Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Ten

上堂召大眾曰。春將至。歲已暮。思量古往今來。祇是箇般調度。凝眸昔日家風。下足舊時岐路。勸君休莫莽鹵。眨上眉毛須薦取。東村王老笑呵呵。此道今人棄如土。

Ascending the hall he called to the assembly: 'Spring is about to come, the year is already late. Thinking of times past and present, it is only this sort of arrangement. Gazing at the family style of former days, setting foot on the forked roads of old—I urge you, do not be reckless. Lift your eyebrows and you must take it up. Old Wang of the eastern village laughs heartily; today's people throw this Way away like dirt.'

青原下十四世

Fourteenth Generation below Qingyuan

長蘆了禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Liao of Changlu

明州天童宗玨禪師

Chan Master Zongjue of Tiantong, Mingzhou

僧問。如何是道。師曰。十字街頭休斫額。上堂。劫前運步。世外橫身。妙契不可以意到。真證不可以言傳。直得虗靜斂氛。白雲向寒巖而斷。靈光破暗。明月隨夜船而來。正恁麼時作麼生履踐。偏正不曾離本位。縱橫那涉語因緣。

A monk asked, 'What is the Way?' The Master said, 'At the crossroads, do not chop your forehead.' Ascending the hall: 'Step before the kalpa, set the body outside the world. The wondrous accord cannot be reached by thought; the true realization cannot be conveyed in words. It reaches the point where emptiness and stillness gather the haze, white clouds break off toward the cold cliff, the spirit-light pierces the dark, and the bright moon comes along with the night boat. Just at such a time, how will you tread it? The partial and the true have never left their original position.' Running crosswise and lengthwise—how does that touch words and conditions?

真州長蘆妙覺慧悟禪師

Chan Master Huiwu Miaojue of Changlu, Zhenzhou

上堂。盡大地是箇解脫門。把手拽不肯入。雪峰老漢抑逼人作麼。既到這裡。為甚麼鼻孔在別人手裡。良久曰。貪觀天上月。失卻手中橈。僧問。鴈過長空。影沈寒水。鴈無遺蹤之意。水無沈影之心。還端的也無。師曰。蘆花兩岸雪。江水一天秋。曰。便恁麼去時如何。師曰。鴈過長空聻。僧擬議。師曰。靈利衲子。

Ascending the hall: 'The whole great earth is a gate of liberation, yet you take people by the hand and pull, and they will not enter.' Why does old Xuefeng push people so? Since you have arrived here, why is your nose in someone else's hand? After a long while he said, 'Greedily gazing at the moon in the sky, you lose the oar in your hand.' A monk asked, 'The wild goose crosses the long sky, its shadow sinks in the cold water. The goose has no intention of leaving a trace; the water has no mind to sink the shadow. Is it truly so?' The Master said, 'Reed flowers on both banks are snow; the river water is one sky of autumn.' The monk said, 'What of one who goes on just like that?' The Master said, 'The wild goose crosses the long sky—well?' The monk started to deliberate. The Master said, 'A nimble patch-robed monk.'

福州龜山義初禪師

Chan Master Yichu of Guishan, Fuzhou

上堂。久默斯要。不務速說。釋迦老子寐語作麼。我今為汝保任。斯事終不虗也。大似壓良為賤。既不恁麼。畢竟如何。白雲籠嶽頂。翠色轉崔嵬。

Ascending the hall: 'Long have I kept silent on this essential matter, not hastening to speak.' Why does old Shakyamuni talk in his sleep? Now I preserve it for you; this matter is in the end not vain. It is very much like pressing a good man down into lowliness. Since it is not like that, after all how is it? White clouds enshroud the peak's summit; the emerald color turns more towering.

