The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll Seven

福州人也。初參法眼。眼指雨謂師曰。滴滴落在上座眼裡。師初不喻旨。後因閱華嚴感悟。承眼印可。回止明州四明山卓庵。節度使錢億執事師之禮。忠懿王命於臨安兩處開法。後居靈隱上寺。署了悟禪師。上堂曰。十方諸佛常在汝前。還見麼。若言見。將心見。將眼見。所以道一切法不生。一切法不滅。若能如是解。諸佛常現前。又曰。見色便見心。且喚甚麼作心。山河大地。萬象森羅。青黃赤白。男女等相。是心不是心。若是心。為甚麼卻成物象去。若不是心。又道見色便見心。還會麼。祇為迷此而成顛倒。種種不同。於無同異中強生同異。且如今直下承當。頓豁本心。皎然無一物可作見聞。若離心別求解脫者。古人喚作迷波討源。卒難曉悟。僧問。根塵俱泯。為甚麼事理不明。師曰。事理且從。喚甚麼作俱泯底根塵。問。如何是觀音第一義。師曰。錯。問。無明實性即佛性。如何是佛性。師曰。喚甚麼作無明。問。如何是和尚家風。師曰。亙古亙今。問。不問不答時如何。師曰。寐語作麼。問。牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。青山綠水。曰。見後如何。師曰。綠水青山。師問僧。汝會佛法麼。曰。不會。師曰。汝端的不會。曰。是。師曰。且去。待別時來。其僧珍重。師曰。不是這箇道理。問。如何是摩訶般若。師曰。雪落茫茫。僧無語。師曰。會麼。曰。不會。師示偈曰。摩訶般若。非取非捨。若人不會。風寒雪下。

was a man of Fuzhou. He first called on Fayan. Fayan pointed at the rain and told the Master, 'Drop by drop it falls in the elder's eye.' At first the Master did not grasp the purport. Later, awakened by reading the Avatamsaka Sutra, he received Fayan's confirmation. He returned and dwelt in a hut on Siming Mountain in Mingzhou. The military commissioner Qian Yi performed for him the rites of attendance. Prince Zhongyi ordered him to open the teaching in two places in Lin'an. Later he lived at the Upper Lingyin Monastery and was given the title Chan Master Liaowu. Ascending the hall he said, 'The Buddhas of the ten directions are ever before you. Do you see them? If you say you see them, do you see them with the mind or with the eye? Therefore it is said: all dharmas are unborn, all dharmas are undying. If you can understand it thus, the Buddhas are ever present before you.' He also said, 'Seeing form one sees the mind. But what do you call the mind? Mountains, rivers, and the great earth, the myriad forms, blue, yellow, red, and white, the signs of men and women—are these the mind or not the mind? If they are the mind, why do they become the forms of things? If they are not the mind, then again it is said, seeing form one sees the mind. Do you understand? It is only because of being deluded about this that inversion is produced, with all its varieties. In what is without sameness or difference, one forcibly produces sameness and difference. Now if you directly take it up, the original mind suddenly opens, and clearly there is not one thing that can be seen or heard. If one separates from the mind and seeks liberation elsewhere, the ancients called it seeking the source in deluded waves, and one will hardly awaken.' A monk asked, 'When faculties and dust are both extinguished, why are principle and phenomena not clear?' The Master said, 'Set aside principle and phenomena; what do you call the faculties and dust that are both extinguished?' Asked, 'What is Guanyin's first principle?' The Master said, 'Wrong.' Asked, 'The actual nature of ignorance is Buddha-nature. What is Buddha-nature?' The Master said, 'What do you call ignorance?' Asked, 'What is the Master's house style?' The Master said, 'From ancient times to the present.' Asked, 'What about when one neither asks nor answers?' The Master said, 'Why talk in your sleep?' Asked, 'What was it like before Niutou saw the Fourth Patriarch?' The Master said, 'Green mountains and blue waters.' The monk said, 'And after seeing?' The Master said, 'Blue waters and green mountains.' The Master asked a monk, 'Do you understand Buddhadharma?' The monk said, 'I do not.' The Master said, 'You truly do not understand.' The monk said, 'Yes.' The Master said, 'Go away for now. Come another time.' The monk said, 'Take care.' The Master said, 'That is not the principle.' Asked, 'What is mahaprajna?' The Master said, 'Snow falls vast and white.' The monk was speechless. The Master said, 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I do not.' The Master showed a verse: 'Mahaprajna is neither grasped nor abandoned. If a person does not understand it, the wind is cold and the snow falls.'

廬山歸宗義柔禪師

Chan Master Yirou of Guizong on Mount Lu

開堂陞座。維那白槌曰。法筵龍象眾。當觀第一義。師曰。若是第一義。且作麼生觀。恁麼道。落在甚麼處。為復是觀。為復不許人觀。先德上座。共相證明。後學初心。莫喚作返問語．倒靠語。有疑請問。僧問。諸佛出世。說法度人。感天動地。和尚出世。有何祥瑞。師曰。人天大眾前寐語作麼。問。優曇華折人皆覩。達本無心事若何。師曰。謾語。曰。恁麼則南能別有深深旨。不是心心人不知。師曰。事須飽叢林。問。昔日金峰。今日歸宗。未審是一是二。師曰。謝汝證明。問。法眼一箭。直射歸宗。歸宗一箭。當射何人。師曰。莫謗我法眼。問。此日知軍親證。法師於何處答深恩。師曰。教我道甚麼即得。乃曰。一問一答。也無了期。佛法也不是恁麼道理。大眾。此日之事。故非本心。實謂祇箇住山寧有意。向來成佛亦無心。蓋緣是知軍請命。寺眾誠心。既到這裡。且說箇甚麼即得。還相悉麼。若信不及。古人便道相逢欲相喚。脈脈不能語。作麼生會。若會。堪報不報之恩。足助無為之化。若也不會。莫道長老開堂祇舉古人語。此之盛事。天高海深。況喻不及。更不敢讚祝皇風。迴向清列。何以故。古人道。吾禱久矣。豈況當今聖明者哉。珍重。僧問。如何是空王廟。師曰。莫少神。曰。如何是廟中人。師曰。適來不謾道。問。靈龜未兆時如何。師曰。是吉是兇。問。未達其源。乞師方便。師曰。達也。曰。達後如何。師曰。終不恁麼問。問僧。看甚麼經。曰。寶積經。師曰。既是沙門。為甚麼看寶積經。僧無語。師代雲。古今用無極。

Opening the hall and ascending the seat, the precentor struck the mallet and said, 'The dragons and elephants of the Dharma feast should contemplate the first principle.' The Master said, 'If it is the first principle, how should one contemplate it? Speaking thus, where does it fall? Is it contemplation, or is it that people are not allowed to contemplate? You venerable elders, bear witness together. Later students of first resolve, do not call it a counter-question or a toppled question. If you have doubts, ask.' A monk asked, 'The Buddhas appear in the world, speak the Dharma, and save people, moving heaven and earth. The Master appears in the world—what auspicious signs are there?' The Master said, 'Why talk in your sleep before the assembly of gods and men?' Asked, 'The udumbara flower is broken and everyone sees it. What of the matter of one who has reached the root and has no mind?' The Master said, 'Deceitful words.' The monk said, 'Then Nanneng has another profound purport, and it is not that those with mind do not know it.' The Master said, 'You must be full of monastery experience.' Asked, 'Formerly Golden Peak, today Guizong—are they one or two?' The Master said, 'Thank you for bearing witness.' Asked, 'Fayan's one arrow shoots straight at Guizong. Guizong's one arrow—at whom should it shoot?' The Master said, 'Do not slander my Fayan.' Asked, 'Today the commissioner has personally verified it. Where does the Dharma master answer the deep grace?' The Master said, 'What would you have me say?' Then he said, 'Question and answer have no end either. The Buddhadharma is not this principle. Assembly, today's affair is truly not my original mind. In truth, living on a mountain and keeping still was never my intent, and becoming a Buddha was also without mind. It is because the commissioner has sent for me and the community is sincere. Since I have come here, what can I say? Do you understand me? If your faith does not reach, the ancients said: meeting, one wants to call out—silent, one cannot speak. How do you understand it? If you understand, you can repay the grace that cannot be repaid, and it is enough to aid the transformation of non-action. If you do not understand, do not say that the Elder opened the hall and merely brought up the ancients' words. This great matter is high as heaven and deep as the sea; no comparison can reach it. I dare not further praise and bless the imperial wind and turn the merit toward the pure ranks. Why? The ancients said: my prayer has long been made. How much more so in the present sage and enlightened age. Take care.' A monk asked, 'What is the shrine of the empty king?' The Master said, 'Do not be short of spirit.' The monk said, 'What is the person in the shrine?' The Master said, 'Just now I did not speak falsely.' Asked, 'What about when the numinous turtle has not yet made its omen?' The Master said, 'It is auspicious or inauspicious.' Asked, 'I have not reached its source; I beg the Master for an expedient.' The Master said, 'You have reached it.' The monk said, 'What about after reaching it?' The Master said, 'I will never ask like that.' He asked a monk, 'What sutra are you reading?' The monk said, 'The Ratnakuta Sutra.' The Master said, 'Since you are a monk, why read the Ratnakuta Sutra?' The monk was speechless. The Master answered in his place, 'Past and present its use is without limit.'

