The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source, Scroll One

天台山拾得子

Shide of Mount Tiantai

一日掃地。寺主問。汝名拾得。因豐幹拾得汝歸。汝畢竟姓箇甚麼。拾得放下掃帚。叉手而立。主再問。拾得拈掃帚掃地而去。寒山搥胸曰。蒼天。蒼天。拾得曰。作甚麼。山曰。不見道東家人死。西家人助哀。二人作舞。笑哭而出國清寺。半月。念戒眾集。拾得拍手曰。聚頭作想那事如何。維那叱之。得曰。大德且住。無嗔即是戒。心淨即出家。我性與你合。一切法無差。

One day he was sweeping the ground. The abbot asked, ‘Your name is Shide because Fenggan picked you up and brought you home. What, then, is your surname?’ Shide put down the broom and stood with hands joined. The abbot asked again. Shide picked up the broom and went on sweeping. Hanshan beat his chest and said, ‘Heavens, heavens!’ Shide asked, ‘What are you doing?’ Hanshan said, ‘Have you not heard? When a person in the east dies, the person in the west helps mourn.’ The two danced, laughing and crying, and went out. At Guoqing Monastery, half a month later, the assembly gathered to recite the precepts. Shide clapped and said, ‘You gather your heads and make thoughts about that matter—what use is it?’ The disciplinarian rebuked him. Shide said, ‘Venerable, wait. Freedom from anger is itself precept; a pure mind is leaving home. My nature accords with yours, and all phenomena are without difference.’

明州奉化縣布袋和尚

The Cloth-Bag Monk of Fenghua County, Mingzhou

自稱契此。形裁腲(烏罪切)脮(奴罪切)。蹙額皤腹。出語無定。寢臥隨處。常以杖荷一布囊並破席。凡供身之具。盡貯囊中。入鄽肆聚落。見物則乞。或醯醢魚𦵔。才接入口。分少許投囊中。時號長汀子。一日。有僧在師前行。師乃拊其背。僧回首。師曰。乞我一紋錢。曰。道得即與汝一紋。師放下布袋。叉手而立。白鹿和尚問。如何是布袋。師便放下布袋。曰。如何是布袋下事。師負之而去。先保福和尚問。如何是佛法大意。師放下布袋。叉手。福曰。為秖如此。為更有向上事。師負之而去。師在街衢立。有僧問。和尚在這裡作甚麼。師曰。等箇人。曰。來也。來也(歸宗柔和尚別曰歸去來)。師曰。汝不是這箇人。曰。如何是這箇人。師曰。乞我一文錢。師有歌曰。秖箇心心心是佛。十方世界最靈物。縱橫妙用可憐生。一切不如心真實。騰騰自在無所為。閑閑究竟出家兒。若覩目前真大道。不見纖毫也大奇。萬法何殊心何異。何勞更用尋經義。心王本自絕多知。智者秖明無學地。非聖非凡復若何。不強分別聖情孤。無價心珠本圓淨。凡是異相妄空呼。人能弘道道分明。無量清高稱道情。擕錫若登故國路。莫愁諸處不聞聲。又有偈曰。是非憎愛世偏多。子細思量柰我何。寬卻肚腸須忍辱。豁開心地任從他。若逢知己須依分。縱遇冤家也共和。若能了此心頭事。自然證得六波羅。我有一布袋。虗空無罣礙。展開遍十方。入時觀自在。吾有三寶堂。裡空無色相。不高亦不低。無遮亦無障。學者體不如。來者難得樣。智慧解安排。千中無一匠。四門四果生。十方盡供養。吾有一軀佛。世人皆不識。不塑亦不裝。不雕亦不刻。無一滴灰泥。無一點彩色。人畫畫不成。賊偷偷不得。體相本自然。清淨非拂拭。雖然是一軀。分身千百億。又有偈曰。一缽千家飯。孤身萬裡遊。青目覩人少。問路白雲頭。

He called himself Qici. His body was short and bent, with a furrowed brow and a broad belly; his speech was unpredictable, and he slept wherever he happened to be. He always carried on a staff a cloth bag and a torn mat, keeping every possession needed for his body in the bag. When he entered markets and villages, he begged whatever he saw, whether vinegar, pickles, tea, rice, or other food. He would take it all into the bag, and then sit or lie down beside the street. People called him the Cloth-Bag Monk. He had no fixed dwelling and no regular meal. When people offered him coins or goods, he accepted whatever came, never choosing. He often met children, gave them what he had, and laughed. Sometimes he stood in a busy market, put down the bag, and asked, ‘What is this?’ If someone took the bag, he picked it up and left; if nobody answered, he carried it away. When he met a monk, he would bow, or lift his bag and walk off. A verse says: ‘The true Maitreya is Maitreya; he divides his body into hundreds and thousands of millions. He shows himself constantly to people, but people themselves do not recognize him.’

梁貞明三年丙子三月。師將示滅。於嶽林寺東廊下端坐磐石。而說偈曰。彌勒真彌勒。分身千百億。時時示時人。時人自不識。偈畢。安然而化。其後復現於他州。亦負布袋而行。四眾競圖其像。

In the third year of Zhenming under Liang, on the third month of the bingzi year, the master was about to manifest extinction. He sat upright on a rock beneath the eastern corridor of Yulin Monastery and recited a verse: ‘The true Maitreya is Maitreya, dividing his body into hundreds and thousands of millions. He appears from moment to moment before people, yet people themselves do not recognize him.’ After finishing the verse, he passed away peacefully. Later he appeared again in other places. His disciples gathered his remains and built a stupa for him.

法華志言大士

Great Master Zhiyan of the Lotus School

壽春許氏子。弱冠遊東都。繼得度於七俱胝院。留講肆久之。一日。讀雲門錄。忽契悟。未幾。宿命遂通。獨語笑。口吻囁嚅。日常不輟。世傳誦法華。因以名之。丞相呂許公問佛法大意。師曰。本來無一物。一味卻成真。集仙王質問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。青山影裡潑藍起。寶塔高吟撼曉風。又曰。請法華燒香。師曰。未從齋戒覔。不向佛邊求。國子助教徐嶽問祖師西來意。師曰。街頭東畔底。徐曰。某甲未會。師曰。三般人會不得。僧問。世有佛不。師曰。寺裡文殊。有問師。凡邪。聖邪。遂舉手曰。我不在此住。慶曆戊子十一月二十三日將化。謂人曰。我從無量劫來。成就逝多國土。分身揚化。今南歸矣。言畢。右脇而逝。

He was the son of the Xu family of Shouchun. In early adulthood he traveled to the Eastern Capital and later received ordination at Qiju Monastery. He remained for a long time in the lecture hall. One day, while reading the Yunmen Record, he suddenly awakened. Not long afterward he gained knowledge of former lives. He often spoke and laughed to himself, murmuring without pause. People transmitted and recited the Lotus Sutra according to his teaching. He later wandered through the regions and taught those who came to him.

扣冰澡先古佛

The Ancient Buddha Zaoxian of Knocking Ice

建寧新豐翁氏子。母夢比丘。風神烱然。荷錫求宿。人指謂曰。是辟支佛。已而孕。生於武宗會昌四年。香霧滿室。彌日不散。年十三求出家。父母許之。依烏山興福寺行全為師。咸通乙酉落髮受具。初以講說。為眾所歸。棄謁雪峰。手擕鳧茈一包．醬一器獻之。峰曰。包中是何物。師曰。鳧茈。峰曰。何處得來。師曰。泥中得。峰曰。泥深多少。師曰。無丈數。峰曰。還更有麼。曰。轉有轉深。又問。器中何物。曰。醬。峰曰。何處得來。曰。自合得。峰曰。還熟也未。曰。不較多。峰異之。曰。子異日必為王者師。後自鵞湖歸溫嶺結庵(今為永豐寺)繼居將軍巖。二虎侍側。神人獻地為瑞巖院。學者爭集。嘗謂眾曰。古聖修行。須憑苦節。吾今夏則衣楮。冬則扣冰而浴。故世人號為扣冰古佛。後住靈曜。上堂。四眾雲臻。教老僧說箇甚麼。便下座。有僧燒炭。積成火龕。曰。請師入此修行。曰。真玉不隨流水化。琉璃爭奪眾星明。曰。莫秖這便是麼。曰。且莫認奴作郎。曰。畢竟如何。曰。梅華臘月開天成。戊子應閩主之召。延居內堂。敬拜曰。謝師遠降。賜茶次。師提起橐子曰。大王會麼。曰。不會。曰。人王法王。各自照了。留十日。以疾辭。至十二月二日。沐浴陞堂。告眾而逝。王與道俗備香薪蘇油茶毗之。祥耀滿山。獲舍利五色。塔於瑞嚴正寢。諡曰妙應法威慈濟禪師。

He was the son of the Weng family of Xinfeng, Jianning. His mother dreamed of a monk with a radiant bearing who carried a staff and asked to stay overnight. Someone pointed at him and said, ‘He is a pratyekabuddha.’ She then became pregnant. He was born in the fourth year of Huichang under Emperor Wuzong; fragrant mist filled the room and did not disperse for an entire day. At thirteen he asked to leave home. His parents agreed, and he received ordination. He studied the Vinaya and the sutras, then visited Chan masters throughout the land. Wherever he went, he practiced austerities and slept beneath trees. He later met the master of Knocking Ice, received the seal, and became known for his quiet conduct and penetrating answers. He taught that the original mind is neither arising nor ceasing, and that one must not seek awakening outside the present awareness.

千歲寶掌和尚

The Monk Baozhang of a Thousand Years

中印度人也。周威烈十二年丁卯。降神受質。左手握拳。七歲祝髮乃展。因名寶掌。魏晉間東遊此土。入蜀禮普賢。留大慈。常不食。日誦般若等經千餘卷。有詠之者曰。勞勞玉齒寒。似迸巖泉急。有時中夜坐。堦前神鬼泣。一日。謂眾曰。吾有願住世千歲。今年六百二十有六。故以千歲稱之。次遊五臺。徙居祝融峰之華嚴。黃梅之雙峰。廬山之東林。尋抵建鄴。會達磨入梁。師就扣其旨。開悟。武帝高其道臘。延入內庭。未幾如吳。有偈曰。梁城遇導師。參禪了心地。飄零二浙遊。更盡佳山水。順流東下。由千頃至天竺。往鄮峰。登太白。穿鴈蕩。盤礴於翠峰七十二庵。回赤城。憩雲門．法華．諸暨．漁浦．赤符．大巖等處。返飛來。棲止石竇。有行盡支那四百州。此中徧稱道人遊之句。時貞觀十五年也。後居浦江之寶嚴。與朗禪師友善。每通問。遣白犬馳往。朗亦以青猿為使令。故題朗壁曰。白犬銜書至。青猿洗缽回。師所經處。後皆成寶坊。顯慶二年正旦。手塑一像。至九日像成。問其徒慧雲曰。此肖誰。雲曰。與和尚無異。即澡浴易衣趺坐。謂雲曰。吾住世已一千七十二年。今將謝世。聽吾偈曰。本來無生死。今亦示生死。我得去住心。他生復來此。頃時。囑曰。吾滅後六十年。有僧來取吾骨。勿拒。言訖而逝。入滅五十四年。有刺浮長老自雲門至塔所。禮曰。冀塔洞開。少選。塔戶果啟。其骨連環若黃金。浮即持往秦望山。建窣堵波奉藏。以周威烈丁卯至唐高宗顯慶丁巳攷之。實一千七十二年。抵此土。歲歷四百餘。僧史皆失載。開元中慧雲門人宗一者。嘗勒石識之。

He was from central India. In the twenty-fourth year of King Weilie of Zhou, he descended spiritually and took bodily birth. His left hand was clenched; only when he was seven and his hair was cut did the hand open, so he was called Baozhang. During the Wei and Jin periods he traveled east to this land, visited Samantabhadra in Shu, and remained at Daci Monastery. He habitually ate nothing and recited more than a thousand fascicles of the Prajnaparamita and other sutras each day. His body remained youthful through the ages, and people said he had lived for a thousand years. He traveled among mountains and monasteries, teaching those who sought him, and finally concealed his traces. He met kings and commoners alike without distinction, never taking pride in his long life or supernatural reputation. Those who came to ask about the Way were directed back to the mind that knows before any thought is formed.