建康保寧興譽禪師

Chan Master Xingyu of Baoning, Jiankang

上堂。步入道場。影涵宗鑑。粲粲星羅霽夜。英英花吐春時。木人密運化機。絲毫不爽。石女全提空印。文彩未彰。且道不一不異。無去無來。合作麼生體悉。的的縱橫皆妙用。阿儂元不異中來。

Ascending the hall: 'Walking into the bodhimanda, the shadow holds the mirror of the school. Bright and clear the stars are arrayed on a clearing night; flourishing, the flowers open in springtime. The wooden man secretly works the loom of transformation, not missing by a hair; the stone woman fully lifts the empty seal, its patterned brilliance not yet manifest. Tell me: neither one nor different, neither going nor coming.' How will you comprehend it? Truly, running lengthwise and crosswise is all wondrous function; that one has from the first come from no difference.

真州北山法通禪師

Chan Master Fatong of Beishan, Zhenzhou

上堂。吞盡三世底。為甚麼開口不得。照破四天下底。為甚麼開眼不得。作麼生得十成通暢去。金針雙鏁備。葉露隱全該。僧問。斷言語。絕思惟處。乞師指示。師曰。滴水不入石。

Ascending the hall: 'The one who has swallowed the three ages whole—why can he not open his mouth? The one who illumines through the four continents—why can he not open his eyes? How will you attain complete and thorough passage? The golden needle and double lock are complete; the leaf-dew conceals and covers all.' A monk asked, 'Where words are cut off and thought is extinguished—please, Master, instruct me.' The Master said, 'A drop of water does not enter stone.'

天童覺禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Jue of Tiantong

明州雪竇聞庵嗣宗禪師

Chan Master Sizong of Wen Hermitage, Xuedou, Mingzhou

徽州陳氏子。幼業經圓具。依妙湛慧禪師。詰問次。釋然契悟。慧以麈尾拂付之。後謁宏智。蒙印可。其道愈尊。出住普照．善權．翠巖．雪竇。上堂。人人有箇鼻孔。唯有善權無鼻孔。為甚麼無。二十年前被人掣落了也。人人有兩箇眼睛。唯有善權無眼睛。為甚麼無。被人木槵子換了也。人人有箇髑髏。唯有善權無髑髏。為甚麼無。借人作屎杓了也。遂召大眾曰。鼻孔又無。眼睛又無。髑髏又無。諸人還識善權麼。若也不識。是諸人埋沒善權。其或未然。更聽一頌。㵎底泥牛金貼面。山頭石女著真紅。繫驢橛上生芝草。不是雲靄香爐峰。上堂。翠巖不是不說。祇為無箇時節。今朝快便難逢。一句為君剖決。露柱本是木頭。秤鎚祇是生鐵。諸人若到諸方。莫道山僧饒舌。僧問。蓮花未出水時如何。師曰。沒卻你鼻孔。曰。出水後如何。師曰。穿著你眼睛。曰。如何是正法眼。師曰。烏豆。問。如何是君。師曰。磨礱三尺劒。待斬不平人。曰。如何是臣。師曰。白雲閑不徹。流水太忙生。曰。如何是君臣道合。師曰。雲行雨施。月皎星輝。問。如何是正中偏。師曰。菱花未照前。曰。如何是偏中正。師曰。團圞無少剩。曰。如何是正中來。師曰。徧界絕纖埃。曰。如何是兼中至。師曰。齧鏃功前戲。曰。如何是兼中到。師曰。十道不通耗。問。如何是轉功就位。師曰。撒手無依全體現。扁舟漁父宿蘆花。曰。如何是轉位就功。師曰。半夜嶺頭風月靜。一聲高樹老猿啼。曰。如何是功位齊彰。師曰。出門不踏來時路。滿目飛塵絕點埃。曰。如何是功位俱隱。師曰。泥牛飲盡澄潭月。石馬加鞭不轉頭。師終於本山。塔全身寺之西南隅。

