The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll Five

湧泉欣禪師法嗣

Heirs of Chan Master Xin of Yongquan

台州六通院紹禪師

Chan Master Shao of Liutong Monastery in Taizhou

一日。湧泉問。甚麼處去來。師曰。燒畬來。泉曰。火後事作麼生。師曰。鐵蛇鑽不入。住後。僧問。不出咽喉唇吻事如何。師曰。待汝一钁斸斷巾子山。我亦不向汝道。問。南山有一毒蛇。如何近得。師曰。非但闍黎。千聖亦近不得。人問。承聞南方有一劒話。如何是一劒。師曰。不當鋒。曰。頭落又作麼生。師曰。我道不當鋒。有甚麼頭。其人禮謝而去。問。父母未生時。那人何處立。師曰。卦兆未興。孫臏失算。問。如何是大千頂。師曰。不與眾峰齊。師休夏。入天台山華頂峰晦跡。莫知所終。

One day Yongquan asked: 'Where have you been?' The master said: 'I have been burning off the swidden.' Quan said: 'What of the matter after the fire?' The master said: 'An iron snake cannot drill in.' After he had taken up residence, a monk asked: 'What of the matter that does not come out of throat or lips?' The master said: 'Wait until you cut Mount Jinzi in two with a single mattock, and even then I will not tell you.' [A monk] asked: 'On the southern mountain there is a poisonous snake — how can one get near it?' The master said: 'Not only you, Acharya — a thousand sages cannot get near it either.' Someone asked: 'I have heard that in the south there is a saying about a sword. What is the one sword?' The master said: 'It takes no point.' [The questioner] said: 'And when the head falls?' The master said: 'I said it takes no point — what head is there?' The man bowed in thanks and left. [A monk] asked: 'Before one's parents were born, where did that person stand?' The master said: 'Before the omens arose, Sun Bin lost his reckoning.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the summit of the great thousandfold world?' The master said: 'It does not stand level with the other peaks.' At the end of the summer retreat the master entered Mount Tiantai and hid his traces on Huading Peak; no one knows where he ended.

雲葢元禪師法嗣

Heirs of Chan Master Yuan of Yungai

潭州雲葢山志罕禪師

Chan Master Zhihan of Mount Yungai in Tanzhou

僧問。如何是須彌頂上浪滔天。師曰。文殊正作閙。曰。如何是正位中事。師曰。不向機前展大悲。問。如何是那邊人。師曰。鋒前不露影。句後覓無蹤。

A monk asked: 'What is it for waves to flood the heavens at the summit of Mount Sumeru?' The master said: 'Manjushri is right in the middle of the clamour.' [The monk] said: 'What is the matter in the true position?' The master said: 'One does not display great compassion before the device.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the man on the other shore?' The master said: 'Before the point of the blade no shadow shows; after the phrase, no trace is found.'

新羅國臥龍禪師

Chan Master Wolong of Silla

僧問。如何是大人相。師曰。紫羅帳裡不垂手。曰。為甚麼不垂手。師曰。不尊貴。問。十二時中如何用心。師曰。猢猻吃毛蟲。問。如何是潭中意。師曰。絲綸垂不到。磻溪謾放鉤。曰。如何是潭外事。師曰。日裡金烏呌。蟾中玉兔驚。

A monk asked: 'What is the mark of a great man?' The master said: 'In the purple silk canopy he does not let his hand hang down.' [The monk] said: 'Why does he not let his hand hang down?' The master said: 'It is not noble.' [A monk] asked: 'How should one apply the mind throughout the twelve hours?' The master said: 'A monkey eating caterpillars.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the meaning in the pool?' The master said: 'The silk line does not reach there; at Pan Creek one casts the hook in vain.' [The monk] said: 'What is the matter outside the pool?' The master said: 'By day the golden crow cries out, and in the moon the jade hare is startled.'

彭州天台燈禪師

Chan Master Deng of Mount Tiantai in Pengzhou

僧問。古佛向甚麼處去也。師曰。中央甲第高。歲歲出靈苗。問。古鏡未磨時如何。師曰。不施功。曰。磨後如何。師曰。不照燭。問。如何是佛。師曰。紅蓮座上。不覩天冠。

A monk asked: 'Where has the ancient Buddha gone?' The master said: 'In the centre the great mansion is high; year after year it puts forth spirit sprouts.' [The monk] asked: 'What about before the ancient mirror is polished?' The master said: 'No effort is applied.' [The monk] said: 'And after polishing?' The master said: 'It does not shine on anything.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the Buddha?' The master said: 'On the red lotus seat one does not see the heavenly crown.'