洪州百丈道恆禪師

Chan Master Daoheng of Baizhang in Hongzhou

參法眼。因請益外道問佛。不問有言。不問無言。敘語未終。眼曰。住。住。汝擬向世尊良久處會那。師從此悟入。住後。上堂。乘此寶乘。直至道場。每日勞諸上座訪及。無可祇延。時寒不用久立。卻請回車。珍重。僧問。如何是學人行腳事。師曰。拗折拄杖得也未。問。古人有言。釋迦與我同參。未審參見何人。師曰。唯有同參方知。曰。未審此人如何親近。師曰。恁麼則你不解參也。問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。往往問不著。問。還鄉曲子作麼生唱。師曰。設使唱。落汝後。問。如何是百丈境。師曰。何似雲居。問。如何是百丈為人一句。師曰。若到諸方。總須問過。乃曰。實是無事。諸人各各是佛。更有何疑得到這裡。古人道。十方同聚會。箇箇學無為。此是選佛場。心空及第歸。且作麼生是心空。不是那裡閉目冷坐是心空。此正是意識想解。上座要會心空麼。但且識心。便見心空。所以道。過去已過去。未來更莫算。兀然無事坐。何曾有人喚。設有人喚。上座應他好。不應他好。若應他。阿誰喚上座。若不應他。又不患聾也。三世體空。且不是木頭也。所以古人道。心空得見法王。還見法王麼。也祇是老病僧。又莫道渠自伐好。珍重。問。如何是佛。師曰。汝有多少事不問。僧舉。人問玄沙。三乘十二分教即不問。如何是祖師西來意。沙曰。三乘十二分教不要。某甲不會。請師為說。師曰。汝實不會。曰。實不會。師示偈曰。不要三乘要祖宗。三乘不要與君同。君今欲會通宗旨。後夜猿啼在亂峰。上堂。諸上座適來從僧堂裡出來。腳未跨門眼便回去。已是重說偈言了也。更來這裡。不可重重下切腳也。古人云。參他不如自參。所以道森羅萬象。是善財之宗師。業惑塵勞。乃普賢之境界。若恁麼參。得與善財同參。若不肯與麼參。卻歸堂向火。參取勝熱婆羅門。珍重。上堂。眾才集。便曰。

He studied under Fayan. Because he asked for instruction on the outsider's question to the Buddha — not asking about words, not asking about no-words — before he had finished reciting it, Fayan said, 'Stop, stop. Do you mean to understand it at the World-Honored One's long silence?' At this the Master entered awakening. After he took up residence he ascended the hall: 'Riding this jeweled vehicle, one goes straight to the place of the Way. Every day I trouble you worthies to come and visit me, and I have nothing to offer in return. The season is cold; do not stand long — please turn your carts around. Take care.' A monk asked, 'What is the student's matter of pilgrimage?' The Master said, 'Have you broken your staff yet?' Someone asked, 'The ancients said, Sakyamuni studied with me. I wonder whom he studied with, and saw whom?' The Master said, 'Only a fellow student knows.' The monk said, 'I wonder how one draws near to such a person?' The Master said, 'If so, then you do not understand how to study.' Someone asked, 'What is the Ancestor's meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'It is often asked and never hit.' Someone asked, 'How does one sing the song of returning home?' The Master said, 'Even if you sang it, it would fall behind you.' Someone asked, 'What is the realm of Baizhang?' The Master said, 'How is it like Yunju?' Someone asked, 'What is Baizhang's one phrase for the sake of others?' The Master said, 'If you go to all quarters, you must ask about it everywhere.' Then he said, 'Truly there is nothing to do. Each of you is a Buddha — what doubt is left that you should come here? The ancients said, In the ten directions all gather together, and every one studies non-doing. This is the field for choosing Buddhas; when the mind is empty, one returns having passed the examination. But what does it mean that the mind is empty? It is not sitting cold with closed eyes somewhere — that is the mind being empty. That is precisely the reckoning of consciousness. Worthies, do you want to understand the empty mind? Just know the mind, and you will see the empty mind. Therefore it is said: the past has already passed, and the future need not be reckoned. Sitting blankly with nothing to do, who ever called you? And if someone did call, worthies, would it be better to answer him or not to answer him? If you answer him, then who is it that called you? If you do not answer him, then you are no worse off than a deaf man. The three periods are empty in essence, and yet they are not a block of wood. Therefore the ancients said, When the mind is empty, one sees the Dharma king. Do you see the Dharma king? It is only this old sick monk. And do not say he praises himself too well. Take care.' Someone asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'How many matters have you left unasked?' A monk brought up: Someone asked Xuansha, 'I do not ask about the teachings of the three vehicles and the twelve divisions. What is the Ancestor's meaning of the coming from the West?' Xuansha said, 'The teachings of the three vehicles and the twelve divisions are not wanted.' I do not understand; please, Master, explain it. The Master said, 'You truly do not understand.' The monk said, 'I truly do not.' The Master showed a verse: 'Do not want the three vehicles but want the Ancestor; the three vehicles not wanted are the same as you. If you would now understand and master the purport, in the small hours the gibbon cries on the tangled peaks.' Ascending the hall: 'You worthies have just come out of the monks' hall; before your feet crossed the threshold your eyes had already gone back — that is already repeating words and verses. To come here again, one must not again and again add footnotes. The ancients said, To study another is not as good as to study oneself. Therefore it is said that the teeming myriad things are Sudhana's master, and that karmic delusion and the toil of dust are Samantabhadra's realm. If you study in this way, you study together with Sudhana. If you will not study in this way, then go back to the hall and sit by the fire, and study with the fire-warming brahmin.' Take care.' Ascending the hall, as soon as the assembly had gathered he said:

吃茶去。或時眾集。便曰。珍重。或時眾集。便曰。歇。後有頌曰。百丈有三訣。吃茶．珍重．歇。直下便承當。敢保君未徹。師終於本山。

(The Master continued:) 'Go drink tea.' At other times, when the assembly gathered, he would say, 'Take care.' At other times, when the assembly gathered, he would say, 'Rest.' Later there was a verse: 'Baizhang has three keys — drink tea, take care, rest. Take them up directly — and still I dare to say you have not penetrated.' The Master ended his days at his home mountain.

杭州永明寺道潛禪師

Chan Master Daoqian of Yongming Monastery in Hangzhou

河中府武氏子。初謁法眼。眼問曰。子於參請外。看甚麼經。師曰。華嚴經。眼曰。總別．同異．成壞六相。是何門攝屬。師曰。文在十地品中。據理則世出世間一切法。皆具六相也。眼曰。空還具六相也無。師懵然無對。眼曰。汝問我。我向汝道。師乃問。空還具六相也無。眼曰。空。師於是開悟。踴躍禮謝。眼曰。子作麼生會。師曰。空。眼然之。異日。因四眾士女入院。眼問師曰。律中道。隔壁聞釵釧聲。即名破戒。見覩金銀合雜。朱紫駢闐。是破戒不是破戒。師曰。好箇入路。眼曰。子向後有五百毳徒。為王侯所重在。師尋禮辭。駐錫於衢州古寺。閱大藏經。忠懿王命入府受菩薩戒。署慈化定慧禪師。建大伽藍。號慧日永明。請居之。師欲請塔下羅漢銅像。過新寺供養。王曰。善矣。予昨夜夢十六尊者。乞隨禪師入寺。何昭應之若是。仍於師號加應真二字。師坐永明。常五百眾。上堂。佛法顯然。因甚麼卻不會。諸上座欲會佛法。但問取張三李四。欲會世法。則參取古佛叢林。無事久立。僧問。如何是永明的的意。師曰。今日十五。明朝十六。曰。覧師的的意。師曰。何處覧。問。如何是永明家風。師曰。早被上座答了也。問。三種病人如何接。師曰。汝是聾人。曰。請師方便。師曰。是方便。問。牛頭未見四祖時。為甚麼百鳥銜華。師曰。見東見西。曰。見後為甚麼不銜華。師曰。見南見北。曰。昔日作麼生。師曰。且會今日。問。達磨西來傳箇甚麼。師曰。傳箇𠕋子。曰。恁麼則心外有法去也。師曰。心內無法。問。如何是第二月。師曰。月。問。如何是覿面事。師曰。背後是甚麼。問。文殊仗劒。擬殺何人。師曰。止。止。曰。如何是劒。師曰。眼是。問。諸餘即不問。向上宗乘亦且置。請師不答。師曰。好箇師僧子。曰。恁麼則禮拜去也。師曰。不要三拜。盡汝一生去。眾參次。