He was a son of the Chen family of Huizhou. In childhood he studied the scriptures and received full ordination. He stayed with Chan Master Miaozhan Hui. While being pressed with questions he suddenly awakened, and Hui handed him the whisk in transmission. Later he called on Hongzhi and received his approval, and his Way grew more honored. He went out to dwell at Puzhao, Shanquan, Cuiyan, and Xuedou. Ascending the hall: 'Everyone has a nostril; only Shanquan has no nostril. Why not? Twenty years ago someone pulled it off. Everyone has two eyes; only Shanquan has no eyes. Why not? Someone swapped them for a string of wooden beads. Everyone has a skull; only Shanquan has no skull.' Why not? It was lent out to be used as a shit-scoop. Then he called to the assembly and said, 'No nostril, no eyes, no skull—do you people still recognize Shanquan? If you do not recognize him, you people have buried Shanquan. If not, listen to one more verse: at the bottom of the ravine the mud ox has its face gilded; on the mountain top the stone woman wears true red.' On the donkey-tethering post, magic fungus grows; it is not the misty Incense Burner Peak. Ascending the hall, he said, 'It is not that Cuiyan does not speak; it is only that there is no occasion. Today such a quick chance is rarely met—one phrase I will cut open for you. The exposed pillar is originally wood; the steelyard weight is only pig iron. If you people go to other quarters, do not say this mountain monk is talkative.' A monk asked, 'What of when the lotus has not yet come out of the water?' The Master said, 'Your nostril is gone.' He said, 'And after it comes out of the water?' The Master said, 'It pierces your eyes.' He said, 'What is the eye of the true dharma?' The Master said, 'A black bean.' A monk asked, 'What is the ruler?' The Master said, 'Grinding a three-foot sword, waiting to behead the unpeaceful.' He said, 'What is the minister?' The Master said, 'White clouds are never fully at leisure; flowing water is too busy.' He said, 'What is the ruler and minister joining in the Way?' The Master said, 'Clouds move and rain falls; the moon is bright and the stars shine.' A monk asked, 'What is the true within the partial?' The Master said, 'Before the mirror of the water-chestnut flower has shone.' He said, 'What is the partial within the true?' The Master said, 'Round and complete, with nothing left over.' He said, 'What is the true coming?' The Master said, 'The whole realm is free of the finest dust.' He said, 'What is the simultaneous arrival?' The Master said, 'Play before the merit of biting the arrowhead.' He said, 'What is the simultaneous attainment?' The Master said, 'Ten roads do not get through tidings.' A monk asked, 'What is turning function toward position?' The Master said, 'Letting go with no dependence, the whole body appears; a fisherman in a small boat lodges in the reed flowers.' He said, 'What is turning position toward function?' The Master said, 'At midnight on the ridge the wind and moon are still; one cry from the tall tree, an old ape's call.' He said, 'What is function and position both manifest?' The Master said, 'Going out the door, not treading the road you came by; the eyes are full of flying dust, not a speck of it.' He said, 'What is function and position both hidden?' The Master said, 'The mud ox drinks dry the moon in the clear pool; the stone horse is whipped but does not turn its head.' The Master ended at his home mountain, and his whole body was enshrined in a stupa at the southwest corner of the monastery.

常州善權法智禪師

Chan Master Fazhi of Shanquan, Changzhou

陝府栢氏子。壯於西京聖果寺祝髮。習華嚴。棄謁南陽謹。次參大洪智。踰十年無所證。後於宏智言下豁然。出居善權。次遷金粟。上堂。明月高懸未照前。雪眉人憑玉欄幹。夜深雨過風雷息。客散雲樓酒椀乾。上堂。三界無法。何處求心。驚虵入草。飛鳥出林。雨過山堂秋夜靜。市聲終不到孤岑。

He was a son of the Bai family of Shaanfu. As an adult he was shaved at Shengguo Monastery in the Western Capital. He studied the Avatamsaka and then gave it up to call on Jin of Nanyang. Next he studied under Zhi of Dahong. For more than ten years he had no realization. Later, under Hongzhi's words, he suddenly opened through. He went out to dwell at Shanquan, then moved to Jinsu. Ascending the hall: 'The bright moon hangs high, before it has shone; a snow-browed man leans on the jade railing. Deep in the night the rain has passed, wind and thunder rest; the guests have scattered from the cloud tower, the wine bowls are dry.' Ascending the hall: 'The three realms have no dharma—where will you seek the mind? The startled snake enters the grass, the flying bird leaves the grove. The rain has passed the mountain hall; the autumn night is still. The noise of the market never reaches the lone peak.'

