The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll Seven

婺州金柱山義昭禪師

Chan Master Yizhao of Mount Jinzhu in Wuzhou

僧問。如何是和尚家風。師曰。開門作活計。曰。忽遇賊來。又作麼生。師曰。然。新到參。師揭簾以手作除帽勢。僧擬欲近前。師曰。賺殺人。因事有偈曰。虎頭生角人難措。石火電光須密佈。假饒烈士也應難。懵底那能解回互。

A monk asked, 'What is the Reverend's family style?' The Master said, 'Opening the door to make a living.' He said, 'If a thief suddenly comes, what then?' The Master said, 'So it is.' A newly arrived monk came to study. The Master lifted the blind and made the gesture of removing a hat with his hand. The monk was about to come forward. The Master said, 'You have tricked me to death.' Because of some matter he had a verse: 'A tiger with horns on its head is hard for a man to deal with; the flint spark and lightning must be closely spread. Even a brave man should find it hard; how can the muddled one understand the interplay?'

潭州谷山和尚

The Reverend of Gushan in Tanzhou

僧問。省要處乞師一言。師便起去。問。𦏪羊掛角時如何。師曰。你向甚麼處覓。曰。掛角後如何。師曰。走。

A monk asked, 'At the essential point, I beg the Master for one word.' The Master then got up and left. Someone asked, 'What about when the antelope hangs by its horns?' The Master said, 'Where will you look for it?' He said, 'And after it hangs by its horns?' The Master said, 'It goes.'

湘南道吾從盛禪師

Chan Master Congsheng of Daowu in Xiangnan

初住龍回。僧問。如何是覿面事。師曰。新羅國去也。問。如何是龍回家風。師曰。縱橫射直。問。窮子投師。乞師拯濟。師曰。莫是屈著汝麼。曰。爭奈窮何。師曰。大有人見。

He first lived at Longhui. A monk asked, 'What is the matter face to face?' The Master said, 'He has gone to Silla.' Someone asked, 'What is the family style of Longhui?' The Master said, 'Lengthwise and crosswise, shoot straight.' Someone asked, 'A poor son comes to a teacher, begging the Master to save him.' The Master said, 'Have I not wronged you?' He said, 'What is to be done about my poverty?' The Master said, 'A great many people see it.'

福州羅山義因禪師

Chan Master Yiyin of Luoshan in Fuzhou

上堂良久曰。若是宗師門下客。必不怪於羅山。珍重。僧問。承古有言。自從認得曹谿路。了知生死不相關。曹谿路即不問。如何是羅山路。師展兩手。僧曰。恁麼則一路得通。諸路亦然。師曰。甚麼諸路。僧近前叉手。師曰。靈鶴煙霄外。鈍鳥不離窠。問。教中道。順法身萬象俱寂。隨智用萬象齊生。如何是萬象俱寂。師曰。有甚麼。曰。如何是萬象齊生。師曰。繩床倚子。

He ascended the hall and after a long silence said, 'If you are a guest at the gate of a master of the school, you will surely not find fault with Luoshan. Take care.' A monk asked, 'I inherit the ancient saying: since I came to know the road to Caoxi, I know that birth and death have nothing to do with me. About the road to Caoxi I do not ask — what is the road to Luoshan?' The Master opened both hands. The monk said, 'If so, then one road is passable, and all roads are the same.' The Master said, 'What all roads?' The monk came forward and folded his hands. The Master said, 'A spirit crane beyond the mist and clouds, a dull bird that never leaves its nest.' Someone asked, 'The teachings say, following the dharma body the ten thousand things are all still, following wisdom's function the ten thousand things all arise. What is it when the ten thousand things are all still?' The Master said, 'What is there?' He said, 'What is it when the ten thousand things all arise?' The Master said, 'A rope chair and a stool.'

灌州靈巖和尚

The Reverend of Lingyan in Guanzhou

僧問。如何是道中寶。師曰。地傾東南。天高西北。曰。學人不會。師曰。落照機前異。師頌石鞏接三平曰。解擘當胸箭。因何祇半人。為從途路曉。所以不全身。

A monk asked, 'What is the treasure within the Way?' The Master said, 'The earth tilts to the southeast, the sky is high in the northwest.' He said, 'The student does not understand.' The Master said, 'Before the setting sun the mechanism is different.' The Master praised Shigong's receiving of Sanping: 'He understood how to part the arrow aimed at his chest — why then only half a man? Because he came to know by the road, therefore his body was not whole.'

吉州匡山和尚

The Reverend of Mount Kuang in Jizhou

示徒頌曰。匡山路。匡山路。巖崖嶮峻人難措。遊人擬議隔千山。一句分明超佛祖。白牛頌曰。我有古壇真白牛。父子藏來經幾秋。出門直往孤峰頂。回來暫跨虎溪頭。

He showed his students a verse: 'The road to Kuang Mountain, the road to Kuang Mountain. The cliffs are steep and perilous, hard for a man to deal with. The traveler who deliberates is a thousand mountains away; one phrase clearly surpasses Buddha and Ancestor.' A verse on the white ox: 'I have an ancient altar and a true white ox; father and son hid it away for how many autumns. Going out the door it goes straight to the lone peak's summit; coming back it briefly straddles the head of Tiger Creek.'

