The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll Seven

不語不默底莫是汝否。僧默然。師曰。何不現神通。曰。不辭現神通。祇恐和尚收作教。師曰。鑒汝來處。未有教外底眼。問。天堂地獄相去幾何。師將拄杖畫地一畫。師住觀音時。出牓雲。看經次不得問事。有僧來問訊。見師看經。旁立而待。師卷卻經。問。會麼。曰。某甲不看經。爭得會。師曰。汝已後會去在。其僧到巖頭。頭問。甚處來。曰。江西觀音來。頭曰。和尚有何言句。僧舉前話。頭曰。這箇老師。我將謂被故紙埋卻。元來猶在。僧思𨜶問。禪宗頓悟。畢竟入門的意如何。師曰。此意極難。若是祖宗門下。上根上智。一聞千悟。得大總持。其有根微智劣。若不安禪靜慮。到這裡總須茫然。曰。除此一路。別更有入處否。師曰。有。曰。如何即是。師曰。汝是甚處人。曰。幽州人。師曰。汝還思彼處否。曰。常思。師曰。能思者是心。所思者是境。彼處樓臺林苑。人馬駢闐。汝反思底還有許多般也無。曰。某甲到這裡。總不見有。師曰。汝解猶在心。信位即得。人位未在。曰。除卻這箇。別更有意也無。師曰。別有。別無即不堪也。曰。到這裡作麼生即是。師曰。據汝所解。祇得一玄。得坐披衣。向後自看。𨜶禮謝之。師接機利物。為宗門標準。再遷東平。將順寂。數僧侍立。師以偈示之曰。一二二三子。平目復仰視。兩口一無舌。即是吾宗旨。至日午。陞座辭眾。復說偈曰。年滿七十七。無常在今日。日輪正當午。兩手攀屈膝。言訖。以兩手抱膝而終。閱明年。南塔湧禪師遷靈骨歸仰山。塔於集雲峰下。諡智通禪師．妙光之塔。

(The Master continued:) 'Is the one who neither speaks nor is silent perhaps you?' The monk was silent. The Master said, 'Why do you not manifest spiritual powers?' He said, 'I do not shrink from manifesting spiritual powers; I only fear the Reverend will take it as a teaching.' The Master said, 'Judging your background, you do not yet have the eye outside the teachings.' Someone asked, 'How far apart are heaven and hell?' The Master drew one line on the ground with his staff. When the Master was residing at Guanyin, he posted a notice: 'While reading the scriptures, no questions may be asked.' A monk came to greet him, and seeing the Master reading, stood to one side and waited. The Master rolled up the scripture and asked, 'Do you understand?' He said, 'If I did not read the scriptures, how could I understand?' The Master said, 'You will understand later.' That monk went to Yantou. Yantou asked, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'From Guanyin in Jiangxi.' Yantou said, 'What words did the Reverend have?' The monk brought up the earlier words. Yantou said, 'This Master — I thought he had been buried by old paper; it turns out he is still here.' The monk Siyi asked, 'As for sudden awakening in the Chan school, what after all is the meaning of entering the gate?' The Master said, 'This meaning is exceedingly hard. If one is of the Ancestor's school, with superior faculties and superior wisdom, one hearing brings a thousand awakenings, and one gains the great retention. As for those whose faculties are slight and wisdom inferior, if they do not pacify Chan and still their thoughts, when they reach here they will surely be at a loss.' He said, 'Apart from this one road, is there another place of entry?' The Master said, 'There is.' He said, 'What is it then?' The Master said, 'Where are you from?' He said, 'I am a man of Youzhou.' The Master said, 'Do you still long for that place?' He said, 'I long for it constantly.' The Master said, 'What can long is the mind; what is longed for is the object. There, the towers and terraces, the groves and gardens, horses and men thronging — when you long for it, are there still all those many things?' He said, 'When I reach here, I see none of them at all.' The Master said, 'Your understanding is still in the mind. You have attained the position of faith, but not yet the position of the person.' He said, 'Setting this aside, is there any other meaning?' The Master said, 'Saying there is another or there is not is no good.' He said, 'What is it then when one reaches here?' The Master said, 'According to your understanding, you have got only one mystery. Sit firmly and put on your robe; look into it yourself hereafter.' Siyi bowed in thanks. The Master met opportunities to benefit beings and was a standard of the school. He moved again to Dongping. When he was about to pass into quiescence, several monks stood in attendance. The Master showed them a verse: 'One, two, two, three sons, level their eyes and again look up. Two mouths with one tongue — this is my school's purport.' At noon he ascended the seat to take leave of the assembly and spoke another verse: 'My years are full at seventy-seven; impermanence is here today. The sun's wheel is exactly at noon; with both hands I grasp my bent knees.' Having spoken, he died with both hands clasping his knees. The next year Chan Master Yong of Nanta moved his sacred bones back to Yangshan and built a stupa below Jiyun Peak. His posthumous title was Chan Master Zhitong, and his stupa was Miaoguang.