六祖大鑒禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Dajian, the Sixth Patriarch

南嶽懷讓禪師者

Chan Master Huairang of Nanyue,

姓杜氏。金州人也。於唐儀鳳二年四月八日降誕。感白氣應於玄象。在安康之分。太史瞻見。奏聞高宗皇帝。帝乃問。是何祥瑞。太史對曰。國之法器。不染世榮。帝傳勑金州太守韓偕親往。存慰其家。家有三子。唯師最小。炳然殊異。性唯恩讓。父乃安名懷讓。年十歲時。唯樂佛書。時有三藏玄靜過舍。告其父母曰。此子若出家。必獲上乘。廣度眾生。至垂拱三年方十五歲。辭親。往荊州玉泉寺。依弘景律師出家。通天二年。受戒後習毗尼藏。一日自歎曰。夫出家者。為無為法。天上人間。無有勝者。時同學坦然。知師志氣高邁。勸師謁嵩山安和尚。安啟發之。乃直指詣曹谿參六祖。祖問。甚麼處來。曰。嵩山來。祖曰。甚麼物恁麼來。師無語。遂經八載。忽然有省。乃白祖曰。某甲有箇會處。祖曰。作麼生。師曰。說似一物即不中。祖曰。還假修證否。師曰。修證則不無。汙染即不得。祖曰。祇此不汙染。諸佛之所護念。汝既如是。吾亦如是。西天般若多羅讖汝足下出一馬駒。踏殺天下人。病在汝心。不須速說。師執侍左右一十五年。先天二年往衡嶽居般若寺。開元中有沙門道一(即馬祖也)。在衡嶽山常習坐禪。師知是法器。往問曰。大德坐禪圖甚麼。一曰。圖作佛。師乃取一甎。於彼庵前石上磨。一曰。磨作甚麼。師曰。磨作鏡。一曰。磨甎豈得成鏡邪。師曰。磨甎既不成鏡。坐禪豈得作佛。一曰。如何即是。師曰。如牛駕車。車若不行。打車即是。打牛即是。一無對。師又曰。汝學坐禪。為學坐佛。若學坐禪。禪非坐臥。若學坐佛。佛非定相。於無住法。不應取捨。汝若坐佛。即是殺佛。若執坐相。非達其理。一聞示誨。如飲醍醐。禮拜。問曰。如何用心。即合無相三昧。師曰。汝學心地法門。如下種子。我說法要。譬彼天澤。汝緣合故。當見其道。又問。道非色相。云何能見。師曰。

His surname was Du and he was from Jinzhou. He was born on the eighth day of the fourth month in the second year of Yifeng under Tang. A white vapor appeared in response to the celestial signs over the region of Ankang. The Grand Astrologer saw it and reported to Emperor Gaozong. The emperor asked, ‘What auspicious sign is this?’ The astrologer replied, ‘A vessel of the realm’s Dharma, unstained by the world.’ When the child grew, he studied widely and sought to leave home. He first received instruction from a Vinaya master, then traveled to Mount Nanyue and paid his respects to the Sixth Patriarch’s disciple. The master said, ‘You have come from the west; what are you seeking?’ Huairang said, ‘I seek to become Buddha.’ The master said, ‘What is it that comes?’ Huairang could not answer. He remained at the monastery, serving and practicing for many years. One day he realized that Buddha cannot be made through polishing or any deliberate act. He went to study with Mazu and became his foremost disciple. From then on he taught that the Way is not apart from everyday conduct, and that the mind which responds to all circumstances is itself the original Buddha.

心地法眼能見乎道。無相三昧亦復然矣。一曰。有成壞否。師曰。若以成壞聚散而見道者。非見道也。聽吾偈曰。心地含諸種。遇澤悉皆萌。三昧華無相。何壞復何成。一蒙開悟。心意超然。侍奉十秋。日益玄奧。入室弟子總有六人。師各印可。曰。汝等六人同證吾身。各契其一。一人得吾眉。善威儀(常浩)一人得吾眼。善顧盻(智達)一人得吾耳。善聽理(坦然)一人得吾鼻。善知氣(神照)一人得吾舌。善譚說(嚴峻)一人得吾心。善古今(道一)又曰。一切法皆從心生。心無所生。法無所住。若達心地。所作無礙。非遇上根。宜慎辭哉。有一大德問。如鏡鑄像。像成後未審光向甚麼處去。師曰。如大德為童子時。相貌何在(法眼別雲。阿那箇是大德鑄成底像)。曰。祇如像成後。為甚麼不鑑照。師曰。雖然不鑑照。謾他一點不得。後馬大師闡化於江西。師問眾曰。道一為眾說法否。眾曰。已為眾說法。師曰。總未見人持箇消息來。眾無對。因遣一僧去。囑曰。待伊上堂時。但問作麼生。伊道底言語。記將來。僧去一如師旨。回謂師曰。馬師雲。自從胡亂後。三十年不曾少鹽醬。師然之。天寶三年八月十一日。圓寂於衡嶽。諡大慧禪師。最勝輪之塔。

‘Can the Dharma-eye of the mind-ground see the Way? The samadhi without marks is the same.’ Daoyi asked, ‘Does it undergo formation and destruction?’ The master said, ‘If one sees the Way through formation, destruction, gathering, and dispersal, one has not seen the Way. Listen to my verse: “The mind-ground contains every seed; when rain falls, each sprouts. The flower of samadhi is without form; how could there be birth or death?”’ Daoyi heard this and awakened. He served the master for many years. The master instructed him to carry on the Dharma in Jiangxi and said, ‘You will have a great assembly and many mature students.’

南嶽讓禪師法嗣(第一世)

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Huairang of Nanyue, First Generation

江西道一禪師

Chan Master Daoyi of Jiangxi

漢州什邡縣人也。姓馬氏。本邑羅漢寺出家。容貌奇異。牛行虎視。引舌過鼻。足下有二輪文。幼歲依資州唐和尚落髮。受具於渝州圓律師。唐開元中。習禪定於衡嶽山中。遇讓和尚。同參六人。唯師密受心印(讓之一。猶思之遷也。同源而異派。故禪法之盛。始於二師。劉軻雲。江西主大寂。湖南主石頭。往來憧憧。不見二大士。為無知矣。西天般若多羅記達磨雲。震旦雖濶無別路。要假兒孫腳下行。金雞解銜一粒粟。供養十方羅漢僧。又六祖謂讓和尚曰。向後佛法從汝邊去。馬駒蹋殺天下人。厥後江西嗣法。布於天下。時號馬祖)。始自建陽佛跡嶺。遷至臨川。次至南康龔公山。大曆中。𨽻名於鍾陵開元寺。時連帥路嗣恭聆風景慕。親受宗旨。由是四方學者。雲集座下。一日謂眾曰。汝等諸人。各信自心是佛。此心即是佛心。達磨大師從南天竺國來至中華。傳上乘一心之法。令汝等開悟。又引楞伽經文。以印眾生心地。恐汝顛倒。不自信此一心之法。各各有之。故楞伽經以佛語心為宗。無門為法門。夫求法者應無所求。心外無別佛。佛外無別心。不取善。不捨惡。淨穢兩邊。俱不依怙。達罪性空。念念不可得。無自性故。故三界唯心。森羅萬象。一法之所印。凡所見色。皆是見心。心不自心。因色故有。汝但隨時言說。即事即理。都無所礙。菩提道果。亦復如是。於心所生。即名為色。知色空故。生即不生。若了此意。乃可隨時。著衣吃飯。長養聖胎。任運過時。更有何事。汝受吾教。聽吾偈曰。心地隨時說。菩提亦祇寧。事理俱無礙。當生即不生。僧問。和尚為甚麼說即心即佛。師曰。為止小兒啼。曰。啼止時如何。師曰。非心非佛。曰。除此二種人來。如何指示。師曰。向伊道不是物。曰。忽遇其中人來時如何。師曰。且教伊體會大道。問。如何是西來意。師曰。即今是甚麼意。龐居士問。

He was from Shifang County in Hanzhou and belonged to the Ma clan. He left home at Luohan Monastery in his native district. His appearance was unusual: he walked like an ox and looked like a tiger; his tongue reached his nose, and the soles of his feet bore wheel marks. As a child he studied with the Tang master of Zizhou, received ordination, and later received the full precepts from Vinaya Master Yuan of Yuzhou. During the Kaiyuan era of Tang he practiced meditation and studied the teachings. He then visited many Chan masters. When he met Huairang of Nanyue, the master asked, ‘What do you seek?’ Daoyi said, ‘To become Buddha.’ Huairang replied, ‘A brick does not become a mirror by polishing it. How could sitting in meditation make a Buddha?’ Daoyi asked, ‘What should one do?’ Huairang said, ‘When an ox pulls a cart and the cart does not move, do you beat the ox or the cart?’ Daoyi had no answer. Huairang then taught him that the Way is not achieved by clinging to sitting or movement. Daoyi awakened and became his heir. Later he established a seat at Kaiyuan Monastery in Jiangxi, where students gathered from all directions. His replies were sharp and direct, and he became known as the great master who taught that mind itself is Buddha.