福州興聖重滿禪師

Chan Master Chongman of Xingsheng in Fuzhou

上堂。覿面分付。不待文宣。對眼投機。喚作參玄。上士若能如此。所以宗風不墜。僧問。如何是宗風不墜底句。師曰。老僧不忍。問。昔日靈山會裡。今朝興聖筵中。和尚親傳。如何舉唱。師曰。欠汝一問。

Ascending the hall: 'Face to face I hand it over, without waiting for words. Meeting eye to eye and matching the mechanism is called investigating the mystery. If a superior man can be like this, the ancestral wind will not fall.' A monk asked, 'What is the phrase by which the ancestral wind does not fall?' The Master said, 'This old monk cannot bear it.' Someone asked, 'Long ago in the assembly on Vulture Peak, today in the feast of Xingsheng — the Reverend personally transmits it; how is it sung?' The Master said, 'I owe you one question.'

潭州寶應清進禪師

Chan Master Qingjin of Baoying in Tanzhou

僧問。如何是實相。師曰。沒卻汝。問。至理無言。如何通信。師曰。千差萬別。曰。得力處乞師指示。師曰。瞌睡漢。

A monk asked, 'What is true mark?' The Master said, 'It has drowned you.' Someone asked, 'Ultimate principle has no words — how is it communicated?' The Master said, 'A thousand differences, ten thousand distinctions.' He said, 'Where effort succeeds, I beg the Master to point it out.' The Master said, 'A sleepy fellow.'

玄沙備禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Bei of Xuansha

漳州羅漢院桂琛禪師

Chan Master Guichen of Luohan Monastery in Zhangzhou

常山李氏子。為童兒時。日一素食。出言有異。既冠。親事本府萬歲寺無相大師。披削登戒。學毗尼。一日。為眾陞臺。宣戒本布薩已。乃曰。持戒但律身而已。非真解脫也。依文作解。豈發聖智乎。於是訪南宗。初謁雲居雪峰。參訊勤恪。然猶未有所見。後造玄沙。一言啟發。廓爾無惑。沙問。三界唯心。汝作麼生會。師指倚子曰。和尚喚這箇作甚麼。曰。倚子。師曰。和尚不會三界唯心。曰。我喚這箇作竹木。汝喚作甚麼。師曰。桂琛亦喚作竹木。曰。盡大地覓一箇會佛法底人不可得。師自爾愈加激勵。沙每因誘迪學者。流出諸三昧。皆命師為助發。師雖處眾韜晦。然聲譽甚遠。時漳牧王公建精舍曰地藏。請師開法。因插田次。見僧乃問。從甚處來。曰。南州。師曰。彼中佛法如何。曰。商量浩浩地。師曰。爭如我這裡。栽田博飯吃。曰。爭奈三界何。師曰。喚甚麼作三界。問僧甚處來。曰。南方來。師曰。南方知識。有何言句示徒。曰。彼中道。金屑雖貴。眼裡著不得。師曰。我道須彌在師眼裡。一日。同中塔侍玄沙。沙打中塔一棒曰。就名就體。中塔不對。沙乃問師。作麼生會。師曰。這僧著一棒不知來處。僧報曰。保福已遷化也。師曰。保福遷化。地藏入塔(僧問法眼。古人意旨如何。眼雲。蒼天。蒼天)。後遷羅漢。大闡玄要。上堂。宗門玄妙。為當祇恁麼。也更別有奇特。若別有奇特。汝且舉將來看。若無。去。不可將兩箇字便當卻宗乘也。何者。兩箇字謂宗乘．教乘也。汝才道著宗乘。便是宗乘。道著教乘。便是教乘。禪德。佛法宗乘。元來由汝口裡安立名字。作取說取便是也。斯須向這裡說平說實。說圓說常。禪德。汝喚甚麼作平實。把甚麼作圓常。傍家行腳。理須甄別。莫相埋沒。得些子聲色名字。貯在心頭。道我會解。善能揀辨。汝且會箇甚麼。揀箇甚麼。記持得底是名字。