He was a son of the Wu family of Hezhong Prefecture. He first met Fayan. Fayan asked, 'Apart from your studies, what scripture do you read?' The Master said, 'The Avatamsaka Sutra.' Fayan said, 'The six characteristics — totality and particularity, sameness and difference, formation and destruction — under which gate do they fall?' The Master said, 'The text is in the Chapter on the Ten Grounds. By principle, all dharmas of the world and beyond the world possess the six characteristics.' Fayan said, 'Does emptiness also possess the six characteristics?' The Master was dumbfounded and had no reply. Fayan said, 'You ask me, and I will tell you.' The Master then asked, 'Does emptiness also possess the six characteristics?' Fayan said, 'Emptiness.' At this the Master awakened, leapt up and bowed in thanks. Fayan said, 'How do you understand it?' The Master said, 'Emptiness.' Fayan approved. Another day, because the four assemblies of monks and laypeople entered the monastery, Fayan asked the Master, 'The Vinaya says that to hear the sound of hairpins and bracelets through the wall is called breaking the precepts. Seeing gold and silver mixed together, and crimson and purple thronging — is that breaking the precepts or not?' The Master said, 'What a good way in.' Fayan said, 'You will later have five hundred disciples in woolen robes, and be valued by kings and lords.' Not long after, the Master took leave, and settled at an old monastery in Quzhou, reading the Great Canon. King Zhongyi commanded him to enter the palace and receive the Bodhisattva precepts, and titled him Chan Master Cihua Dinghui. He built a great monastery named Hui Ri Yongming and asked him to live there. The Master wanted to request the bronze image of the arhats below the stupa and have it carried to the new monastery for offerings. The king said, 'Good. Last night I dreamt of the sixteen venerable ones asking to follow the Chan Master into the monastery. How clearly it agrees.' He also added the two words Yingzhen, Response to the True, to the Master's title. The Master sat at Yongming, constantly with five hundred in the assembly. Ascending the hall: 'The Buddha Dharma is perfectly clear — why do you not understand it? If you worthies want to understand the Buddha Dharma, just ask Zhang San and Li Si. If you want to understand worldly dharma, then study with the ancient Buddhas in the groves. Nothing else. You have stood long.' A monk asked, 'What is Yongming's exact intent?' The Master said, 'Today is the fifteenth; tomorrow is the sixteenth.' The monk said, 'I have seen the Master's exact intent.' The Master said, 'Where did you see it?' Someone asked, 'What is the family style of Yongming?' The Master said, 'The worthy has already answered for me.' Someone asked, 'How does one take up the three kinds of sick people?' The Master said, 'You are a deaf man.' The monk said, 'Please, Master, be expedient.' The Master said, 'That is the expedient.' Someone asked, 'When Niutou had not yet met the Fourth Ancestor, why did a hundred birds carry flowers?' The Master said, 'He saw east and saw west.' The monk said, 'And after he met him, why did they not carry flowers?' The Master said, 'He saw south and saw north.' The monk said, 'What about in former days?' The Master said, 'Just understand today.' Someone asked, 'What did Bodhidharma transmit when he came from the West?' The Master said, 'He transmitted a book.' The monk said, 'If so, then there is a dharma outside the mind.' The Master said, 'There is no dharma inside the mind.' Someone asked, 'What is the second moon?' The Master said, 'The moon.' Someone asked, 'What is the matter right before the face?' The Master said, 'What is behind?' Someone asked, 'Manjushri holds a sword — whom does he mean to kill?' The Master said, 'Stop, stop.' The monk said, 'What is the sword?' The Master said, 'The eye is.' Someone asked, 'I do not ask about the rest, and I set aside the ancestral vehicle above. Please, Master, do not answer.' The Master said, 'What a fine monk.' The monk said, 'If so, then I shall bow and go.' The Master said, 'Do not make three bows. Spend your whole life on it.' As the assembly was studying,

師指香爐曰。汝諸人還見麼。若見。一時禮拜。各自歸堂。僧問。至道無言。借言顯道。如何是顯道之言。師曰。切忌揀擇。曰。如何是不揀擇。師曰。元帥大王。太保令公。問。如何是慧日祥光。師曰。此去報慈不遠。曰。恁麼則親蒙照燭。師曰。且喜沒交涉。

(The Master continued) pointing at the incense burner, he said, 'Do you see it? If you see it, bow all at once and each return to the hall.' A monk asked, 'The ultimate Way is wordless, and words are borrowed to reveal the Way. What is the word that reveals the Way?' The Master said, 'Above all, do not pick and choose.' The monk said, 'What is not picking and choosing?' The Master said, 'The marshal great king, the grand guardian duke.' Someone asked, 'What is the auspicious light of Hui Ri?' The Master said, 'It is not far from Baoci.' The monk said, 'If so, then I have personally received its illumination.' The Master said, 'And yet I am glad it has nothing to do with it.'

杭州報恩慧明禪師

Chan Master Huiming of Baoen in Hangzhou

姓蔣氏。幼歲出家。三學精練。志探玄旨。乃南遊於閩越間。歷諸禪會。莫契本心。後至臨川謁法眼。師資道合。尋回鄞水大梅山庵居。吳越部內。禪學者雖盛。而以玄沙正宗置之閫外。師欲整而導之。一日。有新到參。師問。近離甚處。曰。都城。師曰。上座離都城到此山。則都城少上座。此間剩上座。剩則心外有法。少則心法不周。說得道理即住。不會即去。僧無對。僧問。如何是大梅主。師曰。闍黎今日離甚麼處。僧無對。師尋遷天台山白沙卓庵。有朋彥上座博學強記。來訪師敵論宗乘。師曰。言多去道轉遠。今有事借問。祇如從上諸聖及諸先德。還有不悟者也無。彥曰。若是諸聖先德。豈有不悟者哉。師曰。一人發真歸源。十方虗空悉皆消殞。今天台山嶷然。如何得消殞去。彥不知所措。自是。他宗泛學來者皆服膺矣。漢乾祐中。忠懿王延入府中問法。命住資崇院。師盛談玄沙及地藏法眼。宗旨臻極。王因命翠巖令參等諸禪匠及城下名公定其勝負。天龍禪師問曰。一切諸佛及諸佛法。皆從此經出。未審此經從何而出。師曰。道甚麼。天龍擬進語。師曰。過也。資嚴長老問。如何是現前三昧。師曰。還聞麼。嚴曰。某甲不患聾。師曰。果然患聾。師復舉雪峰塔銘問諸老宿。夫從緣有者。始終而成壞。非從緣有者。歷劫而長堅。堅之與壞即且置。雪峰即今在甚麼處(法眼別雲。祇今是成是壞)。宿無對。設有對者。亦不能當其徵詰。時群彥弭伏。王大喜悅。署圓通普照禪師。上堂。諸人還委悉麼。莫道語默動靜．無非佛事好。且莫錯會。僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。汝還見香臺麼。曰。某甲未會。乞師指示。師曰。香臺也不識。問。離卻目前機。如何是西來意。師曰。汝何不問。曰。恁麼則委是去也。師曰。也是虗施。問。如何是佛法大意。師曰。我見燈明佛本光瑞如此。問。如何是學人自己。