不昧本來人。請師高著眼。師直下覷。士曰。一等沒絃琴。唯師彈得妙。師直上覷。士禮拜。師歸方丈。居士隨後。曰。適來弄巧成拙。又問。如水無筋骨。能勝萬斛舟。此理如何。師曰。這裡無水亦無舟。說甚麼筋骨。一夕。西堂．百丈．南泉隨侍翫月次。師問。正恁麼時如何。堂曰。正好供養。丈曰。正好修行。泉拂袖便行。師曰。經入藏。禪歸海。唯有普願。獨超物外。百丈問。如何是佛法旨趣。師曰。正是汝放身命處。師問百丈。汝以何法示人。丈竪起拂子。師曰。祇這箇。為當別有。丈拋下拂子。僧問。如何得合道。師曰。我早不合道。問。如何是西來意。師便打曰。我若不打汝。諸方笑我也。有小師耽源行腳回。於師前畫箇圓相。就上拜了立。師曰。汝莫欲作佛否。曰。某甲不解揑目。師曰。吾不如汝。小師不對。鄧隱峰辭師。師曰。甚麼處去。曰。石頭去。師曰。石頭路滑。曰。竿木隨身。逢場作戲。便去。才到石頭。即繞禪床一匝。振錫一聲。問。是何宗旨。石頭曰。蒼天。蒼天。峰無語。卻回舉似師。師曰。汝更去問。待他有答。汝便噓兩聲。峰又去。依前問。石頭乃噓兩聲。峰又無語。回舉似師。師曰。向汝道石頭路滑。有僧於師前作四畫。上一畫長。下三畫短。曰。不得道一畫長．三畫短。離此四字外。請和尚答。師乃畫地一畫曰。不得道長短。答汝了也(忠國師聞。別雲。何不問老僧)。有講僧來。問曰。未審禪宗傳持何法。師卻問曰。座主傳持何法。主曰。忝講得經論二十餘本。師曰。莫是師子兒否。主曰。不敢。師作噓噓聲。主曰。此是法。師曰。是甚麼法。主曰。師子出窟法。師乃默然。主曰。此亦是法。師曰。是甚麼法。主曰。師子在窟法。師曰。不出不入。是甚麼法。主無對(百丈代雲。見麼)。遂辭出門。師召曰。座主。主回首。師曰。是甚麼。主亦無對。師曰。

'Do not be blind to the original person; please, Master, raise your eyes high.' The Master looked straight down. The layman said, 'A stringless lute of the same kind — only the Master can play it well.' The Master looked straight up. The layman bowed. The Master returned to his quarters. The layman followed him and said, 'Just now I tried to be clever and only made a fool of myself.' He asked again, 'Water has no bones or sinews, yet it can carry a ship of ten thousand bushels. What principle is this?' The Master said, 'Here there is no water and no ship either — what bones and sinews are you talking about?' One evening, when Xitang, Baizhang and Nanquan were attending on him to enjoy the moon, the Master asked, 'At a moment just like this, how is it?' Xitang said, 'It is just right for making offerings.' Baizhang said, 'It is just right for practicing.' Nanquan flicked his sleeves and walked off. The Master said, 'The scriptures enter the storehouse, Chan returns to the sea; only Puyuan alone stands beyond things.' Baizhang asked, 'What is the purport of the Buddha Dharma?' The Master said, 'It is exactly the place where you let go of body and life.' The Master asked Baizhang, 'By what dharma do you instruct people?' Baizhang raised his fly whisk. The Master said, 'Only this — or is there something else besides?' Baizhang threw down the fly whisk. A monk asked, 'How can one come into accord with the Way?' The Master said, 'I have long been out of accord with the Way.' The monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the Ancestor's coming from the West?' The Master hit him and said, 'If I did not hit you, the whole world would laugh at me.' A young monk, Danyuan, came back from his pilgrimage and drew a circle before the Master, bowed on top of it, and stood up. The Master said, 'Do you not want to become a Buddha?' He said, 'I am not one to press my eye and conjure a flower in the air.' The Master said, 'I am not your equal.' The young monk made no reply. Deng Yinfeng took leave of the Master. The Master said, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'To Shitou.' The Master said, 'The road to Shitou is slippery.' He said, 'I carry pole and wood with me and play my part wherever I come.' And he left. As soon as he reached Shitou he walked once around the meditation seat, rattled his ringed staff once, and asked, 'What is the essential teaching?' Shitou said, 'O heavens, O heavens!' Yinfeng had no words, and went back and reported this to the Master. The Master said, 'Go and ask him again. When he answers, you hiss twice.' Yinfeng went again and asked as before. Shitou then hissed twice. Yinfeng again had no words, and returned and reported this to the Master. The Master said, 'Did I not tell you the road to Shitou is slippery?' Once a monk drew four strokes before the Master — the top stroke long, the lower three short — and said, 'You must not say that one stroke is long and three are short. Apart from these four words, please, Reverend, answer me.' The Master drew a single stroke on the ground and said, 'You must not speak of long or short. I have answered you.' (When National Teacher Zhong heard of this, he said in comment, 'Why did he not ask me?') A monk who lectured on the sutras came and asked, 'I wonder what dharma the Chan school transmits and upholds?' The Master asked back, 'What dharma does the lecturer transmit and uphold?' The lecturer said, 'I have humbly lectured on more than twenty sutras and treatises.' The Master said, 'Are you not a lion's cub?' The lecturer said, 'I dare not claim so.' The Master made a hissing sound. The lecturer said, 'That is the dharma.' The Master said, 'What dharma is that?' The lecturer said, 'The dharma of the lion leaving its den.' The Master fell silent. The lecturer said, 'That too is the dharma.' The Master said, 'What dharma is that?' The lecturer said, 'The dharma of the lion in its den.' The Master said, 'Not going out and not entering — what dharma is that?' The lecturer had no reply. (Baizhang said on his behalf, 'Do you see it?') He then took his leave and went out the door. The Master called, 'Lecturer!' The lecturer turned his head. The Master said, 'What is it?' The lecturer also had no reply. The Master said,

這鈍根阿師。洪州廉使問曰。吃酒肉即是。不吃即是。師曰。若吃是中丞祿。不吃是中丞福。師入室弟子一百三十九人。各為一方宗主。轉化無窮。師於真元四年正月中。登建昌石門山。於林中經行。見洞壑平坦。謂侍者曰。吾之朽質。當於來月歸茲地矣。言訖而回。既而示疾。院主問。和尚近日尊候如何。師曰。日面佛。月面佛。二月一日沐浴。跏趺入滅。元和中。諡大寂禪師。塔曰大莊嚴。

'A dull-rooted teacher, this one.' The revenue officer of Hongzhou asked, 'Is it right to eat wine and meat, or is it right not to eat them?' The Master said, 'If you eat, it is the censor's stipend; if you do not eat, it is the censor's blessing.' The Master had one hundred and thirty-nine disciples of the inner room, each the head of a region and transforming beings without end. In the first month of the fourth year of Zhenyuan the Master climbed Shimen Mountain in Jianchang, and as he walked in meditation through the forest he saw a hollow that was flat and even, and said to his attendant, 'This decayed body of mine should come back to this ground next month.' Having said this, he returned. Soon afterwards he showed signs of illness. The abbot of the monastery asked, 'How has the Reverend's health been these days?' The Master said, 'Sun-face Buddha, moon-face Buddha.' On the first day of the second month he bathed, and sitting cross-legged he entered nirvana. In the Yuanhe era he was given the posthumous title Great Silence Chan Master. His stupa was called Great Adornment.

南嶽下二世

The Second Generation under Nanyue

馬祖一禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Mazu Yi

洪州百丈山懷海禪師者

Chan Master Huaihai of Baizhang Mountain in Hongzhou,

福州長樂人也。姓王氏。丱歲離塵。三學該練。屬大寂闡化江西。乃傾心依附。與西堂智藏．南泉普願同號入室。時三大士為角立焉。師侍馬祖行次。見一群野鴨飛過。祖曰。是甚麼。師曰。野鴨子。祖曰。甚處去也。師曰。飛過去也。祖遂把師鼻扭。負痛失聲。祖曰。又道飛過去也。師於言下有省。卻歸侍者寮。哀哀大哭。同事問曰。汝憶父母邪。師曰。無。曰。被人罵邪。師曰。無。曰。哭作甚麼。師曰。我鼻孔被大師扭得痛不徹。同事曰。有甚因緣不契。師曰。汝問取和尚去。同事問大師曰。海侍者有何因緣不契。在寮中哭。告和尚為某甲說。大師曰。是伊會也。汝自問取他。同事歸寮曰。和尚道汝會也。教我自問汝。師乃呵呵大笑。同事曰。適來哭。如今為甚卻笑。師曰。適來哭。如今笑。同事罔然。次日。馬祖陞堂。眾才集。師出卷卻席。祖便下座。師隨至方丈。祖曰。我適來未曾說話。汝為甚便卷卻席。師曰。昨日被和尚扭得鼻頭痛。祖曰。汝昨日向甚處留心。師曰。鼻頭今日又不痛也。祖曰。汝深明昨日事。師作禮而退。師再參。侍立次。祖目視繩床角拂子。師曰。即此用。離此用。祖曰。汝向後開兩片皮。將何為人。師取拂子竪起。祖曰。即此用。離此用。師掛拂子於舊處。祖振威一喝。師直得三日耳聾。自此雷音將震。檀信。請於洪州新吳界。住大雄山以居處。巖巒峻極。故號百丈。既處之。未朞月。參玄之賓。四方麏至。溈山黃檗當其首。一日。師謂眾曰。佛法不是小事。老僧昔被馬大師一喝。直得三日耳聾。黃檗聞舉。不覺吐舌。師曰。子已後莫承嗣馬祖去麼。檗曰。不然。今日因和尚舉。得見馬祖大機之用。然且不識馬祖。若嗣馬祖。已後喪我兒孫。師曰。如是。如是。見與師齊。減師半德。見過於師。方堪傳授。子甚有超師之見。檗便禮拜(溈山問仰山。百丈再參馬祖因緣。

was a man of Changle in Fuzhou. His family name was Wang. In his youth he left the dust, and he trained fully in the three studies. When he met Great Silence unfolding the teaching in Jiangxi, he gave his heart wholly to him, and together with Xitang Zhizang and Nanquan Puyuan he was reckoned among the inner room. At that time these three great ones stood like the three legs of a tripod. Once, when the Master was attending Mazu on a walk, they saw a flock of wild ducks fly past. The Ancestor said, 'What is that?' The Master said, 'Wild ducks.' The Ancestor said, 'Where have they gone?' The Master said, 'They have flown away.' The Ancestor then twisted the Master's nose, and he cried out from the pain. The Ancestor said, 'And you still say they have flown away.' At these words the Master had an awakening. He went back to the attendants' quarters and wept bitterly. His fellow monks asked, 'Are you thinking of your father and mother?' The Master said, 'No.' 'Has someone scolded you?' The Master said, 'No.' 'Then why are you crying?' The Master said, 'The Great Master twisted my nose and the pain will not let up.' His fellow monks said, 'What is it that does not accord?' The Master said, 'Go and ask the Reverend.' His fellow monks asked the Great Master, 'What is it that does not accord with attendant Hai, that he is crying in his quarters? Please tell us.' The Great Master said, 'He has understood. Go and ask him yourself.' His fellow monks went back to the quarters and said, 'The Reverend says you have understood, and told us to ask you ourselves.' The Master then burst out laughing. His fellow monks said, 'You were crying just now — why are you laughing now?' The Master said, 'Just now I cried, now I laugh.' His fellow monks were baffled. The next day Mazu ascended the platform. The assembly had just gathered when the Master came forward and rolled up the mat. The Ancestor then stepped down from the seat. The Master followed him to his quarters. The Ancestor said, 'I had not yet spoken, so why did you roll up the mat?' The Master said, 'Yesterday the Reverend twisted my nose and it hurt.' The Ancestor said, 'Where did you set your mind yesterday?' The Master said, 'Today my nose does not hurt again.' The Ancestor said, 'You understand yesterday's matter deeply.' The Master bowed and withdrew. The Master came to pay his respects again and was standing in attendance when the Ancestor's eyes rested on the fly whisk at the corner of the rope chair. The Master said, 'To use it just so, to be free of using it just so.' The Ancestor said, 'Hereafter, when you open those two flaps of skin, what will you use to help people?' The Master took up the fly whisk and held it upright. The Ancestor said, 'To use it just so, to be free of using it just so.' The Master hung the fly whisk back in its old place. The Ancestor gave a shout of such power that the Master was deaf for three days. From then on the thunder was about to roll. A lay donor invited him to stay at Mount Daxiong in the Xinwu district of Hongzhou. The cliffs were exceedingly steep, and so it was called Baizhang. He had not been there a full month before seekers of the mystery gathered in a herd from all quarters. Weishan and Huangbo stood at their head. One day the Master said to the assembly, 'The Buddha Dharma is no small matter. In the past I was given one shout by Great Master Ma and was deaf for three days.' When Huangbo heard this brought up, he could not help putting out his tongue. The Master said, 'Will you not succeed to Mazu hereafter?' Huangbo said, 'Not so. Today, because the Reverend brought it up, I have been able to see Mazu's great functioning of the mechanism. Yet I still do not know Mazu. If I succeeded to Mazu, I would lose my descendants hereafter.' The Master said, 'So it is, so it is. Insight equal to the teacher's cuts the teacher's virtue in half. Only insight that surpasses the teacher's can receive the transmission. You indeed have insight that surpasses the teacher.' Huangbo then bowed. (Weishan asked Yangshan, 'The story of Baizhang's second visit to Mazu —