鄧州香嚴智閑禪師

Chan Master Xiangyan Zhixian of Dengzhou

青州人也。厭俗辭親。觀方慕道。在百丈時性識聰敏。參禪不得。洎丈遷化。遂參溈山。山問。我聞汝在百丈先師處。問一答十。問十答百。此是汝聰明靈利。意解識想。生死根本。父母未生時。試道一句看。師被一問。直得茫然。歸寮將平日看過底文字從頭要尋一句酬對。竟不能得。乃自歎曰。畫餅不可充飢。屢乞溈山說破。山曰。我若說似汝。汝已後罵我去。我說底是我底。終不幹汝事。師遂將平昔所看文字燒卻。曰。此生不學佛法也。且作箇長行粥飯僧。免役心神。乃泣辭溈山。直過南陽覩忠國師遺跡。遂憩止焉。一日。芟除草木。偶拋瓦礫。擊竹作聲。忽然省悟。遽歸沐浴焚香。遙禮溈山。讚曰。和尚大慈。恩逾父母。當時若為我說破。何有今日之事。乃有頌曰。一擊忘所知。更不假修持。動容揚古路。不墮悄然機。處處無蹤跡。聲色外威儀。諸方達道者。鹹言上上機。溈山聞得。謂仰山曰。此子徹也。仰曰。此是心機意識。著述得成。待某甲親自勘過。仰後見師。曰。和尚讚歎師弟發明大事。你試說看。師舉前頌。仰曰。此是夙習記持而成。若有正悟。別更說看。師又成頌曰。去年貧未是貧。今年貧始是貧。去年貧。猶有卓錐之地。今年貧。錐也無。仰曰。如來禪許師弟會。祖師禪未夢見在。師復有頌曰。我有一機。瞬目視伊。若人不會。別喚沙彌。仰乃報溈山。曰。且喜閑師弟會祖師禪也(玄覺雲。且道如來禪與祖師禪分不分。長慶稜雲。一時坐卻)。師初開堂。溈山令僧送書並拄杖至。師接得便哭。蒼天。蒼天。僧曰。和尚為甚麼如此。師曰。祇為春行秋令。上堂。道由悟達。不在語言。況是密密堂堂。曾無間隔。不勞心意。暫借回光。日用全功。迷徒自背。僧問。如何是香嚴境。師曰。華木不滋。問。如何是僊陀婆。師敲禪床曰。過這裡來。問。如何是現在學。師以扇子旋轉示之。曰。

He was a man of Qingzhou. Weary of the world, he took leave of his kin and wandered to seek the Way. In Baizhang's time he was clever and keen by nature, but he could not attain Chan. After Baizhang passed away, he studied under Guishan. Guishan asked, 'I hear that under the late master Baizhang you answered ten for one question and a hundred for ten. That is your cleverness and sharpness, your intellectual understanding and conceptual thought — the root of birth and death. Before your parents were born, try and say one phrase.' At this one question the Master was utterly at a loss. He returned to his quarters and went through all the writings he had read, seeking one phrase to answer with, and in the end could not find one, and he sighed to himself, 'A painted cake cannot fill hunger.' He begged Guishan again and again to explain it. Guishan said, 'If I explained it to you, afterward you would curse me. What I say is mine, and in the end has nothing to do with you.' The Master then burned all the writings he had read before, saying, 'In this life I will not study the Buddha Dharma. I will be a long-haul rice-and-porridge monk, to spare my mind and spirit.' Then weeping, he took leave of Guishan, and went straight to Nanyang, where he saw the traces of National Teacher Zhong, and there he rested. One day, as he was clearing grass and trees, he happened to throw away a tile, which struck a bamboo and made a sound, and he suddenly awakened. He hurried back, bathed and burned incense, and bowed from afar to Guishan, praising him: 'The Reverend's great compassion exceeds the grace of my parents. Had he explained it to me then, how would today's matter have come about?' Then he had a verse: 'One strike, and knowing is forgotten; no further need of cultivation. Moving and bearing, he raises the ancient road, and does not fall into the silent mechanism. Everywhere without trace, beyond sound and form his demeanor. All who reach the Way in the quarters say it is the highest mechanism.' When Guishan heard of it he told Yangshan, 'This son has penetrated.' Yangshan said, 'This is the working of the mind and consciousness, composed into a writing. Wait until I have examined him myself.' Later Yangshan saw the Master and said, 'The Reverend praised you, junior brother, for having made clear the great matter; try and say it.' The Master raised the earlier verse. Yangshan said, 'This was made from remembering former habits. If you have a true awakening, say something else.' The Master made another verse: 'Last year's poverty was not poverty; this year's poverty is poverty indeed. Last year's poverty still had a place to plant an awl. This year's poverty — not even an awl.' Yangshan said, 'The Tathagata Chan I grant you understand, junior brother; the Ancestor Chan you have not even dreamt of.' The Master made another verse: 'I have one mechanism; I blink my eye and look at him. If a man does not understand, then call the novice.' Yangshan then reported to Guishan, 'I am glad to say junior brother Xian understands the Ancestor Chan.' (Xuanjue said, 'Tell me: are the Tathagata Chan and the Ancestor Chan divided or not?' Changqing Leng said, 'Seat them all down at once.') When the Master first opened the hall, Guishan sent a monk with a letter and a staff. The Master received them and wept: 'O heaven, O heaven.' The monk said, 'Why does the Reverend do this?' The Master said, 'Only because spring performs the ordinances of autumn.' Ascending the hall: 'The Way is reached by awakening, and does not lie in words. Moreover it is secret and open, never with any gap. No need to labor mind and intent; for a moment borrow the turning back of the light. The whole function is in daily use; deluded followers turn their backs on it of themselves.' A monk asked, 'What is the realm of Xiangyan?' The Master said, 'Flowers and trees do not flourish.' Someone asked, 'What is the immortal goblin?' The Master rapped the corded chair and said, 'Come over here.' Someone asked, 'What is the study of the present?' The Master twirled his fan to show it and said:

見麼。僧無語。問。如何是正命食。師以手撮而示之。問。如何是無表戒。師曰。待闍黎作俗即說。問。如何是聲色外相見一句。師曰。如某甲未住香嚴時。且道在甚麼處。曰。恁麼則亦不敢道有所在。師曰。如幻人心心所法。問。如何是直截根源佛所印。師拋下拄杖。散手而去。問。如何是佛法大意。師曰。今年霜降早。蕎麥總不收。問。如何是西來意。師以手入懷作拳。展開與之。僧乃跪膝。以兩手作受勢。師曰。是甚麼。僧無對。問。離四句。絕百非。請和尚道。師曰。獵師前不得說本師戒。上堂。若論此事。如人上樹。口銜樹枝。腳不踏枝。手不攀枝。樹下忽有人問。如何是祖師西來意。不對他。又違他所問。若對他。又喪身失命。當恁麼時作麼生即得。時有虎頭招上座出眾雲。樹上即不問。未上樹時請和尚道。師乃呵呵大笑。師問。僧甚處來。曰。溈山來。師曰。和尚近日有何言句。曰。有僧問。如何是西來意。和尚竪起拂子。師曰。彼中兄弟作麼生會。曰。彼中商量道。即色明心。附物顯理。師曰。會即便會。著甚死急。僧卻問。師意如何。師亦竪起拂子(玄沙雲。祇這香嚴腳跟未點地。雲居錫雲。甚麼處是香嚴腳跟未點地處)。師有偈曰。子啐母啄。子覺母殻。子母俱亡。應緣不錯。同道唱和。妙玄獨腳。師凡示學徒。語多簡直。有偈頌二百餘篇。隨緣對機。不拘聲律。諸方盛行。後諡襲燈禪師。

(The Master continued:) 'Do you see?' The monk was silent. Someone asked, 'What is right-livelihood food?' The Master gathered it with his hand and showed it. Someone asked, 'What is the unmanifested precept?' The Master said, 'Wait until you are a layman and I will say.' Someone asked, 'What is the one phrase of meeting beyond sound and form?' The Master said, 'Before I lived at Xiangyan, tell me, where was I?' He said, 'If so, then I do not dare say there is any place.' The Master said, 'The dharmas of mind of an illusory person.' Someone asked, 'What is the direct cutting of the root, sealed by the Buddha?' The Master threw down his staff and went off with hands spread. Someone asked, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'This year the frost came early, and the buckwheat was all lost.' Someone asked, 'What is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master put his hand into his robe, made a fist, opened it and gave it to him. The monk then knelt on his knees and made the gesture of receiving it with both hands. The Master said, 'What is it?' The monk had no reply. Someone asked, 'Apart from the four propositions and cutting off the hundred negations, please, Reverend, speak.' The Master said, 'Before a hunter one must not speak of the master's precepts.' Ascending the hall: 'If one speaks of this matter, it is like a man up a tree, holding a branch in his mouth, his feet not on a branch, his hands not grasping a branch. Suddenly someone below the tree asks, "What is the meaning of the Ancestor's coming from the West?" If he does not answer him, he goes against his question. If he answers him, he loses body and life. At such a time, how should one do it?' Then the head seat Hutou Zhao came out from the assembly and said, 'I do not ask about up the tree; before he climbs the tree, please, Reverend, speak.' The Master then laughed heartily. The Master asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'From Guishan.' The Master said, 'What words has the Reverend had lately?' He said, 'A monk asked, "What is the meaning of the coming from the West?" and the Reverend raised his whisk.' The Master said, 'How do the brothers there understand it?' He said, 'There they discuss it as illuminating the mind through form and revealing principle through things.' The Master said, 'If you understand, you understand — why such mortal haste?' The monk then asked, 'What is the Master's meaning?' The Master also raised his whisk. (Xuansha said, 'This Xiangyan's heels have not yet touched the ground.' Yunju Xi said, 'Where is the place where Xiangyan's heels have not touched the ground?') The Master had a verse: 'The child sips, the mother pecks; the child wakes, the mother shells. Child and mother both gone, responding to conditions without error. Fellow travelers sing in harmony — wondrous mystery on a single leg.' Whenever the Master instructed students, his words were mostly plain and direct. He had over two hundred verses and praises, responding to conditions and matching capacities, not bound by tone and meter, and they were widely current in all quarters. Later he was given the posthumous title Chan Master Xideng.

杭州徑山洪諲禪師

Chan Master Hongyin of Jingshan in Hangzhou

吳興人也。僧問。掩息如灰時如何。師曰。猶是時人功幹。曰。幹後如何。師曰。耕人田不種。曰。畢竟如何。師曰。禾熟不臨場。問。龍門不假風雷勢便透得者如何。師曰。猶是一品二品。曰。此既是階級。向上事如何。師曰。吾不知有汝龍門。問。如霜如雪時如何。師曰。猶是汙染。曰。不汙染時如何。師曰。不同色。許州全明上座先問石霜。一毫穿眾穴時如何。霜曰。直須萬年去。曰。萬年後如何。霜曰。登科任汝登科。㧞萃任汝㧞萃。後問師曰。一毫穿眾穴時如何。師曰。光靴任汝光靴。結果任汝結果。問。如何是長。師曰。千聖不能量。曰。如何是短。師曰。蟭螟眼裡著不滿。其僧不肯。便去舉似石霜。霜曰。祇為太近實頭。僧卻問霜。如何是長。霜曰。不屈曲。曰。如何是短。霜曰。雙陸盤中不喝彩。佛日長老訪師。師問。伏承長老獨化一方。何以薦遊峰頂日。曰。朗月當空掛。冰霜不自寒。師曰。莫是長老家風也無。日曰。峭峙萬重關。於中含寶月。師曰。此猶是文言。作麼生是長老家風。日曰。今日賴遇佛日。卻問隱密全真。時人知有道不得。太省無辜。時人知有道得。於此二途。猶是時人升降處。未審和尚親道自道如何道。師曰。我家道處無可道。日曰。如來路上無私曲。便請玄音和一場。師曰。任汝二輪更互照。碧潭雲外不相關。日曰。為報白頭無限客。此回年少莫歸鄉。師曰。老少同輪無向背。我家玄路勿參差。日曰。一言定天下。四句為誰宣。師曰。汝言有三四。我道其中一也無。師因有偈曰。東西不相顧。南北與誰留。汝言有三四。我道一也無。光化四年九月二十八日。白眾而化。