His family name was Jiang. He left home in youth, was thoroughly trained in the three studies, and resolved to explore the mysterious purport. He traveled south among Min and Yue, passing through all the Chan assemblies, but none matched his original mind. Later he came to Linchuan and met Fayan, and teacher and student agreed in the Way. Not long after he returned to a hermitage on Damei Mountain by the Yin River. In the Wu-Yue region, though Chan students were many, the true school of Xuansha was set outside the threshold. The Master wished to set it right and guide them. One day a newcomer came to study. The Master asked, 'Where have you just come from?' The monk said, 'The capital.' The Master said, 'You left the capital and came to this mountain; then the capital is short one worthy and this place has one worthy too many. Too many means there is a dharma outside the mind; too few means the dharma of the mind is incomplete. If you can speak the principle, stay; if you cannot, go.' The monk had no reply. A monk asked, 'What is the master of Damei?' The Master said, 'Where have you come from today, acharya?' The monk had no reply. Not long after, the Master moved to a hermitage at Baisha on Mount Tiantai. The head seat Pengyan, learned and retentive, came to visit the Master and contend with him over the ancestral vehicle. The Master said, 'Much talk takes one further from the Way. Now I have a matter to put to you. As for the sages above and the venerable ones of old — were there any among them who did not awaken?' Pengyan said, 'As for the sages and venerable ones, how could any of them not have awakened?' The Master said, 'When one man brings forth the true and returns to the source, the empty space of the ten directions is entirely dissolved. Now Mount Tiantai stands towering — how is it to be dissolved?' Pengyan did not know what to say. From this, those who came from other schools with broad learning all submitted to him. In the Qianyou era of the Han, King Zhongyi invited him into the palace to ask about the Dharma, and commanded him to live at Zichong Monastery. The Master spoke at length of Xuansha, Dizang and Fayan, and his purport reached the utmost. The king therefore commanded Cuiyan Lingcan and other Chan masters, together with famous lords of the city, to decide the contest. Chan Master Tianlong asked, 'All the Buddhas and all the Buddha dharmas come forth from this scripture. I wonder from what this scripture comes forth?' The Master said, 'What did you say?' Tianlong was about to speak further, and the Master said, 'You have gone past.' The elder Ziyan asked, 'What is the samadhi before the eyes?' The Master said, 'Do you hear it?' Ziyan said, 'I am not deaf.' The Master said, 'Indeed you are deaf.' The Master then brought up the stupa inscription of Xuefeng and asked the venerable elders, 'That which exists from conditions is formed and destroyed from first to last. That which does not exist from conditions endures firm through kalpas. Firmness and destruction, set that aside. Where is Xuefeng right now?' (Fayan said otherwise, 'Is it now formed or destroyed?') The venerable elders had no reply. If any did reply, they could not withstand his interrogation. At that time the crowd of worthies were silenced. The king was greatly delighted and titled him Chan Master Yuantong Puzhao. Ascending the hall: 'Do you worthies understand? Do not say that speech and silence, movement and stillness are all Buddha work. Do not misunderstand.' A monk asked, 'What is the Ancestor's meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'Do you see the incense terrace?' The monk said, 'I do not understand; I beg the Master to point it out.' The Master said, 'You do not even know the incense terrace.' Someone asked, 'Apart from the mechanism before the eyes, what is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'Why do you not ask?' The monk said, 'If so, then I truly understand and go.' The Master said, 'That too is a vain gift.' Someone asked, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'I see the Lamp-Bright Buddha's original light and auspiciousness is like this.' Someone asked, 'What is the student's own self?'

師曰。特地伸問是甚麼意。問。如何是西來意。師曰。十萬八千真䟦涉。直下西來不到東。問。如何是第二月。師曰。揑目看花花數朵。見精明樹幾枝枝。

The Master said, 'What is the meaning of asking especially?' Someone asked, 'What is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'A hundred thousand and eight thousand li of true trudging — coming straight from the West, he does not reach the East.' Someone asked, 'What is the second moon?' The Master said, 'Press your eye and look at the flowers — several blossoms; see the bright and clear tree — how many branches.'

金陵報慈行言玄覺導師

Master Xingyan Xuanjue, Guide of Baoci in Jinling

泉州人也。上堂。凡行腳人參善知識。到一叢林。放下瓶缽。可謂行菩薩道能事畢矣。何用更來這裡舉論。真如涅槃。此是非時之說。然古人有言。譬如披沙識寶。沙礫若除。真金自現。便喚作常住世間。具足僧寶。亦如一味之雨。一般之地。生長萬物。大小不同。甘辛有異。不可道地與雨有大小之名也。所以道。方即現方。圓即現圓。何以故。爾法無偏正。隨相應現。喚作對現色身。還見麼。若不見也莫閑坐地。僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。此問不當。問。坐卻是非。如何合得本來人。師曰。汝作麼生坐。師聞鳩子呌。問僧。甚麼聲。曰。鳩子聲。師曰。欲得不招無間業。莫謗如來正法輪。江南國主建報慈院。命師大闡宗猷。海會二千餘眾。別署導師之號。上堂。此日英賢共會。海眾同臻。諒惟佛法之趣。無不備矣。若是英鑒之者。不須待言也。然言之本無。何以默矣。是以森羅萬象。諸佛洪源。顯明則海印光澄。冥昧則情迷自惑。苟非通心上士．逸格高人。則何以於諸塵中發揚妙極。卷舒物象。縱奪森羅。示生非生。應滅非滅。生滅洞已。乃曰真常。言假則影散千途。論真則一空絕跡。豈可以有無生滅而計之者哉。僧問。國王再請。特薦先朝。和尚今日如何舉唱。師曰。汝不是問再唱人。曰。恁麼則天上人間。無過此也。師曰。沒交涉。問。遠遠投師。請垂一接。師曰。卻依舊處去。

He was a man of Quanzhou. Ascending the hall: 'When a pilgrim studies a good friend and reaches a grove, sets down his bottle and bowl, that may be called the practice of the Bodhisattva path and the end of his business. What need to come here and raise discussions of suchness and nirvana? These are words for the wrong time. Yet the ancients said, It is like sifting sand to recognize treasure: if the gravel is removed, the true gold appears of itself. Then it is called dwelling constantly in the world, complete with the jewel of the Sangha. It is also like one-flavored rain and one kind of ground bringing forth the ten thousand things, great and small not the same, sweet and bitter different. You cannot say the ground and the rain have the names of great and small. Therefore it is said: square appears as square, round appears as round. Why? Because the dharma has neither partiality nor correctness and appears according to what corresponds. This is called the responsive manifested body. Do you see it? If you do not see it, do not sit idly.' A monk asked, 'What is the Ancestor's meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'That question is not fitting.' Someone asked, 'Sitting cuts off right and wrong — how does one join with the original person?' The Master said, 'How do you sit?' The Master heard a dove call and asked a monk, 'What sound is that?' The monk said, 'The sound of a dove.' The Master said, 'If you would not invite the karma of the Avici hell, do not slander the Tathagata's correct Dharma wheel.' The sovereign of the state of Jiangnan built Baoci Monastery and commanded the Master to greatly spread the school's plan, with over two thousand in the ocean-like assembly, and specially gave him the title of Guide. Ascending the hall: 'Today the outstanding worthies meet together and the ocean assembly arrives as one. I trust that the purport of the Buddha Dharma is in no way incomplete. If one is a hero of clear discernment, he does not need words. But words are originally nothing — how then be silent? Therefore the teeming myriad things are the vast source of all Buddhas. When manifest and clear, the ocean seal is bright and still; when dark and obscure, one is deluded by one's own confusion. If one is not a superior man of penetrating mind or a person of transcendent rank, how could one in the midst of all the dusts unfold the wondrous utmost, rolling and unrolling the forms of things, seizing and releasing the teeming array? Showing birth as no birth, responding to extinction as no extinction. Birth and extinction are seen through, and then it is called the true constant. Speak of the false and the shadows scatter over a thousand roads; speak of the true and the one emptiness leaves no trace. How could one reckon it by existence and non-existence, birth and extinction?' A monk asked, 'The king asks again and specially recommends the former dynasty. How does the Reverend raise and sing today?' The Master said, 'You are not the man who asks about singing again.' The monk said, 'If so, then in heaven and among men nothing surpasses this.' The Master said, 'It has nothing to do with it.' Someone asked, 'Coming from afar to study with you, I beg you to extend one hand.' The Master said, 'Go back to where you were.'