谷山藏禪師法嗣

Heirs of Chan Master Zang of Mount Gu

新羅國瑞巖禪師

Chan Master Ruiyan of Silla

僧問。黑白兩亡開佛眼時如何。師曰。恐你守內。問。如何是誕生王子。師曰。深宮引不出。曰。如何是朝生王子。師曰。宮中不列位。曰。如何是末生王子。師曰。處處無標的。不展萬人機。

A monk asked: 'What about when black and white are both gone and the Buddha eye opens?' The master said: 'I fear you are keeping to the inside.' [The monk] asked: 'What is a prince born at the summit?' The master said: 'He cannot be drawn out of the deep palace.' [The monk] said: 'What is a prince born at court?' The master said: 'In the palace he is given no rank.' [The monk] said: 'What is a prince born last?' The master said: 'Everywhere there is no mark, and he does not display the device of the ten thousand.'

新羅國百巖禪師

Chan Master Baiyan of Silla

僧問。如何是禪。師曰。古塚不為家。曰。如何是道。師曰。徒勞車馬跡。曰。如何是教。師曰。貝葉收不盡。

A monk asked: 'What is Chan?' The master said: 'An ancient tomb is not a home.' [The monk] said: 'What is the Way?' The master said: 'The tracks of carriage and horse are wasted effort.' [The monk] said: 'What is the teaching?' The master said: 'Palm leaves cannot hold it all.'

新羅國大嶺禪師

Chan Master Daling of Silla

僧問。古人道。祇到潼關便即休。會了便休。未會便休。師曰。祇為迷途中活計。曰。離卻迷途。還得其中活計也無。師曰。體即得。當即不得。曰。既是體得。為甚麼當不得。師曰。體是甚麼人分上事。曰。其中事如何。師曰。不作尊貴。問。如何是一切處清淨。師曰。截瓊枝寸寸是寶。析旃檀片片皆香。問。如何是用中無礙。師曰。一片白雲繚亂飛。

A monk asked: 'The ancients said: When you reach Tong Pass, then rest. If you understand, you rest; if you do not understand, you rest too.' The master said: 'That is only the livelihood of one lost on the road.' [The monk] said: 'Apart from being lost on the road, is there still the livelihood within it?' The master said: 'In essence you may get it, but in the immediate present you cannot.' [The monk] said: 'Since it is got in essence, why can it not be got in the immediate present?' The master said: 'Whose business is the essence?' [The monk] said: 'What is the matter within it?' The master said: 'It does not act as the noble one.' [A monk] asked: 'What is purity in every place?' The master said: 'Cut the jade branch and every inch is treasure; split the sandalwood and every slice is fragrant.' [A monk] asked: 'What is unhindered in function?' The master said: 'A single white cloud flies in confusion.'

中雲葢禪師法嗣

Heirs of Chan Master of Middle Yungai

潭州雲葢山證覺景禪師

Chan Master Zhengjue Jing of Mount Yungai in Tanzhou

僧問。國土晏清。功歸何處。師曰。銀臺門下不展賀。曰。轉功無位時如何。師曰。王家事宛然。曰。如何是閫外底事。師曰。畵鼓聲終後。將軍不點頭。

A monk asked: 'The land is at peace and clear — to what does the merit belong?' The master said: 'Before the silver terrace gate no congratulations are offered.' [The monk] said: 'What about when one turns the merit and has no rank?' The master said: 'The king's affairs are just as they are.' [The monk] said: 'What is the matter beyond the threshold?' The master said: 'After the painted drum has sounded its last, the general does not nod.'

吉州禾山師陰禪師

Chan Master Shiyin of Mount He in Jizhou

僧問。王子未來登。誰人當治化。師曰。閫外不行邊塞令。將軍自致太平年。曰。恁麼則治化之功猶不當。師曰。亦有當。曰。如何是當。師曰。十方國土盡屬於王。問。久久尋源。為甚麼不見。師曰。為步數太多。曰。恁麼則不覓去也。師曰。還同避溺而投火。問。如何是佛。師曰。承當者不是好手。

A monk asked: 'Before the prince has come to the throne, who governs and transforms?' The master said: 'Beyond the threshold the frontier's ordinances are not enforced; the general brings about the years of great peace by himself.' [The monk] said: 'Then the merit of governing and transforming still does not count.' The master said: 'There is also counting.' [The monk] said: 'What is counting?' The master said: 'The lands of the ten directions all belong to the king.' [A monk] asked: 'Seeking the source for so long, why do I not see it?' The master said: 'Because you take too many steps.' [The monk] said: 'Then I will not seek.' The master said: 'That is still like fleeing drowning and throwing yourself into fire.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the Buddha?' The master said: 'Whoever takes it on is no skilled hand.'

