The Blue Cliff Record of Chan Master Foguo Yuanwu

江國春風吹不起(盡大地那裡得這消息。文彩已彰)鷓鴣啼在深花裡(喃喃何用。又被風吹別調中。豈有恁麼事)

The spring wind of the river country cannot stir it (where in the whole great earth does this news come from? The literary brilliance is already evident). The partridge cries deep among the flowers (what use is murmuring? And again blown by the wind into another tune; is there any such thing?).

三級浪高魚化龍(通這一路。莫謾大眾好。踏著龍頭)

Three tiers of waves are high, and the fish becomes a dragon (penetrate this road; do not deceive the assembly; step on the dragon's head).

痴人猶戽夜塘水(扶籬摸壁。挨門傍戶。衲僧有什麼用處。守株待兔)

Fools still bail out the night pond (feeling along the fence and the wall, leaning on doors and sidling past; what use is that to a patch-robed monk? Guarding a stump waiting for a hare).

雪竇是作家。於古人難咬難嚼難透難見節角誵訛處。頌出教人見。不妨奇特。雪竇識得法眼關棙子。又知慧超落處。更恐後人向法眼言句下。錯作解會。所以頌出這僧如此問。法眼如是答。便是江國春風吹不起。鷓鴣啼在深花裡。此兩句只是一句。且道雪竇意在什麼處。江西江南多作兩般解會道。江國春風吹不起。用頌汝是慧超。只這箇消息。直饒江國春風也吹不起。鷓鴣啼在深花裡。用頌諸方商量這話。浩浩地。似鷓鴣啼在深花裡相似。有什麼交涉。殊不知。雪竇這兩句。只是一句。要得無縫無罅。明明向汝道。言也端語也端。蓋天蓋地。他問如何是佛。法眼雲。汝是慧超。雪竇道。江國春風吹不起。鷓鴣啼在深花裡。向這裡薦得去。可以丹霄獨步。爾若作情解。三生六十劫。雪竇第三第四句。忒殺傷慈。為人一時說破。超禪師當下大悟處。如三級浪高魚化龍。痴人猶戽夜塘水。禹門三級浪。孟津即是龍門。禹帝鑿為三級。今三月三。桃花開時。天地所感。有魚透得龍門。頭上生角昂鬃鬣尾。拏雲而去。跳不得者點額而回。痴人向言下咬嚼。似戽夜塘之水求魚相似。殊不知。魚已化為龍也。端師翁有頌雲。一文大光錢。買得箇油餈。吃向肚裡了。當下不聞飢。此頌極好。只是太拙。雪竇頌得極巧。不傷鋒犯手。舊時慶藏主愛問人。如何是三級浪高魚化龍。我也不必在。我且問爾。化作龍去。即今在什麼處。

Xuedou is a master. At places where the ancients were hard to bite and chew, hard to penetrate and see, with knots and joints in confusion, he composed verses to let people see; quite remarkable. Xuedou recognized Fayan's pivot and also knew where Huichao landed. Fearing later people would misinterpret under Fayan's words, he composed the verse: that monk asked like this, and Fayan answered like this, and that is 'the spring wind of the river country cannot stir it; the partridge cries deep among the flowers.' These two lines are only one line. Tell me, where does Xuedou's meaning lie? In Jiangxi and Jiangnan they mostly interpret them as two. 'The spring wind of the river country cannot stir it' is used to praise 'you are Huichao'; this very news cannot be stirred even by the spring wind of the river country. 'The partridge cries deep among the flowers' is used to praise how everyone discusses this saying, vast and drifting, like a partridge crying deep among the flowers; what has that to do with it? Little do they know that these two lines of Xuedou are only one line; he wants it to be without seam or crack, and tells you plainly: the word is upright and the speech is upright, covering heaven and covering earth. He asked 'What is Buddha?' and Fayan said 'You are Huichao.' Xuedou says: 'The spring wind of the river country cannot stir it; the partridge cries deep among the flowers.' If you grasp it here, you can stroll alone in the crimson heavens. If you make an emotional interpretation, for three lives and sixty kalpas you will not get it. Xuedou's third and fourth lines are too compassionate; for the sake of people he explained it all at once. The place where Chan Master Chao awakened on the spot is like 'three tiers of waves are high, and the fish becomes a dragon,' and 'fools still bail out the night pond.' At Yu's Gate there are three tiers of waves; Mengjin is the Dragon Gate, which Emperor Yu cut into three tiers. Now on the third day of the third month, when peach blossoms open and Heaven and Earth are moved, there are fish that get through the Dragon Gate, grow horns on their heads, raise their manes and tails, and go off grasping the clouds; those that cannot leap return with a mark on their foreheads. Fools chew on the words, like bailing out a night pond to seek fish, little knowing the fish has already become a dragon. Teacher Duan has a verse: 'One coin of great bright money buys an oil cake; eaten into the belly, hunger is not felt at once.' This verse is extremely good, only too plain. Xuedou's verse is extremely skillful and does not injure the edge or hurt the hand. In the past Treasurer Qing liked to ask people: 'What is three tiers of waves are high and the fish becomes a dragon?' I need not be here; I will ask you: if it has become a dragon and gone, where is it right now?

垂示雲。會則途中受用。如龍得水。似虎靠山。不會則世諦流佈。羝羊觸藩守株待兔。有時一句。如踞地獅子。有時一句。如金剛王寶劍。有時一句。坐斷天下人舌頭。有時一句。隨波逐浪。若也途中受用。遇知音別機宜。識休咎相共證明。若也世諦流佈。具一隻眼。可以坐斷十方。壁立千仞。所以道。大用現前。不存軌則。有時將一莖草。作丈六金身用。有時將丈六金身。作一莖草用。且道。憑箇什麼道理。還委悉麼。試舉看。

Introduction. If you understand, you enjoy it along the road, like a dragon getting water, like a tiger leaning on a mountain. If you do not understand, you circulate in worldly truth, like a ram butting a hedge, guarding a stump waiting for a hare. Sometimes a line is like a lion crouching on the ground; sometimes a line is like the Vajra King's precious sword; sometimes a line cuts off the tongues of all under heaven; sometimes a line follows the waves and chases the swells. If you enjoy it along the road, you meet a kindred spirit, discern the mechanism and what suits it, recognize good and ill omens, and bear witness together. If you circulate in worldly truth, with one eye you can sit on and cut off the ten directions and stand like a wall a thousand fathoms high. So it is said: when the great function appears, no rules are kept. Sometimes one takes a blade of grass and uses it as a sixteen-foot golden body; sometimes one takes a sixteen-foot golden body and uses it as a blade of grass. Tell me, by what principle? Do you know it in detail? Let me bring it up.

【八】舉翠嵒夏末示眾雲。一夏以來。為兄弟說話(開口焉知恁麼)看翠嵒眉毛在麼(只贏得眼睛也落地。和鼻孔也失了。入地獄如箭射)保福雲。作賊人心虛(灼然是賊識賊)長慶雲。生也(舌頭落地。將錯就錯。果然)雲門雲。關(走在什麼處去。天下衲僧跳不出。敗也)。

[Case 8] Cited: Cuiyan at the end of summer addressed the assembly: 'All summer I have been speaking for you brothers (opening his mouth, how would he know this?). Look, are Cuiyan's eyebrows still there? (He only won for his eyes to fall to the ground, and even lost his nostrils; entering hell like an arrow shot.)' Baofu said: 'A thief has a guilty heart (clearly a thief recognizes a thief).' Changqing said: 'They have grown (tongue fallen to the ground; going along with the error; sure enough).' Yunmen said: 'Barrier! (Where is he going? No monk under heaven can leap out; defeated.)'

古人有晨參暮請。翠嵒至夏末。卻恁麼示眾。然而不妨孤峻。不妨驚天動地。且道。一大藏教。五千四十八卷。不免說心說性。說頓說漸。還有這箇消息麼。一等是恁麼時節。翠嵒就中奇特。看他恁麼道。且道他意落在什麼處。古人垂一鉤。終不虛設。須是有箇道理為人。人多錯會道。白日青天說無向當話。無事生事。夏末先自說過。先自點檢。免得別人點檢他。且喜沒交涉。這般見解。謂之滅胡種族。歷代宗師出世。若不垂示於人。都無利益。圖箇什麼。到這裡見得透。方知古人有驅耕夫之牛。奪飢人之食手段。如今人問著。便向言句下咬嚼。眉毛上作活計。看他屋裡人。自然知他行履處。千變萬化。節角聱訛。著著有出身之路。便能如此與他酬唱。此語若無奇特。雲門保福長慶三人。咂咂地與他酬唱作什麼。保福雲。作賊人心虛。只因此語。惹得適來說許多情解。且道保福意作麼生。切忌向句下覓他古人。爾若生情起念。則換爾眼睛。殊不知。保福下一轉語。截斷翠嵒腳跟。長慶雲。生也。人多道。長慶隨翠嵒腳跟轉。所以道生也。且得沒交涉。不知長慶自出他見解道生也。各有出身處。我且問爾。是什麼處是生處。一似作家面前。金剛王寶劍。直下便用。若能打破常流見解。截斷得失是非。方見長慶與他酬唱處。雲門雲。關。不妨奇特。只是難參。雲門大師。多以一字禪示人。雖一字中。須具三句。看他古人。臨機酬唱。自然與今時人逈別。此乃下句底樣子。他雖如此道。意決不在那裡。既不在那裡。且道在什麼處。也須子細自參始得。若是明眼人。有照天照地底手腳。直下八面玲瓏。雪竇為他一箇關字。和他三箇。穿作一串頌出。

The ancients had morning study and evening requests. Cuiyan, at the end of the summer, addressed the assembly like this, and it is certainly lofty and austere and earth-shaking. Tell me, the whole great treasury of teachings, five thousand and forty-eight scrolls, cannot avoid speaking of mind and nature, of the sudden and the gradual; is there this news in it? In the same sort of time, Cuiyan is especially remarkable. See him speak like this; tell me, where does his meaning land? When the ancients let down a hook, it was never set in vain; there must be a principle in it that helps people. People mostly misunderstand and say that in broad daylight and blue sky he says things that go nowhere, making trouble where there is none, confessing at the end of summer, checking himself first so that others would not check him. Happily that has nothing to do with it. Such a view is called wiping out the barbarian race. When the masters of successive generations came forth, if they did not give teaching to people, there would be no benefit at all; what would they seek? Seeing through it here, you will know the ancients had the skill to drive off the plowman's ox and snatch the hungry man's food. Today when people are asked, they only chew on the words and make a livelihood on the eyebrows. Look at those at home in the house; one naturally knows where they walk, with ten thousand changes, knots and joints in contradiction, with a way out at every move, and so can answer and sing in turn like this. If this line were not remarkable, why would Yunmen, Baofu, and Changqing, three men, smack their lips and answer him in turn? Baofu said: 'A thief has a guilty heart.' It is just this line that provoked all the emotional interpretations just now. Tell me, what is Baofu's meaning? Take care not to look for the ancients under his line. If you give rise to feelings and thoughts, they will swap your eyes. Little do you know that Baofu delivered a turning word and cut off Cuiyan's heels. Changqing said: 'They have grown.' Many people say Changqing followed Cuiyan's heels, and so said 'they have grown.' Happily that has nothing to do with it. They do not know that Changqing issued his own view in saying 'they have grown,' each with his own way out. Let me ask you: where is the place of growing? It is like the Vajra King's precious sword before a master, used directly. If you can smash the ordinary views, cut off gain and loss, right and wrong, you will see where Changqing answers him. Yunmen said: 'Barrier!' Quite remarkable, only hard to study. Great Master Yunmen mostly instructed people with one-word Chan, but in even one word the three phrases must be complete. Look at the ancients, answering at the occasion; it is naturally entirely different from people today. This is the pattern of the lower line. Although he spoke thus, his meaning certainly was not there. Since it is not there, tell me, where is it? You too must carefully investigate it yourself. If one is a clear-eyed person with skill that illuminates heaven and earth, he is directly eight-sided and brilliant. For the sake of that one word 'barrier,' Xuedou strung it together with the other three and composed his verse.