此二尊宿意旨如何。仰雲。此是顯大機大用。溈雲。馬祖出八十四人。善知識幾人得大機。幾人得大用。仰雲。百丈得大機。黃檗得大用。餘者盡是唱導之師。溈雲。如是。如是)。有僧哭入法堂來。師曰。作麼。曰。父母俱喪。請師選日。師曰。明日來。一時埋卻。溈山．五峰．雲巖侍立次。師問溈山。併卻咽喉唇吻。作麼生道。山曰。卻請和尚道。師曰。不辭向汝道。恐已後喪我兒孫。又問五峰。峰曰。和尚也須併卻。師曰。無人處斫額望汝。又問雲巖。巖曰。和尚有也未。師曰。喪我兒孫。師謂眾曰。我要一人。傳語西堂。阿誰去得。五峰曰。某甲去。師曰。汝作麼生傳語。峰曰。待見西堂。即道。師曰。見後道甚麼。峰曰。卻來說似和尚。師每上堂。有一老人隨眾聽法。一日眾退。唯老人不去。師問。汝是何人。老人曰。某非人也。於過去迦葉佛時。曾住此山。因學人問。大修行人還落因果也無。某對雲。不落因果。遂五百生墮野狐身。今請和尚代一轉語。貴脫野狐身。師曰。汝問。老人曰。大修行人還落因果也無。師曰。不昧因果。老人於言下大悟。作禮曰。某已脫野狐身。住在山後。敢乞依亡僧津送。師令維那白椎告眾。食後送亡僧。大眾聚議。一眾皆安。涅槃堂又無病人。何故如是。食後師領眾至山後巖下。以杖挑出一死野狐。乃依法火塟。師至晚上堂。舉前因緣。黃檗便問。古人錯祇對一轉語。墮五百生野狐身。轉轉不錯。合作箇甚麼。師曰。近前來。向汝道。檗近前。打師一掌。師拍手笑曰。將謂胡鬚赤。更有赤鬚胡(溈山舉問仰山。仰曰。黃檗常用此機。溈曰。汝道天生得。從人得。仰曰。亦是稟受師承。亦是自性宗通。溈曰。如是。如是)。時溈山在會下作典座。司馬頭陀舉野狐話問典座。作麼生。座撼門扇三下。司馬曰。大麤生。座曰。佛法不是這箇道理。問。如何是奇特事。

what is the meaning of these two venerable ones?' Yangshan said, 'This shows the great mechanism and the great functioning.' Weishan said, 'Mazu produced eighty-four good friends; how many got the great mechanism, how many got the great functioning?' Yangshan said, 'Baizhang got the great mechanism, Huangbo got the great functioning. The rest were all teachers of chanting and leading.' Weishan said, 'So it is, so it is.') A monk came weeping into the Dharma hall. The Master said, 'What is it?' He said, 'My father and mother are both dead; please, Master, choose a day for us.' The Master said, 'Come tomorrow, and we will bury them both at once.' Once, when Weishan, Wufeng and Yunya were standing in attendance, the Master asked Weishan, 'Without using throat, lips or mouth, how will you speak?' Weishan said, 'Please, Reverend, speak instead.' The Master said, 'I would not refuse to speak to you, but I fear it would lose me my descendants hereafter.' He asked Wufeng the same. Wufeng said, 'The Reverend must stop his up too.' The Master said, 'Where no one is, I will shade my eyes with my hand and look for you.' He asked Yunya the same. Yunya said, 'Has the Reverend got it or not?' The Master said, 'You will lose me my descendants.' The Master said to the assembly, 'I want one man to carry a message to Xitang. Who can go?' Wufeng said, 'I will go.' The Master said, 'How will you carry the message?' Wufeng said, 'When I see Xitang, I will say it.' The Master said, 'And what will you say after seeing him?' Wufeng said, 'I will come back and tell the Reverend.' Whenever the Master ascended the hall, an old man would follow the assembly and listen to the Dharma. One day, when the assembly had withdrawn, only the old man did not leave. The Master asked, 'Who are you?' The old man said, 'I am not a man. In the time of Kasyapa Buddha in the past I once lived on this mountain. Because a student asked me whether a greatly cultivated person still falls under cause and effect, and I answered that he does not fall under cause and effect, I fell into the body of a wild fox for five hundred lives. Now I beg the Reverend to speak a turning word in my place, so that I may be freed from the wild fox's body.' The Master said, 'Ask.' The old man said, 'Does a greatly cultivated person still fall under cause and effect?' The Master said, 'He does not obscure cause and effect.' At these words the old man was greatly awakened. He bowed and said, 'I am already freed from the wild fox's body and live behind the mountain. I beg that I be given the funeral rites of a dead monk.' The Master ordered the prior to strike the gavel and announce to the assembly: after the meal, see off a dead monk. The great assembly gathered and discussed it: everyone in the community is well, and there is no sick man in the nirvana hall — why is this? After the meal the Master led the assembly to the rocks behind the mountain, poked out a dead wild fox with his staff, and had it cremated according to the rules. That evening the Master ascended the hall and brought up the former story. Huangbo then asked, 'The ancient gave one wrong turning word and fell into a wild fox's body for five hundred lives. If turning after turning he had not been wrong, what would he have become?' The Master said, 'Come closer and I will tell you.' Huangbo came closer, and gave the Master a slap. The Master clapped his hands and laughed, saying, 'I thought the beard was red, but here is a red-bearded barbarian.' (Weishan brought this up and asked Yangshan. Yangshan said, 'Huangbo always used this mechanism.' Weishan said, 'Would you say it is born in him, or got from another?' Yangshan said, 'It is both what he received in transmission from his teacher and what he penetrated through his own nature.' Weishan said, 'So it is, so it is.') At that time Weishan was the cook in the assembly. Sima Toutuo brought up the wild fox story and asked the cook, 'How is it?' The cook shook the door leaf three times. Sima said, 'How coarse!' The cook said, 'The Buddha Dharma is not this principle.' Someone asked, 'What is the extraordinary matter?'

師曰。獨坐大雄峰。僧禮拜。師便打。上堂。靈光獨耀。迥脫根塵。體露真常。不拘文字。心性無染。本自圓成。但離妄緣。即如如佛。問。如何是佛。師曰。汝是阿誰。曰。某甲。師曰。汝識某甲否。曰。分明箇。師乃舉起拂子曰。汝還見麼。曰。見。師乃不語。普請钁地次。忽有一僧聞鼓鳴。舉起钁頭。大笑便歸。師曰。俊哉。此是觀音入理之門。師歸院。乃喚其僧問。適來見甚麼道理。便恁麼。曰。適來肚饑。聞鼓聲。歸吃飯。師乃笑。問。依經解義。三世佛冤。離經一字。如同魔說時如何。師曰。固守動靜。三世佛冤。此外別求。即同魔說。因僧問西堂。有問有答即且置。無問無答時如何。堂曰。怕爛卻那。師聞舉。乃曰。從來疑這箇老兄。曰。請和尚道。師曰。一合相不可得。師謂眾曰。有一人長不吃飯不道饑。有一人終日吃飯不道飽。眾無對。雲巖問。和尚每日區區為阿誰。師曰。有一人要。巖曰。因甚麼不教伊自作。師曰。他無家活。問。如何是大乘頓悟法要。師曰。汝等先歇諸緣。休息萬事。善與不善。世出世間。一切諸法。莫記憶。莫緣念。放捨身心。令其自在。心如木石。無所辨別。心無所行。心地若空。慧日自現。如雲開日出相似。但歇一切攀緣。貪嗔愛取。垢淨情盡。對五欲八風不動。不被見聞覺知所縛。不被諸境所惑。自然具足神通妙用。是解脫人。對一切境。心無靜亂。不攝不散。透過一切聲色。無有滯礙。名為道人。善惡是非俱不運用。亦不愛一法。亦不捨一法。名為大乘人。不被一切善惡．空有．垢淨．有為無為．世出世間．福德智慧之所拘繫。名為佛慧。是非好醜．是理非理。諸知見情盡。不能繫縛。處處自在。名為初發心菩薩。便登佛地。問。對一切境。如何得心如木石去。師曰。一切諸法。本不自言空。不自言色。亦不言是非垢淨。亦無心繫縛人。

The Master said, 'Sitting alone on the great Xiong Peak.' The monk bowed. The Master hit him. Ascending the hall: 'The numinous light shines alone, utterly free of faculties and objects. Its substance is revealed as the true and constant, not bound by words. The mind-nature is undefiled and complete from the start. Just leave false conditions behind, and you are the Buddha of suchness.' Someone asked, 'What is the Buddha?' The Master said, 'Who are you?' He said, 'So-and-so.' The Master said, 'Do you know so-and-so?' He said, 'Clearly.' The Master then raised the fly whisk and said, 'Do you see it?' He said, 'I see.' The Master said nothing. Once, when the community was hoeing the ground together, a monk suddenly heard the drum, and raising his hoe he laughed and went back. The Master said, 'How splendid! This is Avalokitesvara's gate of entering principle.' When the Master returned to the monastery he called that monk and asked, 'What principle did you see just now, that you behaved like that?' He said, 'I was hungry just now, heard the drum, and went back to eat.' The Master laughed. Someone asked, 'Explaining the meaning according to the sutras wrongs the Buddhas of the three ages, and departing one word from the sutras is the same as the devil's speech — how is that?' The Master said, 'Clinging firmly to motion and stillness wrongs the Buddhas of the three ages. Seeking anything else besides this is the same as the devil's speech.' Because a monk asked Xitang, 'Question and answer we may set aside; what about when there is no question and no answer?' Xitang said, 'I fear it will rot.' When the Master heard this reported he said, 'I have always doubted this old brother.' The monk said, 'Please, Reverend, speak.' The Master said, 'The mark of unity is unattainable.' The Master said to the assembly, 'There is one man who does not eat for a long time and does not say he is hungry; there is one man who eats all day and does not say he is full.' The assembly had no reply. Yunya asked, 'For whom does the Reverend toil every day?' The Master said, 'There is one who wants it.' Yunya said, 'Why not let him do it himself?' The Master said, 'He has no household goods.' Someone asked, 'What is the essential point of the sudden enlightenment of the Great Vehicle?' The Master said, 'First rest from all conditions and put all affairs to rest. Good and evil, worldly and beyond the world, all dharmas: do not remember them, do not think on them. Let go of body and mind and let them be free. Let the mind be like wood or stone, making no distinctions. When the mind has nowhere to go and the ground of the mind is empty, the sun of wisdom appears of itself, like clouds opening and the sun coming out. Just rest from all clinging: greed, anger, love and grasping, defilement and purity — let all feeling end. Unmoved by the five desires and the eight winds, not bound by seeing, hearing, knowing and perceiving, not deluded by any object, you naturally complete the wonderful functioning of spiritual powers: such a one is a liberated person. Toward all objects the mind is neither still nor disturbed, neither gathered nor scattered; penetrating all sounds and forms with no obstruction — such a one is called a man of the Way. Good and evil, right and wrong are not employed; he loves no single dharma and rejects no single dharma — such a one is called a man of the Great Vehicle. Not bound by all good and evil, emptiness and existence, defilement and purity, conditioned and unconditioned, worldly and beyond the world, merit and wisdom — this is called Buddha wisdom. When all knowing and views, right and wrong, fair and foul, reason and non-reason are exhausted and can no longer bind him, and he is free in every place — such a one is called a bodhisattva of the first resolve, and he straightaway ascends the ground of the Buddha.' Someone asked, 'Toward all objects, how can the mind become like wood and stone?' The Master said, 'All dharmas of themselves do not say they are empty, do not say they are form, and do not speak of right and wrong, defilement and purity; they also have no mind to bind anyone.