撫州崇壽院契稠禪師

Chan Master Qichou of Chongshou Monastery in Fuzhou

泉州人也。上堂。僧問。四眾諦觀第一義。如何是第一義。師曰。何勞更問。乃曰。大眾欲知佛性義。當觀時節因緣。作麼生是時節因緣。上座如今便散去。且道有也未。若無。因甚麼便散去。若有。作麼生是第一義。上座。第一義現成。何勞更觀。恁麼顯明得佛性常照。一切法常住。若見有法常住。猶未是法之真源。作麼生是法之真源。上座不見古人道。一人發真歸源。十方虗空悉皆消殞。還有一法為意解麼。古人有如是大事因緣。依而行之即是。何勞長老多說。眾中有未知者。便請相示。僧問。法眼之燈。親然汝水。今日王侯請命。如何是法眼之燈。師曰。更請一問。問。古人見不齊處。請師方便。師曰。古人見甚麼處不齊。問。如何是佛。師曰。如何是佛。曰。如何領解。師曰。領解即不是。問。的的西來意。師當第幾人。師曰。年年八月半中秋。問。如何是和尚為人一句。師曰。觀音舉．上藍舉。

He was a man of Quanzhou. Ascending the hall, a monk asked, 'The four assemblies earnestly contemplate the first principle. What is the first principle?' The Master said, 'Why trouble to ask again?' Then he said, 'If the assembly would know the meaning of the Buddha nature, they should observe the season and conditions. What are the season and conditions? If you worthies disperse right now, tell me: is there any or not? If there is none, why do you disperse? If there is, what is the first principle? Worthies, the first principle is already present — why trouble to contemplate again? In this way it is clearly shown that the Buddha nature constantly shines and all dharmas constantly abide. But if you see a dharma constantly abiding, that is still not the true source of the dharma. What is the true source of the dharma? Worthies, have you not heard the ancients say: When one man brings forth the true and returns to the source, the empty space of the ten directions is entirely dissolved. Is there still one dharma for the mind to understand? The ancients had such a great matter and cause. To practice according to it is enough. Why trouble the elder to say much? If any in the assembly do not yet know, please let them be shown.' A monk asked, 'The lamp of Fayan was personally lit at Ru River. Today the king and lords request the command — what is the lamp of Fayan?' The Master said, 'Ask one more question.' Someone asked, 'Where the ancients saw unevenly, I beg the Master to be expedient.' The Master said, 'Where did the ancients see unevenly?' Someone asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'What is the Buddha?' The monk said, 'How does one understand it?' The Master said, 'To understand it is not it.' Someone asked, 'The exact meaning of the coming from the West — what number does the Master hold?' The Master said, 'Every year, the middle of the eighth month is mid-autumn.' Someone asked, 'What is the Reverend's one phrase for the sake of others?' The Master said, 'Guanyin raises it, Shanglan raises it.'

金陵報恩院法安慧濟禪師

Chan Master Fa'an Huiji of Baoen Monastery in Jinling

太和人也。初住曹山。上堂。知幻即離。不作方便。離幻即覺。亦無漸次。諸上座且作麼生問。不作方便。又無漸次。古人道在甚麼處。若會得。諸佛常現前。若未會。莫向圓覺經裡討。夫佛法亙古亙今。未甞不現前。諸上座。一切時中。鹹承此威光。須具大信根。荷擔得起始得。不見佛讚猛利底人堪為器用。亦不賞他向善．久修淨業者。要似他廣額兇屠。拋下操刀。便證阿羅漢果。直須恁麼始得。所以長者道。如將梵位直授凡庸。僧問。大眾既臨於法會。請師不吝句中玄。師曰。謾得大眾麼。曰。恁麼則全因此問也。師曰。不用得。問。古人有言。一切法以不生為宗。如何是不生宗。師曰。好箇問處。問。佛法中請師方便。師曰。方便了也。問。如何是古佛心。師曰。何待問。江南國主請居報恩。署號攝眾。上堂。謂眾曰。此日奉命令住持當院。為眾演法。適來見維那白槌了。多少好。令教當觀第一義。且作麼生是第一義。若這裡參得多少省要。如今別更說箇甚麼即得。然承恩旨。不可杜默去也。夫禪宗示要。法爾常規。圓明顯露。亙古亙今。至於達磨西來。也祇與諸人證明。亦無法可得與人。祇道直下是。便教立地搆取。古人雖則道立地搆取。如今坐地還搆得也無。有疑請問。僧問。三德奧樞從佛演。一音玄路請師明。師曰。汝道有也未。問。如何是報恩境。師曰。大家見汝問。開寶中。示滅於本院。

He was a man of Taihe. He first lived at Caoshan. Ascending the hall: 'Knowing illusion, one at once departs — no expedient is made. Departing from illusion, one at once awakens — and there are no stages either. Worthies, how then do you ask? If no expedient is made and there are no stages, where did the ancients say it is? If you understand, all the Buddhas are constantly before you. If you do not understand, do not seek it in the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment. The Buddha Dharma runs through ancient and present, and has never not been before you. Worthies, at all times you all receive this majestic light. You must possess the great root of faith and be able to shoulder it. Do you not see that the Buddha praised the sharp and keen man as fit to be a vessel, and did not reward those who do good and cultivate pure karma for long? He wanted one to be like the broad-browed fierce butcher who threw down his cleaver and at once realized the fruit of arhatship. It must be exactly like that. Therefore the elder said, As if conferring the rank of Brahma directly on a common fellow.' A monk asked, 'Since the assembly has come to the Dharma feast, I beg the Master not to begrudge the mystery within the phrase.' The Master said, 'Would that deceive the assembly?' The monk said, 'If so, then it is all because of this question.' The Master said, 'No need.' Someone asked, 'The ancients said, All dharmas take non-arising as their principle. What is the principle of non-arising?' The Master said, 'What a good place to ask.' Someone asked, 'In the Buddha Dharma, I beg the Master to be expedient.' The Master said, 'The expedient is done.' Someone asked, 'What is the mind of the ancient Buddha?' The Master said, 'Why wait to ask?' The sovereign of Jiangnan asked him to live at Baoen and titled him Shezhong, Gathering the Assembly. Ascending the hall, he said to the assembly, 'Today I have received the command to be abbot of this monastery and to expound the Dharma for the assembly. Just now I saw the work manager strike the gavel — how good. He had us contemplate the first principle. But what is the first principle? If you can study it here, how much is thereby made essential and brief. What else is there to say now? Yet since I have received the gracious command, I cannot keep silent and depart. The Chan school reveals the essential as its natural norm. Perfect clarity and exposure run through ancient and present. As for Bodhidharma's coming from the West, he too only bore witness for you people; there was no dharma he could get and give to others. He only said that right where you stand is it, and taught you to grasp it standing on the spot. Though the ancients said to grasp it standing on the spot, can you grasp it sitting on the spot now? If you have doubts, ask.' A monk asked, 'The profound pivot of the three virtues is expounded by the Buddha; I beg the Master to clarify the mysterious road of the one sound.' The Master said, 'Do you say there is any or not?' Someone asked, 'What is the realm of Baoen?' The Master said, 'Everyone sees you ask.' In the Kaibao era he showed his extinction at this monastery.

廬州長安院延規禪師

Chan Master Yangui of Chang'an Monastery in Luzhou

僧問。如何是庵中主。師曰。汝到諸方。但道從長安來。

A monk asked, 'What is the master within the hermitage?' The Master said, 'When you go to all quarters, just say you come from Chang'an.'

南康軍雲居山清錫禪師

Chan Master Qingxi of Yunju Mountain in Nankang Jun

泉州人也。僧問。如何是雲居境。師曰。汝喚甚麼作境。曰。如何是境中人。師曰。適來向汝道甚麼。後住泉州西明院。有廖天使入院。見供養法眼和尚真。乃問曰。真前是甚麼果子。師曰。假果子。天使曰。既是假果子。為甚麼將供養真。師曰。也祇要天使識假。僧問。如何是佛。師曰。容顏甚奇妙。

He was a man of Quanzhou. A monk asked, 'What is the realm of Yunju?' The Master said, 'What do you call a realm?' The monk said, 'What is the man within the realm?' The Master said, 'What did I tell you just now?' Later he lived at Ximing Monastery in Quanzhou. The angel Liao entered the monastery and, seeing the offerings before the portrait of the Reverend Fayan, asked, 'What fruit is that before the portrait?' The Master said, 'A false fruit.' The angel said, 'Since it is a false fruit, why offer it before the portrait?' The Master said, 'Only to let the angel recognize the false.' A monk asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'His countenance is most wonderful.'