翠巖示徒(這老賊。教壞人家男女)千古無對(千箇萬箇。也有一箇半箇。分一節)

Cuiyan addressed his disciples (this old thief! He ruins other people's sons and daughters). Through the ages without a match (thousands and tens of thousands, yet there is one or half of one; share a section).

關字相酬(不信道。不妨奇特。若是恁麼人。方解恁麼道)失錢遭罪(飲氣吞聲。雪竇也不少。和聲便打)

Answered with the word 'barrier' (you do not believe it? Quite remarkable. Only such a man can speak like this). Lost the money and suffered the penalty (swallowing breath and voice; Xuedou has no small share; strike him along with the sound).

潦倒保福(同行道伴。猶作這去就。兩箇三箇)

Dejected Baofu (a fellow traveler and Dharma companion; still making such a coming and going; two or three of them).

抑揚難得(放行把住。誰是同生同死。莫謗他好。且喜沒交涉)嘮嘮翠巖(這野狐精。合取口好)分明是賊(道著也不妨。捉敗了也)

Praising and pressing are hard to attain (letting go and holding fast; who lives and dies together? Do not slander him; happily it has nothing to do with it). Prattling Cuiyan (this wild fox spirit; he should shut his mouth). Clearly a thief (it is no harm to say so; caught and defeated).

白圭無玷(還辨得麼。天下人不知價)

A white jade tablet with no flaw (do you still discern it? The whole world does not know its price).

誰辨真假(多隻是假。山僧從來無眼。碧眼胡僧)長慶相諳(是精識精。須是他始得。未得一半在)

Who discerns true from false? (Mostly false; this mountain monk has never had eyes; the blue-eyed barbarian monk.) Changqing knows him well (a spirit recognizes a spirit; it must be him to work; not yet half there).

眉毛生也(在什麼處。從頂門上。至腳跟下。一莖草也無)

The eyebrows have grown (where? From the crown of the head to below the heels, not even a single blade of grass).

雪竇若不恁麼慈悲頌出令人見。爭得名善知識。古人如此。一一皆是事不獲已。蓋為後學著他言句。轉生情解。所以不見古人意旨。如今忽有箇出來。掀倒禪床。喝散大眾。怪他不得。雖然如此。也須實到這田地始得。雪竇道。千古無對。他只道。看翠嵒眉毛在麼。有什麼奇特處。便乃千古無對。須知古人吐一言半句出來。不是造次。須是有定乾坤底眼始得。雪竇著一言半句。如金剛王寶劍。如踞地獅子。如擊石火。似閃電光。若不是頂門具眼。爭能見他古人落處。這箇示眾。直得千古無對。過於德山棒臨濟喝。且道雪竇為人意在什麼處。爾且作麼生會他道千古無對。關字相酬。失錢遭罪。這箇意如何。直饒是具透關底眼。到這裡也須子細始得。且道是翠巖失錢遭罪。是雪竇失錢遭罪。是雲門失錢遭罪。爾若透得。許爾具眼。潦倒保福。抑揚難得。抑自己揚古人。且道保福在什麼處是抑。什麼處是揚。嘮嘮翠巖。分明是賊。且道他偷什麼來。雪竇卻道是賊。切忌隨他語脈轉卻。到這裡須是自有操持始得。白圭無玷。頌翠巖大似白圭相似。更無些瑕翳。誰辨真假。可謂罕有人辨得。雪竇有大才。所以從頭至尾。一串穿卻。末後卻方道。長慶相諳。眉毛生也。且道。生也在什麼處。急著眼看。

If Xuedou had not been so compassionate in composing the verse to let people see, how could he be called a good teacher? The ancients were like this, and each time it was because it could not be helped, since later learners cling to their words and generate emotional interpretations, and so do not see the ancients' meaning. If someone suddenly came out now, overturned the meditation seat, and shouted the assembly away, one could not blame him. Even so, one must truly arrive at this ground before it works. Xuedou says: 'Through the ages without a match.' He only said: 'Look, are Cuiyan's eyebrows still there?' What is remarkable about that, that it should be without a match through the ages? One must know that when the ancients uttered a word or half a phrase it was not casual; one must have the eye that settles heaven and earth. When Xuedou set down a word or half a phrase, it was like the Vajra King's precious sword, like a lion crouching on the ground, like a spark from flint, like a flash of lightning. If one did not have the eye on the crown of the head, how could one see where the ancients landed? This address to the assembly is truly without a match through the ages, surpassing Deshan's staff and Linji's shout. Tell me, where does Xuedou's meaning in helping people lie? How will you understand that he says 'without a match through the ages,' 'answered with the word barrier,' and 'lost the money and suffered the penalty'? What is this meaning? Even if you have the eye that penetrates barriers, you must be careful here. Tell me, is it Cuiyan who lost the money and suffered the penalty, or Xuedou, or Yunmen? If you break through, I will allow that you have the eye. 'Dejected Baofu; praising and pressing are hard to attain': he presses himself down and praises the ancients. Tell me, where is Baofu pressing, and where is he praising? 'Prattling Cuiyan, clearly a thief': tell me, what did he steal? Xuedou says he is a thief; take care not to be turned by his line of speech. Here one must have one's own grip. 'A white jade tablet with no flaw': he praises Cuiyan as being very like a white jade tablet without the slightest flaw. 'Who discerns true from false?': one could say few can discern. Xuedou has great talent, so he strung it through from beginning to end. At the very end he only said: 'Changqing knows him well; the eyebrows have grown.' Tell me, where are they growing? Look quickly.

垂示雲。明鏡當臺。妍醜自辨。鏌鎁在手。殺活臨時。漢去胡來。胡來漢去。死中得活。活中得死。且道到這裡。又作麼生。若無透關底眼轉身處。到這裡灼然不柰何。且道如何是透關底眼。轉身處。試舉看。

Introduction. When a bright mirror stands on its stand, beauty and ugliness are distinguished by themselves. With the Moye sword in hand, killing and giving life depend on the moment. The Han goes and the barbarian comes; the barbarian comes and the Han goes; one finds life in death and death in life. Tell me, what then? If you lack the eye that penetrates barriers and a place to turn the body, here you will clearly be helpless. Tell me, what is the eye that penetrates barriers and the place to turn the body? Let me bring it up.

【九】舉僧問趙州。如何是趙州(河北河南。總說不著。爛泥裡有刺。不在河南。正在河北)州雲。東門西門南門北門(開也。相罵饒爾接嘴。相唾饒爾潑水。見成公案。還見麼。便打)。

[Case 9] Cited: A monk asked Zhaozhou: 'What is Zhaozhou?' (Hebei and Henan, he cannot hit it at all; there is a thorn in the soft mud; not in Henan, exactly in Hebei.) Zhou said: 'East gate, west gate, south gate, north gate.' (Opened. When they curse each other, you may chime in; when they spit on each other, you may splash water; a ready-made case; do you still see it? Strike him!)

大凡參禪問道。明究自己。切忌揀擇言句。何故不見趙州舉道。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇。又不見雲門道。如今禪和子。三箇五箇聚頭口喃喃地。便道。這箇是上才語句。那箇是就身處打出語。不知古人方便門中。為初機後學。未明心地。未見本性。不得已而立箇方便語句。如祖師西來。單傳心印。直指人心。見性成佛。那裡如此葛藤。須是斬斷語言。格外見諦。透脫得去。可謂如龍得水。似虎靠山。久參先德。有見而未透。透而未明。謂之請益。若是見得透請益。卻要語句上週旋。無有凝滯。久參請益。與賊過梯。其實此事不在言句上。所以雲門道。此事若在言句上。三乘十二分教。豈是無言句。何須達磨西來。汾陽十八問中。此問謂之驗主問。亦謂之探拔問。這僧致箇問頭。也不妨奇特。若不是趙州。也難抵對他。這僧問如何是趙州。趙州是本分作家。便向道。東門西門南門北門。僧雲。某甲不問這箇趙州。州雲。爾問那箇趙州。後人喚作無事禪。賺人不少。何故他問趙州。州答雲。東門西門南門北門。所以只答他趙州。爾若恁麼會。三家村裡漢。更是會佛法去。只這便是破滅佛法。如將魚目比況明珠。似則似是則不是。山僧道。不在河南。正在河北。且道是有事是無事。也須是子細始得。遠錄公雲。末後一句。始到牢關。指南之旨不在言詮。十日一風。五日一雨。安邦樂業。鼓腹謳歌。謂之太平時節。謂之無事。不是拍盲便道無事。須是透過關捩子。出得荊棘林。淨裸裸赤灑灑。依前似平常人。由爾有事也得。無事也得。七縱八橫。終不執無定有。有般底人道。本來無一星事。但只遇茶吃茶。遇飯吃飯。此是大妄語。謂之未得謂得。未證謂證。元來不曾參得透。見人說心說性說玄說妙。便道只是狂言。本來無事。可謂一盲引眾盲。殊不知。祖師未來時。那裡喚天作地。喚山作水。來為什麼祖師更西來。

In general, in studying Chan and asking about the Way, to clarify oneself, take care not to pick and choose among words and phrases. Why? Have you not heard Zhaozhou cite: the supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing. And have you not heard Yunmen say: today's Chan followers gather in threes and fives and mutter, saying: this is a line of the highest talent, and that one is a saying struck out on the spot. They do not know that in the gate of expedients of the ancients, for beginners and latecomers who have not yet understood the mind-ground or seen the original nature, they had no choice but to set up expedient words and phrases. When the Patriarch came from the West, he transmitted mind-seal alone, pointing directly to the human mind, seeing nature and becoming Buddha; how could there be such tangled vines? One must cut off words and language, see truth outside the pattern, and break through; one could say it is like a dragon getting water, like a tiger leaning on a mountain. Long-studied virtuous elders have seen but not penetrated, or penetrated but not clarified, and this is called requesting further instruction. If one has seen through, one requests further instruction in order to maneuver in words and phrases without hindrance. Long-studied monks requesting instruction is like giving a ladder to a thief. In truth, this matter is not in words and phrases. So Yunmen said: if this matter were in words and phrases, the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings are not lacking in words and phrases; why would Bodhidharma have needed to come from the West? In Fenyang's eighteen questions, this question is called the question to test the host, also called the question that probes and uproots. This monk's posing of the question is quite remarkable. If it were not Zhaozhou, it would be hard to answer him. This monk asked 'What is Zhaozhou?' Zhaozhou was a native master and told him: 'East gate, west gate, south gate, north gate.' The monk said: 'I am not asking about that Zhaozhou.' Zhou said: 'You are asking about which Zhaozhou?' Later people call this 'no-matter Chan,' which has misled many. Why? He asked about Zhaozhou, and Zhou answered: 'East gate, west gate, south gate, north gate.' So he only answered about the city of Zhaozhou. If you understand it like this, you are a fellow in a three-family village going to understand the Buddha Dharma; this is precisely destroying the Buddha Dharma, like comparing a fish eye to a bright pearl: like, it is like, but right, it is not right. This mountain monk says: not in Henan, exactly in Hebei. Tell me, is it with matter or without matter? One must be careful here. Master Yuanlu said: the final line only then arrives at the stronghold barrier; the meaning of the south-pointing needle is not in explanation. Wind every ten days, rain every five days, the country at peace and people at ease in their work, patting their bellies and singing: this is called a time of great peace, and is called no-matter. It is not that one blindly says no-matter. One must pass through the pivot, get out of the thorn forest, stark naked and bare, and still be like an ordinary person; whether you say there is matter or no matter, in seven vertical and eight horizontal ways you do not cling to nothing or fix on something. There are people who say: originally there is not a speck of matter; just drink tea when you meet tea and eat rice when you meet rice. This is a great false statement, called claiming to have attained what one has not attained and claiming to have realized what one has not realized. Originally they have never studied through; seeing others speak of mind, nature, the profound, and the wondrous, they say it is all mad talk and originally no-matter. One could say one blind man leads a crowd of blind men. Little do they know that before the Patriarch came, where did anyone call heaven earth, or call mountains water? Why then did the Patriarch come again from the West?