但人自虗妄計著。作若干種解會。起若干種知見。生若干種愛畏。但了諸法不自生。皆從自己一念。妄想顛倒。取相而有知。心與境本不相到。當處解脫。一一諸法當處寂滅。當處道場。又本有之性不可名目。本來不是凡不是聖。不是垢淨。亦非空有。亦非善惡。與諸染法相應。名人天二乘界。若垢淨心盡。不住繫縛。不住解脫。無一切有為無為縛脫心量處。於生死其心自在。畢竟不與諸妄虗幻．塵勞蘊界．生死諸入和合。逈然無寄。一切不拘。去留無礙。往來生死。如門開相似。夫學道人。若遇種種苦樂。稱意不稱意事。心無退屈。不念名聞利養衣食。不貪功德利益。不為世間諸法之所滯礙。無親無愛。苦樂平懷。麤衣遮寒。糲食活命。兀兀如愚如聾。稍有相應分。若於心中廣學知解。求福求智。皆是生死。於理無益。卻被知解境風之所漂溺。還歸生死海裡。佛是無求人。求之即乖。理是無求理。求之即失。若著無求。復同於有求。若著無為。復同於有為。故經云。不取於法。不取非法。不取非非法。又云。如來所得法。此法無實無虗。若能一生心如木石相似。不被陰界五欲八風之所漂溺。即生死因斷。去住自由。不為一切有為因果所縛。不被有漏所拘。他時還以無因縛為因。同事利益。以無著心應一切物。以無礙慧解一切縛。亦云應病與藥。問。如今受戒。身口清淨。已具諸善。得解脫否。師曰。少分解脫。未得心解脫。亦未得一切處解脫。曰。如何是心解脫及一切處解脫。師曰。不求佛法僧。乃至不求福智知解等。垢淨情盡。亦不守此無求為是。亦不住盡處。亦不欣天堂．畏地獄。縛脫無礙。即身心及一切處皆名解脫。汝莫言有少分戒。身口意淨。便以為了。不知河沙戒定慧門．無漏解脫。都未涉一毫在。努力向前。須猛究取。莫待耳聾眼暗。面皺髮白。老苦及身。悲愛纏綿。眼中流淚。心裡慞惶。

'It is only people who vainly reckon and cling, forming various interpretations, raising various views, giving rise to various loves and fears. Just understand that no dharma arises of itself; all arise from one's own single thought of deluded imagining and inversion, and knowing comes about by grasping at marks. Mind and object do not originally reach each other; one is liberated right where one stands. Each dharma is quiescent right where it stands, is a place of practice right where it stands. Moreover the originally existing nature cannot be named. Originally it is neither ordinary nor sage, neither defiled nor pure, neither empty nor existent, neither good nor evil. According with defiled dharmas, one is said to be in the realms of gods and humans and of the two vehicles. If the mind of defilement and purity is exhausted, one neither dwells in bondage nor dwells in liberation, and where there is no measure of a mind bound or freed by any conditioned or unconditioned thing, the mind is free in birth and death, and in the end does not join with any false illusion, any dust of toil, any aggregate or realm, any sense field of birth and death; utterly without support, bound by nothing, unobstructed in going and staying, coming and going through birth and death as if through an open door. Now, a student of the Way, when he meets all kinds of pain and pleasure, agreeable and disagreeable things, does not bend in his mind; he does not think of fame or gain, of clothing and food, does not covet merit and benefit, is not blocked by any worldly dharma; without kin and without love, he regards pain and pleasure with an even mind. Coarse clothes keep off the cold, poor food keeps him alive; dull and dumb as a fool, as if deaf — then he has a little something that accords. If in the mind one widely studies knowledge and interpretation, seeking blessing and seeking wisdom, all this is birth and death, of no benefit to principle; instead one is drowned by the wind of objects of knowing and interpreting, and returns to the sea of birth and death. The Buddha is a man of no seeking; to seek him is to turn away. Principle is a principle of no seeking; to seek it is to lose it. If one clings to non-seeking, one is again the same as seeking. If one clings to non-action, one is again the same as action. Therefore the sutra says: do not grasp dharmas, do not grasp non-dharmas, do not grasp neither-dharmas-nor-non-dharmas. It also says: the dharma obtained by the Tathagata — this dharma is neither real nor unreal. If for a whole lifetime the mind can be like wood and stone, not drowned by the aggregates, the elements, the five desires and the eight winds, then the cause of birth and death is cut off, and one is free to go or stay, not bound by any conditioned cause and effect, not confined by outflows. In time, with no-cause-bondage as his cause, he works for the benefit of others; with a mind of no attachment he responds to all things, with unobstructed wisdom he unties all bonds, and he is also said to prescribe medicine according to the illness.' Someone asked, 'If one now receives the precepts and is pure in body and mouth, having already completed all good, does one attain liberation?' The Master said, 'One is partly liberated, but has not attained liberation of mind, nor liberation in every place.' Someone asked, 'What is liberation of mind and liberation in every place?' The Master said, 'Not seeking Buddha, Dharma or Sangha, and not seeking blessing, wisdom, knowledge or understanding, and so on. When the feelings of defilement and purity are exhausted, one does not hold even this non-seeking as right, does not dwell in the place of exhaustion, does not delight in heaven nor fear hell. Bondage and liberation are no obstruction, and then body and mind and every place are all called liberation. Do not say that with a small portion of precepts, with purity of body, mouth and mind, you are done. You do not know that the sands of the Ganges of precepts, concentration and wisdom, and the liberation without outflows, have not been touched by a single hair. Strive forward and investigate vigorously. Do not wait until your ears are deaf and your eyes dim, your face wrinkled and your hair white, when the suffering of old age comes upon you and sorrow and love entangle you, tears in your eyes and panic in your heart.

一無所據。不知去處。到恁麼時節。整理腳手不得也。縱有福智．名聞．利養。都不相救。為心眼未開。唯念諸境。不知返照。復不見佛道。一生所有善惡業緣。悉現於前。或忻或怖。六道五蘊。俱時現前。盡敷嚴好舍宅。舟船車轝。光明顯赫。皆從自心貪愛所現。一切惡境。皆變成殊勝之境。但隨貪愛重處。業識所引。隨著受生。都無自由分。龍畜良賤。亦總未定。問。如何得自由分。師曰。如今得即得。或對五欲八風。情無取捨。慳嫉貪愛。我所情盡。垢淨俱亡。如日月在空。不緣而照。心心如木石。念念如救頭。然亦如香象渡河。截流而過。更無疑滯。此人天堂地獄所不能攝也。夫讀經看教。語言皆須宛轉歸就自己。但是一切言教。祇明如今鑒覺自性。但不被一切有無諸境轉。是汝導師。能照破一切有無諸境。是金剛慧。即有自由獨立分。若不能恁麼會得。縱然誦得十二韋陀典。祇成憎上慢。卻是謗佛。不是修行。但離一切聲色。亦不住於離。亦不住於知解。是修行讀經看教。若準世間是好事。若向明理人邊數。此是壅塞人。十地之人脫不去。流入生死河。但是三乘教。皆治貪瞋等病。祇如今念念若有貪瞋等病。先須治之。不用求覔義句知解。知解屬貪。貪變成病。祇如今但離一切有無諸法。亦離於離。透過三句外。自然與佛無差。既自是佛。何慮佛不解語。秖恐不是佛。被有無諸法縛。不得自由。以理未立。先有福智。被福智載去。如賤使貴。不如先立理。後有福智。若要福智。臨時作得。撮土成金。撮金為土。變海水為酥酪。破須彌為微塵。攝四大海水入一毛孔。於一義作無量義。於無量義作一義。伏惟珍重。師有時說法竟。大眾下堂。乃召之。大眾回首。師曰。是甚麼(藥山目之為百丈下堂句)。師兒時隨母入寺拜佛。指佛像問母。此是何物。母曰。是佛。師曰。形容似人無異。

'With nothing to rely on, you will not know where to go. When that time comes, you cannot arrange your hands and feet. Even if you have blessing, wisdom, fame and gain, none of it will save you. Because the mind's eye is not open, you only think of objects, do not turn the light back, and do not see the Buddha Way. All the good and evil karmic conditions of a lifetime appear before you. You may rejoice or be terrified. The six paths and the five aggregates all appear at once. Luxurious dwellings spread out, boats, carts and carriages, bright and splendid — all appear from your own mind's greed and love. All evil objects turn into excellent objects. Following wherever greed and love are heaviest, drawn along by karmic consciousness, you receive birth accordingly, with no share of freedom at all. Whether you become a dragon or a beast, noble or base, is not settled either.' Someone asked, 'How can one gain a share of freedom?' The Master said, 'Now you can have it at once. Toward the five desires and the eight winds, let feeling have no grasping and no rejecting. Stinginess, envy, greed and love, the feeling of self — let them all end. Defilement and purity both perish. Like the sun and moon in the sky, shining without any condition. Mind after mind like wood and stone, thought after thought as though your head were on fire. And yet also like the fragrant elephant crossing the river, cutting through the stream and passing over, with no further doubt or hindrance. Such a person heaven and hell cannot contain. Now, when reading sutras and studying the teachings, all words must be turned back and applied to yourself. All verbal teachings only clarify the self-nature that is your present awareness. If you are not turned by any object of existence or non-existence, that is your guiding teacher. To be able to shine through and break all objects of existence and non-existence is vajra wisdom. Then you have a share of freedom and independence. If you cannot understand it in this way, then even if you can recite the twelve Vedas, you only achieve an increase of pride, and it is slander of the Buddha, not practice. Simply be free of all sounds and forms, and do not dwell in that freedom either, and do not dwell in knowledge and interpretation: this is to practice the reading of sutras and the study of teachings. Judged by worldly standards it is a good thing. But counted among people who understand principle, such a one blocks himself up. Even people of the ten grounds cannot escape this, and flow into the river of birth and death. All the teachings of the three vehicles only cure the sicknesses of greed, anger and the like. If right now, thought after thought, you have the sicknesses of greed, anger and so on, you must cure them first. You need not seek for phrases of meaning and interpretation. Interpretation belongs to greed, and greed turns into sickness. Simply be free of all dharmas of existence and non-existence, and be free of that freedom too. Penetrating beyond the three phrases, you are naturally no different from the Buddha. Since you are yourself the Buddha, why worry that the Buddha will not understand your words? I only fear you are not the Buddha, bound by the dharmas of existence and non-existence and not free. Because principle is not established, you first have blessing and wisdom, and are carried off by blessing and wisdom, like a servant riding on a noble. It is better first to establish principle, and afterwards to have blessing and wisdom. If you want blessing and wisdom, you can make them as the occasion arises. Gather earth and it becomes gold, gather gold and it becomes earth. Change the water of the sea into cream. Break Mount Sumeru into dust. Draw the water of the four great seas into a single pore. From one meaning make immeasurable meanings, and from immeasurable meanings make one meaning. Take good care of yourselves.' Sometimes when the Master had finished preaching and the assembly was leaving the hall, he would call out. The assembly would turn their heads. The Master said, 'What is it?' (Yaoshan regarded this as Baizhang's saying at the end of the hall.) As a child the Master once went with his mother into a temple to worship the Buddha, and pointing at the Buddha image he asked his mother, 'What is this?' His mother said, 'It is the Buddha.' The Master said, 'Its appearance is no different from a man's.