was a son of the Li family of Changshan. As a child he ate only one vegetarian meal a day, and his words were unusual. When he came of age he personally served Great Master Wuxiang of Wansui Monastery in his own prefecture, was shaved and ordained, and studied the Vinaya. One day, having ascended the platform for the assembly and finished reciting the precept text for the posadha, he said, 'Keeping the precepts only disciplines the body; it is not true liberation. To understand according to the text, how can that bring forth sage wisdom?' So he sought the Southern school. He first called on Yunju and Xuefeng, questioning them diligently, yet still saw nothing. Later he went to Xuansha, and one word opened him, and he was suddenly without doubt. Xuansha asked, 'The three realms are mind only — how do you understand it?' The Master pointed at the chair and said, 'What does the Reverend call this?' He said, 'A chair.' The Master said, 'The Reverend does not understand the three realms are mind only.' He said, 'I call it bamboo and wood; what do you call it?' The Master said, 'Guichen also calls it bamboo and wood.' He said, 'Throughout the whole great earth one cannot find a single person who understands the Buddha Dharma.' From then on the Master pressed himself the harder. Whenever Xuansha drew out students, bringing forth all kinds of samadhi, he always had the Master help him draw them out. Though the Master kept himself hidden in the assembly, his reputation spread far. At that time the prefect of Zhang, Lord Wang, built a retreat called Dizang and asked the Master to open the teaching there. Once, while planting rice, he saw a monk and asked, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'Nanzhou.' The Master said, 'How is the Buddha Dharma there?' He said, 'Discussions roar on and on.' The Master said, 'How much better it is here, where I plant a field and earn a meal.' He said, 'What is to be done about the three realms?' The Master said, 'What do you call the three realms?' He asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'From the south.' The Master said, 'What words and phrases do the good friends in the south use to instruct their students?' He said, 'There they say, though gold dust is precious, it cannot be put in the eye.' The Master said, 'I say Mount Sumeru is in the master's eye.' One day the Master and Zhongta were attending Xuansha. Xuansha gave Zhongta a blow with his staff and said, 'As to name, as to substance.' Zhongta did not reply. Xuansha then asked the Master, 'How do you understand it?' The Master said, 'This monk does not know where that blow came from.' A monk reported, 'Baofu has passed away.' The Master said, 'Baofu has passed away, Dizang enters the stupa.' (A monk asked Fayan, 'What did the ancient mean?' Fayan said, 'O heavens, O heavens.') Later he moved to Luohan and greatly unfolded the profound essentials. Ascending the hall: 'The mystery of the ancestral school — is it just this, or is there something more extraordinary? If there is something more extraordinary, bring it up and let me see. If there is not, go. You must not take two words and make them out to be the ancestral vehicle. What two words? The ancestral vehicle and the teaching vehicle. The moment you speak of the ancestral vehicle, it is the ancestral vehicle; the moment you speak of the teaching vehicle, it is the teaching vehicle. Chan worthies, the ancestral vehicle of the Buddha Dharma is originally a name that you yourselves set up in your mouths; making it and speaking it is all it is. For a moment you speak here of the level and the real, of the perfect and the constant. Chan worthies, what do you call level and real? What do you make of perfect and constant? Going on pilgrimage among the neighboring houses, you should discriminate clearly and not bury one another. Having got a bit of sound, form and name, you store it in your heart and say, I understand, I can pick and discern. What do you understand? What do you pick? What you remember and hold is name,

揀辨得底是聲色。若不是聲色名字。汝又作麼生記持揀辨。風吹松樹也是聲。蝦蟇老鵶呌也是聲。何不那裡聽取揀擇去。若那裡有箇意度模樣。祇如老師口裡。又有多少意度與上座。莫錯。即今聲色摐摐地。為當相及不相及。若相及。即汝靈性金剛秘密應有壞滅去也。何以如此。為聲貫破汝耳。色穿破汝眼。因緣即塞卻汝。幻妄走殺汝。聲色體爾不可容也。若不相及。又甚麼處得聲色來。會麼。相及不相及。試裁辨看。少間又道。是圓常平實。甚麼人恁麼道。未是黃夷村裡漢解恁麼說。是他古聖。垂些子相助顯發。今時不識好惡。便安圓實。道我別有宗風玄妙。釋迦佛無舌頭。不如汝些子。便恁麼點胸。若論殺盜婬罪。雖重猶輕。尚有歇時。此箇謗般若。瞎卻眾生眼。入阿鼻地獄吞鐵丸莫將為等閑。所以古人道。過在化主。不幹汝事。珍重。僧問。如何是羅漢一句。師曰。我若向汝道。便成兩句也。問。不會底人來。師還接否。師曰。誰是不會者。曰。適來道了也。師曰。莫自屈麼。保福僧到。師問。彼中佛法如何。曰。有時示眾道。塞卻你眼。教你覷不見。塞卻你耳。教你聽不聞。坐卻你意。教你分別不得。師曰。吾問你。不塞你眼。見箇甚麼。不塞你耳。聞箇甚麼。不坐你意。作麼生分別(東禪齊雲。那僧聞了忽然省去。更不他遊。上座如今還會麼。若不會。每日見箇甚麼)。問。以字不成。八字不是。未審是甚麼字。師曰。汝實不會那。曰。學人實不會。師曰。看取下頭註腳。問。如何是沙門正命食。師曰。吃得麼。曰。欲吃此食。作何方便。師曰。塞卻你口。問。如何是羅漢家風。師曰。不向你道。曰。為甚麼不道。師曰。是我家風。問。如何是法王身。師曰。汝今是甚麼身。曰。恁麼即無身也。師曰。苦痛深。上堂才坐。有二僧一時禮拜。師曰。俱錯。問。如何是撲不破底句。師曰。撲。問。