諸方陞堂入室。說箇什麼。盡是情識計較。若是情識計較。情盡方見得透。若見得透。依舊天是天。地是地。山是山。水是水。古人道。心是根。法是塵。兩種猶如鏡上痕。到這箇田地。自然淨裸裸赤灑灑。若極則理論。也未是安穩處在。到這裡。人多錯會。打在無事界裡。佛也不禮。香也不燒。似則也似。爭奈脫體不是。才問著。卻是極則相似才拶著。七花八裂。坐在空腹高心處。及到臘月三十日。換手搥胸。已是遲了也。這僧恁麼問。趙州恁麼答。且道作麼生摸索。恁麼也不得。不恁麼也不得。畢竟如何。這些子是難處。所以雪竇拈出來。當面示人。趙州一日坐次。侍者報雲。大王來也。趙州矍然雲。大王萬福。侍者雲。未到和尚。州雲。又道來也。參到這裡。見到這裡。不妨奇特。南禪師拈雲。侍者只知報客。不知身在帝鄉。趙州入草求人。不覺渾身泥水。這些子實處。諸人還知麼。看取雪竇頌。

(Yuanwu continued:) Ascending the hall and entering the room in all quarters, what do they speak of? All is emotional consciousness and calculation. If it is emotional consciousness and calculation, one sees through only when feelings are exhausted. If one sees through, heaven is still heaven, earth is still earth, mountains are still mountains, water is still water. The ancients said: mind is the root, dharma is the dust; both are like marks on a mirror. Arriving at this ground, one is naturally stark naked and bare. Even a most ultimate theory is not yet a place of rest. Here many people misunderstand and fall into the realm of no-matter; they do not bow to buddhas and do not burn incense. It seems like it, but alas, it is completely not so. As soon as they are asked, they seem ultimate; as soon as they are pressed, they split into seven flowers and eight cracks, sitting in an empty belly and high mind. When the thirtieth of the twelfth month comes, changing hands and beating the chest, it is already too late. This monk asks like this, Zhaozhou answers like this; tell me, how do you grope for it? Not like this will not do, and like this will not do either. What finally? This little bit is the hard place. So Xuedou brought it out and showed it to people directly. One day Zhaozhou was sitting, and the attendant reported: 'The Grand King has come.' Zhaozhou started and said: 'Grand King, good fortune.' The attendant said: 'He has not yet arrived, Master.' Zhou said: 'Again you say he has come.' Studying and seeing to this point is quite remarkable. Chan Master Nan took it up and said: 'The attendant only knew to announce a guest and did not know he himself was in the imperial capital. Zhaozhou entered the weeds to seek people and did not notice that he was covered in mud and water.' This little real place, do you all know it? Look at Xuedou's verse.

句裡呈機劈面來(響。魚行水濁。莫謗趙州好)爍迦羅眼絕纖埃(撒沙撒土。莫帶累趙州。撈天摸地。作什麼)

In the line the mechanism is presented, coming straight at the face (it echoes; fish moving make the water muddy; do not slander Zhaozhou). The Sakra eye has not a speck of dust (scattering sand and scattering dirt; do not implicate Zhaozhou; groping at heaven and earth, what for?).

東西南北門相對(開也。那裡有許多門。背卻趙州城。向什麼處去)

East, west, south, north, the gates face each other (opened; where are so many gates? Turning your back on Zhaozhou city, where will you go?).

無限輪鎚擊不開(自是爾輪鎚不到。開也)

Countless wheel-hammers cannot strike it open (it is just that your wheel-hammer does not reach; opened).

趙州臨機。一似金剛王寶劍。擬議即截卻爾頭。往往更當面換卻爾眼睛。這僧也敢捋虎鬚致箇問頭。大似無事生事。爭奈句中有機。他既呈機來。趙州也不辜負他問頭。所以亦呈機答。不是他特地如此。蓋為透底人自然合轍。一似安排來相似。不見有一外道。手握雀兒。來問世尊雲。且道某甲手中雀兒。是死耶是活耶。世尊遂騎門閫雲。爾道我出耶入耶(一本雲。世尊竪起拳頭雲。開也合也)外道無語。遂禮拜。此話便似這公案。古人自是血脈不斷。所以道。問在答處。答在問處。雪竇如此見得透。便道句裡呈機劈面來。句裡有機。如帶兩意。又似問人。又似問境相似。趙州不移易一絲毫。便向他道。東門西門南門北門。爍迦羅眼絕纖埃。此頌趙州人境俱奪。向句裡呈機與他答。此謂之有機有境。才轉便照破他心膽。若不如此難塞他問頭爍迦羅眼者。是梵語。此雲堅固眼。亦云金剛眼。照見無礙。不唯千里明察秋毫。亦乃定邪決正。辨得失。別機宜識休咎。雪竇雲。東西南北門相對。無限輪鎚擊不開。既是無限輪鎚。何故擊不開。自是雪竇見處如此。爾諸人又作麼生。得此門開去。請參詳看。

Zhaozhou meets the moment like the Vajra King's precious sword: the instant you hesitate, he cuts off your head, and often he swaps out your eyes to your face. This monk also dared to stroke the tiger's whiskers by raising a question; it was much like making trouble where there was none. But there was a spring of the mechanism within his words. Since he presented the mechanism, Zhaozhou did not fail his question, and so he presented the mechanism in reply. It was not that he did so on purpose; it is only that people who have penetrated to the bottom naturally fit the same track, as if it had been arranged. Have you not seen the heretic who held a sparrow in his hand and came to ask the World-Honored One: tell me, is the sparrow in my hand dead or alive? The World-Honored One then sat astride the threshold and said: you say, am I going out or coming in? (One version says: the World-Honored One raised his fist and said: open or closed?) The heretic had no words, and bowed. This story is just like this case. The ancients' bloodline simply never broke. So it is said: the question lies in the answer, and the answer lies in the question. Xuedou saw through to this degree, and so said: within the phrase the mechanism is presented straight in your face. Within the phrase there is a mechanism; it is as if it carried two meanings, as if asking about the person and also about the realm. Zhaozhou did not shift by a hair, and simply told him: east gate, west gate, south gate, north gate. The Sakra eye leaves not a speck of dust. This verse is about Zhaozhou taking away both person and realm, presenting the mechanism within the phrase as his answer. This is called having both mechanism and realm. The moment it turns, it shines through his gall and heart. If it were not so, it would be hard to stop up his question. Sakra eye is a Sanskrit term, here meaning the firm eye, also called the diamond eye. It illuminates without obstruction. It not only sees clearly at a thousand miles and discerns the tip of an autumn hair, but also settles the false and decides the right, tells gain from loss, distinguishes the opportune and recognizes good and bad fortune. Xuedou says: east, west, south and north gates face each other; countless wheels and hammers cannot strike them open. Since there are countless wheels and hammers, why can they not strike it open? That is simply how Xuedou sees it. And all of you, what about you? How can you get this gate to open? Please consider it.

垂示雲。恁麼恁麼。不恁麼不恁麼。若論戰也。箇箇立在轉處。所以道。若向上轉去。直得釋迦彌勒。文殊普賢。千聖萬聖。天下宗師。普皆飲氣吞聲。若向下轉去。醯雞蠛蠓。蠢動含靈。一一放大光明。一一壁立萬仞。儻或不上不下。又作麼生商量。有條攀條。無條攀例。試舉看。

The introduction says: Thus, thus. Not thus, not thus. If it comes to battle, every one of them stands at the turning point. So it is said: if you turn upward, Shakyamuni and Maitreya, Manjushri and Samantabhadra, a thousand sages and ten thousand sages, the masters of the whole world will all swallow their breath and hold their voice. If you turn downward, vinegar gnats and tiny midges, wriggling creatures and sentient beings, each one emits great light, and each one stands as a wall ten thousand fathoms high. If you neither go up nor down, then how will you deliberate? If there is a branch, grasp the branch; if there is no branch, grasp a precedent. Try citing it and see.

【一〇】舉睦州問僧近離甚處(探竿影草)僧便喝(作家禪客。且莫詐明頭也解恁麼去)州雲。老僧被汝一喝(陷虎之機。猱人作麼)僧又喝(看取頭角。似則似。是則未是。只恐龍頭蛇尾)州雲。三喝四喝後作麼生(逆水之波。未曾有一人出得頭。入那裡去)僧無語(果然摸索不著)州便打雲(若使睦州盡令而行。盡大地草木。悉斬為三段)這掠虛頭漢(放過一著。落在第二)。

[Case 10] Cited: Muzhou asked a monk, "Where have you come from lately?" (Probing with a pole and a grass shadow.) The monk shouted. (A true practitioner of Chan. Do not feign a bright head; he knows how to go on like this.) Muzhou said, "This old monk has been shouted at by you." (A trap to catch a tiger. What is he provoking people for?) The monk shouted again. (Look at the head and horns. It resembles, but it is not yet right; I fear a dragon's head and a snake's tail.) Muzhou said, "After three shouts and four shouts, then what?" (A wave against the current; no one has ever stuck his head out. Where does he enter?) The monk had no words. (Sure enough, he fumbles and finds nothing.) Muzhou struck him and said, (If Muzhou had carried out his order in full, all the grass and trees on the whole earth would have been cut in three pieces.) "You fellow who grabs at empty heads!" (Let one move go by, and you fall into second place.)