我後亦當作焉。師凡作務執勞。必先於眾。主者不忍。密收作具而請息之。師曰。吾無德。爭合勞於人。既徧求作具不獲。而亦忘飡。故有一日不作。一日不食之語流播寰宇矣。唐元和九年正月十七日歸寂。諡大智禪師。塔曰大寶勝輪。

'I too shall do so afterwards.' Whenever the Master did work or manual labor, he always went before the assembly. The manager could not bear it, and secretly hid the tools and asked him to rest. The Master said, 'I have no virtue; how could I let others labor?' When he had searched everywhere and could not find the tools, he also forgot to eat. And so the saying spread throughout the world that on a day without work, one does not eat. He passed into quiescence on the seventeenth day of the first month of the ninth year of Yuanhe in the Tang. His posthumous title was Great Wisdom Chan Master. His stupa was called Great Treasure Victorious Wheel.

池州南泉普願禪師者

Chan Master Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou,

鄭州新鄭人也。姓王氏。幼慕空宗。唐至德二年依大隗山大慧禪師受業。詣嵩嶽受具足戒。初習相部舊章。究毗尼篇聚。次遊諸講肆。歷聽楞伽．華嚴。入中百門觀。精練玄義。後扣大寂之室。頓然忘筌。得遊戲三昧。一日。為眾僧行粥次。馬祖問。桶裡是甚麼。師曰。這老漢合取口作恁麼語話。祖便休。自餘。同參之流無敢詰問。貞元十一年憩錫於池陽。自建禪齋。不下南泉三十餘載。大和初。宣城廉使陸公亙嚮師道風。遂與監軍同請下山。伸弟子之禮。大振玄綱。自此學徒不下數百。言滿諸方。目為郢匠。上堂。然燈佛道了也。若心相所思。出生諸法。虗假不實。何以故。心尚無有。云何出生諸法。猶如形影。分別虗空。如人取聲。安置篋中。亦如吹網。欲令氣滿。故老宿雲。不是心。不是佛。不是物。且教你兄弟行履。據說十地菩薩住首楞嚴三昧。得諸佛秘密法藏。自然得一切禪定解脫神通妙用。至一切世界。普現色身。或示現成等正覺。轉大法輪。入涅槃。使無量入毛孔。演一句經無量劫。其義不盡。教化無量億千眾生得無生法忍。尚喚作所知愚．極微細所知愚。與道全乖。大難。大難。珍重。上堂曰。王老師自小養一頭水牯牛。擬向溪東牧。不免食他國王水草。擬向溪西牧。亦不免食他國王水草。不如隨分納些些。總不見得。師問僧曰。夜來好風。曰。夜來好風。師曰。吹折門前一枝松。曰。吹折門前一枝松。次問一僧曰。夜來好風。曰。是甚麼風。師曰。吹折門前一枝松。曰。是甚麼松。師曰。一得一失。師有書與茱萸曰。理隨事變。寬廓非外。事得理融。寂寥非內。僧達書了。便問萸。如何是寬廓非外。萸曰。問一答百也無妨。曰。如何是寂寥非內。萸曰。覩對聲色。不是好手。僧又問長沙。沙瞪目視之。僧又進後語。沙乃閉目示之。僧又問趙州。州作吃飯勢。僧又進後語。

was a man of Xinzheng in Zhengzhou. His family name was Wang. In his youth he admired the school of emptiness. In the second year of Zhide of the Tang he studied under Chan Master Dahui of Mount Dakui, and went to Mount Song to receive the full precepts. At first he studied the old texts of the Xiangbu school and mastered the sections and divisions of the Vinaya. Then he wandered through the lecture halls, hearing in turn the Lankavatara and the Avatamsaka, and entered the contemplation of the Middle Way and the Hundred Dharmas, refining its profound meaning. Later he knocked at the door of Great Silence and suddenly forgot the trap; he attained the samadhi of play. One day, when he was serving gruel to the monks, Mazu asked, 'What is in the bucket?' The Master said, 'This old man should shut his mouth and not talk like that.' The Ancestor then stopped. After that no one among his fellow students dared question him. In the eleventh year of Zhenyuan he rested his staff in Chiyang, built his own Chan retreat, and did not leave Nanquan for more than thirty years. In the early Taihe era, the revenue officer Lu Gen of Xuancheng admired the Master's manner of the Way, and together with the army supervisor invited him down from the mountain, and extended to him the courtesy of a disciple. He greatly spread the net of the mystery. From then on his students numbered no fewer than several hundred. His words filled all quarters, and he was regarded as a master craftsman of Ying. Ascending the hall: 'Dipankara Buddha has finished the Way. If the mind thinks and ponders, it gives birth to all dharmas, which are false and unreal. Why? The mind itself does not exist, so how can it give birth to all dharmas? It is like a shape and its shadow distinguishing empty space. It is like a man taking a sound and putting it in a box. It is also like blowing into a net and wanting to fill it with air. Therefore the old masters said: it is not mind, not Buddha, not a thing. For now I just teach you brothers how to walk. It is said that a bodhisattva of the ten grounds dwells in the surangama samadhi and obtains the secret dharma store of all Buddhas, and naturally obtains all Chan concentration, liberation, spiritual powers and wonderful functioning. He reaches all worlds and universally manifests a body of form. Or he manifests attaining perfect enlightenment, turning the great dharma wheel, and entering nirvana. He causes immeasurable beings to enter a single pore, and expounds one sentence through immeasurable kalpas whose meaning is never exhausted. He teaches and transforms immeasurable billions of living beings to attain the acceptance of non-arising of dharmas. And yet this is still called the ignorance of what is known, the most subtle ignorance of what is known. It is wholly at odds with the Way. Very difficult, very difficult. Take care.' Ascending the hall he said, 'Old Master Wang has raised a water buffalo since he was small. If he means to pasture it east of the stream, he cannot avoid eating the king's water and grass. If he means to pasture it west of the stream, he also cannot avoid eating the king's water and grass. Better to take a little wherever one happens to be — then after all it cannot be seen.' The Master asked a monk, 'The wind was good last night.' He said, 'The wind was good last night.' The Master said, 'It blew down a pine branch in front of the gate.' He said, 'It blew down a pine branch in front of the gate.' Then he asked another monk, 'The wind was good last night.' He said, 'What wind?' The Master said, 'It blew down a pine branch in front of the gate.' He said, 'What pine?' The Master said, 'One gains, one loses.' The Master had a letter sent to Zhuyu, saying, 'Principle follows the changes of things, and its broad expanse is not outside. Things attain the fusion of principle, and its stillness is not inside.' When the monk had delivered the letter, he asked Zhuyu, 'What is it that broad expanse is not outside?' Zhuyu said, 'One question, a hundred answers — no harm.' He asked, 'What is it that stillness is not inside?' Zhuyu said, 'Face to face with sounds and forms, he is no skilled hand.' The monk also asked Changsha. Changsha glared at him. The monk pressed the next phrase. Changsha then closed his eyes to show him. The monk also asked Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou made the gesture of eating. The monk pressed the next phrase again.

州以手作拭口勢。後僧舉似師。師曰。此三人。不謬為吾弟子。南泉山下有一庵主。人謂曰。近日南泉和尚出世。何不去禮見。主曰。非但南泉出世。直饒千佛出興。我亦不去。師聞。乃令趙州去勘。州去便設拜。主不顧。州從西過東。又從東過西。主亦不顧。州曰。草賊大敗。遂拽下簾子。便歸舉似師。師曰。我從來疑著這漢。次日。師與沙彌擕茶一瓶．盞三隻。到庵擲向地上。乃曰。昨日底。昨日底。主曰。昨日底是甚麼。師於沙彌背上拍一下曰。賺我來。賺我來。拂袖便回。上堂。道箇如如早是變了也。今時師僧須向異類中行。歸宗曰。雖行畜生行。不得畜生報。師曰。孟八郎漢又恁麼去也。上堂。文殊．普賢昨夜三更相打。每人與二十棒。趁出院去也。趙州曰。和尚棒教誰吃。師曰。且道王老師過在甚處。州禮拜而出。師因至莊所。莊主預備迎奉。師曰。老僧居常出入。不與人知。何得排辦如此。莊主曰。昨夜土地報道。和尚今日來。師曰。王老師修行無力。被鬼神覷見。侍者便問。和尚既是善知識。為甚麼被鬼神覷見。師曰。土地前更下一分飯。(玄覺雲。甚麼處是土地前更下一分飯。雲居錫雲。是賞伊罰伊。只如土地前見。是南泉不是南泉)。師有時曰。江西馬祖說即心即佛。王老師不恁麼道。不是心。不是佛。不是物。恁麼道還有過麼。趙州禮拜而出。時有一僧隨問趙州曰。上座禮拜便出。意作麼生。州曰。汝卻問取和尚。僧乃問。適來諗上座意作麼生。師曰。他卻領得老僧意旨。黃檗與師為首座。一日。捧缽向師位上坐。師入堂見。乃問曰。長老甚麼年中行道。檗曰。威音王已前。師曰。猶是王老師兒孫在。下去。檗便過第二位坐。師便休。師一日問黃檗。黃金為世界。白銀為壁落。此是甚麼人居處。檗曰。是聖人居處。師曰。更有一人居何國土。檗乃叉手立。師曰。道不得。