He was a man of Wuxing. A monk asked, 'What is it like when one stills the breath like ashes?' The Master said, 'It is still the work of a man of the times.' He said, 'And after the work?' The Master said, 'He plows another's field and does not plant.' He said, 'After all, what then?' The Master said, 'When the grain is ripe, he does not come to the threshing floor.' Someone asked, 'Without borrowing the force of wind and thunder, the one who pierces through the dragon gate — what of him?' The Master said, 'He is still first rank or second rank.' He said, 'Since these are stages, what is the matter above?' The Master said, 'I do not know that you have a dragon gate.' Someone asked, 'What is it like when it is like frost, like snow?' The Master said, 'It is still defilement.' He said, 'And when not defiled?' The Master said, 'It is not the same color.' The head seat Quanming of Xuzhou first asked Shishuang, 'What is it like when a single hair pierces all the holes?' Shishuang said, 'You must go for ten thousand years.' He said, 'And after ten thousand years?' Shishuang said, 'Pass the examinations if you pass the examinations; stand out if you stand out.' Later he asked the Master, 'What is it like when a single hair pierces all the holes?' The Master said, 'Shine your boots if you shine your boots; bear fruit if you bear fruit.' Someone asked, 'What is long?' The Master said, 'A thousand sages cannot measure it.' He said, 'What is short?' The Master said, 'It does not fill the eye of a midge.' That monk would not accept it, and went and brought it up to Shishuang. Shishuang said, 'It is only that he is too close to the literal.' The monk then asked Shishuang, 'What is long?' Shishuang said, 'It does not bend.' He said, 'What is short?' Shishuang said, 'No cheering over the backgammon board.' The elder Fori visited the Master. The Master asked, 'I hear the elder transforms a whole region alone — how do you recommend the day of roaming the peak?' He said, 'The bright moon hangs in the empty sky; ice and frost are not cold of themselves.' The Master said, 'Is this not the elder's family style?' Fori said, 'Sheer and towering, ten thousand barriers; within them is the jewel moon.' The Master said, 'This is still words. What is the elder's family style?' Fori said, 'Today I am fortunate to meet Fori.' He then asked, 'Concealing the secret and keeping the whole true, people of the time know it but cannot speak of the Way. Being too sparing and faultless, people of the time know it and can speak of the Way. In these two roads one is still at the level of people of the times. I wonder how the Reverend himself speaks, and how he says it?' The Master said, 'Where my house speaks, there is nothing to say.' Fori said, 'On the Tathagata's road there is no crookedness — let us then harmonize one round of mysterious music.' The Master said, 'Though your two wheels shine on each other in turn, the blue pool has nothing to do with beyond the clouds.' Fori said, 'To tell the white-haired, boundless guest: this time, though young, do not go home.' The Master said, 'Young and old share one wheel without facing or turning away; the mysterious road of my house admits no deviation.' Fori said, 'One word settles the world; for whom are the four propositions proclaimed?' The Master said, 'You speak of three and four; I say not even one is there.' The Master then had a verse: 'East and west do not look at each other; north and south, with whom do they stay? You speak of three and four; I say not even one is there.' On the twenty-eighth day of the ninth month of the fourth year of Guanghua he announced it to the assembly and passed away.

滁州定山神英禪師

Chan Master Shenying of Dingshan in Chuzhou

因椑樹省和尚行腳時參問。不落數量。請師道。師提起數珠曰。是落不落。樹曰。圓珠三竅。時人知有。請師圓前話。師便打。樹拂袖便出。師曰。三十年後槌胸大哭去在。樹住後示眾曰。老僧三十年前至定山。被他熱謾一上。不同小小。師見首座洗衣。遂問。作甚麼。座提起衣示之。師曰。洗底是甚衣。座曰。關中使鐵錢。師喚維那。移下座掛搭著。

When the Reverend Sheng of Beishu was on pilgrimage he came to ask, 'Not falling into number — please, Master, speak.' The Master picked up his rosary and said, 'Does this fall or not fall?' Beishu said, 'Round beads with three holes, people of the time know them. Please, Master, round out the earlier words.' The Master then beat him. Beishu shook his sleeves and went out. The Master said, 'Thirty years from now you will beat your breast and weep bitterly.' After Beishu had taken up residence, he said to the assembly, 'Thirty years ago this old monk went to Dingshan and was given a hot swindle; it was no small matter.' The Master saw the head seat washing clothes and asked, 'What are you doing?' The head seat held up the garment to show him. The Master said, 'What garment is it you are washing?' The head seat said, 'Within the pass they use iron coins.' The Master called the work manager: 'Move him down from the seat and hang up his bundle.'