(The Master continued:) 'and what you pick and discern is sound and form. If it were not sound, form and name, how would you remember, hold, pick and discern? The wind blowing in the pine trees is also sound; the croaking of frogs and crows is also sound. Why not listen and choose there? If there is some measure and appearance there, then how much measure does this old monk's mouth have for you, elder? Do not be mistaken. Just now sound and form clash and clatter — do they reach you or not? If they reach you, then your spiritual nature, the vajra secret, should be subject to destruction. Why is that so? Because sound pierces through your ear, form pierces through your eye, conditions block you up, and illusion runs you to death. Sound and form themselves cannot contain it. If they do not reach you, then from where do sound and form come? Do you understand? Whether they reach you or not, try to judge and discern. In a little while you will again say it is perfect, constant, level and real. Who says that? Even a man of the Huangyi village could not say that. It is the ancient sages who dropped a little to help bring it out. Nowadays, not knowing good from bad, you assign perfect and real, and say you have another ancestral style and profound mystery. Sakyamuni Buddha has no tongue and is not your equal in the least, and yet you thump your chest like this. If you weigh the sins of killing, stealing and lust, though heavy they are still light, and there is still a time when they stop. But this slandering of prajna, blinding living beings' eyes, entering the Avici hell and swallowing iron pellets — do not take it lightly. Therefore the ancients said, the fault lies with the master who converts, and is no concern of yours. Take care.' A monk asked, 'What is the one phrase of Luohan?' The Master said, 'If I tell you, it becomes two phrases.' Someone asked, 'When one who does not understand comes, does the Master still receive him?' The Master said, 'Who is the one who does not understand?' He said, 'I have just said it.' The Master said, 'Do not wrong yourself.' A monk from Baofu arrived. The Master asked, 'How is the Buddha Dharma there?' He said, 'Sometimes he shows the assembly: I stop up your eyes so you cannot see; I stop up your ears so you cannot hear; I sit on your mind so you cannot discriminate.' The Master said, 'I ask you: without stopping your eyes, what do you see? Without stopping your ears, what do you hear? Without sitting on your mind, how do you discriminate?' (Dongchan Qi said, 'When that monk heard this he was suddenly awakened and never wandered elsewhere. Do you elders understand now? If not, what do you see every day?') Someone asked, 'As a written character it is not formed, and as the character eight it is not that either. I wonder what character it is?' The Master said, 'Do you really not understand?' He said, 'The student really does not.' The Master said, 'Look at the footnote below.' Someone asked, 'What is the food of right livelihood for a monk?' The Master said, 'Can you eat it?' He said, 'If one wants to eat this food, by what means?' The Master said, 'Stop up your mouth.' Someone asked, 'What is the family style of Luohan?' The Master said, 'I do not tell you.' He said, 'Why not tell?' The Master said, 'It is my family style.' Someone asked, 'What is the body of the Dharma King?' The Master said, 'What body are you now?' He said, 'If so, then there is no body.' The Master said, 'Deep is the pain.' He had just sat down in the hall when two monks bowed at once. The Master said, 'Both wrong.' Someone asked, 'What is a phrase that cannot be broken?' The Master said, 'Broken.' Someone asked,

一佛出世普為群生。和尚今日為箇甚麼。師曰。甚麼處遇一佛。曰。恁麼即學人罪過。師曰。謹退。問。如何是諸聖玄旨。師曰。四楞塌地。問。大事未肯時如何。師曰。由汝。問。如何是十方眼。師曰。眨上眉毛著。請保福齋。令人傳語曰。請和尚慈悲降重。福曰。慈悲為阿誰。師曰。和尚恁麼道。渾是不慈悲。翫月次。乃曰。雲動有。雨去有。僧曰。不是雲動是風動。師曰。我道雲亦不動。風亦不動。曰。和尚適來又道雲動。師曰。阿誰罪過。師見僧。舉拂子曰。還會麼。曰。謝和尚慈悲示學人。師曰。見我竪拂子。便道示學人。汝每日見山見水。可不示汝。又見僧來。舉拂子。其僧讚歎禮拜。師曰。見我竪拂子。便禮拜讚歎。那裡掃地竪起掃帚。為甚麼不讚歎。問。承教有言。若見諸相非相。即見如來。如何是非相。師曰。燈籠子。問。如何是出家。師曰。喚甚麼作家。問。僧甚處來。曰。秦州。師曰。將得甚麼物來。曰。不將得物來。師曰。汝為甚麼對眾謾語。其僧無對。師卻問。秦州豈不是出鸚鵡。曰。鸚鵡出在隴西。師曰。也不較多。問。僧甚處來。曰。報恩。師曰。何不且在彼中。曰。僧家不定。師曰。既是僧家。為甚麼不定。僧無對(玄覺代雲。謝和尚顧問)。王太傅上雪峰施眾僧衣。時從弇上座不在。師弟代上名受衣。弇歸。弟曰。某甲為師兄上名了。弇曰。汝道我名甚麼。弟無對。師代雲。師兄得恁麼貪。又曰。甚麼處是貪處。又代雲。兩度上名。(雲居錫雲。甚麼處是弇上座兩度上名處)。師與長慶．保福入州。見牡丹障子。保福曰。好一朵牡丹花。長慶曰。莫眼花。師曰。可惜許一朵花(玄覺雲。三尊宿語還有親疎也無。祇如羅漢恁麼道。落在甚麼處)。問僧。汝在招慶有甚麼異聞底事。試舉看。曰。不敢錯舉。師曰。真實底事作麼生舉。曰。和尚因甚麼如此。師曰。汝話墮也。