幽州柘溪從實禪師

Chan Master Congshi of Zhexi in Youzhou

僧問。如何是道。師曰。箇中無紫皂。曰。如何是禪。師曰。不與白雲連。師問。僧作甚麼來。曰。親近來。師曰。任你白雲朝嶽頂。爭奈青山不展眉。

A monk asked: 'What is the Way?' The master said: 'In it there is no purple or black.' [The monk] said: 'What is Chan?' The master said: 'It does not join with the white clouds.' The master asked: 'What have you come for, monk?' [The monk] said: 'I have come to draw near.' The master said: 'Let your white clouds pay court at the peak as they will; the green hills will not unbend their brows.'

洛浦安禪師法嗣

Heirs of Chan Master An of Luopu

蘄州烏牙山彥賓禪師

Chan Master Yanbin of Mount Wuya in Qizhou

僧問。未作人身已前。作甚麼來。師曰。三腳石牛坡上走。一枝瑞草目前分。問。疋馬單鎗直入時如何。師曰。饒你雄信解拈鎗。猶較秦王百步在。問。久戰沙場。為甚麼功名不就。師曰。雙鵰隨箭落。李廣不當名。問。百步穿楊。中的者誰。師曰。將軍不上便橋。金牙徒勞拈筈。問。螮蝀飲雲根時如何。師曰。金輪天子下閻浮。鐵縵頭上金花異。曰。正當恁麼時如何。師曰。當今不坐靈明殿。畵鼓休停八佾音。

A monk asked: 'Before one took human form, what was one doing?' The master said: 'A three-legged stone ox walks on the slope; a single auspicious grass is divided before the eyes.' [A monk] asked: 'What about a single horse and a single spear charging straight in?' The master said: 'Even if you were Xiongxin and knew how to wield a spear, you would still be a hundred paces behind the Prince of Qin.' [A monk] asked: 'Long fighting on the battlefield, why is rank and fame not achieved?' The master said: 'Two vultures fall with the arrow; Li Guang wins no name.' [A monk] asked: 'In shooting through a willow leaf at a hundred paces, who hits the mark?' The master said: 'The general does not go up to the Bian Bridge; the golden-toothed one wields the nock in vain.' [A monk] asked: 'What about when the rainbow drinks at the root of the clouds?' The master said: 'The golden-wheeled Son of Heaven descends to Jambudvipa; on the iron cap the golden flower is strange.' [The monk] said: 'What about right at such a moment?' The master said: 'Today he does not sit in the Lingming Hall; the painted drum has not ceased the eight-rowed music.'

鳳翔府青峰傳楚禪師

Chan Master Chuanchu of Qingfeng in Fengxiang Prefecture

涇州人也。一日。洛浦問曰。院主去甚麼處來。師曰。掃雪來。浦曰。雪深多少。師曰。樹上總是。浦曰。得即得。汝向後住箇雪窟定矣。後訪白水。水曰。見說洛浦有生機一路。是否。師曰。是。水曰。止卻生路。向熟路上來。師曰。生路上死人無數。熟路上不著活漢。水曰。此是洛浦底。你底作麼生。師曰。非但洛浦。夾山亦不奈何。水曰。夾山為甚麼不奈何。師曰。不見道生機一路。住後。僧問。佛魔未現。向甚麼處應。師曰。諸上座聽祇對。問。大事已明。為甚麼也如喪考妣。師曰。不得春風花不開。及至花開又吹落。問。如何是一色。師曰。全無一滴水。浪激似銀山。問。如何是臨機一句。師曰。便道將來。曰。請和尚道。師曰。穿過髑髏。不知痛癢。問。如何是明瞭底人一句。師曰。駿馬寸步不移。鈍鳥昇騰出路。