襄州延慶山法端禪師

Chan Master Faduan of Yanqing Mountain in Xiangzhou

僧問。蚯蚓斬為兩段。兩頭俱動。佛性在阿那頭。師展兩手(洞山別雲。問底在阿那頭)。師滅後。諡紹真禪師。

A monk asked, 'Cut an earthworm into two pieces and both ends move. On which end is the Buddha nature?' The Master opened both hands. (Dongshan said otherwise, 'Ask on which end it is.') After the Master's death he was given the posthumous title Chan Master Shaozhen.

益州應天和尚

The Reverend of Yingtian in Yizhou

僧問。人人盡有佛性。如何是和尚佛性。師曰。汝喚甚麼作佛性。曰。恁麼則和尚無佛性也。師乃呌。快活。快活。

A monk asked, 'Everyone has the Buddha nature. What is the Reverend's Buddha nature?' The Master said, 'What do you call the Buddha nature?' He said, 'If so, then the Reverend has no Buddha nature.' The Master then cried, 'How delightful, how delightful.'

福州九峰慈慧禪師

Chan Master Cihui of Jiufeng in Fuzhou

初在溈山。山上堂曰。汝等諸人。祇得大機。不得大用。師便抽身出去。溈召之。師更不回顧。溈曰。此子堪為法器。一日辭溈山。曰。某甲辭違和尚。千里之外不離左右。溈動容曰。善為。

At first he was at Guishan. Guishan ascended the hall and said, 'You people have got only the great mechanism, not the great function.' The Master at once withdrew and went out. Guishan called to him. The Master did not look back. Guishan said, 'This son is fit to be a vessel of the Dharma.' One day he took leave of Guishan, saying, 'I take leave of you, Reverend; a thousand li away I shall not leave your side.' Guishan was moved and said, 'Fare well.'

京兆府米和尚(亦謂七師)

The rice monk of Jingzhao Prefecture (also called the Seventh Master)

參學後。歸受業寺。有老宿問。月中斷井索。時人喚作蛇。未審七師見佛喚作甚麼。師曰。若有佛見。即同眾生(法眼別雲。此是甚麼時節問。法燈別雲。喚底不是)。老宿曰。千年桃核。師令僧去問仰山曰。今時還假悟也無。仰曰。悟即不無。爭奈落在第二頭。師深肯之。又令僧問洞山曰。那箇究竟作麼生。洞曰。卻須問他始得。師亦肯之。僧問。自古上賢。還達真正理也無。師曰。達。曰。祇如真正理作麼生達。師曰。當時霍光賣假銀城與單於。契書是甚麼人做。曰。某甲直得杜口無言。師曰。平地教人作保。問。如何是衲衣下事。師曰。醜陋任君嫌。不掛雲霞色。

After his study, he returned to the monastery where he had been ordained. An old monk asked, 'In the moon they cut the well rope, and people of the time call it a snake. I wonder what the Seventh Master calls it when he sees the Buddha?' The Master said, 'If there is a view of Buddha, then one is the same as a living being.' (Fayan said otherwise, 'At what time was this question asked?' Fadeng said otherwise, 'What he called is not it.') The old monk said, 'A peach pit of a thousand years.' The Master sent a monk to ask Yangshan, 'Nowadays is awakening still relied upon or not?' Yangshan said, 'Awakening is not absent, but alas it falls to the second head.' The Master deeply approved. He also sent a monk to ask Dongshan, 'After all, how is that one?' Dongshan said, 'You must ask him yourself.' The Master also approved. A monk asked, 'Did the sages of old also reach the true principle?' The Master said, 'They reached it.' He said, 'How does one reach the true principle?' The Master said, 'When Huo Guang sold the false silver city to the Shanyu, whose hand wrote the contract?' He said, 'I am simply reduced to silence.' The Master said, 'On level ground he makes a man stand surety.' Someone asked, 'What is the matter under the robe?' The Master said, 'Let the ugly be as you please; it does not hang the color of clouds and mist.'

晉州霍山和尚

The Reverend of Huoshan in Jinzhou

因仰山一僧到。自稱集雲峰下四藤條天下大禪佛參。師乃喚維那。打鐘著。大禪佛驟步而去。

Because a monk from Yangshan came, calling himself the great Chan Buddha of the four rattan whips below Jiyun Peak, come to study, the Master called the work manager: 'Ring the bell.' The great Chan Buddha hurried away with rapid steps.

元康和尚

The Reverend Yuankang

因訪石樓。樓才見便收足坐。師曰。得恁麼威儀周足。樓曰。汝適來見箇甚麼。師曰。無端被人領過。樓曰。須是與麼始為真見。師曰。苦哉。賺殺幾人來。樓便起身。師曰。見則見矣。動則不動。樓曰。盡力道不出定也。師拊掌三下。後有僧舉似南泉。泉曰。天下人斷這箇漢是非不得。若斷得。與他同參。

Because he visited Shilou. Shilou, as soon as he saw him, drew in his feet and sat. The Master said, 'You have attained such complete and full deportment.' Shilou said, 'What did you see just now?' The Master said, 'For no reason I have been taken in by someone.' Shilou said, 'It must be like this before it is true seeing.' The Master said, 'How bitter — he has cheated so many people to death.' Shilou then rose. The Master said, 'Seeing is seeing, but moving is not moving.' Shilou said, 'Strain to speak and it will not come out.' The Master clapped his hands three times. Later a monk brought this up to Nanquan. Nanquan said, 'No one in the world can judge this fellow's right and wrong. If one could judge it, he would be his fellow student.'