Someone asked, 'One Buddha appears in the world universally for living beings. For what is the Reverend here today?' The Master said, 'Where did you meet one Buddha?' He said, 'If so, then the student is at fault.' The Master said, 'Withdraw respectfully.' Someone asked, 'What is the profound purport of all the sages?' The Master said, 'Four-cornered and flat on the ground.' Someone asked, 'What about when the great matter is not yet accepted?' The Master said, 'It is up to you.' Someone asked, 'What is the eye of the ten directions?' The Master said, 'Blink and raise your eyebrows.' When he invited Baofu for a meal, he sent someone with the message, 'Please, Reverend, in your compassion, condescend to come.' Baofu said, 'Compassion for whom?' The Master said, 'Speaking like that, the Reverend is altogether without compassion.' Once, when enjoying the moon, he said, 'The clouds move — there is; the rain goes — there is.' A monk said, 'It is not the clouds moving, it is the wind moving.' The Master said, 'I say the clouds do not move either, and the wind does not move either.' He said, 'The Reverend just now said the clouds move.' The Master said, 'Whose fault is that?' Once, when the Master saw a monk, he raised his fly whisk and said, 'Do you understand?' He said, 'Thank you, Reverend, for your compassion in showing it to the student.' The Master said, 'You see me raise my fly whisk and you say I am showing it to the student. Every day you see mountains and see water — does that not show it to you?' Again, when he saw a monk coming, he raised his fly whisk. That monk praised him and bowed. The Master said, 'You see me raise my fly whisk and you bow and praise. Over there, when they sweep the ground and raise the broom, why do you not praise?' Someone asked, 'The teaching says, if you see all marks as no marks, you see the Tathagata. What is no mark?' The Master said, 'A lantern.' Someone asked, 'What is leaving home?' The Master said, 'What do you call a householder?' He asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'Qinzhou.' The Master said, 'What thing have you brought with you?' He said, 'I have brought no thing.' The Master said, 'Then why do you lie before the assembly?' That monk had no reply. The Master then asked, 'Is Qinzhou not where parrots come from?' He said, 'Parrots come from Longxi.' The Master said, 'Not much difference either.' He asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'Baoen.' The Master said, 'Why not stay there?' He said, 'A monk's household is not fixed.' The Master said, 'Since it is a monk's household, why is it not fixed?' The monk had no reply. (Xuanjue said on his behalf, 'Thank you, Reverend, for your inquiry.') The Grand Tutor Wang came to Xuefeng to give robes to the monks. At that time the elder Congyan was not there. His junior fellow disciple registered in his name and received the robe. When Congyan returned, the junior said, 'I registered in the senior brother's name.' Congyan said, 'What do you say my name is?' The junior had no reply. The Master said on his behalf, 'The senior brother is so greedy.' He also said, 'Where is the greed?' And he said on his behalf, 'Registering his name twice.' (Yunju Xi said, 'Where is the place where the elder Yan registered his name twice?') Once the Master, with Changqing and Baofu, went into the city and saw a peony screen. Baofu said, 'What a lovely peony.' Changqing said, 'Do not let your eyes be dazzled.' The Master said, 'What a pity for one flower.' (Xuanjue said, 'Do the words of these three venerable ones have near and far? Just as Luohan spoke like that, where does it fall?') He asked a monk, 'What unusual things have you heard at Zhaoqing? Try to bring one up.' He said, 'I would not dare bring it up wrongly.' The Master said, 'How does one bring up a true matter?' He said, 'Why is the Reverend like this?' The Master said, 'Your words have fallen.'

眾僧晚參。聞角聲。師曰。羅漢三日一度上堂。王太傅二時相助。問。如何是學人本來心。師曰。是你本來心。問。師居寶座。說法度人。未審度甚麼人。師曰。汝也居寶座。度甚麼人。問。鏡裡看形見不難。如何是鏡。師曰。還見形麼。問。但得本。莫愁末。如何是末。師曰。總有也。師因疾。僧問。和尚尊候較否。師以杖拄地曰。汝道這箇還痛否。曰。和尚問阿誰。師曰。問汝。曰。還痛否。師曰。元來共我作道理。天成三年秋。復屆閩城舊址。遍遊近城梵宇已。乃示寂。茶毗收舍利。建塔於院之西隅。諡真應禪師。

Once when the monks gathered for the evening study, they heard the sound of a horn. The Master said, 'Luohan ascends the hall once every three days; the Grand Tutor Wang helps at the two watches.' Someone asked, 'What is the student's original mind?' The Master said, 'It is your original mind.' Someone asked, 'The Master sits on the jeweled seat, preaching the Dharma and saving people. I wonder whom he saves?' The Master said, 'You also sit on a jeweled seat — whom do you save?' Someone asked, 'Seeing a shape in a mirror is not hard. What is the mirror?' The Master said, 'Do you see the shape?' Someone asked, 'Only get the root, and do not worry about the branches. What are the branches?' The Master said, 'They are all there.' Once, when the Master was ill, a monk asked, 'Has the Reverend's health improved?' The Master planted his staff on the ground and said, 'Do you say this hurts or not?' He said, 'Whom is the Reverend asking?' The Master said, 'I am asking you.' He said, 'Does it hurt or not?' The Master said, 'So you make a principle out of me.' In the autumn of the third year of Tiancheng he came again to the old site in the city of Min, and after touring all the temples near the city he passed into quiescence. After cremation his relics were collected, and a stupa was built in the west corner of the monastery. His posthumous title was Chan Master Zhenying.

杭州天龍寺重機明真禪師

Chan Master Chongji Mingzhen of Tianlong Monastery in Hangzhou

台州人也。得法玄沙。復回浙中。錢武肅王請出世開法。上堂。若直舉宗風。獨唱本分事。便同於頑石。若言絕凡聖消息。無大地山河。盡十方世界。都是一隻眼。此乃事不獲已。恁麼道還會麼。若更不會。聽取一頌。盲聾瘖瘂是仙陀。滿眼時人不奈何。祇向目前須體妙。身心萬象與森羅。僧問。如何是璇璣不動。師曰。青山數重。曰。如何是寂爾無垠。師曰。白雲一帶。問。如何是歸根得旨。師曰。兔角生也。曰。如何是隨照失宗。師曰。龜毛落也。問。蓮花未出水時如何。師曰。誰人不知。曰。出水後如何。師曰。馨香目擊。問。朗月輝空時如何。師曰。正是分光景。何消指玉樓。