He was a man of Jingzhou. One day Luopu asked him: 'Where have you been, superintendent?' The master said: 'I have been sweeping snow.' Pu said: 'How deep is the snow?' The master said: 'It is always the same on the trees.' Pu said: 'Very well. In the future you are sure to dwell in a snow cave.' Later he visited Baishui. Shui said: 'I hear that Luopu has a road of living activity. Is that so?' The master said: 'Yes.' Shui said: 'Stop the road of life and come onto the road of ripeness.' The master said: 'On the road of life countless men have died; on the road of ripeness no live fellow ever sets foot.' Shui said: 'That is Luopu's. What is yours?' The master said: 'Not only Luopu — Jiashan too could do nothing with it.' Shui said: 'Why could Jiashan do nothing with it?' The master said: 'Have you not heard it said, a road of living activity?' After he had taken up residence, a monk asked: 'Before Buddha and Mara appear, where does one respond?' The master said: 'All you venerable ones, listen to my reply.' [A monk] asked: 'The great matter is already clear — why is one still like one who has lost father and mother?' The master said: 'Without the spring wind no flower opens; and when the flower opens the wind blows it down again.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the single colour?' The master said: 'Not a drop of water is there, yet the waves surge like silver mountains.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the phrase that meets the moment?' The master said: 'Then say it.' [The monk] said: 'Please, master, say it.' The master said: 'It passes through the skull and does not know ache or itch.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the one phrase of a man who is clear and understanding?' The master said: 'A fine horse does not move a step; a dull bird still rises to the road out.'

京兆府永安院善靜禪師

Chan Master Shanjing of Yong'an Monastery in Jingzhao Prefecture

郡之王氏子。母夢金像。覺而有娠。師幼習儒學。博通群言。年二十七。忽厭浮幻。潛詣終南山禮廣度禪師披削。唐天復中。南謁洛浦。浦器之。容其入室。乃典園務。力營眾事。一日。有僧辭浦。浦曰。四面是山。闍黎向甚麼處去。僧無對。浦曰。限汝十日。下語得中。即從汝去。其僧經行冥搜。偶入園中。師問曰。上座既是辭去。今何在此。僧具陳所以。堅請代語。師曰。竹密豈妨流水過。山高那阻野雲飛。其僧喜踴。師囑之曰。不得道是某甲語。僧遂白浦。曰。誰語。曰。某甲語。浦曰。非汝語。僧具言園頭見教。浦至晚。上堂謂眾曰。莫輕園頭。他日座下有五百人在。後住永安。眾餘五百。果符洛浦之記。僧問。知有道不得時如何。師曰。知有箇甚麼。曰。不可無去也。師曰。恁麼則合道得。曰。道即不無。爭奈語偏。師曰。水凍魚難躍。山寒花發遲。問。如何是和尚家風。師曰。木馬背斜陽。入草無蹤跡。問。如何是一色。師曰。易分雪裡粉。難辯墨中煤。問。如何是衲衣向上事。師曰。龍魚不出海。水月不吞光。問。不可以智知。不可以識識時如何。師曰。鶴鷺竝頭踏雪睡。月明驚起兩遲疑。問。牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。異境靈松。覩者皆羨。曰。見後如何。師曰。葉落已枝摧。風來不得韻。問。如何得生如來家。師曰。披衣望曉。論劫不明。曰。明後如何。師曰。一句不可得。曰。如何是不坐如來座。師曰。抱頭石女歸來晚。祇園會裡沒蹤由。師往遊𭶚道。避昭宗蒙塵之亂。以漢開運丙午冬。鳴犍槌集僧。囑累入方丈。東向右脇而化。諡淨悟禪師。