大凡扶竪宗教。須是有本分宗師眼目。有本分宗師作用。睦州機鋒。如閃電相似。愛勘座主。尋常出一言半句。似箇荊棘叢相似。著腳手不得。他才見僧來。便道見成公案。放爾三十棒。又見僧雲。上座。僧回首。州雲。簷板漢。又示眾雲。未有箇入頭處。須得箇入頭處。既得箇入頭處。不得辜負老僧。睦州為人多如此。這僧也善雕琢。爭奈龍頭蛇尾。當時若不是睦州。也被他惑亂一場。只如他問近離什麼處。僧便喝。且道他意作麼生。這老漢也不忙。緩緩地向他道。老僧被汝一喝。似領他話在一邊。又似驗他相似。斜身看他如何。這僧又喝。似則似是則未是。被這老漢穿卻鼻孔來也。遂問雲。三喝四喝後作麼生。這僧果然無語。州便打雲。這掠虛頭漢。驗人端的處。下口便知音。可惜許。這僧無語。惹得睦州道掠虛頭漢。若是諸人。被睦州道三喝四喝後作麼生。合作麼生祇對。免得他道掠虛頭漢。這裡若是識存亡。別休咎。腳踏實地漢。誰管三喝四喝後作麼生。只為這僧無語。被這老漢便據欵結案。聽取雪竇頌出。

In general, to prop up and establish the teaching of the school, one must have the eye of a master of the true lineage and the function of a master of the true lineage. Muzhou's sharpness was like lightning. He loved to test lecturers. Usually he would put out a word or half a phrase like a bramble thicket, where one could not set hands or feet. As soon as he saw a monk coming, he would say, "Ready-made case, I let you off thirty blows." Seeing another monk, he said, "Venerable!" and when the monk turned his head, Muzhou said, "You board-carrying fellow!" Also, addressing the assembly, he said, "There is as yet no entry point; you must find a point of entry. Once you have found an entry point, you must not fail this old monk." Muzhou was often like this in his way of helping people. This monk too was a skillful carver, but alas, a dragon's head and a snake's tail. If it had not been Muzhou at the time, he would also have been thrown into confusion by him. Just look: when Muzhou asked where he had come from lately, the monk shouted. Tell me, what was his intention? This old fellow was not in a hurry; he said slowly, "This old monk has been shouted at by you." It was as if he took his word and set it aside, and also as if testing him, leaning his body to see what he would do. The monk shouted again. It resembles, but it is not yet right; he had his nostrils pierced by this old fellow. Then Muzhou asked, "After three shouts and four shouts, then what?" The monk indeed had no words. Muzhou struck him and said, "You fellow who grabs at empty heads!" He tests a person's real place; the moment he opens his mouth, he knows the tone. What a pity. The monk had no words, which led Muzhou to say "fellow who grabs at empty heads." If it were any of you, when Muzhou said "After three shouts and four shouts, then what?", how would you answer to avoid being called a fellow who grabs at empty heads? If here you can recognize life and death and tell good from ill fortune, a man with his feet on solid ground, who cares what comes after three shouts and four shouts? It was only because this monk had no words that the old fellow made his statement and closed the case. Listen to Xuedou's verse.

兩喝與三喝(雷聲浩大。雨點全無。自古至今。罕有人恁麼)作者知機變(若不是作家爭驗得只恐不恁麼)

Two shouts and three shouts (Great thunder, but not a drop of rain. From ancient times to now, few have been like this.) A master knows how to change at the moment (If he were not a master, how could he test? I only fear it is not so.)

若謂騎虎頭(㘞瞎漢。虎頭如何騎。多少人恁麼會。也有人作這見解)

If you say you are riding the tiger's head (Blind fellow! How can you ride a tiger's head? How many people understand it like this? Some also hold this kind of view.)

二俱成瞎漢(親言出親口。何止兩箇。自領出去)誰瞎漢(教誰辨。賴有末後句。洎乎賺殺人)拈來天下與人看(看即不無。覰著即瞎。闍梨若著眼看。則兩手掊空。恁麼舉。且道是第幾機)

Both become blind men (Close words come from a close mouth; why only two? Take them out yourself.) Who is the blind man? (Whom do you ask to judge? Thanks to the last line, he nearly deceived people to death.) Pick up the whole world and show it to people. (Looking is not absent, but if you glance at it you are blind. If you, Zhili, look with your eyes, you will clap two empty hands. Cited like this, tell me, what stage of the mechanism is it?)

雪竇不妨有為人處。若不是作者。只是胡喝亂喝。所以古人道。有時一喝不作一喝用。有時一喝卻作一喝用。有時一喝如踞地獅子。有時一喝如金剛王寶劍。興化道。我見爾諸人。東廊下也喝。西廊下也喝。且莫胡喝亂喝。直饒喝得興化。上三十三天。卻撲下來。氣息一點也無。待我甦醒起來。向汝道未在。何故。興化未曾向紫羅帳裡撤真珠。與爾諸人在。只管胡喝亂喝作什麼。臨濟道。我聞汝等。總學我喝。我且問爾。東堂有僧出。西堂有僧出。兩箇齊下喝。那箇是賓。那箇是主。爾若分賓主不得。已後不得學老僧。所以雪竇頌道。作者知機變。這僧雖被睦州收。他卻有識機變處。且道什麼處。是這僧識機變處。鹿門智禪師。點這僧雲。識法者懼。巖頭道。若論戰也。箇箇立在轉處。黃龍心和尚道。窮則變。變則通。這箇些子。是祖師坐斷天下人舌頭處。爾若識機變。舉著便知落處。有般漢雲。管他道三喝四喝作什麼。只管喝將去。說什麼三十二十喝。喝到彌勒佛下生。謂之騎虎頭。若恁麼知見。不識睦州則故是。要見這僧太遠在。如人騎虎頭。須是手中有刀。兼有轉變始得。雪竇道。若恁麼。二俱成瞎漢。雪竇似倚天長劍。凜凜全威。若會得雪竇意。自然千處萬處一時會。便見他雪竇後面頌。只是下注腳。又道誰瞎漢。且道是賓家瞎。是主家瞎。莫是賓主一時瞎麼。拈來天下與人看。此是活處。雪竇一時頌了也。為什麼卻道。拈來天下與人看。且道作麼生看。開眼也著。閤眼也著。還有人免得麼。

Xuedou truly has a way of helping people. If he were not a master, he would simply shout wildly. So the ancients said: sometimes a shout is not used as a shout; sometimes a shout is used as a shout. Sometimes a shout is like a crouching lion; sometimes a shout is like the Vajra King's precious sword. Xinghua said: I see all of you shouting in the east corridor and shouting in the west corridor. Do not shout wildly. Even if you shout Xinghua up to the Thirty-Three Heavens and he comes crashing back down without a breath left, wait until I revive and I will tell you it is still not it. Why? Xinghua has not yet scattered real pearls in the purple silk curtain for you all. What do you shout wildly for? Linji said: I hear that all of you are learning my shout. Let me ask you: a monk comes out from the east hall and a monk comes out from the west hall, and the two shout together; which is the guest and which is the host? If you cannot tell guest from host, do not imitate this old monk afterward. So Xuedou's verse says: a master knows how to change at the moment. Although this monk was gathered in by Muzhou, he had some place where he recognized the change. Tell me, where is the place where this monk recognized the change? Chan Master Zhi of Lumen pointed to this monk and said: one who knows the Dharma is afraid. Yantou said: if it comes to battle, every one stands at the turning point. Abbot Xin of Huanglong said: when stuck, change; when changed, pass through. This little bit is where the patriarchs sit and cut off the tongues of all people. If you recognize the change, the moment it is raised you know where it falls. There is a type of fellow who says: why care about three shouts or four shouts? Just keep shouting, what is all this thirty or twenty shouts? Shout until Maitreya Buddha descends to be born; this is called riding the tiger's head. If one's understanding is like this, then not knowing Muzhou is fine, but to see this monk is far off. Like a person riding a tiger's head, one must have a knife in hand and also be able to change before one can proceed. Xuedou says: if so, both become blind men. Xuedou is like a long sword leaning on the sky, awesome in full power. If you understand Xuedou's intention, you naturally understand a thousand places and ten thousand places at once, and you will see that Xuedou's later verses merely add a footnote. He also says: who is the blind man? Tell me, is it the guest who is blind or the host who is blind? Could it be that guest and host are blind together? Pick up the whole world and show it to people. This is the living place. Xuedou finished the verse in one go; why then does he say, pick up the whole world and show it to people? Tell me, how does one look? Open your eyes, it is there; close your eyes, it is there. Is there anyone who escapes it?

臣聞。三乘路廣。法界無涯。智海晏清。十方安泰。時有魔軍兢起。侵撓心田。六賊既強。心王驚動。朝生百怪。暮起千邪。撼惑真如。困勞法體。菩提道路。隔絕不通。破壞涅槃。傷殘三寶。無為珠玉。悉被偷將。大藏法財。皆遭劫奪。塵勞翳日。慾火亙天。飄蕩法城。焚燒聖境。臣乃見如斯暴亂。恐佛法以難存。遂與六波羅蜜商量。同為剪滅。遣性空為密使。聽探魔軍。見今屯在五蘊山中。有八萬四千餘眾。既知體勢。計在剎那。遂點十八界雄兵。並立體空為號。人人有無礙之力。箇箇懷勇健之能。直心為見性之功。一正去百邪之亂。擐堅固甲。執三昧鏘。智箭禪弓光明慧劒。向大乘門中訓練。寂滅山內安營。三明嶺上開旗。八正路邊排布。遣大覺性。為捉生之將。遊歷四方。搜求妄想之蹤。抄截無明之蹟。復使慈悲王。破三毒之寨。忍辱帥伐嗔怒之城。精進軍除傲慢之妖。喜捨士捉慳貪之賊。逡巡而魔軍大起。殺氣沖天。臣乃部領摩訶。一時齊入。當爾之時。眼不觀色。耳不聽聲。鼻不嗅香。舌不了味。身不受觸。意不攀緣。一志向前。念念不退。倏忽而魔軍大敗。六賊全輸。殺戮無邊。掃除蕩盡。生擒妄想。活捉無明。領向涅槃場中。以慧劍斬為三段。煩惱林當時摧折。人我山化作微塵。痴愛網遭智火焚燒。邪見林被慧風吹竭。因茲三明再朗。四智重圓。內外無瑕。廓然清淨。心王坐歡喜之殿。真如登解脫之樓。自性遊無礙之堂。三身踞法空之座。從茲法界寧靜。永絕囂塵。共渡生死之河。齊到菩提之岸。魔軍既退。合具奏聞。

Your subject has heard that the road of the Three Vehicles is broad and the Dharma realm is boundless. When the sea of wisdom is calm and clear, the ten directions are safe and at peace. At times the armies of Mara rise in rivalry and invade and harass the field of the mind. When the six thieves are strong, the Mind King is alarmed. In the morning a hundred monsters are born, and in the evening a thousand evils arise, shaking and confusing True Suchness and wearying the body of the Dharma. The road to bodhi is cut off and impassable, nirvana is damaged, and the Three Jewels are injured. The pearls and jade of the unconditioned are all stolen away, and the Dharma wealth of the great treasury is robbed. The dust of toil darkens the sun, and the fire of desire stretches across the sky, drifting through the Dharma city and burning the holy realm. Your subject saw such violence and disorder and feared the Buddha Dharma could hardly survive. So he consulted with the six paramitas and together resolved to wipe them out. He sent Emptiness of Nature as a secret envoy to scout the army of Mara. It is now encamped in the Mountain of the Five Aggregates, with more than eighty-four thousand troops. Having learned their strength and position, the plan was set in a moment. So he mustered the heroic troops of the eighteen realms, and took the realization of emptiness as the watchword. Each person had unobstructed strength, and each held brave and robust ability. The straight mind was the merit of seeing nature, and one correct thing drove off the chaos of a hundred evils. They donned the firm armor, held the spear of samadhi, the arrow of wisdom, the bow of Chan, and the bright sword of insight, drilled in the gate of the Great Vehicle, camped in the Mountain of Quiescence, raised banners on the Ridge of the Three Insights, and drew up ranks along the road of the Eightfold Path. He sent Great Awakening Nature as the general who takes prisoners alive, to roam the four quarters, search for traces of deluded thought, and intercept the tracks of ignorance. He also sent the King of Compassion to break the stockade of the three poisons, the commander Patience to attack the city of anger, the army of Diligence to remove the demon of arrogance, and the knights of Giving to seize the thief of greed. In a moment the army of Mara rose in force, its killing intent striking the sky. Your subject led the mahasattvas and all entered at once. At that very time, the eyes did not look at forms, the ears did not hear sounds, the nose did not smell scents, the tongue did not taste flavors, the body did not receive touch, and the mind did not cling to objects. With a single aim they advanced, thought after thought without retreat. In an instant the army of Mara was utterly defeated, the six thieves all lost, the slaughter was boundless, and all was swept clean. Deluded thought was captured alive and ignorance was seized living. They were led to the grounds of nirvana, and cut into three pieces with the sword of wisdom. The forest of afflictions was broken then and there, the mountain of self and other turned into fine dust, the net of delusion and love was burned by the fire of wisdom, and the forest of wrong views was blown dry by the wind of insight. Thereupon the Three Insights shone again and the Four Wisdoms were again complete, inside and out without flaw, clear and pure. The Mind King sat in the hall of joy, True Suchness ascended the tower of liberation, Self-Nature roamed the hall of non-obstruction, and the Three Bodies took their seats on the throne of the emptiness of dharmas. From then on the Dharma realm was tranquil and forever cut off from noisy dust, together crossing the river of birth and death and arriving at the shore of bodhi. Since the army of Mara has withdrawn, it is fitting to report it all.