was a man of Taizhou. He got the Dharma from Xuansha and returned to Zhezhong. King Qian Wusu asked him to come out into the world and open the teaching. Ascending the hall: 'If one directly raises the ancestral wind and sings alone of one's original matter, one is the same as a stubborn rock. If one speaks of cutting off the news of ordinary and sage, of there being no great earth, mountains and rivers, and of the whole world of the ten directions being a single eye — this too is only because there is no other way. Do you understand speaking like that? If you still do not, hear one verse: blind, deaf and mute is the fairy goblin; the people of the time, their eyes full, can do nothing about it. Just before your eyes you must realize the wonder — body and mind, the ten thousand things, and the teeming array.' A monk asked, 'What is it when the jade mechanism does not move?' The Master said, 'Layers of green mountains.' He said, 'What is it when all is still and boundless?' The Master said, 'A belt of white clouds.' Someone asked, 'How does one return to the root and get the purport?' The Master said, 'Rabbit horns have grown.' He said, 'How does one follow the shining and lose the school?' The Master said, 'Tortoise hair has fallen.' Someone asked, 'What about when the lotus has not yet come out of the water?' The Master said, 'Who does not know?' He said, 'And after it comes out of the water?' The Master said, 'Its fragrance is seen at a glance.' Someone asked, 'What about when the bright moon illumines the sky?' The Master said, 'This is just dividing the scenery; what need to point at the jade tower?'

福州僊宗院契符清法禪師

Chan Master Qifu Qingfa of Xianzong Monastery in Fuzhou

開堂日。僧問。師登寶座。合談何事。師曰。剔開耳孔著。曰。古人為甚麼卻道非耳目之所到。師曰。金櫻樹上不生梨。曰。古今不到處。請師道。師曰。汝作麼生問。問。眾手淘金。誰是得者。師曰。舉手隔千里。休功任意看。問。飛岫巖邊華子秀。仙境臺前事若何。師曰。無價大寶光中現。暗客惛惛爭奈何。曰。優曇華拆人皆覩。向上宗乘意若何。師曰。闍黎若問宗乘意。不如靜處薩婆訶。問。如何是閩中諸佛境界。師曰。造化終難測。春風徒自輕。問如何是道中寶。師曰。雲孫淚亦垂。問。諸聖收光歸源後如何。師曰。三聲猿屢斷。萬裡客愁聽。曰。未審今時人。如何湊得古人機。師曰。好心向子道。切忌未生時。

On the day he opened the hall, a monk asked, 'The Master has ascended the jeweled seat — what matter should he discuss?' The Master said, 'Pick open your ear holes.' He said, 'Why did the ancients say it is not reached by ear or eye?' The Master said, 'A pear does not grow on a cherry tree.' He said, 'At the place where ancient and modern do not reach, please, Master, speak.' The Master said, 'How do you ask?' Someone asked, 'Many hands wash for gold — who gets it?' The Master said, 'Raise your hand and you are a thousand li away; look at the merit you stop.' Someone asked, 'The flower blooms beside the flying peak's crag; how are matters before the fairy terrace?' The Master said, 'The priceless great treasure appears in the light; what can the blind guest, all muddled, do about it?' He said, 'The udumbara flower opens and everyone sees it — what of the ancestral vehicle above?' The Master said, 'If you ask about the meaning of the ancestral vehicle, it is better to say svaha in a quiet place.' Someone asked, 'What is the realm of the Buddhas in Min?' The Master said, 'The workings of creation are hard to fathom; the spring wind is only light of itself.' Someone asked, 'What is the treasure within the Way?' The Master said, 'The descendant of the clouds weeps too.' Someone asked, 'After all the sages withdraw their light and return to the source, how is it?' The Master said, 'Three cries of the gibbon cut off again and again; a traveler of ten thousand li listens in sorrow.' He said, 'I wonder how people nowadays can match the ancients' mechanism?' The Master said, 'With good intent I tell you: above all, do not at the time before birth.'

婺州國泰院𤦆禪師

Chan Master Liu of Guotai Monastery in Wuzhou

上堂。不離當處。鹹是妙明真心。所以玄沙和尚道。會我最後句。出世少人知。爭似國泰有末頭一句。僧問。如何是國泰末頭一句。師曰。闍黎問太遲生。便歸方丈。問。如何是毗盧。師曰。某甲與老兄是弟子。問。達磨來時即不問。如何是未來時事。師曰。親遇梁王。問。古鏡未磨時如何。師曰。古鏡。曰。磨後如何。師曰。古鏡。

Ascending the hall: 'Not apart from where you stand, all is the wondrous bright true mind. Therefore the Reverend Xuansha said, if you understand my last phrase, few in the world will know it. How much better is Guotai's phrase at the end.' A monk asked, 'What is Guotai's phrase at the end?' The Master said, 'You ask too late, acharya.' Then he went back to his quarters. Someone asked, 'What is Vairocana?' The Master said, 'I and you, old brother, are disciples.' Someone asked, 'About Bodhidharma's coming I do not ask — what is the matter before the future?' The Master said, 'He met the king of Liang in person.' Someone asked, 'What about when the ancient mirror has not been polished?' The Master said, 'An ancient mirror.' He said, 'And after polishing?' The Master said, 'An ancient mirror.'