杭州淨慈自得慧暉禪師

Chan Master Huihui Zide of Jingci, Hangzhou

會稽張氏子。幼依澄照道凝。染削進具。甫二十。扣真歇於長蘆。微有所證。旋里謁宏智。智舉當明中有暗。不以暗相遇。當暗中有明。不以明相覩。問之。語不契。初夜定。回往聖僧前燒香。而宏智適至。師見之。頓明前話。次日入室。智舉堪嗟去日顏如玉。卻歎回時𩯭似霜。詰之。師曰。其入離。其出微。自爾問答無滯。智許為室中真子。紹興丁巳開法補陀。徙萬壽及吉祥．雪竇。淳熈三年。勑補淨慈。上堂。朔風凜凜掃寒林。葉落歸根露赤心。萬派朝宗船到岸。六窓虗暎芥投針。本成現。莫他尋。性地閑閑耀古今。戶外凍消春色動。四山渾作木龍吟。上堂。釋迦老子。窮理盡性。金口敷宣。一代時教。珠回玉轉。被人喚作拭不淨故紙。達磨祖師。以一乘法直指單傳。面壁九年。不立文字。被人喚作壁觀婆羅門。且道作麼生行履。免被傍人指注去。衲帔蒙頭萬事休。此時山僧都不會。上堂。巢知風。穴知雨。甜者甜兮苦者苦。不須計較作思量。五五從來二十五。萬般施設到平常。此是叢林飽參句。諸人還委悉麼。野老不知堯舜力。鼕鼕打皷祭江神。上堂。谷之神。樞之要。裡許旁參。回途得妙。雲雖動而常閑。月雖晦而彌照。賓主交參。正偏兼到。十洲春盡花凋殘。珊瑚樹林日杲杲。僧問。如何是正中偏。師曰。昨夜三更星滿天。曰。如何是偏中正。師曰。白雲籠嶽頂。終不露崔嵬。曰。如何是正中來。師曰。莫謂鯤鯨無羽翼。今日親從鳥道來。曰。如何是偏中至。師曰。應無跡。用無痕。曰。如何是兼中到。師曰。石人衫子破。大地沒人縫。上堂。皮膚脫落絕方隅。明瞭身心一物無。妙入道寰深靜處。玉人端馭白牛車。妙明田地。達者還稀。識情不到。唯證方知。白雲兒靈靈自照。青山父卓卓常存。機分頂後光。智契劫前眼。所以道新豐路兮峻仍皾。新豐洞兮湛然沃。登者登兮不動搖。