垂示雲。佛祖大機。全歸掌握。人天命脈。悉受指呼。等閑一句一言。驚群動眾。一機一境。打鎖敲枷。接向上機。提向上事。且道什麼人曾恁麼來。還有知落處麼。試舉看。

The introduction says: The great mechanism of the buddhas and patriarchs is all within their grasp; the lifeblood of humans and devas is entirely at their pointing and calling. Even an idle word or phrase startles the crowd and moves the multitude; one mechanism, one realm, breaks locks and smashes cangues. They receive the mechanism of the upward and raise the matter of the upward. Tell me, who has ever gone through this? Is there anyone who knows where it falls? Try citing it and see.

【一一】舉黃檗示眾雲(打水礙盆。一口吞盡。天下衲僧跳不出)汝等諸人。盡是噇酒糟漢。恁麼行腳(道著。踏破草鞋。掀天搖地)何處有今日(用今日作什麼。不妨驚群動眾)還知大唐國裡無禪師麼(老僧不會。一口吞盡。也是雲居羅漢)時有僧出雲。只如諸方匡徒領眾。又作麼生(也好與一拶。臨機不得不恁麼)檗雲。不道無禪。只是無師(直得分疎不下。瓦解氷消。龍頭蛇尾漢)。

[Case 11] Cited: Huangbo addressed the assembly, saying (Splashing water, he hits the basin. He swallows it in one gulp; the monks of the whole world cannot jump out.), "All of you are wine-dregs guzzlers. Wandering on pilgrimage like this (To say it is to wear out straw sandals; it overturns heaven and shakes earth.), where would there be a day like today? (What use is there for today? It certainly startles the crowd and moves the multitude.) Do you even know that in the Great Tang there are no Chan teachers?" (The old monk does not understand. He swallows it in one gulp; he too is an arhat of Yunju.) At that time a monk came forward and said, "But those in every quarter who lead disciples and guide assemblies, what about them?" (He deserves a squeeze; meeting the moment, he could not but do this.) Huangbo said, "I do not say there is no Chan, only that there are no teachers." (He cannot explain it at all; it collapses like tiles and melts like ice; a dragon head and a snake tail.)

黃檗身長七尺。額有圓珠。天性會禪。師昔遊天台。路逢一僧。與之談笑。如故相識。熟視之目光射人。頗有異相。乃偕行。屬溪水暴漲。乃植杖捐笠而止。其僧率師同渡。師曰。請渡。彼即褰衣。躡波如履平地。回顧雲渡來渡來。師咄雲。這自了漢。吾早知揑怪。當斫汝脛。其僧歎曰。真大乘法器。言訖不見。初到百丈。丈問雲。巍巍堂堂。從什麼處來。檗雲。巍巍堂堂從嶺中來。丈雲。來為何事。檗雲。不為別事。百丈深器之。次日辭百丈。丈雲。什麼處去。檗雲。江西禮拜馬大師去。丈雲。馬大師已遷化去也。儞道黃檗恁麼問。是知來問。是不知來問。卻雲。某甲特地去禮拜。福緣淺薄。不及一見。未審平日有何言句。願聞舉示。丈遂舉再參馬祖因緣。祖見我來。便竪起拂子。我問雲。即此用。離此用。祖遂掛拂子於禪床角良久。祖卻問我。汝已後鼓兩片皮。如何為人。我取拂子竪起。祖雲。即此用。離此用。我將拂子。掛禪床角。祖振威一喝。我當時直得三日耳聾。黃檗不覺悚然吐舌。丈雲。子已後莫承嗣馬大師麼。檗雲。不然。今日因師舉。得見馬大師大機大用。若承嗣馬師。他日已後喪我兒孫。丈雲。如是如是。見與師齊。減師半德。智過於師。方堪傳授。子今見處宛有超師之作。諸人且道。黃檗恁麼問。是知而故問耶。是不知而問耶。須是親見他家父子行履處始得。黃檗一日又問百丈。從上宗乘。如何指示。百丈良久。檗雲。不可教後人斷絕去。百丈雲。將謂汝是箇人。遂乃起入方丈。檗與裴相國為方外友。裴鎮宛陵請師至郡。以所解一編。示師。師接置於座。略不披閱。良久乃雲。會麼。裴雲。不會。檗雲。若便恁麼會得。猶較些子。若也形於紙墨。何處更有吾宗。裴乃以頌贊雲。自從大士傳心印。額有圓珠七尺身。掛錫十年棲蜀水。浮盃今日渡漳濱。八千龍象隨高步。萬裡香花結勝因。

Huangbo was seven feet tall and had a round pearl-like bump on his forehead. He understood Chan by nature. The master once traveled to Mount Tiantai. On the road he met a monk and chatted and laughed with him as if they were old acquaintances. Looking closely, the monk's gaze shot through a person and he had quite an unusual appearance. So they traveled together. They met a stream that had risen suddenly in flood, so the master planted his staff, put down his hat, and stopped. The monk pulled the master to cross together. The master said, "Please cross." The monk then hitched up his robe and stepped on the waves as if walking on level ground. He turned his head and said, "Cross, cross!" The master scolded, "You self-liberated fellow! If I had known you were putting on a weird show, I would have chopped off your shins." The monk sighed and said, "Truly a vessel of the Great Vehicle," and with these words he vanished. When he first arrived at Baizhang, Baizhang asked, "So majestic and imposing, where do you come from?" Huangbo said, "So majestic and imposing, I come from the mountain ridge." Baizhang said, "What have you come for?" Huangbo said, "For nothing else." Baizhang deeply valued him. The next day he took leave of Baizhang. Baizhang said, "Where are you going?" Huangbo said, "To Jiangxi, to pay respects to Great Master Ma." Baizhang said, "Great Master Ma has already passed away." Tell me, when Huangbo asked like this, was he asking knowing, or asking not knowing? Yet he said, "I specially went to pay respects, but my fortune is thin and I did not get to see him. I wonder what sayings he had in ordinary times; I wish to hear them cited." Baizhang then cited the story of his second visit to Mazu: "When the Patriarch saw me coming, he raised his whisk. I said, 'Is it this function, or apart from this function?' The Patriarch hung the whisk on the corner of the Chan seat. After a long while, the Patriarch asked me, 'When you flap your two lips in future, how will you help people?' I took the whisk and raised it. The Patriarch said, 'Is it this function, or apart from this function?' I hung the whisk on the corner of the Chan seat. The Patriarch shook with power and gave a shout, and I was deaf for three days." Huangbo unwittingly was startled and stuck out his tongue. Baizhang said, "Will you perhaps succeed Great Master Ma in future?" Huangbo said, "No. Today, because of your citation, master, I have seen Great Master Ma's great mechanism and great function. If I succeeded Master Ma, in future I would ruin my children and grandchildren." Baizhang said, "Just so, just so. When the view equals the teacher's, it halves the teacher's virtue; when wisdom surpasses the teacher, only then is one fit to receive the transmission. Your view now truly has the makings of surpassing the teacher." All of you, tell me: when Huangbo asked like this, was he asking knowing, or asking not knowing? You must personally see the conduct of that father and son to get it. One day Huangbo again asked Baizhang, "How did the lineage from the past point things out?" Baizhang was silent for a long while. Huangbo said, "One must not let later people be cut off." Baizhang said, "I took you for a real person," and rose and went into his abbot's room. Huangbo and Chancellor Pei were friends beyond the world. Pei was posted to Wanling and invited the master to the prefecture. He showed the master a volume of his own understanding. The master took it and set it on his seat, hardly opening it. After a long while he said, "Do you understand?" Pei said, "I do not." Huangbo said, "If you understand it just like this, it is somewhat better. If it takes shape in paper and ink, where else would there be our school?" Pei then praised him with a verse: Since the Great Being transmitted the mind seal, with a round pearl on the brow and a body seven feet tall; for ten years he hung up his staff and dwelt by the waters of Shu, today he floats his cup across the Zhang shore. Eight thousand dragons and elephants follow his lofty steps, and across ten thousand miles fragrant flowers bind excellent causes.

擬欲事師為弟子。不知將法付何人。師亦無喜色雲。心如大海無邊際。口吐紅蓮養病身。自有一雙無事手。不曾祇揖等閑人。檗住後。機鋒峭峻。臨濟在會下。睦州為首座。問雲。上座在此多時。何不去問話。濟雲。教某甲問什麼話即得。座雲。何不去問如何是佛法的的大意。濟便去問。三度被打出。濟辭座曰。蒙首座令三番去問。被打出。恐因緣不在這裡。暫且下山。座雲。子若去須辭和尚去方可。首座預去白檗雲。問話上座。甚不可得。和尚何不穿鑿教成一株樹去。與後人為陰涼。檗雲。吾已知。濟來辭。檗雲。汝不得向別處去。直向高安灘頭。見大愚去。濟到大愚。遂舉前話。不知某甲過在什麼處。愚雲。檗與麼老婆心切。為儞徹困。更說什麼有過無過。濟忽然大悟雲。黃檗佛法無多子。大愚搊住雲。儞適來又道有過。而今卻道佛法無多子。濟於大愚脇下。𡎺三拳。愚拓開雲。汝師黃檗非幹我事。一日檗示眾雲。牛頭融大師。橫說竪說。猶未知向上關捩子在。是時石頭馬祖下。禪和子浩浩地。說禪說道。他何故卻與麼道。所以示眾雲。汝等諸人盡是噇酒糟漢。恁麼行腳。取笑於人。但見八百一千人處便去。不可只圖熱鬧也。可中總似汝如此容易。何處更有今日事也。唐時愛罵人。作噇酒糟漢。人多喚作黃檗罵人。具眼者自見他落處。大意垂一鉤。釣人問。眾中有不惜身命底禪和。便解恁麼出眾問他道。只如諸方匡徒領眾。又作麼生。也好一拶。這老漢果然分疎不下。便卻漏逗雲。不道無禪。只是無師。且道意在什麼處。他從上宗旨。有時擒。有時縱。有時殺。有時活。有時放。有時收。敢問諸人。作麼生是禪中師。山僧恁麼道。已是和頭沒卻了也。諸人鼻孔在什麼處。良久雲。穿卻了也。