蘄州三角山法遇庵主

The hermit Fayu of Sanjiao Mountain in Qizhou

因荒亂。魁師入山。執刃而問。和尚有甚財寶。師曰。僧家之寶。非君所宜。魁曰。是何寶。師震聲一喝。魁不悟。以刃加之。

Because of famine and disorder, a bandit chief entered the mountain and, holding a blade, asked, 'What treasure has the Reverend?' The Master said, 'A monk's treasure is not fit for you.' The chief said, 'What treasure is it?' The Master gave a shout that shook the air. The chief did not awaken, and attacked him with the blade.

襄州王敬初常侍

Attendant Censor Wang Jingchu of Xiangzhou

視事次。米和尚至。公乃舉筆示之。米曰。還判得虗空否。公擲筆入宅。更不復出。米致疑。明日憑鼓山供養主入探其意。米亦隨至。潛在屏蔽間偵伺。供養主才坐。問曰。昨日米和尚有甚麼言句。便不相見。公曰。師子齩人。韓獹逐塊。米聞此語。即省前謬。遽出朗笑曰。我會也。我會也。公曰。會即不無。你試道看。米曰。請常侍舉。公乃竪起一隻筯。米曰。這野狐精。公曰。這漢徹也。問僧。一切眾生還有佛性也無。曰。有。公指壁上畵狗子曰。這箇還有也無。僧無對。公自代曰。看齩著汝。

As he was attending to business, the rice monk arrived. The lord picked up his brush and showed it to him. Mi said, 'Can you also judge empty space?' The lord threw down the brush and went into the house, and did not come out again. Mi was left in doubt. The next day he relied on the offering master of Gushan to go in and sound out his intent. Mi also came along and hid behind a screen to spy. As soon as the offering master sat down he asked, 'What words did the rice monk have yesterday, that you would not see him?' The lord said, 'The lion bites the man; Han's hound chases the clod.' When Mi heard these words he at once saw his former error, hurried out and laughed aloud, saying, 'I understand, I understand.' The lord said, 'Understanding is not absent — try and say it.' Mi said, 'Please, Censor, raise it.' The lord then held up one chopstick. Mi said, 'This wild fox spirit.' The lord said, 'This fellow has penetrated.' He asked a monk, 'Do all living beings have the Buddha nature or not?' He said, 'They have.' The lord pointed at a dog painted on the wall and said, 'Does this one have it or not?' The monk had no reply. The lord answered for him, 'Look out, it will bite you.'

南嶽下五世

The fifth generation below Nanyue

仰山寂禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Ji of Yangshan

袁州仰山西塔光穆禪師

Chan Master Guangmu of the Western Stupa of Yangshan in Yuanzhou

僧問。如何是正聞。師曰。不從耳入。曰。作麼生。師曰。還聞麼。問。祖意教意。是同是別。師曰。同別且置。汝道瓶觜裡甚麼物出來入去。問。如何是西來意。師曰。汝無佛性。問。如何是頓。師作圓相示之。曰。如何是漸。師以手空中撥三下。

A monk asked, 'What is correct hearing?' The Master said, 'It does not enter by the ear.' He said, 'How is it then?' The Master said, 'Do you hear it?' Someone asked, 'The Ancestor's intent and the teaching's intent — are they the same or different?' The Master said, 'Same or different, set that aside. What is it that comes out and goes in at the mouth of the bottle?' Someone asked, 'What is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'You have no Buddha nature.' Someone asked, 'What is sudden?' The Master drew a circle to show him. He said, 'What is gradual?' The Master brushed three times in the air with his hand.

袁州仰山南塔光湧禪師

Chan Master Guangyong of the Southern Stupa of Yangshan in Yuanzhou

豫章豐城章氏子。母乳之夕。神光照庭。廐馬皆驚。因以光湧名之。少甚俊敏。依仰山剃度。北遊謁臨濟。復歸侍山。山曰。汝來作甚麼。師曰。禮覲和尚。山曰。還見和尚麼。師曰。見。山曰。和尚何似驢。師曰。某甲見和尚亦不似佛。山曰。若不似佛。似箇甚麼。師曰。若有所似。與驢何別。山大驚曰。凡聖兩忘。情盡體露。吾以此驗人。二十年無決了者。子保任之。山每指謂人曰。此子肉身佛也。僧問。文殊是七佛之師。文殊還有師否。師曰。遇緣即有。曰。如何是文殊師。師竪起拂子。僧曰。莫祇這便是麼。師放下拂子。叉手。問。如何是妙用一句。師曰。水到渠成。問。真佛住在何處。師曰。言下無相。也不在別處。

He was a son of the Zhang family of Fengcheng in Yuzhang. On the night his mother nursed him, divine light shone in the courtyard and the horses in the stable were all startled, so he was named Guangyong, Light Surge. Clever and keen from youth, he was shaved under Yangshan. He traveled north to visit Linji, then returned to attend on Yangshan. Yangshan said, 'What have you come for?' The Master said, 'To pay reverence to the Reverend.' Yangshan said, 'Do you see the Reverend?' The Master said, 'I see him.' Yangshan said, 'How is the Reverend like a donkey?' The Master said, 'I see the Reverend is also not like a Buddha.' Yangshan said, 'If not like a Buddha, what is he like?' The Master said, 'If there is any likeness, how is it different from a donkey?' Yangshan was greatly startled and said, 'Ordinary and sage both forgotten, feeling exhausted and the essence exposed. With this I have tested people for twenty years and found no one who decided it. You keep it well.' Yangshan often pointed him out and said, 'This son is a Buddha in the flesh.' A monk asked, 'Manjushri was the teacher of the seven Buddhas — does Manjushri have a teacher?' The Master said, 'Meeting a condition, he has one.' He said, 'What is Manjushri's teacher?' The Master raised his whisk. The monk said, 'Is this not just it?' The Master put down the whisk and clasped his hands. Someone asked, 'What is the one phrase of wondrous function?' The Master said, 'When the water arrives, the channel is formed.' Someone asked, 'Where does the true Buddha dwell?' The Master said, 'Under the words there is no mark, and it is not elsewhere either.'