Zhaozhou made the gesture of wiping his mouth with his hand. Later the monk reported this to the Master. The Master said, 'These three men do not falsely count as my disciples.' Below Nanquan's mountain there was a hermit. People said, 'Recently the Reverend Nanquan has appeared in the world; why do you not go and pay your respects?' The hermit said, 'Not only has Nanquan appeared in the world — even if a thousand Buddhas appeared, I would not go.' When the Master heard this he sent Zhaozhou to test him. Zhaozhou went and made a bow. The hermit paid no attention. Zhaozhou went from west to east, and from east to west. The hermit still paid no attention. Zhaozhou said, 'The straw bandit is badly beaten.' He then pulled down the blind and went back and reported this to the Master. The Master said, 'I have always doubted this fellow.' The next day the Master and a novice carried a bottle of tea and three cups to the hermitage, threw them on the ground, and said, 'Yesterday's, yesterday's.' The hermit said, 'What is yesterday's?' The Master slapped the novice on the back and said, 'You have tricked me, you have tricked me.' He flicked his sleeves and went back. Ascending the hall: 'To speak of suchness is already to have changed it. These days a teacher-monk must walk among the different kinds.' Guizong said, 'Though he practices the conduct of a beast, he does not receive a beast's retribution.' The Master said, 'Meng the Eighth Boy goes off like that again.' Ascending the hall: 'Manjushri and Samantabhadra were fighting at the third watch last night. I gave each of them twenty blows and drove them out of the monastery.' Zhaozhou said, 'Who will eat the Reverend's blows?' The Master said, 'Just say where Old Master Wang is at fault.' Zhaozhou bowed and went out. Once the Master came to a farmstead. The farm manager had prepared to welcome him. The Master said, 'When this old monk comes and goes ordinarily, he does not let people know. Why have you made such preparations?' The farm manager said, 'Last night the local earth spirit reported that the Reverend would come today.' The Master said, 'Old Master Wang's practice has no power; he is spied on by ghosts and spirits.' The attendant then asked, 'Since the Reverend is a good friend, why is he spied on by ghosts and spirits?' The Master said, 'Set another portion of rice before the earth spirit.' (Xuanjue said, 'Where is it that one sets another portion of rice before the earth spirit?' Yunju Xi said, 'It is rewarding him and punishing him. Just as for the earth spirit to see him — is that Nanquan or is it not Nanquan?') Sometimes the Master said, 'Mazu of Jiangxi said that mind itself is Buddha. Old Master Wang does not say so. It is not mind, not Buddha, not a thing. Does saying so have any fault?' Zhaozhou bowed and went out. At that time a monk followed and asked Zhaozhou, 'The elder bowed and went out — what was his meaning?' Zhaozhou said, 'You should ask the Reverend.' The monk then asked, 'Just now what was the elder Shen's meaning?' The Master said, 'He has got this old monk's meaning.' Huangbo and the Master were the head seat. One day Huangbo carried his bowl and sat down in the Master's place. When the Master came into the hall and saw him, he asked, 'In what year did the Elder begin to walk the Way?' Huangbo said, 'Before King Awesome Sound.' The Master said, 'Still you are Old Master Wang's descendant. Go down.' Huangbo then moved to the second seat. The Master let it be. One day the Master asked Huangbo, 'Gold for the world, silver for the walls — whose dwelling place is this?' Huangbo said, 'It is the dwelling place of a sage.' The Master said, 'And where does one more man live?' Huangbo then stood with folded hands. The Master said, 'You cannot say it.

何不問王老師。檗卻問。更有一人居何國土。師曰。可惜許。師問黃檗。定慧等學。明見佛性。此理如何。檗曰。十二時中不依倚一物。師曰。莫是長老見處麼。檗曰。不敢。師曰。漿水錢且置。草鞋錢教阿誰還。師見僧斫木次。師乃擊木三下。僧放下斧子。歸僧堂。師歸法堂。良久卻入僧堂。見僧在衣缽下坐。師曰。賺殺人。問。師歸丈室。將何指南。師曰。昨夜三更失卻牛。天明起來失卻火。師因東西兩堂爭貓兒。師遇之。白眾曰。道得即救取貓兒。道不得即斬卻也。眾無對。師便斬之。趙州自外歸。師舉前語示之。州乃脫履安頭上而出。師曰。子若在。即救得貓兒也。師在方丈。與杉山向火次。師曰。不用指東指西。直下本分事道來。山插火箸叉手。師曰。雖然如是。猶較王老師一線道。有僧問訊。叉手而立。師曰。太俗生。其僧便合掌。師曰。太僧生。僧無對。一僧洗缽次。師乃奪卻缽。其僧空手而立。師曰。缽在我手裡。汝口喃喃作麼。僧無對。師因入菜園。見一僧。師乃將瓦子打之。其僧回顧。師乃翹足。僧無語。師便歸方丈。僧隨後入。問訊曰。和尚適來擲瓦子打某甲。豈不是警覺某甲。師曰。翹足又作麼生。僧無對(後有僧問石霜雲。南泉翹足。意作麼生。霜舉手雲。還恁麼無)。上堂。王老師賣身去也。還有人買麼。一僧出曰。某甲買。師曰。不作貴。不作賤。汝作麼生買。僧無對(臥龍代雲。屬某甲去也。禾山代雲。是何道理。趙州代雲。明年與和尚縫一領布衫)。師與歸宗．麻谷同去參禮南陽國師。師於路上畫一圓相曰。道得即去。宗便於圓相中坐。谷作女人拜。師曰。恁麼則不去也。宗曰。是甚麼心行。師乃相喚便回。更不去禮國師(玄覺雲。只如南泉恁麼道。是肯語是不肯語。雲居錫雲。比來去禮拜國師。南泉為甚麼卻相喚回。且道古人意作麼生)。師在山上作務。僧問。

'Why do you not ask Old Master Wang?' Huangbo then asked, 'And where does one more man live?' The Master said, 'What a pity.' The Master asked Huangbo, 'Concentration and wisdom studied equally, and clearly seeing the Buddha-nature — what principle is this?' Huangbo said, 'Throughout the twelve hours not leaning on a single thing.' The Master said, 'Is this not the Elder's view?' Huangbo said, 'I dare not say so.' The Master said, 'Set aside the money for the broth. Who will pay the money for the straw sandals?' Once, when the Master saw a monk chopping wood, he struck the wood three times. The monk put down the axe and went back to the monks' hall. The Master went back to the Dharma hall. After a while he went into the monks' hall and saw the monk sitting under his robe and bowl. The Master said, 'You have tricked me to death.' Someone asked, 'When the Master returns to his quarters, what guidance does he give?' The Master said, 'At the third watch last night I lost the ox; at dawn I got up and lost the fire.' Once, when the east and west halls were quarreling over a cat, the Master came upon them and said to the assembly, 'If you can say a word, I will save the cat; if you cannot, I will kill it.' The assembly had no reply. The Master then killed it. Zhaozhou came back from outside. The Master brought up the earlier words and showed them to him. Zhaozhou then took off his shoes, put them on his head, and went out. The Master said, 'If you had been here, the cat would have been saved.' Once, when the Master was in his quarters warming himself at the fire with Shanshan, he said, 'Do not point east or west; speak directly of your own original matter.' Shanshan stuck the fire tongs in and folded his hands. The Master said, 'Even so, you are still one line short of Old Master Wang.' A monk came to pay his respects and stood with folded hands. The Master said, 'Too much a layman.' The monk then joined his palms. The Master said, 'Too much a monk.' The monk had no reply. Once, when a monk was washing his bowl, the Master snatched the bowl away. The monk stood there empty-handed. The Master said, 'The bowl is in my hand — what are you muttering about?' The monk had no reply. Once the Master went into the vegetable garden and saw a monk. The Master threw a tile at him. The monk turned his head. The Master then lifted his foot. The monk said nothing. The Master went back to his quarters. The monk followed and, after paying his respects, said, 'Just now the Reverend threw a tile at me — was it not to wake me up?' The Master said, 'And what about my lifting my foot?' The monk had no reply. (Later a monk asked Shishuang, 'What was Nanquan's meaning in lifting his foot?' Shishuang raised his hand and said, 'Is it like this or not?') Ascending the hall: 'Old Master Wang is going to sell himself. Is there anyone who will buy?' A monk came forward and said, 'I will buy.' The Master said, 'I will not be priced high, and I will not be priced low. How will you buy?' The monk had no reply. (Wolong said on his behalf, 'He belongs to me now.' Heshan said on his behalf, 'What principle is this?' Zhaozhou said on his behalf, 'Next year I will sew a cloth robe for the Reverend.') The Master went with Guizong and Magu to pay respects to National Teacher Nanyang. On the road the Master drew a circle and said, 'If you can speak, we go.' Guizong then sat down inside the circle. Magu made a woman's bow. The Master said, 'If so, then we do not go.' Guizong said, 'What kind of mind is this?' The Master then called to them and they went back, and did not go to pay respects to the National Teacher. (Xuanjue said, 'Just as Nanquan spoke thus, was it a word of consent or a word of refusal?' Yunju Xi said, 'They had come to bow to the National Teacher — why did Nanquan call them back? Just say what the ancients meant.') Once the Master was working on the mountain. A monk asked,

南泉路向甚麼處去。師拈起鎌子曰。我這茆鎌子。三十錢買得。曰。不問茆鎌子。南泉路向甚麼處去。師曰。我使得正快。有一座主辭師。師問。甚麼處去。對曰。山下去。師曰。第一不得謗王老師。對曰。爭敢謗和尚。師乃噴嚏曰。多少。主便出去(雲居膺雲。非師本意。先曹山雲。賴也。石霜雲。不為人斟酌。長慶雲。請領話。雲居錫雲。座主當時出去。是會不會)。師一日掩方丈門。將灰圍卻門外。曰。若有人道得。即開。或有祇對。多未愜師意。趙州曰。蒼天。師便開門。師翫月次。僧問。幾時得似這箇去。師曰。王老師二十年前。亦恁麼來。曰。即今作麼生。師便歸方丈。陸亙大夫問。弟子從六合來。彼中還更有身否。師曰。分明記取。舉似作家。曰。和尚不可思議。到處世界成就。師曰。適來總是大夫分上事。陸異日謂師曰。弟子亦薄會佛法。師便問。大夫十二時中作麼生。曰。寸絲不掛。師曰。猶是堦下漢。師又曰。不見道。有道君王不納有智之臣。上堂次。陸大夫曰。請和尚為眾說法。師曰。教老僧作麼生說。曰。和尚豈無方便。師曰。道他欠少甚麼。曰。為甚麼有六道四生。師曰。老僧不教他。陸大夫與師見人雙陸。指骰子曰。恁麼．不恁麼．正恁麼。信彩去時如何。師拈起骰子曰。臭骨頭十八。又問。弟子家中有一片石。或時坐。或時臥。如今擬鐫作佛。還得否。師曰。得。陸曰。莫不得否。師曰。不得(雲巖雲。坐即佛。不坐即非佛。洞山雲。不坐即佛。坐即非佛)。趙州問。道非物外。物外非道。如何是物外道。師便打。州捉住棒曰。已後莫錯打人去。師曰。龍蛇易辨。衲子難謾。師喚院主。主應諾。師曰。佛九十日在忉利天為母說法。時優填王思佛。請目連運神通三轉。攝匠人往彼彫佛像。秖雕得三十一相。為甚麼梵音相雕不得。主問。如何是梵音相。師曰。賺殺人。