常州正勤院希奉禪師

Chan Master Xifeng of Zhengqin Monastery in Changzhou

蘇州謝氏子。上堂。古聖道。圓同太虗。無欠無餘。又道。一一法．一一宗。眾多法一法宗。又道。起唯法起。滅唯法滅。又道。起時不言我起。滅時不言我滅。據此說話。屈滯久在叢林上座。若是初心。兄弟且須體道。人身難得。正法難聞。莫同等閑。施王衣食。不易消遣。若不明道。箇箇盡須還他。上座要會道麼。珍重。僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。甚麼處得這箇消息。問。如何是諸法空相。師曰。山河大地。問。僧眾雲集。請師舉唱宗乘。師曰。舉來久矣。問。佛法付囑國王大臣。今日正勤將何付囑。師曰。萬歲。萬歲。問。古人有言。山河大地是汝真善知識。如何得山河大地為善知識去。師曰。汝喚甚麼作山河大地。問。如何是合道之言。師曰。汝問我答。問。靈山會上。迦葉親聞。未審今日誰人得聞。師曰。迦葉親聞箇甚麼。問。古佛道場。學人如何得到。師曰。汝今在甚麼處。問。如何是和尚圓通。師敲禪床三下。問。如何是脫卻根塵。師曰。莫妄想。問。人王法王。是一是二。師曰。人王法王。問。如何是諸法寂滅相。師曰。起唯法起。滅唯法滅。問。如何是未曾生底法。師曰。汝爭得知。問。無著見文殊。為甚麼不識。師曰。汝道文殊還識無著麼。問。得意誰家新曲妙。正勤一句請師宣。師曰。道甚麼。曰。豈無方便也。師曰。汝不會我語。

He was a son of the Xie family of Suzhou. Ascending the hall: 'The ancient sages said, Round like empty space, with nothing lacking and nothing left over. They also said, Each dharma, each school; many dharmas, one dharma's school. They also said, Arising is only the dharma arising; ceasing is only the dharma ceasing. They also said, When arising it does not say I arise; when ceasing it does not say I cease. Judged by these words, you worthies have long been bent and stuck in the groves. If you are brothers of beginner's mind, you must still embody the Way. A human body is hard to gain; the correct Dharma is hard to hear. Do not treat it as an idle matter. The food and clothing given by the king and donors are not easily digested. If you do not understand the Way, every one of you must give them back. Worthies, do you want to understand the Way? Take care.' A monk asked, 'What is the Ancestor's meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'Where did you get that news?' Someone asked, 'What is the mark of the emptiness of all dharmas?' The Master said, 'Mountains, rivers and the great earth.' Someone asked, 'The assembly of monks gathers like clouds; please, Master, raise and sing the ancestral vehicle.' The Master said, 'I have been raising it for a long time.' Someone asked, 'The Buddha Dharma is entrusted to kings and ministers. To whom does Zhengqin entrust it today?' The Master said, 'Ten thousand years, ten thousand years.' Someone asked, 'The ancients said, The mountains, rivers and great earth are your true good friend. How can one make the mountains, rivers and great earth one's good friend?' The Master said, 'What do you call the mountains, rivers and great earth?' Someone asked, 'What is the phrase that accords with the Way?' The Master said, 'You ask and I answer.' Someone asked, 'At the assembly on Vulture Peak, Kasyapa heard it in person. I wonder who hears it today?' The Master said, 'What did Kasyapa hear in person?' Someone asked, 'The place of the ancient Buddha's Way — how can a student reach it?' The Master said, 'Where are you now?' Someone asked, 'What is the Reverend's perfect penetration?' The Master rapped the corded chair three times. Someone asked, 'How does one strip off the senses and their objects?' The Master said, 'Do not be deluded.' Someone asked, 'The king of men and the Dharma king — are they one or two?' The Master said, 'The king of men and the Dharma king.' Someone asked, 'What is the mark of the quiescence of all dharmas?' The Master said, 'Arising is only the dharma arising; ceasing is only the dharma ceasing.' Someone asked, 'What is the dharma that has never been born?' The Master said, 'How do you know it?' Someone asked, 'Wuzhao met Manjushri — why did he not recognize him?' The Master said, 'Do you say Manjushri recognized Wuzhao?' Someone asked, 'Whose new song is the wonder of the attained intent? Let the Master proclaim Zhengqin's one phrase.' The Master said, 'What did you say?' The monk said, 'Is there no expedient then?' The Master said, 'You do not understand my words.'

漳州羅漢智依宣法禪師

Chan Master Zhiyi Xuanfa of Luohan in Zhangzhou

上堂。盡十方世界。無一微塵許法。與汝作見聞覺知。還信麼。然雖如此。也須悟始得。莫將為等閑。不見道。單明自己。不悟目前。此人祇具一隻眼。還會麼。僧問。纖塵不立。為甚麼好醜現前。師曰。分明記取。別處問人。問。大眾雲集。誰是得者。師曰。還曾失麼。問。如何是佛。師曰。汝是行腳僧。問。如何是寶壽家風。師曰。一任觀看。曰。恁麼則大眾有賴。師曰。汝作麼生。曰。終不敢謾大眾。師曰。嫌少作麼。問僧。受業在甚麼處。曰。在佛跡。師曰。佛在甚麼處。曰。甚麼處不是。師舉起拳曰。作麼生。曰。和尚收取。師曰。放闍黎七棒。問僧。今夏在甚麼處。僧曰。在無言上座處。師曰。還曾問訊他否。僧曰。也曾問訊。師曰。無言作麼生問得。僧曰。若得無言。甚麼處不問得。師喝曰。恰似問老兄。師與彥端長老吃餅餤。端曰。百種千般。其體不二。師曰。作麼生是不二體。端拈起餅餤。師曰。祇守百種千般。端曰。也是和尚見處。師曰。汝也是羅公詠梳頭樣。師將示滅。乃謂眾曰。今晚四大不和暢。雲騰鳥飛。風動塵起。浩浩地還有人治得麼。若治得。永劫不相識。若治不得。時時常見我。言訖告寂。

Ascending the hall: 'Throughout the whole world of the ten directions there is not one mote of dust's worth of dharma to serve you as seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing. Do you believe it? And yet, even so, you must awaken before you have it. Do not treat it as an idle matter. Have you not heard it said: To illuminate only oneself and not awaken to what is before the eyes, such a man has only one eye. Do you understand?' A monk asked, 'When not a fine mote stands, why do the beautiful and the ugly appear before one?' The Master said, 'Record it clearly. Ask others elsewhere.' Someone asked, 'The assembly gathers like clouds — who is the one who gets it?' The Master said, 'Has he ever lost it?' Someone asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'You are a pilgrim monk.' Someone asked, 'What is the family style of Baoshou?' The Master said, 'You are free to look.' The monk said, 'If so, then the assembly has something to rely on.' The Master said, 'What will you do?' The monk said, 'I would never dare deceive the assembly.' The Master said, 'Why dislike its being so little?' He asked a monk, 'Where were you ordained?' The monk said, 'At the Buddha's Trace.' The Master said, 'Where is the Buddha?' The monk said, 'Where is it not?' The Master raised his fist and said, 'How is this?' The monk said, 'The Reverend takes it back.' The Master said, 'You are let off seven blows.' He asked a monk, 'Where did you spend this summer?' The monk said, 'With the elder Wuyan.' The Master said, 'Did you inquire after him?' The monk said, 'I did inquire.' The Master said, 'How did Wuyan ask?' The monk said, 'If one has no words, where can one not ask?' The Master shouted, 'Just like asking an old brother.' The Master was eating cakes with the elder Yanduan. Yanduan said, 'A hundred kinds and a thousand sorts, their essence is not two.' The Master said, 'What is the essence of not two?' Yanduan picked up a cake. The Master said, 'You only keep to the hundred kinds and a thousand sorts.' Yanduan said, 'That too is the Reverend's view.' The Master said, 'You too have the look of Old Man Luo combing his hair.' When the Master was about to show his extinction, he said to the assembly, 'Tonight the four elements are not in harmony. Clouds rise and birds fly, the wind stirs and dust rises — in all that vastness, is there anyone who can master it? If one can master it, for kalpas we shall not know each other. If one cannot master it, at all times you will see me.' Having spoken, he announced his quiescence.

