Foguo Yuanwu Chan Master's Blue Cliff Record, Fascicle Six, End

金佛不渡罏。人來訪紫胡。此一句亦頌了也。為什麼卻引人來訪紫胡。須是作家罏鞴始得。紫胡和向。山門立一牌。牌中有字雲。紫胡有一狗。上取人頭。中取人腰。下取人腳。擬議則喪身失命。凡見新到便喝雲。看狗。僧才回首。紫胡便歸方丈。且道為什麼卻咬趙州不得。紫胡又一夕夜深於後架叫雲。捉賊捉賊。黑地逢著一僧。攔胸捉住雲。捉得也捉得也。僧雲。和尚不是某甲。胡云。是則是。只是不肯承當。爾若會得這話。便許爾。咬殺一切人。處處清風凜凜。若也未然。牌中數箇字。決定不奈何。若要見他。但透得盡方見。頌雲。

"A gold Buddha does not cross a furnace. A man came to visit Zihu." This line of the verse is also finished. Why does he cite a man coming to visit Zihu? One must be a master of the furnace and bellows. Master Zihu set up a sign at his mountain gate, and on the sign were written the words: "Zihu has a dog. Above it takes a man's head, in the middle it takes his waist, below it takes his feet. If you hesitate, you lose body and life." Whenever he saw a newcomer, he would shout: "Watch the dog!" As soon as the monk turned his head, Zihu would go back to his abbot's room. Tell me, why could the dog not bite Zhaozhou? Another night, deep in the night, Zihu cried out at the back rack: "Catch the thief! Catch the thief!" In the dark he met a monk, grabbed him by the chest and said: "Got him! Got him!" The monk said: "Master, it is not me." Hu said: "True, it is, but you will not own up to it." If you can understand these words, I will allow that you bite and kill everyone, with a clear breeze blowing fiercely everywhere. If not, the few characters on the sign will surely get you nowhere. If you want to see it, only when you penetrate fully will you see. The verse says:

木佛不渡火(燒卻了也。唯我能知)常思破灶墮(東行西行有何不可。癩兒牽伴)

A wooden Buddha does not cross fire (burned up; only I can know it). Always remember the stove-breaking fall (going east and going west, what would be wrong? A leper leading a companion).

杖子忽擊著(在山僧手裡。山僧不用人。阿誰手裡無)方知辜負我(似爾相似。摸索不著。有什麼用處。蒼天蒼天。三十年後始得。寧可永劫沈淪。不求諸聖解脫。若向箇裡薦得。未免辜負。作麼生得不辜負去。拄杖子未免在別人手裡)

If the staff suddenly strikes (it is in this mountain monk's hand; this mountain monk does not use people; whose hand is without one?), only then will you know you have failed me (like you, groping and not finding it, what use is it? Heaven, heaven! Only after thirty years. I would rather sink for endless aeons than seek the release of the sages. If you take it up here, you cannot avoid failing me. How can you avoid failing me? The staff is bound to be in someone else's hand).

木佛不渡火。常思破灶墮。此一句亦頌了。雪竇因此木佛不渡火。常思破灶墮。嵩山破灶墮和尚不稱姓字。言行叵測隱居嵩山。一日領徒。入山塢間有廟甚靈。殿中唯安一灶。遠近祭祀不輟。烹殺物命甚多。師入廟中。以拄杖敲灶三下雲。咄汝本塼土合成。靈從何來。聖從何起。恁麼烹殺物命。又乃擊三下。灶乃自傾破墮落。須臾有一人。青衣峨冠。忽然立師前設拜曰。我乃灶神。久受業報。今日蒙師說無生法。已脫此處。生在天中。特來致謝。師曰。汝本有之性非吾強言。神再拜而沒。侍者曰。某甲等久參侍和尚。未蒙指示。灶神得何徑旨。便乃生天。師曰。我只向伊道。汝本塼土合成。靈從何來。聖從何起。侍僧俱無對。師雲。會麼。僧雲。不會。師雲。禮拜著。僧禮拜。師雲。破也破也墮也墮也。侍者忽然大悟。後有僧舉似安國師。師歎雲。此子會盡物我一如。灶神悟此則故是。其僧乃五蘊成身。亦云破也墮也。二俱開悟。且四大五蘊。與塼瓦泥土。是同是別。既是如此。雪竇為什麼道。杖子忽擊著。方知辜負我。因甚卻成箇辜負去。只是未得拄杖子在。且道雪竇頌木佛不渡火。為什麼卻引破灶墮公案。老僧直截與爾說。他意只是絕得失情塵意想。淨裸裸地。自然見他親切處也。

"A wooden Buddha does not cross fire. Always remember the stove-breaking fall." This line is also finished. Xuedou, because of the wooden Buddha not crossing fire, says "Always remember the stove-breaking fall." The monk Pozao Duo of Mount Song did not give his surname; his words and deeds were unfathomable, and he lived in seclusion on Mount Song. One day he led his disciples into a mountain hollow where there was a very efficacious shrine; in the hall only a stove was installed, and people from far and near sacrificed there without stopping, cooking and killing many lives. The master went into the shrine and struck the stove three times with his staff, saying: "Hey! You are originally made of bricks and earth joined together. Where does your spirit come from? Where does your holiness arise? Killing lives like this!" He struck three more times, and the stove tipped over by itself, broke apart and fell. In a moment a man in blue robes and a tall cap suddenly stood before the master and bowed, saying: "I am the stove god. I have long suffered karmic retribution. Today, receiving the Master's teaching of the dharma of non-birth, I have been freed from this place and born among the heavens, and I have come especially to thank you." The master said: "It is your own original nature; I did not force it with words." The god bowed again and vanished. The attendant said: "We have attended the Master a long time and have not received instruction. What path of meaning did the stove god get that he was immediately born in heaven?" The master said: "I just said to him, 'You are originally made of bricks and earth joined together. Where does your spirit come from? Where does your holiness arise?'" The attendant monks had no reply. The master said: "Do you understand?" The monks said: "We do not understand." The master said: "Bow." The monks bowed. The master said: "Broken! It has broken! Fallen! It has fallen!" The attendant suddenly was greatly awakened. Later a monk told this to National Teacher Anguo. The teacher sighed: "This one has understood completely the oneness of things and self. That the stove god awakened to this is certainly right. That monk, whose body is made of the five aggregates, also said 'Broken! Fallen!' and both opened to awakening." Now, are the four elements and five aggregates the same as or different from bricks, tiles, mud and earth? Since it is so, why did Xuedou say: "If the staff suddenly strikes, only then will you know you have failed me"? Why does it turn out to be a failing? It is only that he does not yet have the staff. Tell me, Xuedou versifies "A wooden Buddha does not cross fire"; why does he cite the story of the stove-breaking fall? This old monk tells you directly: his meaning is only to cut off the emotional dust and thoughts of gain and loss, stark naked and bare, and naturally you will see his closest place.

垂示雲。拈一放一。未是作家。舉一明三。猶乖宗旨。直得天地𨺗變四方絕唱。雷奔電馳雲行雨驟。傾湫倒嶽甕瀉盆傾。也未提得一半在。還有解轉天關能移地軸底麼。試舉看。

Introduction: To pick up one and let go of one is not yet a master; to raise one and understand three still strays from the school's aim. Even if heaven and earth are shaken and the four quarters fall silent, thunder runs and lightning flashes, clouds move and rain pours, lakes are overturned and mountains toppled, jars emptied and basins upended, still not half has been raised. Is there anyone who can turn the pivot of heaven and move the axis of the earth? Please bring it up.

【九七】舉。金剛經云。若為人輕賤(放一線道。又且何妨)是人先世罪業(驢駝馬載)應墮惡道(陷墮了也)以今世人輕賤故(酬本及末。只得忍受)先世罪業(向什麼處摸索。種穀不生豆苗)則為消滅(雪上加霜又一重。如湯消氷)。

[Case 97] Case: The Diamond Sutra says: "If one is despised by others (letting out a line of the Way; what harm would there be?), this person's former karmic offenses (carried by donkeys and loaded on horses) should have led him into evil paths (fallen in), but because he is despised by people in this life (repaying the root and the branch; one can only endure), his former karmic offenses (where will you grope for them? Planting grain, no bean sprouts grow) are thereby extinguished (frost on top of snow, another layer; like hot water melting ice)."