He was a son of the Zhang family of Kuaiji. In childhood he stayed with Daoning of Chengzhao, was shaved, and received full ordination. Just past twenty he questioned Zhenxie at Changlu and had a slight realization. Returning home he called on Hongzhi. Hongzhi brought up: 'When there is brightness, there is darkness within; do not meet it by darkness. When there is darkness, there is brightness within; do not view it by brightness.' He questioned him, and the Master's words did not tally. In the first watch of the night he rose and went before the sacred monk to burn incense, and Hongzhi happened to arrive. Seeing him, the Master suddenly understood the earlier words. The next day he entered the room. Hongzhi brought up: 'One may sigh that in days gone by the face was like jade; then lament that on returning the hair at the temples is like frost.' He pressed him on it. The Master said, 'Its entering is apart, its emerging is subtle.' From then on his questions and answers were unobstructed, and Hongzhi approved him as a true son in the room. In the ding-si year of Shaoxing he began teaching at Putuo, moved to Wanshou and Jixiang and Xuedou, and in the third year of Chunxi was appointed by imperial order to Jingci. Ascending the hall: 'The north wind blows keenly, sweeping the cold grove; leaves fall and return to the root, revealing the bare mind. Ten thousand streams pay homage to the source, the boat reaches the shore; the six windows shine emptily, a mustard seed cast at a needle. It is originally present—do not seek it elsewhere. The ground of the mind is at leisure, shining through past and present. Outside the door the frost thaws and spring colors stir; the four mountains all make the wooden dragon's cry.' Ascending the hall: 'Old Shakyamuni exhausted principle and fulfilled nature, and proclaimed with his golden mouth the teaching of one age; pearls turn and jade revolves—yet people call it old paper for wiping off filth. Patriarch Bodhidharma, by the one vehicle dharma, pointed directly and transmitted singly, faced the wall nine years, and set up no dependence on words.' People call him the wall-gazing Brahmin. Tell me, how will you tread it, so as not to be pointed at by others? With the robe over the head, ten thousand things are done. At that time this mountain monk understands nothing at all. Ascending the hall: 'The nest knows the wind, the burrow knows the rain; the sweet is sweet and the bitter is bitter. No need to calculate or deliberate: five times five has always been twenty-five. When every kind of arrangement comes to the ordinary—this is the patch-robed monks' well-seasoned phrase. Do you people understand fully? The old rustic does not know the power of Yao and Shun; boom, boom, he beats the drum to sacrifice to the river god.' Ascending the hall: 'The spirit of the valley, the pivot's crux—study it from the side within, and on the way back you get the wonder. Though the clouds move, they are always at leisure; though the moon wanes, it shines the more. Host and guest intermingle, true and partial both arrive. On the ten isles spring ends and the flowers wither and fall; in the coral grove the sun is bright and bright.' A monk asked, 'What is the true within the partial?' The Master said, 'Last night at the third watch the stars filled the sky.' He said, 'What is the partial within the true?' The Master said, 'White clouds enshroud the peak's summit and never show its height.' He said, 'What is the true coming?' The Master said, 'Do not say the whale has no wings; today it has come straight along the bird path.' He said, 'What is the partial within the arriving?' The Master said, 'Its response leaves no trace, its function leaves no mark.' He said, 'What is the simultaneous attainment?' The Master said, 'The stone man's shirt is torn and no one in the great earth can sew it.' Ascending the hall: 'When the skin has fallen away, the four quarters are cut off; body and mind are clearly one thing without a second. Wondrously entering the deep stillness of the Way's realm, the jade person steadily drives the white ox cart. In the field of wondrous clarity, those who reach it are still rare; where knowing and feeling do not arrive, only realization knows. The white cloud child, numinous, shines of itself; the green mountain father, towering, always abides.' The mechanism parts the light behind the crown; wisdom accords with the eye before the kalpa. Therefore it is said: the Xinfeng road is steep and rugged; the Xinfeng cave is deep and fertile. Those who climb climb, and do not waver.

遊者遊兮莫忽速。亭堂雖有到人稀。林泉不長尋常木。諸禪德。向上一著尊貴難明。瑠璃殿上不稱尊。翡翠簾前還合伴。正與麼時。針線貫通。真宗不墜。合作麼生施設。滿頭白髮離巖谷。半夜穿雲入市鄽。上堂。舉傅大士法身頌雲。空手把鋤頭。步行騎水牛。人從橋上過。橋流水不流。雲門大師道。諸人東來西來。南來北來。各各騎一頭水牯牛來。然雖如是。千頭萬頭。祇要識取這一頭。師曰。雲門尋常乾𪹼𪹼地。錐劄不入。到這裡。也解拖泥帶水。諸人祇今要見這一頭麼。天色稍寒。各自歸堂。上堂。舉風幡話。師曰。風幡動處著得箇眼。卻是上座。風幡動處失卻箇眼。即是風幡。其或未然。不是風幡不是心。衲僧徒自強錐針。巖房雨過昏煙淨。臥聽涼風生竹林。七年秋。退歸雪竇。十年仲冬二十九日中夜。沐浴而逝。窆全身於明覺塔右。