(Yuanwu continued:) "I wished to serve the master as a disciple, but I do not know to whom the Dharma will be handed." The master also showed no joy, and said: "My mind is like the boundless sea, my mouth spits red lotuses to nourish a sick body. I have a pair of idle hands of my own, and have never made a bow to ordinary people." After Huangbo took up residence, his sharpness was steep and stern. When Linji was in his assembly, Muzhou was head monk. He asked, "Venerable, you have been here a long time; why do you not go and ask a question?" Linji said, "What question should I ask?" The head monk said, "Why not ask, what is the clear and certain great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" Linji went and asked, and three times was struck and driven out. Linji took leave of the head monk, saying, "Thanks to the head monk's order I went three times to ask and was struck and driven out. I fear the conditions are not here, so I will go down the mountain for now." The head monk said, "If you go, you must take leave of the abbot." The head monk went ahead to tell Huangbo: "The venerable who asked the question is truly rare. Why does the abbot not bore a way through to make him into a tree, to give shade to people later?" Huangbo said, "I already know." When Linji came to take leave, Huangbo said, "You must not go elsewhere. Go straight to the Gaoan shoals and see Dayu." Linji arrived at Dayu and cited the earlier matter: "I do not know where my fault lies." Dayu said, "Huangbo is so kindly, like an old woman, and exhausted himself for you; what are you saying about fault or no fault?" Linji suddenly had a great awakening and said, "There is not much to Huangbo's Buddha Dharma after all." Dayu seized him and said, "Just now you said there was a fault, and now you say there is not much to Huangbo's Buddha Dharma." Linji punched Dayu's ribs three times (the base text writes this character in a variant form). Dayu pushed him away and said, "Your teacher is Huangbo; it is no business of mine." One day Huangbo addressed the assembly and said: "Great Master Rong of Niutou, though he spoke across and spoke up and down, still did not know where the upward turning point was." At that time under Shitou and Mazu, the Chan practitioners were in great numbers, talking Chan and talking the Way. Why then did he say it like this? So he addressed the assembly, saying, "All of you are wine-dregs guzzlers. Wandering on pilgrimage like this makes you laughingstocks. You see only places with eight hundred or a thousand people and go there. You must not seek only a lively crowd. If you are all as easy as this, where would there be today's affair?" In the Tang he liked to scold people as wine-dregs guzzlers, and people often said Huangbo scolded. Those with eyes can see where it lands for themselves. He basically dropped a hook to fish for people to ask. In the assembly, if there were a Chan practitioner who did not spare his life, he would know to come forward like this and ask him, "But those in every quarter who lead disciples and guide assemblies, what about them?" He deserves a squeeze. This old fellow really could not explain it, and so let a leak slip, saying, "I do not say there is no Chan, only that there are no teachers." Tell me, where does his intention lie? The principle of his school from the past is sometimes to seize, sometimes to release, sometimes to kill, sometimes to give life, sometimes to let go, and sometimes to gather in. May I ask all of you: what is a teacher within Chan? When this mountain monk speaks like this, everything is already wiped out entire. Where are your nostrils? After a long silence he said: pierced through.

凜凜孤風不自誇(猶自不知有。也是雲居羅漢)端居寰海定龍蛇(也要別緇素。也要皂白分明)

With stern, lonely wind he does not boast (He still does not know it exists; he too is an arhat of Yunju.) Dwelling upright, he settles dragons and snakes across the seas (He also wants to tell monks from laypeople, and wants black and white clearly separated.)

大中天子曾輕觸(說什麼大中天子任大也須從地起。更高爭奈有天何)

The Emperor Dazhong once lightly touched him (What are you saying about the Emperor Dazhong? However great, one must rise from the ground; even higher, what can one do about Heaven?)

三度親遭弄爪牙(死蝦蟆多口作什麼。未為奇特。猶是小機巧。若是大機大用現前。盡十方世界。乃至山河大地。盡在黃檗處乞命)

Three times he personally played with claws and fangs (A dead toad, what use is much talk? It is not yet remarkable; it is still a small trick. If the great mechanism and great function appeared, the whole world of the ten directions, even mountains, rivers and the great earth, would all be begging for their lives at Huangbo's place.)

雪竇此一頌。一似黃檗真贊相似。人卻不得作真贊會。他底句下。便有出身處。分明道。凜凜孤風不自誇。黃檗恁麼示眾。且不是爭人負我。自逞自誇。若會這箇消息。一任七縱八橫。有時孤峰頂獨立。有時鬧市裡橫身。豈可僻守一隅。愈捨愈不歇。愈尋愈不見。愈擔荷愈沒溺。古人道。無翼飛天下。有名傳世間。盡情捨卻佛法道理。玄妙奇特。一時放下。卻較些子。自然觸處現成。雪竇道。端居寰海定龍蛇。是龍是蛇。入門來便驗取。謂之定龍蛇眼擒虎兕機。雪竇又道。定龍蛇兮眼何正。擒虎兕兮機不全。又道。大中天子曾輕觸。三度親遭弄爪牙。黃檗豈是如今惡腳手。從來如此。大中天子者。續咸通傳中載。唐憲宗有二子。一曰穆宗。一曰宣宗。宣宗乃大中也。年十三。少而敏黠。常愛跏趺坐。穆宗在位時。因早朝罷。大中乃戲登龍床。作揖群臣勢。大臣見而謂之心風。乃奏穆宗。穆宗見而撫歎曰。我弟乃吾宗英胄也。穆宗於長慶四年。晏駕。有三子。曰敬宗文宗武宗。敬宗繼父位。二年內臣謀易之。文宗繼位。一十四年。武宗即位。常喚大中作痴奴。一日武宗。恨大中昔日戲登父位。遂打殺致後苑中。以不潔灌。而復甦。遂潛遁在香嚴閑和尚會下。後剃度為沙彌。未受具戒。後與志閑遊方到廬山。因志閑題瀑布詩云。穿雲透石不辭勞。地遠方知出處高。閑吟此兩句佇思久之。欲釣他語脈看如何。大中續雲。溪㵎豈能留得住。終歸大海作波濤。閑方知不是尋常人。乃默而識之。後到鹽官會中。請大中作書記。黃檗在彼作首座。檗一日禮佛次。大中見而問曰。不著佛求。不著法求。不著眾求。禮拜當何所求。檗雲。不著佛求。不著法求。不著眾求。常禮如是。大中雲。用禮何為。檗便掌。大中雲。太麁生。檗雲。這裡什麼所在。說麁說細。檗又掌。大中後繼國位。賜黃檗為麁行沙門。裴相國在朝。

This verse of Xuedou is just like a eulogy of a portrait of Huangbo. But people must not take it as a portrait eulogy. Within his lines there is a way to get free. He says plainly: 'Stern and solitary his manner, yet he never boasts.' Huangbo taught the assembly in this way. It was not a matter of quarreling over whether others owed him or he owed them, nor of showing off and boasting. If you understand this news, you can go vertical or horizontal as you please. Sometimes he stands alone on the summit of a lonely peak; sometimes he throws himself across the busy marketplace. How could one stubbornly guard one corner? The more you give up, the less you rest; the more you seek, the less you see; the more you carry it, the more you sink. The men of old said: 'With no wings you fly across the world; with a name you are known through the age.' Throw away all the principles of the Buddha-dharma, the profound, the wondrous and the extraordinary, put it all down at once, and it is rather better; naturally everything everywhere is ready-made. Xuedou says: 'Sitting upright in the world, he settles dragons and snakes.' Whether dragon or snake, as soon as one comes in the gate, he tests it. This is called the eye that settles dragons and snakes and the skill that seizes tigers and rhinoceroses. Xuedou also says: 'Settling dragons and snakes, how true the eye! Seizing tigers and rhinos, the skill is not complete.' He also says: 'The Emperor Dazhong once lightly touched him, and three times himself met the play of claws and fangs.' Was Huangbo then a vicious hand and foot only now? It has always been so. As for Emperor Dazhong, the continuation of the Biographies from the Xiantong era records it: Emperor Xianzong of Tang had two sons, one called Muzong and one called Xuanzong. Xuanzong is Dazhong. At the age of thirteen he was young and sharp, and often liked to sit in full lotus posture. When Muzong was on the throne, after the early court session ended, Dazhong playfully climbed onto the dragon couch and made the gesture of bowing to the ministers. The ministers saw it and said he was mad, and reported to Muzong. Muzong saw him, patted him and sighed, saying: 'My brother is a noble scion of our house.' Muzong passed away in the fourth year of the Changqing era. He had three sons, called Jingzong, Wenzong and Wuzong. Jingzong succeeded his father, and within two years the inner ministers plotted to replace him; Wenzong took the throne. After fourteen years Wuzong ascended. He often called Dazhong a fool. One day Wuzong, resenting that Dazhong had once playfully climbed onto his father's throne, beat him nearly to death and threw him into the rear garden, and had filth poured over him. He revived, and then secretly fled to the assembly of Elder Xiangyan Xian. Later he was tonsured as a novice monk but did not receive the full precepts. Later he went wandering with Zhixian to Mount Lu. Zhixian composed a poem on a waterfall: 'Piercing the clouds and through the rocks it spares no toil; only far from its source do you know how high its origin.' Xian recited these two lines and stood a long time in thought, wanting to see how Dazhong would continue. Dazhong continued: 'How could a mountain stream hold it back? In the end it goes to the great sea to make billows.' Only then did Xian know that this was no ordinary man, and silently kept the knowledge in mind. Later, at the assembly of Yanguan, he invited Dazhong to be secretary. Huangbo was there as head seat. One day, as Huangbo was bowing to the Buddha, Dazhong saw him and asked: 'Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Sangha; so what is it that you seek by bowing?' Huangbo said: 'Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Sangha: I always bow like this.' Dazhong said: 'What is the use of bowing?' Huangbo slapped him. Dazhong said: 'How coarse!' Huangbo said: 'What place is this, that you speak of coarse and fine?' Huangbo slapped him again. When Dazhong later inherited the throne, he bestowed on Huangbo the title of Coarse-Conduct Monk. Chancellor Pei was at court.

後奏賜斷際禪師。雪竇知他血脈出處。便用得巧。如今還有弄爪牙底麼。便打。

(Yuanwu continued:) Later he petitioned and the title of Chan Master Duanji was bestowed. Xuedou knew the source of his bloodline, and so used it skillfully. Is there anyone now who plays with claws and fangs? He strikes.

垂示雲。殺人刀活人劍。乃上古之風規。亦今時之樞要。若論殺也。不傷一毫。若論活也。喪身失命。所以道。向上一路。千聖不傳。學者勞形。如猿捉影。且道。既是不傳。為什麼。卻有許多葛藤公案。具眼者。試說看。

Introduction: The sword that kills and the sword that gives life are the customs of high antiquity and also the pivot of the present. If one speaks of killing, not a single hair is harmed. If one speaks of giving life, one loses body and life. So it is said: 'The one road upward is not transmitted by a thousand sages. Students toil in body, like monkeys grasping at shadows.' Now, since it is not transmitted, why are there so many entangling koans? You who have the eye, try saying it.

【一二】舉僧問洞山。如何是佛(鐵蒺藜。天下衲僧跳不出)山雲。麻三斤(灼然。破草鞋。指槐樹罵柳樹。為秤鎚)。

[Case 1.2] Cited: A monk asked Dongshan, 'What is Buddha?' (An iron caltrop; no monk in the world can leap out of it.) Dongshan said, 'Three pounds of flax.' (Exactly so. A worn-out straw sandal. Pointing at the locust tree to scold the willow. Used as a weight for the scale.)