金剛經云。若為人輕賤。是人先世罪業應墮惡道。以今世人輕賤故。先世罪業則為消滅。只據平常講究。乃經中常論。雪竇拈來頌這意。欲打破教家鬼窟裡活計。昭明太子科此一分。為能淨業障。教中大意說此經靈驗。如此之人先世造地獄業。為善力強未受。以今世人輕賤故。先世罪業則為消滅。此經故能消無量劫來罪業。轉重成輕轉輕不受。復得佛果菩提。據教家。轉此二十餘張經。便喚作持經。有什麼交涉。有底道。經自有靈驗。若恁麼。爾試將一卷放在閑處看。他有感應也無。法眼雲。證佛地者。名持此經。經中雲。一切諸佛。及諸佛阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法。皆從此經出。且道喚什麼作此經。莫是黃卷赤軸底是麼。且莫錯認定盤星。金剛諭於法體堅固。故物不能壞。利用故。能摧一切物。擬山則山摧。擬海則海竭。就諭彰名。其法亦然。此般若有三種。一實相般若。二觀照般若。三文字般若。實相般若者即是真智。乃諸人腳跟下。一段大事。輝騰今古。逈絕知見。淨裸裸赤灑灑者是。觀照般若者即是真境。二六時中。放光動地。聞聲見色者是。文字般若者即能詮文字。即如今說者聽者。且道是般若不是般若。古人道。人人有一卷經。又道。手不執經卷。常轉如是經。若據此經靈驗。何止轉重令輕轉輕不受。設使敵聖功能未為奇特。不見龐居士聽講金剛經。問座主曰。俗人敢有小問。不知如何。主雲。有疑請問。士雲。無我相無人相。既無我人相。教阿誰講阿誰聽。座主無對。卻雲。某甲依文解義。不知此意。居士乃有頌雲。無我亦無人。作麼有疎親。勸君休歷座。爭似直求真。金剛般若性外絕一纖塵。我聞並信受總是假稱名。此頌最好。分明一時說了也。圭峰科四句偈雲。凡所有相皆是虛妄若見諸相非相即見如來。此四句偈義。全同證佛地者名持此經。又道。若以色見我。以音聲求我。是人行邪道。

The Diamond Sutra says: "If one is despised by others, this person's former karmic offenses should have led him into evil paths, but because he is despised by people in this life, his former karmic offenses are thereby extinguished." Going only by ordinary exposition, this is a common topic in the sutra. Xuedou takes it up to versify this meaning, wanting to smash the livelihood in the ghost's den of the doctrinal schools. Prince Zhaoming divided this section as 'able to purify karmic obstructions.' The general idea in the teachings is that this sutra is efficacious: such a person made hell karma in a former life, but because the power of his good deeds was strong he has not yet received the result; because he is despised by people in this life, his former karmic offenses are extinguished. This sutra can therefore eliminate offenses from countless aeons, turning the heavy into the light and the light into what is not received, and one again attains the Buddha-fruit of bodhi. According to the doctrinal schools, to turn these twenty-some pages of sutra is called upholding the sutra, but what has that to do with it? Some say the sutra has its own efficacy. If that is so, try putting a scroll in an idle place and see whether it has any response. Fayan said: "One who realizes the Buddha-ground is called one who upholds this sutra." The sutra says: "All the buddhas, and the dharma of anuttara samyaksambodhi of the buddhas, all come from this sutra." Now, what is called 'this sutra'? Is it the yellow paper and red roller? Do not mistake the fixed-scale star. Diamond is a metaphor for the firmness of the dharma-body, so that nothing can destroy it, and for its sharpness, so that it can break everything: aim at a mountain and the mountain breaks, aim at the sea and the sea dries up. The name is shown by the metaphor, and the dharma is likewise. This prajna is of three kinds: first, prajna of true reality; second, prajna of contemplative illumination; third, prajna of written words. Prajna of true reality is real wisdom, the great matter beneath each of your heels, shining through ancient and modern, utterly beyond knowledge and views, stark naked and bare. Prajna of contemplative illumination is the real realm: at all times it gives off light and shakes the earth, in hearing sounds and seeing forms. Prajna of written words is the explanatory words, such as the speaker and the listener right now. Tell me, is it prajna or not prajna? The ancients said: "Everyone has a scroll of sutra." And: "The hands do not hold a scroll, yet always turn such a sutra." If we speak of the efficacy of this sutra, it is not just turning the heavy light and the light unreceived; even matching the sages' merit would not be extraordinary. Have you not seen Layman Pang listening to a lecture on the Diamond Sutra and asking the lecturer: "A layman dares to ask a small question; what do you say?" The lecturer said: "If you have a doubt, please ask." The layman said: "'No self-mark, no person-mark.' Since there are no marks of self and person, who lectures and who listens?" The lecturer had no reply, and said: "I explain the meaning according to the text and do not know this meaning." The layman then wrote a verse: "No self and no other; how can there be distant or close? I advise you to stop going from seat to seat; how is that like directly seeking the real? The Diamond Prajna nature has not a speck of dust beyond it; 'I have heard' and 'believed and accepted' are all false names." This verse is excellent; it clearly says everything at once. Guifeng divided the four-line verse as: "All that has form is false and illusory; if you see all forms as non-forms, you see the Tathagata." The meaning of this four-line verse is entirely the same as 'one who realizes the Buddha-ground is called one who upholds this sutra.' It also says: "If one sees me by form or seeks me by sound, this person walks a deviant path.

不能見如來。此亦是四句偈。但中間取其義全者。僧問晦堂。如何是四句偈。晦堂雲。話墮也不知。雪竇於此經上指出。若有人持此經者。即是諸人本地風光本來面目。若據祖令當行。本地風光本來面目。亦斬為三段。三世諸佛十二分教不消一揑。到這裡設使有萬種功能。亦不能管得。如今人只管轉經。都不知是箇什麼道理。只管道。我一日轉得多少。只認黃卷赤軸巡行數墨。殊不知全從自己本心上起。這箇唯是轉處些子。大珠和尚雲。向空屋裡堆數函經看。他放光麼。只以自家一念發底心是功德。何故。萬法皆出於自心。一念是靈。既靈即通。既通即變。古人道。青青翠竹盡是真如。欝欝黃花無非般若。若見得徹去。即是真如。忽未見得。且道作麼生喚作真如。華嚴經云。若人慾了知三世一切佛。應觀法界性一切唯心造。爾若識得去。逢境遇緣。為主為宗。若未能明得。且伏聽處分。雪竇出眼頌大概。要明經靈驗也。頌雲。

(Yuanwu continues:) and cannot see the Tathagata." This too is a four-line verse, but one takes from the middle the part whose meaning is complete. A monk asked Huitang: "What is the four-line verse?" Huitang said: "I do not even know the words have fallen." Xuedou points out in this sutra: if someone upholds this sutra, that is everyone's native landscape and original face. If we go by the patriarchs' command in action, the native landscape and original face are also cut into three pieces; the buddhas of the three times and the twelve divisions of teachings do not need a pinch, and here, even if there were ten thousand kinds of power, they could not control it. Today people just turn the sutras without knowing what the principle is. They just say: "How many have I turned in a day?" and only recognize the yellow paper and red roller, walking along counting the lines, without knowing that it all arises from one's own original mind. This lies in only a bit of turning. Master Dazhu said: "Pile up several cases of sutras in an empty room and look; do they give off light?" Only the thought arising from one's own mind is merit. Why? Because all dharmas come from one's own mind: one thought is spirit; being spirit, it penetrates; penetrating, it transforms. The ancients said: "Green, green bamboo is all true suchness; lush yellow flowers are nothing but prajna." If you see through it, that is true suchness. If you have not yet seen it, tell me, how is true suchness called? The Avatamsaka Sutra says: "If one wishes to know all the buddhas of the three times, one should contemplate the nature of the Dharma realm: everything is only made by mind." If you recognize it, you will be master and source in every circumstance and condition. If you cannot yet clarify it, listen humbly to the disposition. Xuedou brings out the general sense of the eye verse, wanting to clarify the sutra's efficacy. The verse says:

明珠在掌(上通霄漢。下徹黃泉。道什麼。四邊誵訛八面玲瓏)有功者賞(多少分明。隨他去也。忽若無功時作麼生賞)

A bright pearl in the palm (above it reaches the Milky Way, below it penetrates the Yellow Springs; what are you saying? The four sides are confused and the eight sides are clear). The meritorious are rewarded (how clear; he has gone along with it; suddenly when there is no merit, how will he reward?)