He was a son of the Wang family of the commandery. His mother dreamed of a golden image and woke with child. In his youth the master studied Confucian learning and was widely versed in the many schools. At twenty-seven he suddenly grew weary of floating illusion and secretly went to Mount Zhongnan to be tonsured under Chan Master Guangdu. In the Tianfu era of the Tang he went south to pay homage to Luopu. Pu valued him, allowed him into his room, and put him in charge of the garden, where he worked hard at the community's affairs. One day a monk took leave of Pu. Pu said: 'On every side are mountains — where will you go, Acharya?' The monk had no reply. Pu said: 'I give you ten days; if you can produce a phrase that hits the mark, I will let you go.' The monk walked in meditation, searching in the dark, and happened into the garden. The master asked: 'Since you have taken your leave, why are you still here?' The monk told him the whole matter and earnestly begged him for a phrase on his behalf. The master said: 'How could dense bamboo hinder the flowing water from passing? How could a high mountain block the wild clouds from flying?' The monk leapt for joy. The master cautioned him: 'Do not say it was my phrase.' The monk then told Pu. [Pu] said: 'Whose phrase is that?' [The monk] said: 'My phrase.' Pu said: 'It is not your phrase.' The monk told him in full how the garden superintendent had instructed him. That evening Pu ascended the hall and said to the assembly: 'Do not slight the garden superintendent. One day he will have five hundred people under his seat.' Later he resided at Yong'an, and his assembly numbered over five hundred, exactly matching Luopu's prediction. A monk asked: 'What about when one knows there is something but cannot speak it?' The master said: 'What is it that you know?' [The monk] said: 'It cannot be that there is nothing.' The master said: 'Then you should be able to speak it.' [The monk] said: 'Speaking is not absent, but the words come out one-sided.' The master said: 'When the water freezes, fish cannot leap; when the mountain is cold, flowers open late.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the master's family style?' The master said: 'A wooden horse with the slanting sun on its back; entering the grass, no trace.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the single colour?' The master said: 'Powder in snow is easy to tell apart; coal in ink is hard to discern.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the matter above the patched robe?' The master said: 'Dragon and fish do not leave the sea; water and moon do not swallow the light.' [A monk] asked: 'What about what cannot be known by wisdom nor recognized by consciousness?' The master said: 'Crane and egret sleep head to head in the snow; when the moon is bright they start up, both hesitating.' [A monk] asked: 'What about before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch?' The master said: 'A spirit pine in a strange land — all who see it envy it.' [The monk] said: 'And after meeting him?' The master said: 'The leaves have fallen and the branches are broken; when the wind comes it has no tone.' [A monk] asked: 'How does one enter the Tathagata's house?' The master said: 'Donning the robe and waiting for dawn, one cannot be clear through a kalpa.' [The monk] said: 'And after being clear?' The master said: 'Not a single phrase is obtainable.' [The monk] said: 'What is it not to sit on the Tathagata's seat?' The master said: 'The stone girl who clasps her head returns late; in the assembly at Jetavana there is no trace of her.' The master travelled the roads of Shu to escape the turmoil when Emperor Zhaozong was driven into exile. In the winter of the bingwu year of Kaiyun of the Han, he sounded the mallet to gather the monks, entrusted his affairs to them, entered the abbot's room, faced east, and passed away lying on his right side. He was given the posthumous title Chan Master Jingwu, Pure Awakening.

鄧州中度禪師

Chan Master Zhongdu of Dengzhou

僧問。海內不逢師。如何是寰中主。師曰。金鷄常報曉。時人自不聞。問。如何是暗中明鏡。師曰。昧不得。曰。未審照何物。師曰。甚麼物不照。問。如何是實際理地不受一塵。佛事門中不捨一法。師曰。真常塵不染。海納百川流。曰。請和尚離聲色外答。師曰。木人常對語。有性不能言。

A monk asked: 'If within the seas one does not meet a teacher, what is the lord within the world?' The master said: 'The golden cock always heralds the dawn; people of the time simply do not hear it.' [A monk] asked: 'What is the bright mirror in the dark?' The master said: 'It cannot be obscured.' [The monk] said: 'I wonder what it illuminates?' The master said: 'What does it not illuminate?' [A monk] asked: 'What is the ground of actual principle, which takes on not a speck of dust, and the gate of Buddha-work, which lets go of not a single dharma?' The master said: 'True permanence is unstained by dust; the sea admits the hundred rivers.' [The monk] said: 'Please, master, answer apart from sound and form.' The master said: 'A wooden man always answers when spoken to, yet though he has a nature he cannot speak.'

嘉州洞谿戒定禪師

Chan Master Jieding of Dongxi in Jiazhou

初問洛浦。月樹無枝長覆蔭。請師直指妙玄微。浦曰。森羅秀處。事不相依。淥水千波。孤峰自異。師於是領旨。住後。僧問。蛇師為甚麼被蛇吞。師曰。幾度扣門招不出。將身直入裡頭看。有官人問。既是清淨伽藍。為甚打魚鼓。師曰。直須打出青霄外。免見龍門點額人。

He first asked Luopu: 'The moon tree has no branches yet spreads shade far; I beg the master to point directly to the wondrous and subtle.' Pu said: 'Where the manifold splendour shows, things do not lean on one another. A thousand waves on the clear water, but the lone peak stands apart.' The master thereby grasped the purport. After he had taken up residence, a monk asked: 'Why was the snake-charmer swallowed by a snake?' The master said: 'Many times he knocked at the door and could not call it out; so he went straight inside to look.' An official asked: 'Since this is a pure monastery, why beat the fish drum?' The master said: 'It must be beaten out beyond the blue sky, so as not to see the one whose head is marked at the Dragon Gate.'

京兆府臥龍禪師

Chan Master Wolong of Jingzhao Prefecture