這箇公案。多少人錯會。直是難咬嚼。無爾下口處。何故淡而無味。古人有多少答佛話。或雲。殿裡底。或雲。三十二相。或雲。杖林山下竹筋鞭。及至洞山。卻道麻三斤。不妨截斷古人舌頭。人多作話會道。洞山是時在庫下。秤麻。有僧問。所以如此答。有底道。洞山問東答西。有底道。爾是佛。更去問佛。所以洞山遶路答之。死漢更有一般道。只這麻三斤便是佛。且得沒交涉。爾若恁麼去洞山句下尋討。參到彌勒佛下生。也未夢見在。何故言語只是載道之器。殊不知古人意。只管去句中求。有什麼巴鼻。不見古人道。道本無言。因言顯道。見道即忘言。若到這裡。還我第一機來始得。只這麻三斤。一似長安大路一條相似。舉足下足。無有不是。這箇話。與雲門餬餅話。是一般。不妨難會。五祖先師頌雲。賤賣擔板漢。貼秤麻三斤。千百年滯貨。無處著渾身。爾但打疊得情塵意想。計較得失是非。一時淨盡自然會去。

How many people have misunderstood this case! It is truly hard to chew; there is no place for you to bite. Why is it so bland and tasteless? The men of old gave many answers about the Buddha. Some said, 'The one in the hall.' Some said, 'The thirty-two marks.' Some said, 'A bamboo-fiber whip below Mount Zhanglin.' When it came to Dongshan, he said 'Three pounds of flax,' which cut off the tongues of the ancients. Many people take it as a story and say: at that time Dongshan was in the storehouse weighing flax, and a monk asked, so he answered thus. Others say Dongshan answered east to a question about west. Others say: you are Buddha, and you still go asking about Buddha, so Dongshan answered by going around. A dead fellow gives yet another account: 'Just these three pounds of flax are Buddha.' That has no connection at all. If you go hunting under Dongshan's words like this, even if you study until Maitreya descends to be born, you will not have even dreamed of it. Why? Words are only vessels that carry the Way. They do not realize that, as the ancients meant it, if you only seek within the sentence, what handle is there? Have you not seen what the ancients said: 'The Way is originally without words; through words the Way is shown. Once you see the Way, forget the words.' If you reach this point, give me back the first moment of insight and only then will it do. These three pounds of flax are like the great road of Chang'an: wherever you lift or set your foot, nothing is not it. This saying is of the same kind as Yunmen's sesame cake saying, and not easy to understand. My late master Wuzu's verse says: 'A cheap-selling board-carrying fellow; stuck to the scale, three pounds of flax; goods stagnant for a thousand years, with nowhere to put his whole body.' If you can pack up your emotions and dusty thoughts, your calculations of gain and loss, right and wrong, and clear them all away at once, you will naturally understand.

金烏急(左眼半斤。快鷂趕不及。火焰裡橫身)玉兔速(右眼八兩。姮娥宮裡作窠窟)

The golden crow flies fast (the left eye is half a pound; a swift hawk cannot catch it; throwing oneself across the flames), the jade rabbit runs swift (the right eye is eight ounces; making a nest in the palace of Heng E).

善應何曾有輕觸(如鐘在扣。如谷受響)展事投機見洞山(錯認定盤星。自是闍黎恁麼見)

Good response, when has it ever lightly touched? (Like a bell struck, like a valley receiving an echo.) Setting forth the matter and meeting the occasion, one sees Dongshan. (Mistaking the fixed star on the scale; it is just you, teacher, who sees it that way.)

跛鱉盲龜入空谷(自領出去。同坑無異土。阿誰打爾鷂子死)

A lame turtle and a blind tortoise enter an empty valley. (Leading oneself out; the same pit has no different earth; who beat your hawk to death?)

花簇簇錦簇簇(兩重公案。一狀領過。依舊一般)南地竹兮北地木(三重也有。四重公案。頭上安頭)

Clusters of flowers, clusters of brocade (two layers of koan, taken in one report; still just the same), bamboo in the southern land and trees in the northern land (there are three layers, and four layers of koan; putting a head on top of a head).

因思長慶陸大夫(懶兒牽伴。山僧也恁麼。雪竇也恁麼)

I think of Grand Master Lu of Changqing (a lazy fellow pulling a companion; this mountain monk is like this, and Xuedou is like this too).

解道合笑不合哭(呵呵。蒼天。夜半更添冤苦)

He knew to say it was right to laugh and not right to weep. (Ha ha! Blue Heaven! At midnight adding more grievance.)

咦(咄是什麼。便打)

Yi! (What is this 'Chi'? Strike him.)

雪竇見得透。所以劈頭便道。金烏急玉兔速。與洞山答麻三斤。更無兩般。日出月沒。日日如是。人多情解。只管道。金烏是左眼。玉兔是右眼。才問著便瞠眼雲。在這裡有什麼交涉。若恁麼會。達磨一宗掃地而盡。所以道。垂鉤四海只釣獰龍。格外玄機。為尋知已。雪竇是出陰界底人。豈作這般見解。雪竇輕輕去敲關擊節處。略露些子教爾見。便下箇註腳道。善應何曾有輕觸。洞山不輕酬這僧。如鐘在扣。如谷受響。大小隨應。不敢輕觸。雪竇一時。突出心肝五臟。呈似爾諸人了也。雪竇有靜而善應頌雲。覿面相呈。不在多端。龍蛇易辨。衲子難瞞。金鎚影動。寶劍光寒。直下來也。急著眼看。洞山初參雲門。門問。近離甚處。山雲。渣渡。門雲。夏在甚麼處。山雲。湖南報慈。門雲。幾時離彼中。山雲。八月二十五。門雲。放爾三頓棒。參堂去。師晚間入室。親近問雲。某甲過在什麼處。門雲。飯袋子。江西湖南便恁麼去。洞山於言下。豁然大悟。遂雲。某甲他日向無人煙處。卓箇庵子。不蓄一粒米。不種一莖菜。常接待往來十方大善知識。盡與伊抽卻釘。技卻楔。拈卻膱脂帽子。脫卻鶻臭布衫。各令灑灑落落地。作箇無事人去。門雲。身如椰子大。開得許大口。洞山便辭去。他當時悟處。直下穎脫。豈同小見後來出世應機麻三斤語。諸方只作答佛話會如何是佛。杖林山下竹筋鞭。丙丁童子來求火。只管於佛上作道理。雪竇雲。若恁麼作展事與投機會。正似跛鼈盲龜入空谷。何年日月尋得出路去。花簇簇錦簇簇。此是僧問智門和尚。洞山道麻三斤意旨如何。智門雲。花簇簇錦簇簇。會麼。僧雲。不會。智門雲。南地竹兮北地木。僧回舉似洞山。山雲。我不為汝說。我為大眾說。遂上堂雲。言無展事。語不投機。承言者喪。滯句者迷。雪竇破人情見。故意引作一串頌出。後人卻轉生情見道。麻是孝服。

Xuedou saw through it, so right at the start he says: 'The golden crow flies fast, the jade rabbit runs swift,' which is no different from Dongshan answering 'Three pounds of flax.' The sun rises and the moon sets, every day it is so. Most people interpret by feeling and only say: the golden crow is the left eye, the jade rabbit is the right eye. As soon as they are asked, they glare and say: what does this have to do with it? If you understand it that way, Bodhidharma's school is swept away completely. So it is said: 'He casts his hook across the four seas only to catch fierce dragons; an extraordinary mechanism beyond the ordinary, in search of a kindred spirit.' Xuedou was a man who had left the realm of shadows; how could he hold such a view? Xuedou lightly knocks at the gate and taps the beat, revealing just a little so that you may see, and then adds a footnote: 'Good response, when has it ever lightly touched?' Dongshan did not lightly reply to this monk; like a bell struck, like a valley receiving an echo, large and small answered as fitting, and he did not dare lightly touch. Xuedou at one stroke thrusts out his heart, liver and five organs and shows them to all of you. Xuedou has a verse on 'still yet good in response': 'Face to face, it is shown, not in many ways. A dragon and a snake are easy to tell apart; a monk is hard to deceive. The golden hammer's shadow moves, the precious sword's light is cold. It has come straight down; quickly set your eyes to see.' When Dongshan first called on Yunmen, Yunmen asked: 'Where have you come from recently?' Dongshan said: 'Chadu.' Yunmen said: 'Where did you spend the summer?' Dongshan said: 'Baoci in Hunan.' Yunmen said: 'When did you leave there?' Dongshan said: 'The twenty-fifth of the eighth month.' Yunmen said: 'I spare you three beatings. Go to the hall.' In the evening the master entered Yunmen's room and asked intimately: 'Where was my fault?' Yunmen said: 'You rice bag! Going about Jiangxi and Hunan like that!' At these words Dongshan suddenly awakened greatly. Then he said: 'Some day I will set up a hut in a place with no smoke of people. I will keep not a grain of rice and plant not a stalk of vegetable. I will always receive great teachers coming and going from the ten directions, pull out all their nails, draw out their wedges, take off their greasy hats, strip off their stinking shirts, so that each becomes free and easy and a person with nothing to do.' Yunmen said: 'Your body is the size of a coconut, yet you open such a big mouth.' Dongshan then took leave. His awakening at that time was an instant breaking free, not like a small view. Later when he began teaching, 'three pounds of flax' was his response to the occasion. People everywhere only interpret it as an answer about Buddha, as in 'What is Buddha?' 'A bamboo-fiber whip below Mount Zhanglin,' 'The boy of fire comes asking for fire,' always making reasons on top of the Buddha. Xuedou says: if you take it as 'setting forth the matter and meeting the occasion,' it is exactly like a lame turtle and a blind tortoise entering an empty valley; in what year and month will they find the way out? 'Clusters of flowers, clusters of brocade': this is a monk asking Zhimen, 'What is the meaning of Dongshan's three pounds of flax?' Zhimen said: 'Clusters of flowers, clusters of brocade. Do you understand?' The monk said: 'I do not.' Zhimen said: 'Bamboo in the southern land and trees in the northern land.' The monk returned and cited it to Dongshan. Dongshan said: 'I do not speak for you; I speak for the assembly.' Then in the hall he said: 'Words do not set forth the matter; speech does not meet the occasion. Those who receive words are lost; those who cling to phrases are deluded.' Xuedou breaks people's emotional views and deliberately strings them together into a verse; later people, in turn, give rise to emotional views, saying: flax is mourning dress.