胡漢不來(內外絕消息。猶較些子)全無技倆(展轉沒交涉。向什麼處摸索。打破漆桶來相見)

Neither barbarian nor Han comes (inside and outside, news is cut off; still a bit better). He has no skill at all (turning round and round, nothing to do with it; where will you grope? Smash the lacquer bucket and come see me).

伎倆既無(休去歇去。阿誰恁麼道)

Since there is no skill (stop it, rest; who spoke like this?)

波旬失途(勘破了也。這外道魔王。尋蹤跡不見)瞿曇瞿曇(佛眼覰不見。咄)

Papiyas loses his way (seen through; this heretical demon king; seeking his traces, he is not found). Gautama, Gautama (the Buddha's eye looks and cannot see; hey!)

識我也無(咄。勘破了也)

Do you know me or not? (Hey! Seen through!)

復雲。勘破了也(一棒一條痕。已在言前)。

He added: "Seen through!" (One blow, one welt; it is already before the words.)

明珠在掌有功者賞。若有人持得此經。有功驗者。則以珠賞之。他得此珠。自然會用。胡來胡現。漢來漢現。萬象森羅。縱橫顯現。此是有功勳。法眼雲。證佛地者。名持此經。此兩句頌公案畢。胡漢不來。全無伎倆。雪竇裂轉鼻孔。也有胡漢來。則教爾現。若忽胡漢俱不來時。又且如何。到這裡。佛眼也覻不見。且道是功勳是罪業。是胡是漢。直似羚羊掛角。莫道聲響蹤跡氣息也無。向什麼處摸索。至使諸天捧花無路。魔外潛覻無門。是故洞山和尚。一生住院。土地神覓他蹤跡不見。一日廚前拋撒米麫。洞山起心曰。常住物色。何得作踐如此。土地神遂得一見便禮拜。雪竇道。伎倆既無。若到此無伎倆處。波旬也教失途。世尊以一切眾生為赤子。若有一人。發心修行。波旬宮殿。為之振裂。他便來惱亂修行者。雪竇道。直饒波旬恁麼來。也須教失卻途路無近傍處。雪竇更自點胸雲。瞿曇瞿曇識我也無。莫道是波旬。任是佛來。還識我也無。釋迦老子尚自不見。諸人向什麼處摸索。復雲。勘破了也。且道是雪竇勘破瞿曇。瞿曇勘破雪竇。具眼者試定當看。

"A bright pearl in the palm; the meritorious are rewarded." If someone upholds this sutra and has meritorious effect, he is rewarded with the pearl. Having obtained this pearl, he naturally knows how to use it: when a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears; the dense array of myriad images shows itself freely. This is what meritorious service is. Fayan said: "One who realizes the Buddha-ground is called one who upholds this sutra." These two lines conclude the verse on the case. "Neither barbarian nor Han comes; he has no skill at all." Xuedou tears and turns the nose: if barbarian and Han come, you are made to appear. But if suddenly neither barbarian nor Han comes, then what? Here even the Buddha's eye cannot see. Tell me, is it merit or is it karmic offense? Is it barbarian or Han? It is just like an antelope hanging by its horns; do not even speak of sound, trace or breath; where will you grope? The devas bringing flowers find no road, and the demons and heretics peek in vain with no gate. That is why Master Dongshan lived in his monastery for a lifetime and the earth god looked for his traces and could not find them. One day, rice and flour were scattered in front of the kitchen, and Dongshan, with a thought arising, said: "The goods of the permanent community, how can they be wasted like this?" The earth god then got a glimpse of him and bowed. Xuedou says: "Since there is no skill." If one reaches this place of no skill, even Papiyas is made to lose his way. The World-Honored One regards all sentient beings as red infants; if there is one person who gives rise to the mind to practice, Papiyas's palace shakes and splits, and he comes to disturb the practitioner. Xuedou says: "Even if Papiyas comes like this, he will be made to lose his way, with no place to approach." Xuedou then taps his own chest: "Gautama, Gautama, do you know me or not?" Not to speak of Papiyas; even if the Buddha came, would he know me? The old man Shakyamuni himself cannot see; where will you all grope? He added: "Seen through!" Tell me, did Xuedou see through Gautama, or did Gautama see through Xuedou? One with eyes, please decide.

垂示雲。一夏嘮嘮打葛藤。幾乎絆倒五湖僧。金剛寶劍當頭截。始覺從來百不能。且道作麼生是金剛寶劍。眨上眉毛。試請露鋒鋩看。

Introduction: A summer of chattering and tangled talk almost tripped up the monks of the five lakes. The Diamond sword cuts straight at the head, and only then does one realize that one could never do a thing. Now, what is the Diamond sword? Blink your eyebrows; please show its edge.

【九八】舉。天平和尚行腳時參西院。常雲。莫道會佛法。覓箇舉話人也無(漏逗不少。這漢是則是。爭奈靈龜曳尾)一日西院遙見召雲。從漪(鐃鉤搭索了也)平舉頭(著。兩重公案)西院雲。錯(也須是鑪裡煅過始得。劈腹剜心。三要印開朱點窄。未容擬議。主賓分)平行三兩步(已是半前落後。這漢泥裡洗土塊)西院又云。錯(劈腹剜心。人皆喚作兩重公案。殊不知似水入水。如金博金)平近前(依前不知落處。展轉摸索不著)西院雲。適來這兩錯。是西院錯。是西院錯。是上座錯(前箭猶輕後箭深)平雲。從漪錯(錯認馬鞍橋。喚作爺下頷。以恁麼衲僧。打殺千箇萬箇。有什麼罪)西院雲。錯(雪上加霜)平休去(錯認定盤星。果然不知落處。軒知爾鼻孔在別人手裡)西院雲。且在這裡過夏。待共上座商量這兩錯(西院尋常脊梁硬似鐵。當時何不趕將出去)平當時便行(也似衲僧。似則似。是則未是)後住院謂眾雲(貧兒思舊債。也須是點過)我當初行腳時。被業風吹。到思明長老處。連下兩錯。更留我過夏。待共我商量。我不道恁麼時錯。我發足向南方去時。早知道錯了也(爭奈這兩錯何。千錯萬錯。爭奈沒交涉。轉見郎當愁殺人)漪(於宜切水文也)。

[Case 98] Case: When Tianping was traveling on pilgrimage, he called on Xiyuan. He often said: "Do not say you understand the Buddhadharma; there is not even someone who can raise a topic." (He has leaked a great deal. This fellow is right, but what can he do about the spiritual tortoise dragging its tail?) One day Xiyuan saw him from afar and called: "Congyi!" (A cymbal hook has caught the rope.) Ping raised his head (right. Two layers of public case). Xiyuan said: "Wrong!" (It must be forged in the furnace to be right. Slicing the belly and gouging the heart; the Three Essentials seal opened, the red dot is narrow; he does not allow hesitation, guest and host are divided.) Ping walked three or two steps (already half in front and half behind; this fellow washes clods of earth in mud). Xiyuan said again: "Wrong!" (Slicing the belly and gouging the heart; people all call it a two-layer public case, but hardly know it is like water entering water or gold plating gold.) Ping came forward (as before he does not know where it landed; groping round and round and cannot find it). Xiyuan said: "Those two wrongs just now: are they Xiyuan's wrong or are they yours?" (The first arrow was light and the second deep.) Ping said: "Congyi's wrong." (He mistakes a saddle for his father's jaw. If one beat to death thousands and tens of thousands of patch-robed monks like this, what offense would there be?) Xiyuan said: "Wrong!" (Frost on top of snow.) Ping stopped (mistaking the fixed-scale star; indeed he does not know where it landed; he hardly knows his nose is in someone else's hand). Xiyuan said: "Stay here for the summer and let us discuss these two wrongs together." (Xiyuan's back is usually stiff as iron; why did he not drive him out at the time?) Ping left on the spot (like a patch-robed monk; it seems so, but it is not so). Later, when he lived in his own monastery, he said to the assembly: "When I first went on pilgrimage, I was blown by the wind of karma to Elder Siming's place, where he gave me two wrongs in a row and then wanted me to stay for the summer to discuss them with him. I do not say it was wrong then. When I set my foot out toward the south, I already knew it was wrong." (What can he do about the two wrongs? A thousand wrongs and ten thousand wrongs; what can he do about having no connection? The more it is turned, the more sloppy it is and the more it grieves people.) ("Yi" means ripples of water.)