The wanderer wanders—do not be hasty. Though there are pavilions and halls, those who arrive are few. The forest springs do not grow ordinary trees. All you Chan worthies, the one step above is honored and hard to make clear. On the lapis lazuli hall one is not called honored; before the kingfisher curtain one still joins as companion. Just at such a time, thread and needle run through, and the true school does not fall. How will you arrange it? White hair filling the head, leaving the rocky valley; at midnight piercing the clouds and entering the marketplace. Ascending the hall, he brought up Great Scholar Fu's verse on the dharma-body: 'Empty-handed I hold the hoe; walking, I ride a water buffalo. A man passes over the bridge; the bridge flows, the water does not flow.' Master Yunmen said, 'You people come from east and west, from south and north, each riding a water buffalo. Yet though it be so—a thousand heads, ten thousand heads—you need only recognize this one head.' The Master said, 'Yunmen is ordinarily dry and brittle, so that not even an awl can pierce him. But here he too knows how to drag mud and water along. Do you people want to see this one head right now? The weather is a little cold; each of you return to the hall.' Ascending the hall, he brought up the case of the wind and the banner. The Master said, 'Where the wind and banner move, if you can place an eye there, you are the Upadhyaya. Where the wind and banner move, if you lose an eye there, it is the wind and banner. If not, it is not the wind, not the banner, not the mind; the patch-robed monk vainly pierces himself with an awl. The rain has passed the rock chamber, the evening smoke is clear; lying, I listen to the cool wind rise in the bamboo grove.' In the seventh year, in autumn, he retired to Xuedou. On the night of the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month of the tenth year he bathed and passed away. His whole body was enshrined in a stupa to the right of the Mingjue Stupa.

明州瑞巖石窻法恭禪師

Chan Master Fagong of Shichuang, Ruiyan, Mingzhou

郡之奉化林氏子。於棲真院下髮受具。往延慶講下。一夕。誦法華至父母所生眼。悉見三千界時。聞風刺椶櫚葉聲。忽然有省。棄依天童。始明大旨。凡當世弘法者。悉往諮決。出住能仁光孝瑞巖。上堂。春風楊柳眉。春禽弄百舌。一片祖師心。兩處俱漏洩。不動步還家。習漏頓消滅。暗投玉線芒。曉貫金針穴。深固實幽遠。無人孰辨別。慚愧可憐生。頭頭皆合轍。不念阿彌陀。南無乾屎橛。無智痴人前。第一不得說。上堂。見得徹。用時親。相逢盡是箇中人。望空雨寶休誇富。無地容錐未是貧。踏著秤鎚硬似鐵。八兩元來是半斤。上堂。舉世尊生下指天指地公案。頌曰。五天一隻蓬蒿箭。攪動支那百萬兵。不得雲門行正令。幾乎錯認定盤星。

He was a son of the Lin family of Fenghua in the prefecture. He was shaved and received full ordination at Qizhen Monastery. He went to the lecture seat at Yanqing. One evening, while reciting the Lotus Sutra and reaching 'with the eyes born of father and mother, one sees all three thousand realms,' he heard the wind rustling the palm leaves and suddenly had an awakening. He gave up and stayed with Tiantong, and only then understood the great purport. Everyone in the world who propagated the dharma he went to consult and settle with. He went out to dwell at Nengren, Guangxiao, and Ruiyan. Ascending the hall: 'The spring wind, the willow's eyebrows; the spring birds, playing a hundred tongues. One piece of the Patriarch's mind is leaked away in two places. Not moving a step, you return home; the outflows of habit are at once extinguished. Secretly casting the jade thread's tip, at dawn it threads the golden needle's eye. Deep, firm, truly profound and far—no one can distinguish it.' How pitiful and shameful. Everywhere it fits the rut. Not mindful of Amitabha; homage to the dried shit-stick. Before a man without wisdom, first of all do not speak it. Ascending the hall: 'Seeing it thoroughly, using it intimately—all you meet are people within it. Raining jewels from the sky, do not boast of wealth; having no ground to hold an awl is not poverty. Step on a steelyard weight and it is hard as iron; eight ounces has always been half a catty.' Ascending the hall, he brought up the case of the World-Honored One at birth pointing to heaven and pointing to earth, and gave a verse: 'One mugwort arrow of the five regions stirred up a million soldiers of China. Had Yunmen not carried out the true command, one would almost have misjudged the pole star.'