晉州霍山景通禪師

Chan Master Jingtong of Huoshan in Jinzhou

初參仰山。山閉目坐。師乃翹起右足曰。如是。如是。西天二十八祖亦如是。中華六祖亦如是。和尚亦如是。景通亦如是。仰山起來。打四藤條。師因此自稱。集雲峰下四藤條天下大禪師(歸宗下。亦名大禪佛有智通)。住後。有行者問。如何是佛法大意。師乃禮拜。者曰。和尚為甚麼禮俗人。師曰。汝不見道尊重弟子。師問僧。甚麼處來。僧提起坐具。師曰。龍頭蛇尾。問。如何是佛。師便打。僧亦打。師曰。汝打我有道理。我打汝無道理。僧無語。師又打趂出。師化緣將畢。先備薪於郊野。徧辭檀信。食訖至薪所。謂弟子曰。日午當來報。至日午。師自執炬登積薪上。以笠置頂後。作圓光相。手執拄杖。作降魔杵勢。立終於紅焰中。

He first studied under Yangshan. Yangshan sat with closed eyes. The Master then raised his right foot and said, 'So it is, so it is. The twenty-eight Ancestors of the Western Heaven are also so; the Sixth Ancestor of China is also so; the Reverend is also so; Jingtong is also so.' Yangshan rose and gave him four rattan whips. Because of this the Master called himself the great Chan master of the four rattan whips below Jiyun Peak. (Under Guizong he was also called the great Chan Buddha, with the name Zhitong.) After he had taken up residence, a postulant asked, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master bowed to him. The postulant said, 'Why does the Reverend bow to a layman?' The Master said, 'Have you not heard it said: honor the disciple?' The Master asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' The monk held up his sitting cloth. The Master said, 'Dragon's head, snake's tail.' Someone asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master then beat him. The monk also beat him. The Master said, 'Your beating me has principle; my beating you has no principle.' The monk was silent. The Master beat him again and drove him out. When the Master's converting of conditions was about to end, he first prepared firewood in the countryside and took leave of all the donors. After eating he went to the woodpile and told his disciples, 'At noon come and report to me.' At noon the Master himself took a torch and climbed onto the piled firewood, placed his hat on the back of his head to form a halo, took his staff in his hand in the posture of a demon-subduing pestle, stood and ended in the red flames.

杭州無著文喜禪師

Chan Master Wuzhao Wenxi of Hangzhou

嘉禾語溪人也。姓朱氏。七歲。依本邑常樂寺(今崇福也)。國清出家剃染。後習律聽教。屬會昌澄汰。反服韜晦。大中初。例重懺度於鹽官齊峰寺。後謁大慈山性空禪師。空曰。子何不徧參乎。師直往五臺山華嚴寺。至金剛窟禮謁。遇一老翁牽牛而行。邀師入寺。翁呼均提。有童子應聲出迎。翁縱牛。引師陞堂。堂宇皆耀金色。翁踞床指繡墩命坐。翁曰。近自何來。師曰。南方。翁曰。南方佛法如何住持。師曰。末法比丘。少奉戒律。翁曰。多少眾。師曰。或三百。或五百。師卻問。此間佛法如何住持。翁曰。龍蛇混雜。凡聖同居。師曰。多少眾。翁曰。前三三。後三三。翁呼童子致茶。並進酥酪。師納其味。心意豁然。翁拈起玻瓈盞。問曰。南方還有這箇否。師曰。無。翁曰。尋常將甚麼吃茶。師無對。師覩日色稍晚。遂問翁。擬投一宿得否。翁曰。汝有執心在。不得宿。師曰。某甲無執心。翁曰。汝曾受戒否。師曰。受戒久矣。翁曰。汝若無執心。何用受戒。師辭退。翁令童子相送。師問童子。前三三。後三三。是多少。童召。大德。師應諾。童曰。是多少。師復問曰。此為何處。童曰。此金剛窟般若寺也。師悽然。悟彼翁者即文殊也。不可再見。即稽首童子。願乞一言為別。童說偈曰。面上無嗔供養具。口裡無嗔吐妙香。心裡無嗔是珍寶。無垢無染是真常。言訖。均提與寺俱隱。但見五色雲中。文殊乘金毛師子往來。忽有白雲自東方來。覆之不見。時有滄州菩提寺僧修政等至。尚聞山石震吼之聲。師因駐錫五臺。咸通三年至洪州觀音參仰山。頓了心契。令充典座。文殊嘗現於粥鑊上。師以攪粥篦便打。曰。文殊自文殊。文喜自文喜。殊乃說偈曰。苦瓠連根苦。甜瓜徹蔕甜。修行三大劫。卻被老僧嫌。一日。有異僧來求齋食。師減己分饋之。仰山預知。問曰。適來果位人至。汝給食否。師曰。