思明先參大覺。後承嗣前寶壽。一日問。踏破化城來時如何。壽雲。利劍不斬死漢。明雲。斬壽便打。思明十回道斬。壽十回打雲。這漢著甚死急。將箇死屍。抵他痛棒。遂喝出。其時有一僧。問寶壽雲。適來問話底僧。甚有道理。和尚方便接他。寶壽亦打趕出這僧。且道寶壽亦趕這僧。唯當道他說是說非。且別有道理。意作麼生。後來俱承嗣寶壽。思明一日出見南院。院問雲。甚處來。明雲。許州來。院雲。將得什麼來。明雲。將得箇江西剃刀。獻與和尚。院雲。既從許州來。因甚卻有江西剃刀(明把院手掐一掐。院雲。侍者收取。思明以衣袖拂一拂便行。院雲。阿剌剌)阿剌剌。天平曾參進山主來。為他到諸方。參得些蘿蔔頭禪。在肚皮裡。到處便輕開大口道。我會禪會道。常雲。莫道會佛法。覓箇舉話人也無。屎臭氣薰人。只管放輕薄。且如諸佛未出世。祖師未西來。未有問答。未有公案已前。還有禪道麼。古人事不獲已。對機垂示。後人喚作公案。因世尊拈花。迦葉微笑。後來阿難問迦葉。世尊傳金襴外別傳何法。迦葉雲。阿難。阿難應諾。迦葉雲。倒卻門前剎竿著。只如未拈花阿難未問已前。甚處得公案來。只管被諸方冬瓜印子印定了便道。我會佛法奇特。莫教人知。天平正如此。被西院叫來連下兩錯。直得周慞惶怖分疎不下。前不搆村後不迭店。有者道。說箇西來意。早錯了也。殊不知西院這兩錯落處。諸人且道。落在什麼處。所以道。他參活句不參死句。天平舉頭。已是落二落三了也。西院雲。錯。他卻不薦得當陽用處。只道我肚皮裡有禪。莫管他。又行三兩步。西院又云。錯。卻依舊黑漫漫地。天平近前。西院雲。適來兩錯。是西院錯。是上座錯。天平雲。從漪錯。且喜沒交涉。已是第七第八頭了也。西院雲。且在這裡度夏。待共上座商量這兩錯。天平當時便行。似則也似。是則未是。

Siming first called on Dajue and later succeeded the former Baoshou. One day he asked: "What about when one has trampled the phantom city to pieces and come?" Shou said: "A sharp sword does not cut a dead man." Ming said: "Cut Shou!" and struck. Siming said "cut" ten times and Shou struck him ten times, saying: "Why are you in such a hurry to die? You offer a corpse to take the blows." And so he shouted him out. At that time a monk asked Baoshou: "The monk who asked just now had a good deal of principle; why do you, Master, not receive him with skillful means?" Baoshou also struck and drove this monk out. Now, Baoshou also drove out this monk; was it just to say who was right and who was wrong, or is there a separate principle? What is the meaning? Later both succeeded Baoshou. One day Siming went out and saw Nanyuan. Yuan asked: "Where have you come from?" Ming said: "From Xuzhou." Yuan said: "What did you bring?" Ming said: "I brought a Jiangxi razor to present to you, Master." Yuan said: "Since you come from Xuzhou, why do you have a Jiangxi razor?" (Ming gripped Yuan's hand with a pinch. Yuan said: "Attendant, take it away." Siming brushed his sleeve and walked off. Yuan said: "Ah-la-la!") Ah-la-la! Tianping had called on Master Jin, who had traveled to various places and gathered some radish-head Chan in his belly, and everywhere he lightly opened his big mouth to say: "I understand Chan and the Way." He often said: "Do not say you understand the Buddhadharma; there is not even someone who can raise a topic." He stank of dung and fouled people, just letting out frivolity. Now, before the buddhas appeared in the world and before the patriarchs came from the West, when there were no questions and answers and no public cases, was there Chan and the Way? The ancients, having no other choice, gave instruction according to the occasion, and later people called it public cases. Because the World-Honored One held up a flower and Kashyapa smiled, Ananda later asked Kashyapa: "Besides the golden robe, what Dharma did the World-Honored One transmit separately?" Kashyapa said: "Ananda." Ananda answered. Kashyapa said: "Knock down the flagpole in front of the gate." Before the flower was held up and before Ananda asked, where did the public case come from? People are just sealed by the winter-melon seals of various places and say: "I understand the Buddhadharma, it is remarkable; do not let others know." Tianping was exactly like this. Called by Xiyuan, he was given two wrongs in a row, and was so flustered and frightened that he could not sort it out. In front he did not reach the village and behind he did not reach the inn. Some say that to speak of the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West is already wrong. They hardly know where Xiyuan's two wrongs land. Tell me, where do they land? So it is said: they study the live phrase and do not study the dead phrase. Tianping raising his head was already falling to the second and third level. Xiyuan said: "Wrong!" He did not take up the use directly in front of him, and only said: "I have Chan in my belly. Never mind it." Walking another three or two steps, Xiyuan again said: "Wrong!" and again he was in the dark as before. Tianping came forward. Xiyuan said: "Those two wrongs just now: are they Xiyuan's wrong or yours?" Tianping said: "Congyi's wrong." Fortunately it has nothing to do with it; it was already the seventh or eighth level. Xiyuan said: "Stay here for the summer and let us discuss these two wrongs together." Tianping left on the spot. It seems so but it is not so.

也不道他不是。只是趕不上。雖然如是。卻有些子衲僧氣息。天平後住院謂眾雲。我當初行腳時。被業風吹到思明和尚處。連下兩錯。更留我度夏。待共我商量。我不道恁麼時錯。我發足向南方去時。早知道錯了也。這漢也殺道。只是落第七第八頭。料掉沒交涉。如今人聞他道。發足向南方去時。早知道錯了也。便去卜度道。未行腳時。自無許多佛法禪道。及至行腳。被諸方熱瞞。不可未行腳時。喚地作天。喚山作水。幸無一星事。若總恁麼作流俗見解。何不買一片帽戴大家過時。有什麼用處。佛法不是這箇道理。若論此事。豈有許多般葛藤。爾若道我會他不會。擔一簷禪。遶天下走。被明眼人勘破。一點也使不著。雪竇正如此頌出。

(Yuanwu continues:) I do not say he was not right; he just could not catch up. Even so, he has a bit of the breath of a patch-robed monk. Afterward Tianping, when living in his own monastery, said to the assembly: "When I first went on pilgrimage, I was blown by the wind of karma to Master Siming's place, where he gave me two wrongs in a row and then wanted me to stay for the summer to discuss them with him. I do not say it was wrong then. When I set my foot out toward the south, I already knew it was wrong." This fellow also spoke fiercely, but he fell to the seventh or eighth level and had nothing to do with it. People today hear him say "When I set my foot out toward the south, I already knew it was wrong" and go and guess: before he went on pilgrimage he naturally had none of this Buddhadharma and Chan and the Way; when he went on pilgrimage he was fooled by those of various places. One must not say that before going on pilgrimage he called earth heaven and called mountains water; fortunately there was not a speck of matter. If all take it as such a vulgar view, why not buy a cap and let everyone wear it? What use is it? The Buddhadharma is not this principle. If we speak of this matter, how can there be so many kinds of entanglement? If you say "I understand, he does not," and carry a load of Chan around the world, being seen through by a clear-eyed person, it will not be of use in the slightest. Xuedou versifies precisely this.

禪家流(漆桶。一狀領過)愛輕薄(也有些子。呵佛罵祖。如麻似粟)滿肚參來用不著(只宜有用處。方木不逗圓孔。闍𥠖與他同參)

The Chan school (lacquer bucket; one charge handles it all) loves frivolity (there is something to it; scolding buddhas and cursing patriarchs, like hemp and millet). A belly full of studies and none of it useful (it should only have a use; a square peg does not fit a round hole; the monk studies together with him).

堪悲堪笑天平老(天下衲僧跳不出。不怕旁人攢眉。也得人鈍悶)

Pitiful and laughable, old Tianping (patch-robed monks of the world cannot jump out of it; not afraid of bystanders furrowing their brows; it also makes people dull and depressed).

卻謂當初悔行腳(未行腳已前錯了也。踏破草鞋堪作何用。一筆句下)

Yet he said he regretted going on pilgrimage at the start (he was wrong before he went on pilgrimage; wearing out straw sandals, what use are they? One stroke ends the matter).