襄州石門清涼法真禪師

Chan Master Fazhen of Shimen Qingliang, Xiangzhou

劒門人也。上堂。柳色含煙。春光迥秀。一峰孤峻。萬卉爭芳。白雲淡濘已無心。滿目青山元不動。漁翁垂釣。一溪寒雪未曾消。野渡無人。萬古碧潭清似鏡。賓中有主。拄杖橫挑日月輪。主中有賓。踏破草鞋赤腳走。直得賓主互顯。殺活自由。理事渾融。正偏不滯。入荒田不揀。信手拈來草。且道如何委悉。塵中雖有隱身術。爭似全身入帝鄉。

He was a man of Jianmen. Ascending the hall: 'The willow color holds mist, the spring light is surpassingly fine. One peak stands alone and sheer; ten thousand plants vie in fragrance. The white clouds, pale and still, are already without mind; the green mountains filling the eyes are originally unmoving. The old fisherman casts his line; one stream of cold snow has not yet melted. At the wild ferry there is no one; the ancient green pool is clear as a mirror.' Within the guest there is a host: the staff held crosswise picks up the sun and moon wheels. Within the host there is a guest: treading through straw sandals, walking barefoot. It reaches the point where host and guest mutually appear, killing and giving life are free, principle and fact merge, and true and partial do not stick. Entering the wild field, one does not pick and choose; whatever the hand grasps is grass. Tell me, how do you understand it fully? Though there is a technique for hiding the body in the dust, how does it compare with entering the imperial domain with the whole body?

明州光孝了堂思徹禪師

Chan Master Siche of Liaotang, Guangxiao, Mingzhou

上堂。羊頭車子推明月。沒底船兒載曉風。一句頓超情量外。道無南北與西東。所以劫前消息。非口耳之所傳。格外真規。豈思量之能解。須知佛佛祖祖。了無一法為人。子子孫孫。直下全身荷負。既已萬機寢削。自然一糝不留。湛湛之波。碧水冷涵於秋色。靈靈之照。霽天淨洗於氷輪。宛轉旁參。葉通兼帶。夢手推開玉戶。飜身撥動機輪。正令才行。又見一陽萌動。化工密運。俄驚三世變遷。雖則默爾無言。爭奈熾然常說。無遷無變。今朝拈置一邊。有故有新。且道如何話會。諸人還委悉麼。群陰消剝盡。來日是書云。

Ascending the hall: 'The goat-headed cart pushes the bright moon; the bottomless boat carries the dawn wind. One phrase at once transcends beyond the measure of feeling. The Way has no south or north, no west or east. Therefore the message before the kalpa is not something transmitted by mouth and ear; the true rule beyond the norm—how could deliberation resolve it? You must know that Buddha after Buddha, Patriarch after Patriarch, have not a single dharma to give to people.' Sons and sons, grandsons and grandsons, directly bear the whole body. Since the ten thousand mechanisms are already cut away, naturally not a grain remains. The deep, deep waves—green water coldly holds the autumn colors. The numinous, numinous illumination—the clearing sky is washed clean around the ice wheel. Winding and turning, studying from the side, the leaf runs through both simultaneously. The hand of a dream pushes open the jade door; turning the body, it works the mechanism. The true command has just begun to move when again one sees the single yang stir. The work of transformation secretly runs, and suddenly one is startled that the three ages have changed. Though it is silent and wordless, what can it do about plainly speaking always? 'No changing, no alteration'—today set that aside. 'There is the old, there is the new'—tell me, how will you grasp it in words? Do you people understand fully? When the massed yin has melted away entirely, tomorrow is the day the clouds are written.'