福州升山白龍院道希禪師

Chan Master Daoxi of Bailong Monastery on Sheng Mountain in Fuzhou

本郡人也。上堂。不要舉足。是誰威光。還會麼。若道自家去處。本自如是。且喜沒交涉。問。如何是西來意。師曰。汝從甚處來。問。如何是佛法大意。師曰。汝早禮三拜。問。不責上來。請師直道。師曰。得。問。如何是正真道。師曰。騎驢覓驢。問。請師答無賓主話。師曰。昔年曾記得。曰。即今如何。師曰。非但耳聾。亦兼眼暗。問。情忘體合時如何。師曰。別更夢見箇甚麼。問。學人擬伸一問。請師裁。師曰。不裁。曰。為甚麼不裁。師曰。須知好手。問。大眾雲集。請師舉揚宗教。師曰。少遇聽者。問。不涉唇鋒。乞師指示。師曰。不涉唇鋒問將來。曰。恁麼即群生有賴。師曰。莫閑言語。問。請和尚生機答話。師曰。把紙筆來錄將去。問。如何是思大口。師曰。出來向你道。曰。學人即今見出。師曰。曾賺幾人來。

was a man of that prefecture. Ascending the hall: 'Without lifting a foot, whose majesty is this? Do you understand? If you speak of your own place, it is originally like this — and I am glad it has nothing to do with it.' Someone asked, 'What is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'Where have you come from?' Someone asked, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'You should bow three times first.' Someone asked, 'Without blaming you for coming up, please, Master, speak directly.' The Master said, 'Agreed.' Someone asked, 'What is the true and correct Way?' The Master said, 'Riding a donkey looking for a donkey.' Someone asked, 'Please, Master, answer the words of no host and guest.' The Master said, 'I remember it from years ago.' He said, 'And just now, how is it?' The Master said, 'Not only deaf, but blind as well.' Someone asked, 'What about when feeling is forgotten and substance is joined?' The Master said, 'What else do you dream of?' Someone asked, 'The student means to put one question; please, Master, judge it.' The Master said, 'I do not judge.' He said, 'Why not judge?' The Master said, 'You should know a skilled hand.' Someone asked, 'The assembly gathers like clouds; please, Master, raise the ancestral teaching.' The Master said, 'Few listeners are met.' Someone asked, 'Without touching lips or point, I beg the Master to point it out.' The Master said, 'Ask without touching lips or point.' He said, 'If so, then living beings have something to rely on.' The Master said, 'No idle words.' Someone asked, 'Please, Reverend, answer out of the living mechanism.' The Master said, 'Bring paper and brush and write it down.' Someone asked, 'What is the mouth of thinking greatly?' The Master said, 'Come forward and I will tell you.' He said, 'The student is coming forward now.' The Master said, 'How many people have I tricked like this?'

福州安國院慧球寂照禪師(亦曰。中塔)

Chan Master Huiqiu Jizhao of Anguo Monastery in Fuzhou (also called Zhongta)

泉州莆田人也。玄沙室中。參訊居首。因問。如何是第一月。沙曰。用汝箇月作麼。師從此悟入。梁開平二年。玄沙將示滅。閩帥王氏遣子至。問疾。仍請密示繼踵說法者誰。沙曰。球子得。王默記遺旨。乃問皷山。臥龍法席。孰當其任。皷山舉城下宿德具道眼者十有二人。皆堪出世。王亦默之。至開堂日。官僚與僧侶俱會法筵。王忽問眾曰。誰是球上座。於是眾人指出師。王氏便請陞座。師良久曰。莫嫌寂寞。莫道不堪。未詳涯際。作麼生論量。所以尋常用其音響。聊撥一兩下。助他發機。若論來十方世界。覓一人為伴侶。不可得。僧問。佛法大意。從何方便頓入。師曰。入是方便。問。雲自何山起。風從何㵎生。師曰。盡力施為。不離中塔。上堂。我此間粥飯因緣。為兄弟舉唱。終是不常。欲得省要。卻是山河大地與汝發明。其道既常。亦能究竟。若從文殊門入者。一切無為。土木瓦礫。助汝發機。若從觀音門入者。一切音響。蝦蟇蚯蚓。助汝發機。若從普賢門入者。不動步而到。以此三門方便示汝。如將一隻折箸攪大海水。令彼魚龍知水為命。會麼。若無智眼而審諦之。任汝百般巧妙。不為究竟。問。學人近入叢林。不明己事。乞師指示。師以杖指之曰。會麼。曰。不會。師曰。我恁麼為汝。卻成抑屈人。還知麼。若約當人分上。從來底事。不論初入叢林。及過去諸佛。不曾乏少。如大海水。一切魚龍初生及至老死。所受用水。悉皆平等。問。不謬正宗。請師真實。師曰。汝替我道。曰。或有不辨者作麼生。師曰。待不辨者來。問。諸佛還有師否。師曰。有。曰。如何是諸佛師。師曰。一切人識不得。上堂良久。有僧出禮拜。師曰。莫教髑髏拶損。僧參問。曰。去卻僕從。便請相見。師曰。眨上眉毛看。曰。不與麼時如何。師曰。山北去也。問。從上宗乘事如何。師良久。僧再問。師便喝出。問。