錯錯(是什麼。雪竇已錯下名言了也)

Wrong! Wrong! (What is it? Xuedou has already put down a famous saying.)

西院清風頓銷鑠(西院在什麼處。何似生。莫道西院。三世諸佛天下老和尚。亦須倒退三千始得。於斯會得。許爾天下橫行)

Xiyuan's clear breeze suddenly melts away (where is Xiyuan? How is it? Not to speak of Xiyuan; the buddhas of the three times and the old monks of the world must also retreat three thousand before they can do it. If you understand this, I allow you to roam freely through the world).

復雲。忽有箇衲僧出雲錯(一狀領過。猶較些子)雪竇錯。何似天平錯(西院又出世。據欵結案。總沒交涉。且道畢竟如何。打雲。錯)。

He added: "If suddenly a patch-robed monk came out and said 'Wrong,' (one charge handles it all; still somewhat better) Xuedou's wrong, how is it like Tianping's wrong?" (Xiyuan appears in the world again; he judges the case by the confession; it is all irrelevant. Tell me, in the end how is it? Strike. Wrong!)

禪家流愛輕薄。滿肚參來用不著。這漢會則會。只是用不得。尋常目視雲霄道。他會得多少禪。及至向烘罏裡才烹。元來一點使不著。五祖先師道。有一般人參禪。如琉璃瓶裡搗餈糕相似更動轉不得。抖擻不出。觸著便破。若要活潑潑地。但參皮殼漏子禪。直向高山上。撲將下來。亦不破亦不壞。古人道。設使言前薦得。猶是滯殼迷封。直饒句下精通。未免觸途狂見。堪悲堪笑天平老。卻謂當初悔行腳。雪竇道。堪悲他對人說不出。堪笑他會一肚皮禪。更使些子不著。錯錯這兩錯。有者道。天平不會是錯。又有底道。無語底是錯。有什麼交涉。殊不知這兩錯。如擊石火。似閃電光。是他向上人行履處。如仗劍斬人直取人咽喉命根方斷。若向此劍刃上行得。便七縱八橫。若會得兩錯。便可以見西院清風頓銷鑠。雪竇上堂。舉此話了。意道錯。我且問爾。雪竇這。兩錯。何似天平錯。且參三十年。

"The Chan school loves frivolity; a belly full of studies and none of it useful." This fellow understood, but he could only not use it. He usually looked up at the clouds and said: "How much Chan he understands!" and then when he was put in the furnace to be cooked, he found that it was not usable in the slightest. My late teacher Wuzu said: "There is a kind of person who studies Chan like pounding rice cake in a glass bottle: they cannot turn or move, they cannot shake it out, and touch it and it breaks. If you want to be lively, just study the Chan of a leaking skin bag; throw it down from a high mountain and it will not break or be destroyed." The ancients said: "Even if you realize it before the words, you are still stuck in the shell and lost in the seal. Even if you are skilled beneath a phrase, you cannot avoid mad views at every step." "Pitiful and laughable, old Tianping; yet he said he regretted going on pilgrimage at the start." Xuedou says: pitiful that he could not say it to people; laughable that he understood a belly of Chan and yet it was not usable in the slightest. "Wrong! Wrong!" these two wrongs. Some say that Tianping's not understanding is the wrong; others say that the one without words is the wrong. What has that to do with it? They hardly know that these two wrongs are like a spark from striking stone, like a flash of lightning: it is the conduct of a person of the higher level, like wielding a sword to cut someone, going straight for the throat and only then cutting off the life root. If you can walk on the edge of this sword, you will roam freely in every direction. If you understand the two wrongs, you can see "Xiyuan's clear breeze suddenly melts away." When Xuedou ascended the hall and raised this story, his meaning was: wrong. I ask you: how is Xuedou's wrong like Tianping's wrong? Study for another thirty years.

垂示雲。龍吟霧起虎嘯風生。出世宗猷金玉相振。通方作略箭鋒相拄。遍界不藏遠近齊彰。古今明辨。且道是什麼人境界。試舉看。

Introduction: When the dragon chants, mist rises; when the tiger roars, wind arises. In the school's teaching in the world, gold and jade ring against each other; in the style of those who master all directions, arrow points hold each other up. Throughout the world nothing is hidden, far and near are all shown, and ancient and modern are clearly distinguished. Tell me, whose realm is this? Please bring it up.

【九九】舉。肅宗帝問忠問師。如何是十身調御(作家君王。大唐天子。也合知恁麼。頭上捲輪冠腳下無憂履)國師雲。檀越踏毘盧頂上行(須彌那畔把手共行。猶有這箇在)帝雲。寡人不會(何不領話。可惜許。好彩不分付帝當時便喝。更用會作什麼)國師雲。莫認自己清淨法身(雖然葛藤。卻有出身處。醉後郎當愁殺人)。

[Case 99] Case: Emperor Suzong asked National Teacher Zhong: "What is the Ten-Bodied Controller?" (A master king; the Tang emperor too must know this; a rolled-wheel cap on his head and sorrowless shoes on his feet.) The National Teacher said: "The patron walks on top of Vairocana's head." (Walking hand in hand on the far side of Sumeru; still there is this here.) The emperor said: "I do not understand." (Why not take up the words? What a pity! A good chance, not handed to the emperor; if he had shouted at the time, what need to understand?) The National Teacher said: "Do not mistake your own pure dharma-body." (Though it is entanglement, it has a way out; drunk and sloppy, it grieves people.)

肅宗皇帝。在東宮時。已參忠國師。後來即位。敬之愈篤。出入迎送躬自捧車輦。一日致箇問端來。問國師雲。如何是十身調御。師雲。檀越踏毘盧頂上行。國師平生。一條脊梁骨硬如生鐵。及至帝王面前。如爛泥相似。雖然答得廉纖。卻有箇好處。他道。爾要會得。檀越須是向毘盧頂𩕳上行始得。他卻不薦。更道。寡人不會。國師後面。忒殺郎當落草。更注頭上底一句雲。莫錯認自己清淨法身。所謂人人具足。箇箇圓成。看他一放一收。八面受敵。不見道。善為師者。應機設教。看風使帆。若只僻守一隅。豈能回互。看他黃檗老善能接人。遇著臨濟。三回便痛施六十棒。臨濟當下便會去。及至為裴相國。葛藤忒殺。此豈不是善為人師。忠國師善巧方便。接肅宗帝。蓋為他有八面受敵底手段。十身調御者。即是十種他受用身。法報化三身。即法身也。何故報化非真佛。亦非說法者。據法身。則一片虛凝。靈明寂照。太原孚上座。在揚州光孝寺。講涅槃經。有遊方僧。即夾山典座。在寺阻雪。因往聽講。講至三因佛性三德法身。廣談法身妙理。典座忽然失笑。孚乃目顧。講罷令請禪者問雲。某素智狹劣。依文解義。適來講次。見上人失笑。某必有所短乏處。請上人說。典座雲。座主不問。即不敢說。座主既問。則不可不言。某實是笑座主不識法身。孚雲。如此解說。何處不是。典座雲。請座主更說一遍。孚曰。法身之理。猶若太虛。竪窮三際。橫亙十方。彌綸八極。包括二儀。隨緣赴感。靡不周遍。典座曰。不道座主說不是。只識得法身量邊事。實未識法身在。孚曰。既然如是。禪者當為我說。典座曰。若如是。座主暫輟講旬日。於靜室中端然靜慮。收心攝念。善惡諸緣一時放卻。自窮究看。孚一依所言。從初夜至五更。聞鼓角鳴。忽然契悟。便去叩禪者門。典座曰。阿誰。孚曰某甲。典座咄曰。