金陵鍾山章義院道欽禪師

Chan Master Daoqin of Zhangyi Monastery on Mount Zhong in Jinling

太原人也。初住盧山棲賢。上堂。道遠乎哉。觸事而真。聖遠乎哉。體之則神。我尋常示汝。何不向衣缽下坐地。直下參取。須要上來。討箇甚麼。既上來。我即事不獲已。便舉古德少許方便。抖擻些子龜毛兔角。解落向汝。諸上座欲得省要。僧堂裡．三門下．寮舍裡參取好。還有會處也未。若有會處。試說看。與上座證明。僧問。如何是棲賢境。師曰。棲賢有甚麼境。問。古人拈椎竪拂。還當宗乘中事也無。師曰。古人道了也。問。學人乍入叢林。乞和尚指示。師曰。一手指天。一手指地。後江南國主請居章義道場。上堂。總來這裡立。作甚麼。善知識如河沙數。常與汝為伴。行住坐臥。不相捨離。但長連床上穩坐地。十方善知識自來參。上座何不信取。作得如許多難易。他古聖嗟見今時人不奈何。乃曰。傷夫。人情之惑久矣。目對真而不覺。此乃嗟汝諸人看卻不知。且道看卻甚麼不知。何不體察古人方便。祇為信之不及。致得如此。諸上座但於佛法中留心。無不得者。無事體道去。便下座。僧問。百年暗室。一燈能破時如何。師曰。莫謾語。問。佛法還受變異也無。師曰。上座是。僧問。大眾雲集。請師舉揚宗旨。師曰。久矣。問。如何是玄旨。師曰。玄有甚麼旨。

He was a man of Taiyuan. He first lived at Qixian on Mount Lu. Ascending the hall: 'Is the Way far off? Touching matters, it is real. Are the sages far off? Embody them and they are numinous. I ordinarily show you — why do you not sit down under your robe and bowl and study it directly? You must come up here — what are you seeking? Since you have come up, I have no choice, and so I raise a little expedient of the ancient worthies, shake out a few tortoise hairs and rabbit horns, and untie them for you. Worthies, if you want to get the essential, study it in the monks' hall, at the triple gate, in your quarters. Have you anywhere you understand? If there is a place you understand, try and say it, and I will certify you.' A monk asked, 'What is the realm of Qixian?' The Master said, 'What realm does Qixian have?' Someone asked, 'When the ancients raised the mallet and held up the whisk, does that still count as a matter of the ancestral vehicle?' The Master said, 'The ancients have spoken.' Someone asked, 'The student has just entered the groves; I beg the Reverend to point it out.' The Master said, 'One hand points at heaven, one hand points at earth.' Later the sovereign of Jiangnan asked him to live at the Zhangyi place of the Way. Ascending the hall: 'You all come and stand here — what for? Good friends are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and are always your companions. Walking, standing, sitting and lying, they never leave you. Just sit firmly on the long bench, and the good friends of the ten directions will come of themselves to study. Why do you not believe it, worthies, and make so much difficulty and ease out of it? The ancient sages sighed to see that people of the present time can do nothing about it, and said, Alas, the confusion of human feeling is old. The eye faces the true and does not perceive it. This is sighing that you people look but do not know. Tell me, looking at what do you not know? Why do you not examine the expedients of the ancients? It is only that your faith does not reach, and so it comes to this. Worthies, if you only keep your mind in the Buddha Dharma, there is no one who does not get it. Nothing else. Go and embody the Way.' Then he descended from the seat. A monk asked, 'In a room dark for a hundred years, one lamp can break the darkness — what of it?' The Master said, 'Do not talk nonsense.' Someone asked, 'Does the Buddha Dharma also undergo change?' The Master said, 'You are it, worthy.' A monk asked, 'The assembly gathers like clouds; please, Master, raise and spread the purport.' The Master said, 'Long ago.' Someone asked, 'What is the mysterious purport?' The Master said, 'What purport does the mystery have?'

金陵報恩匡逸禪師

Chan Master Kuangyi of Baoen in Jinling

明州人也。江南國主請居上院。署凝密禪師。上堂。顧視大眾曰。依而行之。即無累矣。還信麼。如太陽赫弈皎然地。更莫思量。思量不及。設爾思量得及。喚作分限智慧。不見先德雲。人無心合道。道無心合人。人道既合。是名無事。人且自何而凡。自何而聖。於此若未會。可謂為迷情所覆。便去離不得。迷時即有窒礙。為對為待。種種不同。忽然惺去。亦無所得。譬如演若達多認影迷頭。豈不擔頭覓頭。然正迷之時。頭且不失。及乎悟去。亦不為得。何以故。人迷謂之失。人悟謂之得。得失在於人。何關於動靜。僧問。諸佛說法。普潤群機。和尚說法。甚麼人得聞。師曰。祇有汝不聞。問。如何是報恩一句。師曰。道不是得麼。問。十二時中思量不到處。如何行履。師曰。汝如今在甚麼處。問。祖嗣西來。如何舉唱。師曰。不違所請。問。如何是一句。師曰。我答爭似汝舉。問。佛為一大事因緣出世。未審和尚出世如何。師曰。恰好。曰。恁麼則大眾有賴。師曰。莫錯會。

He was a man of Mingzhou. The sovereign of Jiangnan asked him to live at the upper monastery and titled him Chan Master Ningmi. Ascending the hall, he looked at the assembly and said, 'Practice according to it, and there is no entanglement. Do you believe it? It is like the sun blazing and shining clearly — think no further. Thinking cannot reach it. And even if your thinking could reach it, it would be called limited wisdom. Have you not heard the former worthies say: The man without mind accords with the Way, and the Way without mind accords with the man. Since man and the Way accord, it is called having nothing to do. But from what is man ordinary, and from what is he sage? If you do not understand this, you may be said to be covered by deluded feeling, and then you cannot get free. When deluded, there is obstruction, and there is opposing and depending, all kinds of differences. When suddenly you wake, there is nothing gained either. It is like Yajnadatta, who recognized the shadow and lost his head — was he not carrying his head while seeking his head? Yet while he was deluded, his head was not lost. And when he awakened, it was not gained. Why? What people call loss when deluded, they call gain when awakened. Loss and gain lie with the person — what have they to do with movement and stillness?' A monk asked, 'When the Buddhas expound the Dharma, they moisten all capacities alike. When the Reverend expounds the Dharma, who hears it?' The Master said, 'Only you do not hear it.' Someone asked, 'What is Baoen's one phrase?' The Master said, 'Is saying it not it?' Someone asked, 'In the twelve hours, at the place thinking cannot reach, how does one walk?' The Master said, 'Where are you now?' Someone asked, 'The Ancestor's succession came from the West — how does one raise and sing it?' The Master said, 'I do not go against your request.' Someone asked, 'What is the one phrase?' The Master said, 'How is my answering as good as your raising it?' Someone asked, 'The Buddha came into the world for one great matter and cause. I wonder why the Reverend has come into the world?' The Master said, 'Just right.' The monk said, 'If so, then the assembly has something to rely on.' The Master said, 'Do not misunderstand.'

金陵報慈文遂導師

Master Wenxui, Guide of Baoci in Jinling

杭州陸氏子。甞究首楞嚴。甄會真妄緣起。本末精博。於是節科注釋。文句交絡。厥功既就。謁於法眼。述己所業。深符經旨。眼曰。楞嚴豈不是有八還義。師曰。是。曰。明還甚麼。師曰。明還日輪。曰。日還甚麼。師懵然無對。眼誡令禁其所注之文。師自有服膺請益。始忘知解。金陵國主署雷音覺海大導師。上堂。天人群生類。皆承此恩力。威權三界。德被四方。共稟靈光。鹹稱妙義。十方諸佛常頂戴汝。誰敢是非。及乎向這裡。喚作開方便門。對根設教。便有如此如彼。流出無窮。若能依而奉行。有何不可。所以清涼先師道。佛是無事人。且如今覓箇無事人也不可得。僧問。巔山巖崖。還有佛法也無。師曰。汝喚甚麼作巔山巖崖。問。如何是道。師曰。妄想顛倒。乃曰。老僧平生。百無所解。日日一般。雖住此間。隨緣任運。今日諸上座與本無異。珍重。僧問。如何是無異底事。師曰。千差萬別。僧再問。師曰。止。止。不須說。且會取千差萬別。問。如何是和尚家風。師曰。方丈板門扇。問。如何是無相道場。師曰。四郎五郎廟。問。如何是吹毛劒。師曰。簳麵杖。問。如何是正直一路。師曰。遠遠近近。曰。便恁麼去時如何。師曰。咄哉。痴人。此是險路。問。僧從甚麼處來。曰。曹山來。師曰。幾程到此。曰。七程。師曰。行卻許多山林谿㵎。何者是汝自己。曰。總是。師曰。眾生顛倒。認物為己。曰。如何是學人自己。師曰。總是。乃曰。諸上座。各在此經冬過夏。還有人悟自己也無。山僧與汝證明。令汝真見不被邪魔所惑。問。如何是學人自己。師曰。好箇師僧。眼目甚分明。