was a man of Putian in Quanzhou. In Xuansha's room he stood first in questioning. Because he asked, 'What is the first moon?' and Xuansha said, 'What would you do with your moon?' the Master entered awakening from this. In the second year of Kaiping of Liang, Xuansha was about to pass into extinction. The commander of Min, of the Wang family, sent his son to inquire after his illness, and also asked him to secretly indicate who would follow in his footsteps and preach the Dharma. Xuansha said, 'Qiu the son has got it.' The king silently noted the parting command, and then asked Gushan, 'At the Dharma seat of the Reclining Dragon, who should fill the post?' Gushan named twelve venerable men in the city who had the eye of the Way, all fit to come out into the world. The king also kept silent about it. On the day of opening the hall, officials and monks alike gathered at the Dharma feast. The king suddenly asked the assembly, 'Who is the elder Qiu?' Then the assembly pointed out the Master. The Wang family then asked him to ascend the seat. After a long while the Master said, 'Do not dislike the loneliness, do not say you cannot bear it. If you have not fathomed the limit, how will you measure it? Therefore ordinarily one uses its sound and echo, giving it a pluck or two to help it stir the mechanism. But as for finding one person in the ten directions of the world to be a companion — that is not possible.' A monk asked, 'The great meaning of the Buddha Dharma — by what means does one enter suddenly?' The Master said, 'Entering is the means.' Someone asked, 'From what mountain do the clouds rise, from what ravine does the wind come?' The Master said, 'Exert yourself to the utmost, and you do not leave Zhongta.' Ascending the hall: 'This porridge-and-rice connection of mine — singing it for you brothers is never constant. If you want the essential point, it is the mountains and rivers and the great earth that bring it out for you. That Way, being constant, can also be fathomed. If you enter by Manjushri's gate, all unconditioned things, earth, wood, tiles and pebbles, help you stir the mechanism. If you enter by Avalokitesvara's gate, all sounds, frogs and earthworms, help you stir the mechanism. If you enter by Samantabhadra's gate, you arrive without moving a step. By these three gates I show you a means. It is like taking one broken chopstick to stir the waters of the great sea, to make the fish and dragons know that water is their life. Do you understand? If you have no eye of wisdom to examine it closely, then however ingenious you are in a hundred ways, it is not the ultimate.' Someone asked, 'The student has just entered the monastery and is unclear about his own matter; I beg the Master to point it out.' The Master pointed with his staff and said, 'Do you understand?' He said, 'I do not.' The Master said, 'If I do it for you like this, it becomes oppressing a man. Do you know? If it is a matter of one's own portion, the matter from the first is the same whether one has just entered the monastery or whether one is a past Buddha; there is never any lack. It is like the waters of the great sea: all fish and dragons, from first birth to old age and death, use the same water equally.' Someone asked, 'Without betraying the true school, please, Master, the truth.' The Master said, 'You speak for me.' He said, 'What if there are those who cannot discern it?' The Master said, 'Wait until the one who cannot discern comes.' Someone asked, 'Do the Buddhas have a teacher?' The Master said, 'They do.' He said, 'What is the teacher of the Buddhas?' The Master said, 'No man can know it.' He ascended the hall and was silent a long while. A monk came forward and bowed. The Master said, 'Do not let your skull be crushed.' A monk came to study and said, 'Dismiss your attendants, and let us meet.' The Master said, 'Blink and raise your eyebrows and look.' He said, 'What about when it is not like this?' The Master said, 'He has gone north of the mountain.' Someone asked, 'What are the matters of the ancestral vehicle from above?' The Master was silent a long while. The monk asked again. The Master shouted him out. Someone asked,

如何是大庾嶺頭事。師曰。料汝承當不得。曰。重多少。師曰。這般底論劫不奈何。師問了院主。祇如先師道。盡十方世界是真實人體。你還見僧堂麼。了曰。和尚莫眼花。師曰。先師遷化。肉猶煖在。

Someone asked, 'What is the matter at the head of Dayu Ridge?' The Master said, 'I reckon you cannot take it on.' He said, 'How heavy is it?' The Master said, 'That sort of thing — through a whole kalpa there is no doing anything about it.' The Master asked the prior Liaoning, 'Just as my late teacher said, the whole world of the ten directions is the body of true reality — do you still see the monks' hall?' Liao said, 'Reverend, do not let your eyes be dazzled.' The Master said, 'My late teacher has passed away, and his flesh is still warm.'

衡嶽南臺誠禪師

Chan Master Cheng of Nantai in Hengyue

僧問。玄沙宗旨。請師舉揚。師曰。甚麼處得此消息。曰。垂接者何。師曰。得人不迷己。問。潭清月現。是何境界。師曰。不干你事。曰。借問又何妨。師曰。覓潭月不可得。問。離地四指。為甚麼卻有魚紋。師曰。有聖量在。曰。此量為甚麼人施。師曰。不為聖人。

A monk asked, 'The purport of Xuansha — please, Master, raise it up.' The Master said, 'Where did you get this news?' He said, 'What of the one who comes down to receive?' The Master said, 'Getting a man, one is not deluded about oneself.' Someone asked, 'The pool is clear and the moon appears — what realm is that?' The Master said, 'It is no concern of yours.' He said, 'What harm is there in asking?' The Master said, 'The pool and moon cannot be found.' Someone asked, 'Four fingers above the ground, why are there fish scales?' The Master said, 'There is a sage measure in it.' He said, 'For whom is this measure bestowed?' The Master said, 'Not for sages.'

福州螺峰沖奧明法禪師

Chan Master Chong'ao Mingfa of Luofeng in Fuzhou