Emperor Suzong, while still in the Eastern Palace, had already called on National Teacher Zhong. Later, on taking the throne, he became even more respectful, coming and going to greet and send off the teacher and personally carrying his litter. One day he brought a question and asked the National Teacher: "What is the Ten-Bodied Controller?" The master said: "The patron walks on top of Vairocana's head." The National Teacher's whole life had a spine as hard as raw iron, yet before the emperor he was like soft mud. Although the answer was fine and delicate, it has a good point. He says: if you want to understand, the patron must walk on top of Vairocana's head. But the emperor did not take it up and said: "I do not understand." Afterward the National Teacher was too sloppy and fell into the weeds, adding a note to the line about the head: "Do not mistake your own pure dharma-body." This is what is called every person fully endowed and everyone complete. Look at how he lets go and gathers in, receiving attack from all eight sides. Have you not seen it said that one who is good at being a teacher sets up teaching according to the occasion and sets the sail by the wind? If one only guards a corner, how can one turn and respond? Look at old Huangbo, who was good at receiving people: when he met Linji, he gave him sixty blows in three rounds, and Linji understood on the spot. But when it came to Prime Minister Pei, the entanglement was excessive; is this not being a good teacher of people? National Teacher Zhong's skillful means in receiving Emperor Suzong was because he had the ability to receive attack from all sides. The Ten-Bodied Controller is the ten kinds of bodies of bodily enjoyment; the three bodies of Dharma, reward and transformation are the dharma-body itself. Why? The reward and transformation bodies are not the true Buddha, and are not the speaker of the Dharma either. According to the dharma-body, it is a single stretch of empty congealment, spiritually bright and silently illuminating. The Venerable Fu of Taiyuan was in Guangxiao Temple in Yangzhou lecturing on the Nirvana Sutra. A wandering monk, who was in fact the cook of Mount Jia, was held up by snow at the temple and went to listen to the lecture. When the lecture reached the three causes of Buddha-nature and the three virtues of the dharma-body, and broadly discussed the wondrous principle of the dharma-body, the cook suddenly burst out laughing. Fu looked at him. After the lecture he invited the Chan monk and asked: "I am of limited and inferior wisdom and explain the meaning only by the text. During the lecture just now I saw you, Venerable, laugh; surely I must be lacking in something; please tell me." The cook said: "If the lecturer had not asked, I would not dare to say. Since the lecturer has asked, I cannot but speak. I was truly laughing because the lecturer does not know the dharma-body." Fu said: "Explained like this, where is it wrong?" The cook said: "Please explain it once more, lecturer." Fu said: "The principle of the dharma-body is like the great void: vertically it exhausts the three times, horizontally it spans the ten directions, it pervades the eight extremes and encompasses the two forces, and responding to conditions and meeting feelings, there is nowhere it does not pervade." The cook said: "I do not say that what the lecturer says is wrong, but you only know the measurable side of the dharma-body and truly do not yet know the dharma-body itself." Fu said: "If it is so, Chan monk, you must tell me." The cook said: "If so, let the lecturer suspend the lectures for ten days and sit upright in a quiet room, collecting the mind and gathering the thoughts, letting go of all conditions of good and evil at once, and investigate it thoroughly yourself." Fu followed his words exactly, and from the first watch to the fifth, hearing the drum and horn sound, he was suddenly awakened. He went to knock on the Chan monk's door. The cook said: "Who is it?" Fu said: "Me." The cook shouted:

教汝傳持大教。代佛說法。夜半為什麼。醉酒臥街。孚曰。自來講經。將生身父母鼻孔扭揑。從今日已後。更不敢如是。看他奇特漢。豈只去認箇昭昭靈靈。落在驢前馬後。須是打破業識。無一絲毫頭可得。猶只得一半在。古人道。不起纖毫修學心。無相光中常自在。但識常寂滅底。莫認聲色。但識靈知。莫認妄想。所以道。假使鐵輪頂上旋。定慧圓明終不失。達磨問二祖。汝立雪斷臂。當為何事。祖曰。某甲心未安。乞師安心。磨雲。將心來。與汝安。祖曰。覓心了不可得。磨曰。與汝安心竟。二祖忽然領悟。且道。正當恁麼時。法身在什麼處。長沙雲。學道之人不識真。只為從前認識神。無量劫來生死本。痴人喚作本來人。如今人只認得箇昭昭靈靈。便瞠眼努目弄精魂。有什麼交涉。只如他道莫認自己清淨法身。且如自己法身。爾也未夢見在。更說什麼莫認。教家以清淨法身為極則。為什麼卻不教人認。不見道。認著依前還不是咄。好便與棒。會得此意者。始會他道莫認自己清淨法身。雪竇嫌他老婆心切。爭奈爛泥裡有刺。豈不見洞山和尚接人有三路。所謂玄路鳥道展手。初機學道。且向此三路行履。僧問師。尋常教學人行鳥道。未審如何是鳥道。洞山雲。不逢一人。僧雲。如何行。山雲。直須足下無私去。僧雲。只如行鳥道。莫便是本來面目否。山雲。闍黎因什麼顛倒。僧雲。什麼處是學人顛倒處。山雲。若不顛倒。為什麼認奴作郎。僧雲。如何是本來面目。山雲。不行鳥道。須是見倒這般田地。方有少分相應。直下打疊教削跡吞聲。猶是衲僧門下。沙彌童行見解在。更須回首塵勞。繁興大用始得。雪竇頌雲。

(Yuanwu continues:) It is to have you transmit the great teaching and speak the Dharma in the Buddha's stead. Why at midnight? Because he lay drunk in the street. Fu said: "All my life I have lectured on the sutras, twisting the nostrils of my own birth parents; from today on, I dare not do so again." See this extraordinary fellow! How could he merely recognize the bright and numinous and end up before the donkey and behind the horse? One must smash the consciousness of karma until not the slightest thread can be found; even then only half is there. The ancients said: "Do not give rise to the slightest mind of cultivation and study; in the light of no-form one is always at ease." Only recognize what is constantly still and extinguished; do not mistake sound and form. Only recognize numinous knowing; do not mistake deluded thoughts. So it is said: "Even if an iron wheel spins on one's head, concentration and wisdom, round and bright, are never lost." Bodhidharma asked the Second Patriarch: "You stood in the snow and cut off your arm; what was it for?" The Patriarch said: "My mind is not yet at peace; I beg the Master to pacify my mind." Bodhidharma said: "Bring your mind here, and I will pacify it for you." The Patriarch said: "I have sought the mind and it cannot be found." Bodhidharma said: "I have finished pacifying your mind for you." The Second Patriarch suddenly understood. Now tell me, at just such a time, where is the Dharma body? Changsha said: "Students of the Way do not recognize the real, only because they have always recognized the spirit-consciousness. It is the root of birth and death through countless kalpas, yet fools call it the original person." People today only recognize the bright and numinous, and so stare and glare, playing with the spirit-soul; what connection has it? As for his saying 'Do not mistake your own pure Dharma body,' as for your own Dharma body, you have not even dreamed of it; what more is there to say about not mistaking it? The teaching schools take the pure Dharma body as the ultimate; why do they not teach people to recognize it? Did you not hear it said: "If you recognize it, it is still not right. Bah!" and give him the stick? One who understands this meaning will begin to understand what he says about not mistaking your own pure Dharma body. Xuedou disliked his grandmotherly kindness, but alas, there are thorns in the muddy mire. Have you not seen that Venerable Dongshan received people by three roads, called the mysterious road, the bird's path, and extending the hand? A beginner studying the Way should walk on these three roads. A monk asked the Master: "You usually have students walk the bird's path; what is the bird's path?" Dongshan said: "Not meeting a single person." The monk said: "How does one walk it?" Dongshan said: "One must go with no selfishness under one's feet." The monk said: "If one walks the bird's path, is this not the original face?" Dongshan said: "Teacher, why are you upside down?" The monk said: "Where is the student upside down?" Dongshan said: "If you are not upside down, why do you take the servant for the master?" The monk said: "What is the original face?" Dongshan said: "If you do not walk the bird's path, you must see through to this state before there is a little accord. Directly fold it all up and cut off the traces and swallow the voice; even so you are still within a monk's gate, with the views of a novice or temple boy. You must turn your head back to the toil of dust and bring forth great function in abundance." Xuedou's verse says:

一國之師亦強名(何必空花水月。風過樹頭搖)南陽獨許振嘉聲(果然坐斷要津。千箇萬箇中難得一箇半箇)

The Teacher of the Nation is also only a forced name (Why bother with flowers in the sky and the moon in the water? The wind passes and the treetops sway). Nanyang alone is allowed to sound his fine fame (Indeed he sits cutting off the key pass; among thousands and tens of thousands, one or half a one is hard to find).

大唐扶得真天子(可憐生。接得堪作何用。接得瞎衲僧濟什麼事)

He helped the Great Tang gain a true Son of Heaven (How pitiful! What use is it to receive him? What good is it to receive a blind monk?)