He was a son of the Lu family of Hangzhou. He had once studied the Surangama Sutra, discerning the true and the false, conditioned arising, root and branch, in a thorough and extensive way. He then divided the sections and annotated them, so that the text and phrases were interlaced. When the work was finished he presented it to Fayan, setting out his own effort, and it deeply matched the purport of the sutra. Fayan said, 'Does the Surangama not have the meaning of the eight returns?' The Master said, 'It does.' Fayan said, 'To what does brightness return?' The Master said, 'Brightness returns to the sun.' Fayan said, 'To what does the sun return?' The Master was dumbfounded and had no reply. Fayan admonished him and had him suppress the text he had annotated. From this the Master submitted and asked for instruction, and for the first time forgot his intellectual understanding. The sovereign of Jinling titled him the Great Guide Leiyin Juehai. Ascending the hall: 'Gods, men and the myriad kinds of living beings all receive the power of this grace. Its awe and authority cover the three realms, and its virtue reaches the four quarters. All alike receive the numinous light, and all alike are called wondrous meaning. The Buddhas of the ten directions constantly hold you on their heads — who dares say right or wrong? And when it comes to this, it is called opening the gate of expedients, and teaching according to capacity, and then there is thus and so, flowing out without end. If one can practice according to it, what is not permissible? Therefore my late teacher Qingliang said, The Buddha is a man with nothing to do. But now one cannot even find a man with nothing to do.' A monk asked, 'On the sheer cliffs and crags of the peak mountain, is there Buddha Dharma or not?' The Master said, 'What do you call the sheer cliffs and crags of the peak mountain?' Someone asked, 'What is the Way?' The Master said, 'Deluded thinking and inversion.' Then he said, 'All my life this old monk has understood nothing at all, and every day is the same. Though I live in this place, I follow conditions and let things run. Today you worthies are no different from me. Take care.' A monk asked, 'What is the matter of being no different?' The Master said, 'A thousand differences and ten thousand distinctions.' The monk asked again. The Master said, 'Stop, stop — no need to speak. Just understand the thousand differences and ten thousand distinctions.' Someone asked, 'What is the Reverend's family style?' The Master said, 'The plank door of the abbot's quarters.' Someone asked, 'What is the place of the Way without marks?' The Master said, 'The shrine of the fourth and fifth lords.' Someone asked, 'What is the hair-cutting sword?' The Master said, 'A rolling pin.' Someone asked, 'What is the one straight road?' The Master said, 'Far and near.' The monk said, 'What if I go just like this?' The Master said, 'Fie, foolish man. This is a perilous road.' He asked a monk where he had come from. The monk said, 'From Caoshan.' The Master said, 'How many stages to get here?' The monk said, 'Seven stages.' The Master said, 'You have walked through so many mountains, forests, streams and ravines — which of them is your own self?' The monk said, 'All of them.' The Master said, 'Living beings are inverted, taking things as self.' The monk said, 'What is the student's own self?' The Master said, 'All of them.' Then he said, 'Worthies, each of you has passed winter and summer here — has anyone awakened to his own self? This mountain monk will certify you, and make you truly see, so that you are not deluded by demons and spirits.' Someone asked, 'What is the student's own self?' The Master said, 'What a fine monk, his eyes so very clear.'

漳州羅漢院守仁禪師

Chan Master Shouren of Luohan Monastery in Zhangzhou

泉州人也。上堂。祇據如今。誰欠誰剩。然雖如此。猶是第二義門。上座若明達得去也。且是一是二。更須子細看。僧問。如何是祖師西來的的意。師曰。即今是甚麼意。問。如何是涅槃。師曰。生死。曰。如何是生死。師曰。適來道甚麼。僧眾晚參。師曰。物物本來無處所。一輪明月印心池。便歸方丈。次住報恩。上堂。報恩這裡不曾與人揀話。今日與諸上座揀一兩則話。還願樂麼。諸上座。鶴脛長。鳬脛短。甘草甜。黃蘗苦。恁麼揀辨。還愜雅意麼。諸上座。莫是血脈不通。泥水有隔麼。且莫錯會。珍重。僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。喚甚麼作西來意。曰。恁麼則無西來也。師曰。由汝口頭道。問。如何是報恩家風。師曰。無汝著眼處。問。學人未委稟承。請師方便。師曰。莫相孤負麼。曰。恁麼則有師資之分也。師曰。叢林見多。問。如何是佛法大意。師曰。向汝道甚麼。問。如何是無生之相。師曰。捨身受身。曰。恁麼則生死無過也。師曰。料汝恁麼會。又曰。人人皆備理。一一盡圓常。僧便問。如何是圓常之理。師曰。無事不參差。曰。恁麼則縱橫法界也。師曰。巧道有何難。問。如何是不到三寸。師曰。你問我答。問僧。甚麼處來。曰。福州來。師曰。跋涉如許多山嶺。阿那箇是上座自己。曰。某甲親離福州。師曰。祇恁麼。別更有商量。曰。更作甚麼商量。師曰。汝話墮也。問。不昧緣塵。請師一接。師曰。喚甚麼作緣塵。曰。若不伸問。焉息疑情。師曰。若不是今日。便作官方。

He was a man of Quanzhou. Ascending the hall: 'Judged by just now, who is lacking and who has too much? And yet, even so, this is still the gate of the second principle. If you worthies can understand it, then one or two — you must look more carefully.' A monk asked, 'What is the exact intent of the Ancestor's coming from the West?' The Master said, 'What intent is there right now?' Someone asked, 'What is nirvana?' The Master said, 'Birth and death.' The monk said, 'What is birth and death?' The Master said, 'What did I say just now?' As the assembly was gathered for evening study, the Master said, 'Each thing is originally without location; one wheel of the bright moon seals the mind's pool.' Then he returned to his quarters. He then lived at Baoen. Ascending the hall: 'Baoen here has never picked out phrases for people. Today I will pick out one or two phrases for you worthies. Will you enjoy it? Worthies, the crane's shank is long, the duck's shank is short. Licorice is sweet, the yellow thorn is bitter. Picked out and distinguished this way, does it please your refined intent? Worthies, is it that the blood vessels are not connected and mud and water stand apart? Do not misunderstand. Take care.' A monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the coming from the West?' The Master said, 'What do you call the meaning of the coming from the West?' The monk said, 'If so, then there is no coming from the West.' The Master said, 'That is what your mouth says.' Someone asked, 'What is the family style of Baoen?' The Master said, 'There is no place for you to put your eyes.' Someone asked, 'The student has not yet received the transmission; I beg the Master to be expedient.' The Master said, 'Are you not betraying each other?' The monk said, 'If so, then there is the distinction of teacher and student.' The Master said, 'One sees much of that in the groves.' Someone asked, 'What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'What am I telling you?' Someone asked, 'What is the mark of non-arising?' The Master said, 'Giving up one body and receiving another.' The monk said, 'If so, then birth and death are no fault.' The Master said, 'I expect that is how you understand it.' He also said, 'Every person is complete in principle, and each one is wholly perfect and constant.' The monk then asked, 'What is the principle of perfect constancy?' The Master said, 'Nothing to do, no unevenness.' The monk said, 'If so, then one runs freely through the dharma realm.' The Master said, 'What is hard about clever speech?' Someone asked, 'What is not reaching three inches?' The Master said, 'You ask and I answer.' He asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' The monk said, 'From Fuzhou.' The Master said, 'Having crossed so many mountains and ridges, which is your own self, worthy?' The monk said, 'I personally left Fuzhou.' The Master said, 'Just this. Is there any further deliberation?' The monk said, 'What further deliberation is there?' The Master said, 'Your words have fallen.' Someone asked, 'Without being obscured by conditioning and dust, I beg the Master to extend one hand.' The Master said, 'What do you call conditioning and dust?' The monk said, 'If I did not put the question, how would doubt be stilled?' The Master said, 'Were it not for today, I would act as the official.'

撫州黃山良匡禪師

Chan Master Liangkang of Huangshan in Fuzhou

吉州人也。僧問。如何是黃山家風。師曰。築著汝鼻孔。問。如何是不遷義。師曰。春夏秋冬。問。如何是一路涅槃門。師曰。汝問宗乘中一句。豈不是。曰。恁麼則不哆哆。師曰。莫哆哆好。問。眾星攢月時如何。師曰。喚甚麼作月。曰。莫祇這箇便是也無。師曰。這箇是甚麼。問。明鏡當臺。森羅為甚麼不現。師曰。那裡當臺。曰。爭奈即今何。師曰。又道不現。

He was a man of Jizhou. A monk asked, 'What is the family style of Huangshan?' The Master said, 'It stops up your nostrils.' Someone asked, 'What is the meaning of non-movement?' The Master said, 'Spring, summer, autumn, winter.' Someone asked, 'What is the one road to the gate of nirvana?' The Master said, 'You ask one phrase within the ancestral vehicle — is that not it?' The monk said, 'If so, then there is no chattering.' The Master said, 'Best not to chatter.' Someone asked, 'What is it like when the many stars crowd around the moon?' The Master said, 'What do you call the moon?' The monk said, 'Is this not just it?' The Master said, 'What is this?' Someone asked, 'The bright mirror is on its stand — why do the teeming things not appear?' The Master said, 'Where is the stand?' The monk said, 'What about right now?' The Master said, 'You say again that they do not appear.'