竹是孝杖。所以道。南地竹兮北地木。花簇簇錦簇簇。是棺材頭邊。畫底花草。還識羞麼。殊不知。南地竹兮北地木。與麻三斤。只是阿爺與阿爹相似。古人答一轉語。決是意不恁麼。正似雪竇道金烏急玉兔速。自是一般寬曠。只是金鍮難辨。魚魯參差。雪竇老婆心切。要破爾疑情。更引箇死漢。因思長慶陸大夫。解道合笑不合哭。若論他頌。只頭上三句。一時頌了。我且問爾。都盧只是箇麻三斤。雪竇卻有許多葛藤。只是慈悲忒殺。所以如此。陸亙大夫。作宣州觀察使。參南泉。泉遷化。亙聞喪入寺下祭。卻呵呵大笑。院主雲。先師與大夫。有師資之義。何不哭。大夫雲。道得即哭。院主無語。亙大哭雲。蒼天蒼天。先師去世遠矣。後來長慶聞雲。大夫合笑不合哭。雪竇藉此意大綱道。爾若作這般情解。正好笑莫哭。是即是。末後有一箇字。不妨聱訛。更道咦。雪竇還洗得脫麼。

(Yuanwu continued:) Bamboo is the mourning staff. So they say: 'bamboo in the southern land and trees in the northern land' and 'clusters of flowers, clusters of brocade' are the flowers and grasses painted at the head of a coffin. Do they have any shame? They do not realize that 'bamboo in the southern land and trees in the northern land' and 'three pounds of flax' are just like 'dad' and 'father.' When the men of old answered with a turning word, it was certainly not meant like this. Just as Xuedou says 'The golden crow flies fast, the jade rabbit runs swift,' it is all equally vast and open. It is only that gold and brass are hard to tell apart, and 'fish' and 'Lu' are confused. Xuedou's grandmotherly heart is earnest, wanting to break your doubts, and so he further brings up a dead fellow: 'I think of Grand Master Lu of Changqing; he knew to say it was right to laugh and not right to weep.' If we speak of his verse, the first three lines alone have already completed the verse. Let me ask you: the whole thing is only 'three pounds of flax,' yet Xuedou has so many entanglements. It is only that his compassion is excessive, hence this. The Grand Master Lu Geng, when he was Inspector of Xuanzhou, called on Nanquan. When Nanquan passed away, Geng heard the news and entered the monastery to offer sacrifice, but he laughed loudly. The abbot said: 'Our late master and you, Grand Master, had the bond of teacher and student. Why do you not weep?' The Grand Master said: 'If you can say it, I will weep.' The abbot had no words. Geng wept loudly and said: 'Blue Heaven! Blue Heaven! My late master has gone far away.' Later Changqing heard of it and said: 'The Grand Master should have laughed and should not have wept.' Xuedou borrows this general idea and says: if you interpret by emotion in this way, it is right to laugh and not to weep. Right it is; but at the very end there is one word, which is rather jarring. He further says 'Yi!' Can Xuedou wash himself clean of it?

垂示雲。雲凝大野。遍界不藏。雪覆蘆花。難分朕跡。冷處冷如氷雪。細處細如米末。深深處佛眼難窺。密密處魔外莫測。舉一明三即且止。坐斷天下人舌頭。作麼生道。且道是什麼人分上事。試舉看。

Introduction: Clouds congeal over the great wilds, and the whole world holds nothing hidden. Snow covers the reed flowers, and tracks are hard to tell apart. Where it is cold, it is cold as ice and snow; where it is fine, it is fine as rice powder. In its depths the Buddha's eye cannot peer; in its secrecy demons and outsiders cannot fathom. Citing one to understand three I set aside for now; cutting off the tongues of all the world, how do you say it? Tell me, whose business is this? Try citing it.

【一三】舉僧問巴陵。如何是提婆宗(白馬入蘆花。道什麼點)巴陵雲。銀椀裡盛雪(塞斷爾咽喉。七花八裂)。

[Case 1.3] Cited: A monk asked Baling, 'What is the school of Aryadeva?' (A white horse enters the reed flowers; what is there to point at?) Baling said, 'Snow heaped in a silver bowl.' (It blocks your throat; torn to pieces.)

這箇公案。人多錯會道。此是外道宗。有什麼交涉。第十五祖。提婆尊者。亦是外道中一數。因見第十四祖。龍樹尊者。以針投缽。龍樹深器之。傳佛心宗。繼為第十五祖。楞伽經云。佛語心為宗。無門為法門。馬祖雲。凡有言句。是提婆宗。只以此箇為主。諸人盡是衲僧門下客。還曾體究得提婆宗麼。若體究得。西天九十六種外道。被汝一時降伏。若體究不得。未免著返披袈裟去在。且道是作麼生。若道言句是。也沒交涉。若道言句不是。也沒交涉。且道馬大師意在什麼處。後來雲門道。馬大師好言語。只是無人問。有僧便問。如何是提婆宗。門雲。九十六種。汝是最下一種。昔有僧辭大隋。隋雲。什麼處去。僧雲。禮拜普賢去。大隋竪起拂子云。文殊普賢盡在這裡。僧畫一圓相以手托呈師。又拋向背後。隋雲。侍者將一貼茶來。與這僧去。雲門別雲。西天斬頭截臂。這裡自領出去。又云。赤旛在我手裡。西天論議勝者手執赤旛。負墮者返披袈裟。從偏門出入。西天欲論議。須得奉王勅。於大寺中。聲鐘擊鼓。然後論議。於是外道於僧寺中。封禁鐘鼓。為之沙汰。時迦那提婆尊者。知佛法有難。遂運神通。登樓撞鐘。欲擯外道。外道遂問。樓上聲鍾者誰。提婆雲。天。外道雲。天是誰。婆雲。我。外道雲。我是誰。婆雲。我是爾。外道雲。爾是誰。婆雲。爾是狗。外道雲。狗是誰。婆雲。狗是爾。如是七返。外道自知負墮。伏義遂自開門。提婆於是從樓上持赤旛下來。外道雲。汝何不後。婆雲。汝何不前。外道雲。汝是賤人。婆雲。汝是良人。如是展轉酬問。提婆折以無礙之辯。由是歸伏。時提婆尊者。手持赤旛。義墮者旛下立。外道皆斬首謝過。時提婆止之。但化令削髮入道。於是提婆宗大興。雪竇後用此事而頌之。巴陵眾中謂之鑒多口。常縫坐具行腳。深得他雲門腳跟下大事。所以奇特。

With this koan, many people misunderstand and say: this is an outsider's school, so what has it to do with us? The fifteenth patriarch, Venerable Aryadeva, was also counted among the outsiders. Seeing the fourteenth patriarch, Venerable Nagarjuna, throw a needle into a bowl, Nagarjuna deeply valued him and transmitted the Buddha-mind school to him, and he succeeded as the fifteenth patriarch. The Lankavatara Sutra says: 'The Buddha's word takes mind as its school, and no gate as the Dharma gate.' Mazu said: 'All words and phrases are the school of Aryadeva,' taking only this as the main point. All of you are guests at the gate of monks; have you ever investigated the school of Aryadeva? If you have investigated it, the ninety-six kinds of outsiders in the Western Heaven will be subdued by you at once. If you cannot investigate it, you will be unable to avoid going away with your robe worn inside out. Tell me, what is it? If you say words and phrases are it, there is no connection; if you say words and phrases are not it, there is also no connection. Tell me, where does Master Ma's meaning lie? Later Yunmen said: 'Master Ma's words are good, but nobody asks.' A monk then asked: 'What is the school of Aryadeva?' Yunmen said: 'Of the ninety-six kinds, you are the lowest.' Once a monk took leave of Dasui, and Dasui asked, 'Where are you going?' The monk said, 'To pay homage to Samantabhadra.' Dasui held up his whisk and said, 'Manjusri and Samantabhadra are both right here.' The monk drew a circle, held it up in his hand to show the master, and threw it behind him. Dasui said, 'Attendant, take a packet of tea and give it to this monk.' Yunmen said separately: 'In the Western Heaven they cut off heads and limbs; here you lead yourself out.' He also said: 'The red banner is in my hand.' In the Western Heaven, the one who won in debate held the red banner in hand, and the one who lost put on his robe inside out and went in and out by the side door. In the Western Heaven, if they wished to debate, they had to receive the king's edict, and in a great monastery strike bells and drums before debating. At that time outsiders in a monastery sealed up the bells and drums as a way of sifting out the sangha. Then Venerable Kanadeva knew the Buddha-dharma was in difficulty, and so used his spiritual powers, climbed the tower and struck the bell, wishing to drive off the outsiders. The outsiders asked: 'Who is striking the bell up in the tower?' Deva said: 'Heaven.' The outsiders said: 'Who is Heaven?' Deva said: 'I.' The outsiders said: 'Who is I?' Deva said: 'I am you.' The outsiders said: 'Who are you?' Deva said: 'You are a dog.' The outsiders said: 'Who is the dog?' Deva said: 'The dog is you.' Seven times it went back and forth like this, and the outsiders knew they had lost, submitted to the argument, and opened the gate themselves. Deva then came down from the tower holding the red banner. The outsiders said: 'Why do you not go behind?' Deva said: 'Why do you not go in front?' The outsiders said: 'You are lowborn.' Deva said: 'You are well born.' In this way they exchanged questions and answers; Deva broke them with unobstructed eloquence, and they submitted. Then Venerable Deva held the red banner in hand, and those who lost in argument stood beneath the banner, and the outsiders all offered their heads to apologize. Deva stopped them and only had them shave their heads and enter the Way. Then the school of Aryadeva flourished greatly. Xuedou later used this matter for his verse. Among Baling's assembly he was called 'Jiandokou' (the One of Many Mouths); he always sewed his sitting cloth and went on pilgrimage, and deeply attained the great matter beneath Yunmen's heels, so he was extraordinary.

後出世法嗣雲門。先住嶽州巴陵。更不作法嗣書。只將三轉語上雲門。如何是道。明眼人落井。如何是吹毛劍。珊瑚枝枝撐著月。如何是提婆宗。銀椀裡盛雪。雲門雲。他日老僧忌辰只舉此三轉語。報恩足矣。自後果不作忌辰齋。依雲門之囑。只舉此三轉語。然諸方答此話。多就事上答。唯有巴陵恁麼道。極是孤峻。不妨難會。亦不露些子鋒鋩。八面受敵。著著有出身之路。有陷虎之機。脫人情見。若論一色邊事。到這裡須是自家透脫了。卻須是遇人始得。所以道。道吾舞笏同人會。石鞏彎弓作者諳。此理若無師印授。擬將何法語玄談。雪竇隨後拈提為人。所以頌出。

(Yuanwu continued:) Later he began teaching as Yunmen's Dharma heir. He first lived at Baling in Yuezhou. He did not write a letter of Dharma succession, but only offered three turning words to Yunmen. 'What is the Way?' 'A clear-eyed man falls into a well.' 'What is the sword that cuts a hair?' 'Coral branches each prop up the moon.' 'What is the school of Aryadeva?' 'Snow heaped in a silver bowl.' Yunmen said: 'On the anniversary of my death, just cite these three turning words, and you will have repaid your debt enough.' Afterward he indeed did not hold a memorial feast and, following Yunmen's charge, only cited these three turning words. But elsewhere, answers to this matter mostly respond in terms of events; only Baling speaks like this, extremely solitary and steep, not at all easy to understand. He also shows no edge at all; facing enemies on all eight sides, every move has a way of getting free, and there is a mechanism for trapping tigers; he escapes emotional views. If one speaks of the side of uniform color, one must have penetrated it oneself, and then one must meet a person before it will do. So it is said: 'Daowu dancing with the tablet, those who meet understand together; Shigong drawing the bow, the adept is familiar with it. If this principle has no teacher to seal and transmit it, with what teaching would you try to speak of the profound?' Xuedou follows with his own picking up and showing it to people, and so brings out the verse.

老新開(千兵易得。一將難求。多口阿師)端的別(是什麼端的。頂門上一著。夢見也未)

The Old One, Xinkai (a thousand soldiers are easy to get, one general is hard to find; a many-mouthed teacher) is truly different. (What is truly different? The one move on the crown of the head; have you even dreamed of it?)

解道銀椀裡盛雪(鰕跳不出鬥。兩重公案。多少人喪身失命)九十六箇應自知(兼身在內。闍黎還知麼。一坑埋卻)

He knew to say 'snow heaped in a silver bowl.' (A shrimp cannot jump out of a peck measure; two layers of koan; how many people lose body and life.) The ninety-six should know it themselves. (Including yourself; do you know, teacher? Buried in the same pit.)