曾踏毘盧頂上行(一切人何不恁麼去。直得天上天下。上座作麼生踏)

He once stepped on top of Vairocana's head and walked (Why do all people not go like this? Right through heaven and earth; Teacher, how do you step on it?)

鐵鎚擊碎黃金骨(暢快平生。已在言前)

An iron hammer smashes the golden bones (Delightful in one's whole life; it is already before the words).

天地之間更何物(茫茫四海少知音。全身擔荷撒沙撒土)

Between heaven and earth, what other thing is there? (Vast are the four seas, few know the tune. With the whole body shouldering it, he scatters sand and earth.)

三千剎海夜沈沈(高著眼。把定封疆。爾待入鬼窟裡去那)不知誰入蒼龍窟(三十棒。一棒也少不得。拈了也。還會麼咄。諸人鼻孔被雪竇穿了也。莫錯認自己清淨法身)

The three thousand realms and seas are deep in the night (Raise your eyes. Hold fast the borders. Do you want to go into the ghost cave?) I do not know who enters the dragon's cave (Thirty blows; not one can be spared. Pick it up. Do you understand? Bah! The nostrils of all of you have been pierced by Xuedou. Do not mistake your own pure Dharma body).

一國之師亦強名。南陽獨許振嘉聲。此頌一似箇真贊相似。不見道。至人無名。喚作國師。亦是強安名了。國師之道。不可比倫。善能恁麼接人。獨許南陽是箇作家。大唐扶得真天子。曾踏毘盧頂上行。若是具眼衲僧眼腦。須是向毘盧頂上行。方見此十身調御。佛謂之調御。便是十號之一數也。一身化十身。十身化百身。乃至千百億身。大綱只是一身。這一頌卻易說。後頌他道莫認自己清淨法身。頌得水灑不著。直是難下口說。鐵鎚擊碎黃金骨。此頌莫認自己清淨法身。雪竇忒殺讚歎他。黃金骨一鎚擊碎了也。天地之間更何物。直須淨裸裸赤灑灑。更無一物可得。乃是本地風光。一似三千剎海夜沈沈。三千大千世界香水海中有無邊剎。一剎有一海。正當夜靜更深時。天地一時澄澄地。且道是什麼。切忌作閉目閤眼會。若恁麼會。正墮在毒海。不知誰入蒼龍窟。展腳縮腳。且道是誰。諸人鼻孔一時被雪竇穿卻了也。

'The Teacher of the Nation is also only a forced name. Nanyang alone is allowed to sound his fine fame.' This verse is just like a portrait eulogy. Have you not heard: "The perfect person has no name"; calling him Teacher of the Nation is also an imposed name. The Way of the National Teacher cannot be compared; he is so good at receiving people that Nanyang alone is allowed to be a master. 'He helped the Great Tang gain a true Son of Heaven; he once stepped on top of Vairocana's head and walked.' If one has the eyes of a monk with the eye, one must walk on top of Vairocana's head to see this Ten-bodied Tamer. The Buddha is called the Tamer, which is one of the ten epithets. One body transforms into ten bodies, ten bodies into a hundred bodies, up to thousands of billions of bodies; in outline it is only one body. This verse is easy to explain. Later, on 'Do not mistake your own pure Dharma body', the verse is such that water cannot splash it and it is truly hard to speak of. 'An iron hammer smashes the golden bones': this verse is about not mistaking your own pure Dharma body. Xuedou praises him too much: the golden bones are smashed by a single hammer. 'Between heaven and earth, what other thing is there?' One must be stark naked and bare, with nothing more to be grasped, which is the scenery of the original ground. It is like 'the three thousand realms and seas are deep in the night': in the fragrant-water seas of the three thousand great thousand worlds there are boundless realms, one sea to each realm; just when the night is still and deep, heaven and earth are all at once clear and limpid. Now tell me, what is this? Take great care not to understand it by closing the eyes. If you understand it like that, you fall right into the poisonous sea. 'I do not know who enters the dragon's cave': stretching a leg, drawing back a leg; now tell me, who is it? The nostrils of all of you have been pierced by Xuedou all at once.

垂示雲。收因結果。盡始盡終。對面無私。元不曾說。忽有箇出來道一夏請益為什麼不曾說。待爾悟來向爾道。且道為復是當面諱卻。為復別有長處。試舉看。

Introduction: Gathering the cause and tying up the effect, from beginning to end, face to face with no private thought, I never said anything at all. Suppose someone came out and said: "I asked for instruction for a whole summer; why was nothing said?" Wait until you awaken and I will tell you. Now tell me, was it concealing it to your face, or was there something special? Let us take it up and see.

【一〇〇】舉。僧問巴陵。如何是吹毛劍(斬嶮)。陵雲。珊瑚枝枝撐著月(光吞萬象。四海九州)。

[Case 100] Setting out: A monk asked Baling: "What is the sword that cuts a hair blown against it? (Cutting through danger.)" Baling said: "Every branch of coral holds up the moon (The light swallows the myriad forms; the four seas and nine provinces)."

巴陵不動干戈。四海五湖多少人舌頭落地。雲門接人正如此。他是雲門的子。亦各具箇作略。是故道。我愛韶陽新定機。一生與人抽釘拔楔。這箇話正恁麼地也。於一句中。自然具三句。函蓋乾坤句。截斷眾流句。隨波逐浪句。答得也不妨奇特。浮山遠錄公雲。未透底人參句不如參意。透得底人。參意不如參句。雲門下有三尊宿。答吹毛劍俱雲了。唯是巴陵答得過於了字。此乃得句也。且道。了字與珊瑚枝枝撐著月。是同是別。前來道。三句可辨。一鏃遼空。要會這話。須是絕情塵意想。淨盡方見他道珊瑚枝枝撐著有。若更作道理。轉見摸索不著。此語是禪月懷友人詩曰。厚似鐵圍山上鐵。薄似雙成仙體纈。蜀機鳳雛動蹶蹩。珊瑚枝枝撐著月。王凱家中藏難掘。顏回飢漢愁天雪。古檜筆直雷不折。雪衣石女蟠桃缺。佩入龍宮步遲遲。繡簾銀簟何參差。即不知驪龍失珠。知不知。巴陵於句中。取一句答吹毛劍。則是快。劍刃上吹毛試之。其毛自斷。乃利劍謂之吹毛也。巴陵只就他問處。便答這僧話。頭落也不知。頌雲。

Baling did not move shield or spear, yet how many people in the four seas and five lakes had their tongues fall to the ground! Yunmen received people in just this way. Being Yunmen's heir, he too had his own device. So it was said: "I love Shaoyang's new settled mechanism, who all his life pulled out nails and wedges for people." This saying is exactly so. In one phrase, naturally the three phrases are complete: the phrase that covers heaven and earth, the phrase that cuts off the many streams, and the phrase that follows the waves and chases the billows. His answer was quite extraordinary. Yuan Lu of Fushan said: "For one who has not yet penetrated, studying the phrase is not as good as studying the meaning; for one who has penetrated, studying the meaning is not as good as studying the phrase." Among Yunmen's line there were three venerables who answered about the hair-blown sword, and all spoke; only Baling's answer went beyond, and this is attaining the phrase. Now tell me, is the word 'finished' the same as or different from 'every branch of coral holds up the moon'? Earlier it was said that the three phrases could be told apart, a single arrow flying through the air. If you want to understand these words, you must cut off dust of feeling and thoughts of mind; only when they are wholly cleansed will you see what he means by 'every branch of coral holds up the moon' (the source text reads a different character here, which should be 'moon'). If you make it into principle, you turn to grope without finding it. These words come from the poet-monk Chanyue's poem for a friend: 'Thick as the iron of the Iron Ring Mountains, thin as the immortal Shuangcheng's dyed gauze. The Shu loom's phoenix chicks stumble and limp. Every branch of coral holds up the moon. Wang Kai's hidden treasure is hard to dig up. Yan Hui the hungry man grieves at the sky's snow. The old cypress is straight and thunder cannot break it. The snow-clad stone woman, the flawed immortal peach. Wearing it into the dragon palace, one steps slowly. How uneven are the embroidered curtain and the silver mat! But it is not known whether the black dragon has lost its pearl; does it know or not?' Baling took one phrase from this poem to answer about the hair-blown sword, which is quick. One tests the sword's blade by blowing a hair on it, and the hair cuts itself; this is called a sharp sword that cuts a hair blown against it. Baling simply answered the monk's question right at the place it was asked, and the head fell without his knowing. The verse says:

要平不平(細若蚍蜉。大丈夫漢須是恁麼)大巧若拙(不動聲色。藏身露影)

Wishing to level what is not level (fine as an ant; a great man must be like this), great skill seems clumsy (without moving a sound or a look, hiding the body and showing the shadow).