He was a man of Yuxi in Jiahe, of the Zhu family. At seven he left home and was shaved under Guoqing of the Changle Monastery of his district (now Chongfu). Later he studied the Vinaya and listened to the teachings. When the Huichang persecution came, he went back to lay dress and hid himself. In the early Dazhong era he was, by the general rule, reordained with repentance at Qifeng Monastery in Yanguan. Later he visited Chan Master Xingkong of Daci Mountain. Xingkong said, 'Why do you not go everywhere to study?' The Master went straight to Huayan Monastery on Mount Wutai, and when he paid reverence at the Vajra Cave he met an old man leading an ox, who invited the Master into the monastery. The old man called Junti, and a boy answered and came out to welcome them. The old man let the ox go and led the Master up into the hall. The hall and its buildings all shone with golden light. The old man sat on a couch, pointed to an embroidered cushion and told him to sit. The old man said, 'Where have you come from lately?' The Master said, 'The south.' The old man said, 'How is the Buddha Dharma maintained in the south?' The Master said, 'Monks of the Dharma-ending age rarely keep the precepts.' The old man said, 'How many are in the assembly?' The Master said, 'Three hundred, or five hundred.' The Master then asked, 'How is the Buddha Dharma maintained here?' The old man said, 'Dragons and snakes are mixed together; ordinary and sage dwell side by side.' The Master said, 'How many are in the assembly?' The old man said, 'Three three in front, three three behind.' The old man called the boy to bring tea, and also offered cream cheese. The Master took its flavor and his mind suddenly opened. The old man picked up a glass cup and asked, 'Does the south still have these?' The Master said, 'No.' The old man said, 'What do you usually drink tea from?' The Master had no reply. The Master saw that the sun was a little late, and so asked the old man, 'May I put up here for a night?' The old man said, 'You have a grasping mind; you may not stay the night.' The Master said, 'I have no grasping mind.' The old man said, 'Have you received the precepts?' The Master said, 'I received them long ago.' The old man said, 'If you have no grasping mind, what need of receiving the precepts?' The Master took his leave and withdrew. The old man told the boy to see him off. The Master asked the boy, 'Three three in front, three three behind — how much is that?' The boy called, 'Great Virtue.' The Master answered. The boy said, 'How much is it?' The Master asked again, 'What place is this?' The boy said, 'This is the Vajra Cave, the Prajna Monastery.' The Master was stricken, and realized that the old man was Manjushri and could not be seen again. He at once bowed to the boy and begged one word for farewell. The boy spoke a verse: 'No anger on the face is an offering vessel; no anger in the mouth breathes wondrous fragrance. No anger in the heart is a treasure; undefiled and unstained is the true constant.' Having spoken, Junti and the monastery both vanished. He saw only Manjushri riding a golden-haired lion to and fro within five-colored clouds. Suddenly a white cloud came from the east and covered it from sight. At that time monks such as Xiuzheng of the Bodhi Monastery in Cangzhou arrived, and still heard the sound of the mountain rocks shaking and roaring. The Master then settled on Mount Wutai. In the third year of Xiantong he went to Guanyin in Hongzhou to study under Yangshan, and at once understood the mind's agreement, and was made cook. Manjushri once appeared above the porridge cauldron. The Master beat him with the porridge stirrer and said, 'Manjushri is Manjushri, Wenxi is Wenxi.' Manjushri then spoke a verse: 'The bitter gourd is bitter to the root; the sweet melon is sweet to the stem. Cultivating for three great kalpas, and yet this old monk dislikes him.' One day a strange monk came asking for food. The Master reduced his own portion and gave it to him. Yangshan knew beforehand and asked, 'Just now a man of the fruition stage came — did you give him food?' The Master said:

輟己回施。仰曰。汝大利益。後旋浙住龍泉寺。僧問。如何是涅槃相。師曰。香煙盡處驗。問。如何是佛法大意。師曰。喚院主來。這師僧患顛。問。如何是自己。師默然。僧罔措。再問。師曰。青天矇昧。不向月邊飛。錢王奏賜紫衣。署無著禪師。將順寂。於子夜告眾曰。三界心盡。即是涅槃。言訖。跏趺而終。白光照室。竹樹同色。塔於靈隱山之西塢。天福二年宣城帥田頵應杭將許思叛渙。縱兵大掠。發師塔。覩肉身不壞。爪髮俱長。武肅錢王異之。遣裨將邵志重加封瘞。至皇朝嘉定庚辰。遷於淨慈山智覺壽禪師塔左。

(The Master continued:) '...I stopped my own and gave it to him.' Yangshan said, 'You have greatly benefited.' Later he went back to Zhe and lived at Longquan Monastery. A monk asked, 'What is the mark of nirvana?' The Master said, 'Test it where the incense smoke ends.' Someone asked, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'Call the prior here; this monk is suffering from madness.' Someone asked, 'What is one's own self?' The Master was silent. The monk was at a loss and asked again. The Master said, 'The blue sky is dim; do not fly toward the moon.' King Qian memorialized for him the purple robe and titled him Chan Master Wuzhao. When he was about to pass into quiescence, at midnight he told the assembly, 'When the mind of the three realms is exhausted, that is nirvana.' Having spoken, he crossed his legs and died. White light shone in the room and the bamboo and trees were the same color. A stupa was built at the western hollow of Lingyin Mountain. In the second year of Tianfu, when Tian Jun of Xuancheng responded to the Hang general Xu Si's rebellion and let his troops plunder, the Master's stupa was opened, and his flesh body was found undecayed, and his nails and hair had all grown. King Qian Wusu found it strange, and sent the assistant general Shao Zhi to reseal and bury it. In the Gengchen year of Jiading of the present dynasty it was moved to the left of Chan Master Zhijue Shou's stupa on Jingci Mountain.

新羅國五觀山順支了悟禪師

Chan Master Shunzhi Liaowu of Wuguan Mountain in the kingdom of Silla