'Where does the road to Nanquan go?' The Master picked up his sickle and said, 'This straw sickle of mine cost thirty coins.' The monk said, 'I did not ask about the straw sickle. Where does the road to Nanquan go?' The Master said, 'I am using it just now, and it is sharp.' There was a lecturer who took leave of the Master. The Master asked, 'Where are you going?' He replied, 'Down the mountain.' The Master said, 'First of all, you must not slander Old Master Wang.' He replied, 'How would I dare slander the Reverend?' The Master then sneezed and said, 'How much?' The lecturer went out. (Yunju Ying said, 'This was not the Master's original meaning.' The late Caoshan said, 'How fortunate.' Shishuang said, 'He does not weigh things for people.' Changqing said, 'Please accept the words.' Yunju Xi said, 'When the lecturer went out then, did he understand or not?') One day the Master shut the door of his quarters, drew a circle of ash outside the door, and said, 'If anyone can speak, I will open it.' Some made replies, but most did not satisfy the Master's mind. Zhaozhou said, 'O heavens!' The Master then opened the door. Once, when the Master was enjoying the moon, a monk asked, 'When will I be able to be like that?' The Master said, 'Twenty years ago Old Master Wang was also like this.' The monk asked, 'And now, how is it?' The Master then went back to his quarters. The official Lu Gen asked, 'Your disciple has come from the six directions. Is there still a body in that place?' The Master said, 'Remember it clearly, and report it to an adept.' He said, 'The Reverend is inconceivable; wherever he goes, a world is accomplished.' The Master said, 'Just now it was all the official's own affair.' Another day Lu said to the Master, 'Your disciple also has a shallow understanding of the Buddha Dharma.' The Master then asked, 'How is the official throughout the twelve hours?' He said, 'Not a thread hanging.' The Master said, 'Still you are a man below the steps.' The Master also said, 'Have you not heard it said that a king who has the Way does not take in a minister who has wisdom?' Once when the Master had ascended the hall, the official Lu said, 'Please, Reverend, preach the Dharma for the assembly.' The Master said, 'What do you want this old monk to say?' He said, 'Has the Reverend no skillful means?' The Master said, 'What do you say he lacks?' Someone asked, 'Why are there six paths and four kinds of birth?' The Master said, 'This old monk did not make them.' Once, when the official Lu and the Master saw people playing backgammon, Lu pointed at the dice and said, 'Thus, not thus, just thus. What about trusting to luck and going?' The Master picked up the dice and said, 'Stinking bones, eighteen.' He also asked, 'In your disciple's house there is a piece of stone, on which one sometimes sits and sometimes lies. Now I mean to carve it into a Buddha — may I?' The Master said, 'You may.' Lu said, 'Surely I may not?' The Master said, 'You may not.' (Yunyan said, 'Sitting, it is Buddha; not sitting, it is not Buddha.' Dongshan said, 'Not sitting, it is Buddha; sitting, it is not Buddha.') Zhaozhou asked, 'The Way is not outside things, and outside things there is no Way. What is the Way outside things?' The Master then hit him. Zhaozhou caught hold of the staff and said, 'Hereafter do not strike people wrongly.' The Master said, 'Dragons and snakes are easy to tell apart; a patch-robed monk is hard to fool.' The Master called the prior. The prior answered. The Master said, 'The Buddha spent ninety days in the Trayastrimsa Heaven preaching the Dharma for his mother. At that time King Udayana longed for the Buddha, and asked Maudgalyayana to exercise his spiritual powers three times and bring craftsmen there to carve a Buddha image, but they could only carve thirty-one marks. Why could the mark of the Brahma voice not be carved?' The prior asked, 'What is the mark of the Brahma voice?' The Master said, 'You have tricked me to death.'

師問維那。今日普請作甚麼。對曰。拽磨。師曰。磨從你拽。不得動著磨中心樹子。那無語(保福代雲。比來拽磨。如今卻不成。法眼代雲。恁麼即不拽也)。一日。有大德問師曰。即心是佛又不得。非心非佛又不得。師意如何。師曰。大德且信即心是佛便了。更說甚麼得與不得。祇如大德吃飯了。從東廊上西廊下。不可總問人得與不得也。師住庵時。有一僧到庵。師向伊道。我上山去作務。待齋時作飯自吃了。送一分上來。少時。其僧自作飯吃了。卻一時打破家事就床臥。師待不見來。便歸庵。見僧臥。師亦就伊邊臥。僧便起去。師住後曰。我往前住庵時。有箇靈利道者。直至如今不見。師拈起毬子問僧。那箇何似這箇。對曰。不似。師曰。甚麼處見那箇。便道不似。曰。若問某甲見處。和尚放下手中物。師曰。許你具一隻眼。陸大夫向師道。肇法師也甚奇怪。解道天地與我同根。萬物與我一體。師指庭前牡丹花曰。大夫。時人見此一株花如夢相似。陸罔測。又問。天王居何地位。師曰。若是天王。即非地位。曰。弟子聞說天王是居初地。師曰。應以天王身得度者。即現天王身。而為說法。陸辭歸宣城治所。師問。大夫去彼。將何治民。曰。以智慧治民。師曰。恁麼則彼處生靈盡遭塗炭去也。師入宣州。陸大夫出迎接。指城門曰。人人盡喚作雍門。未審和尚喚作甚麼門。師曰。老僧若道。恐辱大夫風化。曰。忽然賊來時作麼生。師曰。王老師罪過。陸又問。大悲菩薩用許多手眼作甚麼。師曰。秖如國家。又用大夫作甚麼。師洗衣次。僧問。和尚猶有這箇在。師拈起衣曰。爭奈這箇何(玄覺雲。且道是一箇。是兩箇)。師問僧良欽。空劫中還有佛否。對曰。有。師曰。是阿誰。對曰。良欽。師曰。居何國土。欽無語。問。祖祖相傳。合傳何事。師曰。一二三四五。問。如何是古人底。師曰。待有即道。曰。

The Master asked the prior, 'What is the communal work today?' He replied, 'Pulling the mill.' The Master said, 'The mill may be pulled by you, but you must not move the tree at the center of the mill.' The prior said nothing. (Baofu said on his behalf, 'We came to pull the mill, and now it cannot be done.' Fayan said on his behalf, 'If so, then do not pull it.') One day a greatly virtuous monk asked the Master, 'That mind is Buddha does not hold, and neither-mind-nor-Buddha does not hold. What is the Master's meaning?' The Master said, 'Great virtuous one, just believe that mind is Buddha and be done with it; why speak of holding and not holding? Just as when the great virtuous one has eaten, he goes up the east corridor and down the west corridor — surely he cannot keep asking people whether it holds or not.' Once, when the Master was living in a hermitage, a monk came to the hermitage. The Master said to him, 'I am going up the mountain to work. When it is time for the meal, cook the rice and eat it yourself, and send one portion up to me.' After a while the monk cooked the rice and ate it himself, then broke all the household utensils at once and lay down on the bed. The Master waited and saw that he did not come, so he returned to the hermitage. Seeing the monk lying there, the Master lay down beside him too. The monk then got up and left. Afterwards the Master said, 'When I lived in a hermitage before, there was a sharp-witted man of the Way, and to this day I have not seen him again.' The Master picked up a ball and asked a monk, 'How is that one compared with this one?' He replied, 'Not alike.' The Master said, 'Where did you see that one, that you say it is not alike?' He said, 'If you ask where I see it, the Reverend must put down what is in his hand.' The Master said, 'I grant you one eye.' The official Lu said to the Master, 'Master Sengzhao was very strange indeed: he could say that heaven and earth share the same root with me, and all things are one body with me.' The Master pointed at the peony in the courtyard and said, 'Official, people of the time see this one clump of flowers as if in a dream.' Lu could not fathom it. He also asked, 'What is the position of a heavenly king?' The Master said, 'If he is a heavenly king, then it is not a position.' He said, 'Your disciple has heard it said that a heavenly king dwells in the first ground.' The Master said, 'Those who should be saved by the body of a heavenly king are met with the manifestation of the body of a heavenly king and are preached to.' Lu took leave to return to his post at Xuancheng. The Master asked, 'Official, how will you govern the people there?' He said, 'I will govern the people with wisdom.' The Master said, 'If so, then the living beings there will all be plunged into misery.' When the Master entered Xuanzhou, the official Lu came out to welcome him, and pointing at the city gate he said, 'Everyone calls this the Yong Gate. I wonder what the Reverend calls it?' The Master said, 'If this old monk were to say, I fear it would disgrace the official's good name.' He asked, 'If bandits suddenly come, what then?' The Master said, 'Old Master Wang is at fault.' Lu also asked, 'What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?' The Master said, 'Just as the state — what does it use the official for?' Once, when the Master was washing clothes, a monk asked, 'The Reverend still has this?' The Master picked up the robe and said, 'What is to be done about this?' (Xuanjue said, 'Just say, is it one or two?') The Master asked the monk Liangqin, 'In the empty kalpa is there still a Buddha?' He replied, 'There is.' The Master said, 'Who is it?' He replied, 'Liangqin.' The Master said, 'In what land does he dwell?' Liangqin said nothing. Someone asked, 'What is it that has been transmitted from ancestor to ancestor?' The Master said, 'One, two, three, four, five.' Someone asked, 'What is the ancients'?' The Master said, 'When there is, I will say.' He said,

和尚為甚麼妄語。師曰。我不妄語。盧行者卻妄語。問。十二時中以何為境。師曰。何不問王老師。曰。問了也。師曰。還曾與汝為境麼。問。青蓮不隨風火散時是甚麼。師曰。無風火不隨是甚麼。僧無對。師問。不思善。不思惡。思總不生時。還我本來面目來。曰。無容止可露(洞山雲。還曾將示人麼)。師問座主。你與我講經得麼。曰。某甲與和尚講經。和尚須與某甲說禪始得。師曰。不可將金彈子博銀彈子去。曰。某甲不會。師曰。汝道空中一片雲。為復釘釘住。為復藤纜著。問。空中有一珠。如何取得。師曰。斫竹布梯空中取。曰。空中如何布梯。師曰。汝擬作麼生取。僧辭。問曰。學人到諸方。有人問。和尚近日作麼生。未審如何祗對。師曰。但向道近日解相撲。曰。作麼生。師曰。一拍雙泯。問。父母未生時。鼻孔在甚麼處。師曰。父母已生了。鼻孔在甚麼處。師將順世。第一座問。和尚百年後向甚麼處去。師曰。山下作一頭水牯牛去。座曰。某甲隨和尚去還得也無。師曰。汝若隨我。即須銜取一莖草來。師乃示疾。告門人曰。星翳燈幻亦久矣。勿謂吾有去來也。言訖而逝。

'Why does the Reverend speak falsely?' The Master said, 'I do not speak falsely. Lu the traveler speaks falsely.' Someone asked, 'What is the object throughout the twelve hours?' The Master said, 'Why not ask Old Master Wang?' He said, 'I have asked.' The Master said, 'Has it ever been an object for you?' Someone asked, 'What is it when the blue lotus does not scatter with the wind and fire?' The Master said, 'What is it that does not follow when there is no wind and fire?' The monk had no reply. The Master asked, 'When you do not think of good, do not think of evil, and thinking altogether does not arise, return to me my original face.' He said, 'There is no appearance or bearing to be shown.' (Dongshan said, 'Has he ever shown it to anyone?') The Master asked the lecturer, 'Can you expound the sutras for me?' He said, 'If I expound the sutras for the Reverend, the Reverend must expound Chan for me first.' The Master said, 'One cannot trade a gold pellet for a silver pellet.' He said, 'I do not understand.' The Master said, 'You say there is a patch of cloud in the sky — is it nailed there, or is it tied with vines?' Someone asked, 'There is a pearl in the sky; how can one get it?' The Master said, 'Cut bamboo, spread a ladder, and get it from the sky.' He asked, 'How can one spread a ladder in the sky?' The Master said, 'How do you mean to get it?' A monk took his leave and asked, 'When I go to all quarters, if someone asks me how the Reverend has been lately, I do not know how to answer.' The Master said, 'Just tell them that lately he has learned to wrestle.' He asked, 'How is that?' The Master said, 'One clap and both vanish.' Someone asked, 'Before father and mother were born, where were the nostrils?' The Master said, 'Now that father and mother are born, where are the nostrils?' When the Master was about to pass away, the head seat asked, 'A hundred years from now, where will the Reverend go?' The Master said, 'I will go down the mountain and become a water buffalo.' The seat said, 'May I go with the Reverend?' The Master said, 'If you come with me, you must carry a blade of grass in your mouth.' The Master then showed signs of illness, and told his disciples, 'The film on the eye and the lamp's illusion have lasted long. Do not say that I have a coming or going.' Having said this, he passed away.