或指或掌(看。果然這箇不是)倚天照雪(斬。覷著則瞎)大冶兮磨礱不下(更用煆煉作什麼。幹將莫能來)

Now a finger, now a palm (look; indeed this is not it), leaning on heaven and shining on snow (cut. If you look at it, you go blind). The great smith does not stop grinding and polishing (what use is further forging? Ganjiang and Moye could not come), the master craftsman never ceases wiping and brushing (people cannot walk it; even if Ganjiang came out he would retreat three thousand li).

良工兮拂拭未歇(人莫能行。直饒幹將出來也倒退三千)

The master craftsman never ceases wiping and brushing (people cannot walk it; even if Ganjiang came out he would retreat three thousand li).

別別(咄。有什麼別處。讚歎有分)珊瑚枝枝撐著月(三更月落影照寒潭。且道向什麼處去。直得天下太平。醉後郎當愁殺人)

Different, different (Bah! What is different? There is some share in praising it). Every branch of coral holds up the moon (At the third watch the moon sets and its shadow shines on the cold pool. Now tell me, where does it go? It makes the whole world at peace; after drunkenness, reeling and slovenly, it kills with grief).

蚍蜉(音毘浮)

Ant (pronounced pi-fu).

要平不平。大巧若拙。古有俠客。路見不平。以強凌弱。即飛劍取強者頭。所以宗師家。眉藏寶劍袖掛金鎚。以斷不平之事。大巧若拙。巴陵答處。要平不平之事。為他語忒殺傷巧。返成拙相似。何故為他不當面揮來。卻去僻地裡。一截暗取人頭。而人不覺。或指或掌。倚天照雪。會得則如倚天長劍凜凜神威。古人道。心月孤圓。光吞萬象。光非照境。境亦非存。光境俱忘。復是何物。此寶劍或現在指上。忽現掌中。昔日慶藏主說到這裡。竪手雲。還見麼。也不必在手指上也。雪竇借路經過。教爾見古人意。且道一切處不可不是吹毛劍也。所以道。三級浪高魚化龍。痴人猶戽夜塘水。祖庭事苑載孝子傳云。楚王夫人。甞夏乘涼抱鐵柱感孕。後產一鐵塊。楚王令幹將鑄為劍。三年乃成雙劍。一雌一雄。幹將密留雄。以雌進於楚王。王秘於匣中。常聞悲鳴。王問群臣。臣曰。劍有雌雄。鳴者憶雄耳。王大怒即收幹將殺之。幹將知其應。乃以劍藏屋柱中。因囑妻莫耶曰。日出北戶。南山其松。松生於石。劍在其中。妻後生男。名眉間赤。年十五問母曰。父何在。母乃述前事。久思惟剖柱得劍。日夜欲為父報讎。楚王亦募覓其人。宣言。有得眉間赤者厚賞之。眉間赤遂逃。俄有客曰。子得非眉間赤邪。曰然。客曰。吾甑山人也。能為子報父讎。赤曰。父昔無辜。枉被荼毒。君今惠念。何所須邪。客曰。當得子頭並劍。赤乃與劍並頭。客得之進於楚王。王大喜。客曰。願煎油烹之。王遂投於鼎中。客詒於王曰。其首不爛。王方臨視。客於後以劍擬王頭墮鼎中。於是二首相囓。客恐眉間赤不勝。乃自刎以助之。三頭相囓。尋亦俱爛(川本無此楚王一段)雪竇道。此劍能倚天照雪。尋常道。倚天長劍光能照雪。這些子用處直得大冶兮磨礱不下。任是良工拂拭也未歇。良工即幹將是也。故事自顯。雪竇頌了末後顯出道。

'Wishing to level what is not level; great skill seems clumsy.' In ancient times there was a knight-errant who, on seeing injustice on the road, where the strong bullied the weak, would at once send a flying sword to take the head of the strong. So masters of the school hide a precious sword in the eyebrows and hang a golden hammer from the sleeve to cut off unjust affairs. 'Great skill seems clumsy': in Baling's answer, the matter of wishing to level the unlevel; because his words go too far and harm the skill, they turn into a clumsy look. Why? Because he does not wave it in your face, but goes into a remote place and takes a head in one cut in secret, and people do not notice. 'Now a finger, now a palm, leaning on heaven and shining on snow': if you understand, it is like a long sword leaning on heaven, awesome and spiritual. The ancients said: "The mind-moon is solitary and round, its light swallows the myriad forms; the light does not illuminate the realm, nor does the realm exist; when light and realm are both forgotten, what is that?" This precious sword sometimes appears on a finger, then suddenly appears in the palm. In the past Zangzhu Qing, when he reached this point, raised his hand and said: "Do you see it?" It need not be on the fingers either. Xuedou borrows a road to pass through, so that you can see the ancients' meaning. Now tell me, in every place, how can it not be the hair-blown sword? So it is said: "The wave of the third level is high and fish turn into dragons; the fool still bails the water of the night pond." The Garden of Patriarchal Affairs, citing the Biography of Filial Sons, says: the wife of the king of Chu, once cooling herself in summer, embraced an iron pillar and conceived, and later gave birth to a lump of iron. The king of Chu ordered Ganjiang to cast it into a sword, and after three years two swords were completed, one female and one male. Ganjiang secretly kept the male and presented the female to the king of Chu. The king kept it hidden in a case, and often heard it cry mournfully. The king asked his ministers, and they said: "Swords have male and female; the one that cries misses the male." The king was furious and had Ganjiang seized and killed. Ganjiang knew this would come to pass and had hidden the sword inside a pillar of the house, and told his wife Moye: "The sun comes out at the north door; the southern mountain has its pines; the pine grows on stone, and the sword is within." His wife later bore a son, named Red-between-the-Eyebrows. At fifteen he asked his mother: "Where is my father?" His mother told him the earlier events. After long thought he split the pillar and found the sword, and day and night wished to avenge his father. The king of Chu also offered a reward to find him, announcing: "Whoever gets Red-between-the-Eyebrows will be richly rewarded." Red then fled. Soon a guest said: "Are you not Red-between-the-Eyebrows?" He said: "Yes." The guest said: "I am a man of Zengshan, and can avenge your father for you." Red said: "My father was innocent and was wrongly poisoned and killed. Now that you show me such kindness, what do you need?" The guest said: "I need your head and the sword." Red then gave him the sword and his head. The guest took them and presented them to the king of Chu. The king was overjoyed. The guest said: "Let it be boiled in oil." The king then threw it into a cauldron. The guest tricked the king, saying: "Its head does not dissolve." When the king came to look, the guest from behind aimed the sword at the king's head, and it dropped into the cauldron. The two heads then bit at each other. The guest, fearing Red would lose, cut his own throat to help, and the three heads bit one another, and soon all dissolved. (The Sichuan edition lacks this passage about the king of Chu.) Xuedou said: this sword can lean on heaven and shine on snow. People commonly say: "A long sword leaning on heaven, its light can shine on snow." This little use of it: 'The great smith does not stop grinding and polishing; the master craftsman never ceases wiping and brushing.' The master craftsman is Ganjiang himself. The story shows itself, and Xuedou brings it out at the end of his verse.

別別也不妨奇特。別有好處。與尋常劍不同。且道如何是別處。珊瑚枝枝撐著月。可謂光前絕後獨據寰中。更無等匹。畢竟如何諸人頭落也。老僧更有一小偈。

(Yuanwu continues:) 'Different, different' is quite extraordinary; there is something good that is different, unlike an ordinary sword. Now tell me, what is the difference? 'Every branch of coral holds up the moon.' This may be called unprecedented and unsurpassed, alone holding the whole world with no equal. In the end, how is it? All your heads have fallen. This old monk has one more little verse.

詒(音待欺也)囓(倪結切噬也)

Dai (pronounced dai; to deceive). Nie (the fanqie is 'ni-jie'; to bite).

萬斛盈舟信手拏卻因一粒甕吞蛇

Ten thousand measures fill the boat; I take them in hand, yet because of one grain a jar swallowed a snake.

拈提百轉舊公案撒卻時人幾眼沙

Taking up and raising an old case a hundred times, I scatter sand in how many eyes of people today.