會。後問九峰曰。先師齩齒。意旨如何。峰曰。我寧可截舌。不犯國諱。又問雲葢。葢曰。我與先師有甚麼冤讐。問僧。近離甚處。曰。審道。師於面前畫一畫曰。汝刺腳與麼來。還審得這箇麼。曰。審不得。師曰。汝納衣與麼厚。為甚卻審這箇不得。曰。某甲衲衣雖厚。爭奈審這箇不得。師曰。與麼。則七佛出世也救你不得。曰。說甚七佛。千佛出世也救某甲不得。師曰。太懵憧生。曰。爭奈聻。師曰。參堂去。僧曰。喏。喏。問。童子不坐白雲床時如何。師曰。不打水。魚自驚。洞山問。向前一箇童子甚了事。如今向甚處去也。師曰。火焰上泊不得。卻歸清涼世界去也。問。佛性如虗空。是否。師曰。臥時即有。

(Shishuang continued:) 'It has never been hidden throughout the whole world.' The monk brought this up and asked Xuefeng, 'It has never been hidden throughout the whole world — what does that mean?' Feng said, 'Where is it not Shishuang?' When the Master heard this he said, 'What is this old fellow in such a dying hurry about?' When Feng heard that he said, 'This old monk is at fault.' (Dongchan Qi said, 'Just say, did Xuefeng understand Shishuang's meaning or not? If he understood, why did he say dying hurry? If he did not, how could Xuefeng not understand? Yet the Dharma is without difference — it is because the teacher's transmission differs that interpretations differ. As for his saying it has never been hidden throughout the whole world, one must have studied it to understand it. Random talk will not do.') Chancellor Pei came. The Master picked up Pei's tablet and asked, 'In the Son of Heaven's hand it is a jade tablet, in an official's hand it is a court tablet. In this old monk's hand, just say, what is it called?' Pei had no reply. The Master then kept the tablet. He said to beginners, 'Before you have seen the great matter, you must first recognize the head; the tail will come of itself.' Ren of Shushan came to study and asked, 'What is the head?' The Master said, 'You must simply know that there is.' He said, 'What is the tail?' The Master said, 'Exhausting the present.' He said, 'What about when there is a head but no tail?' The Master said, 'What use is it to spit gold?' He said, 'What about when there is a tail but no head?' The Master said, 'Still there is reliance.' He said, 'What about when head and tail match?' The Master said, 'He does not make an interpretation. Even if he understood, I would not allow him.' A monk took his leave. The Master asked, 'By boat or by land?' He said, 'When I meet a boat, a boat; when I meet land, land.' The Master said, 'I say halfway is a little hard.' The monk had no reply. A monk asked, 'Three thousand li away I heard that Shishuang has a not-looking-after. Is that so?' The Master said, 'It is.' He said, 'Just as the ten thousand things are all distinct — is that looking after or not looking after?' The Master said, 'I say it does not startle the assembly.' He said, 'Not startling the assembly is to be one with the ten thousand things. What is not looking after?' The Master said, 'It has never been hidden throughout the whole world.' Someone asked, 'What is the meaning of the Ancestor's coming from the West?' The Master then showed his teeth clenched. The monk did not understand. Later he asked Jiufeng, 'When my late teacher clenched his teeth, what did he mean?' Feng said, 'I would rather cut out my tongue than violate the national taboo.' He also asked Yungai. Gai said, 'What grudge have I against my late teacher?' He asked a monk, 'Where have you come from recently?' He said, 'Examining the Way.' The Master drew a line before him and said, 'You came poking your feet like this — can you examine this?' He said, 'I cannot examine it.' The Master said, 'Your patched robe is so thick — why can you not examine this?' He said, 'Though my patched robe is thick, I cannot examine this.' The Master said, 'If so, then even seven Buddhas appearing in the world could not save you.' He said, 'Never mind seven Buddhas — even a thousand Buddhas appearing could not save me.' The Master said, 'How muddled.' He said, 'What is to be done?' The Master said, 'Go join the hall.' The monk said, 'Yes, yes.' Someone asked, 'What about when a boy does not sit on the white cloud seat?' The Master said, 'If you do not strike the water, the fish startle of themselves.' Dongshan asked, 'The boy in front was quite capable — where has he gone now?' The Master said, 'He cannot stay on the flames, so he has gone back to the cool world.' Someone asked, 'Is the Buddha-nature like empty space?' The Master said, 'When lying down, it is.