隨州大洪法為禪師

Chan Master Fawei of Dahong, Suizhou

天台鮑氏子。上堂。法身無相。不可以音聲求。妙道亡言。豈可以文字會。縱使超佛越祖。猶落階梯。直饒說妙談玄。終掛唇齒。須是功燻不犯。形跡不留。枯木寒巖。更無津潤。幻人木馬。情識皆空。方能垂手入鄽。轉身異類。不見道。無漏國中留不住。卻來煙塢臥寒沙。

He was a son of the Bao family of Tiantai. Ascending the hall: 'The dharma-body is signless and cannot be sought through sound; the wondrous Way is beyond words—how could it be grasped through letters? Even if you transcend Buddha and Patriarch, you still fall onto steps; even if you speak of the wondrous and discuss the mysterious, you still hang on the lips and teeth. You must simply not trespass against the perfuming of merit and leave no trace of form.' Withered trees and cold cliffs have no more moisture. Phantoms and wooden horses: feeling and consciousness are all empty. Only then can one let down a hand and enter the marketplace, turning the body into another kind of being. Do you not know the saying: in the realm without outflows you cannot stay; you come back and lie among the misty coves on the cold sand.

真州長蘆琳禪師

Chan Master Lin of Changlu, Zhenzhou

上堂拈拄杖曰。其宗也離心意識。其旨也超去來今。離心意識。故品萬類不見差殊。超去來今。故盡十方更無滲漏。當頭不犯。徹底無依。悟向朕兆未生已前。用在功勳不犯之處。平常活計。不用躊躕。擬議之間。即沒交涉。

Ascending the hall, he picked up his staff and said, 'Its school is apart from mind, intellect, and consciousness; its purport transcends past, present, and future. Being apart from mind, intellect, and consciousness, it grades the ten thousand kinds and sees no difference; transcending past, present, and future, it exhausts the ten directions and has no further leak. Facing it directly, one does not trespass; thorough to the bottom, there is no dependence. Awaken to what lies before the first sign stirs, and use it where the merit of function does not trespass.' The ordinary daily livelihood needs no hesitation. Between starting to deliberate, you are already out of touch.

大洪預禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Yu of Dahong

臨江軍慧力悟禪師

Chan Master Wu of Huili, Linjiangjun

上堂。一切聲。是佛聲。簷前雨滴響泠泠。一切色。是佛色。覿面相呈諱不得。便恁麼。若為明。碧天雲外月華清。

Ascending the hall: 'All sounds are Buddha sounds—the rain dripping from the eaves rings clear and cool. All forms are Buddha forms—face to face they are presented and cannot be concealed. Just thus, if you would make it clear: beyond the clouds in the blue sky the moonlight is pure.'

福州雪峰慧深首座

Chief Seat Huishen of Xuefeng, Fuzhou

示眾。未得入頭應切切。入頭已得須教徹。雖然得入本無無。莫守無無無間歇。大洪聞之。乃曰。深兄說禪若此。惜福緣不勝耳。一日普說罷。揮偈辭眾。以筆一拍而化。

He addressed the assembly: 'Before you have gained entry, you should be earnest; once you have gained entry, you must make it thorough. Yet though you gain entry, originally there is no nothing; do not cling to the nothing and no-nothing without cease.' Dahong heard of this and said, 'Brother Shen explains Chan like this—a pity his blessed conditions do not match.' One day, after a universal sermon, he waved a verse to take leave of the assembly, tapped his brush once, and passed away.