The Blue Cliff Record of Chan Master Foguo Yuanwu

不知卻問天邊月(遠之遠矣。自領出去。望空啟告)

If you do not know, go ask the moon at the edge of the sky. (Far, and farther; leading yourself out; praying to the empty air.)

提婆宗。提婆宗(道什麼。山僧在這裡。滿口含霜)

The school of Aryadeva, the school of Aryadeva! (What are you saying? This mountain monk is here, his mouth full of frost.)

赤旛之下起清風(百雜碎。打雲。已著了也。爾且去斬頭截臂來。與爾道一句)

Beneath the red banner a clear wind rises. (Smashed to a hundred pieces. He strikes: 'Already settled. You go cut off heads and limbs and I will say a line to you.')

老新開。新開乃院名也。端的別。雪竇讚歎有分。且道什麼處是別處。一切語言。皆是佛法。山僧如此說話。成什麼道理去。雪竇微露些子意道。只是端的別。後面打開雲。解道銀椀裡盛雪。更與爾下箇註腳。九十六箇應自知。負墮始得。爾若不知。問取天邊月。古人曾答此話雲。問取天邊月雪竇頌了。末後須有活路。有獅子返擲之句。更提起與爾道。提婆宗提婆宗。赤旛之下起清風。巴陵道。銀椀裡盛雪。為什麼雪竇卻道赤旛之下起清風。還知雪竇殺人不用刀麼。

'The Old One, Xinkai': Xinkai was the name of a monastery. 'Truly different': Xuedou praises that there is a share in it. Tell me, where is the difference? All speech is the Buddha-dharma; what reasoning is there in this mountain monk speaking like this? Xuedou reveals a little of his meaning, saying only 'truly different,' and then opens up behind: 'He knew to say snow heaped in a silver bowl.' He gives you another footnote: 'The ninety-six should know it themselves.' Only when one has lost does it do. If you do not know, go ask the moon at the edge of the sky. The men of old once answered this saying: 'Go ask the moon at the edge of the sky.' After Xuedou finished the verse, at the end there must be a living road; there is the line of the lion turning to hurl. He raises it again and says to you: 'The school of Aryadeva, the school of Aryadeva! Beneath the red banner a clear wind rises.' Baling said 'snow heaped in a silver bowl'; why does Xuedou say 'beneath the red banner a clear wind rises'? Do you know that Xuedou kills people without using a knife?

【一四】舉僧問雲門。如何是一代時教(直至如今不了。座主不會。葛藤窠裡)雲門雲。對一說(無孔鐵鎚。七花八裂。老鼠咬生薑)。

[Case 1.4] Cited: A monk asked Yunmen, 'What is the teaching of a whole lifetime?' (Up to now it is not finished; the lecturer does not understand; in a nest of entanglement.) Yunmen said, 'An answer to one.' (An iron hammer without a hole; torn to pieces; a rat gnawing raw ginger.)

禪家流。欲知佛性義。當觀時節因緣。謂之教外別傳。單傳心印。直指人心。見性成佛。釋迦老子。四十九年住世。三百六十會。開談頓漸權實。謂之一代時教。這僧拈來問雲。如何是一代時教。雲門何不與他紛紛解說。卻向他道箇對一說。雲門尋常一句中。須具三句。謂之函蓋乾坤句。隨波逐浪句。截斷眾流句。放去收來。自然奇特。如斬釘截鐵。教人義解卜度他底不得。一大藏教。只消三箇字。四方八面。無爾穿鑿處。人多錯會。卻道對一時機宜之事。故說。又道森羅及萬象。皆是一法之所印。謂之對一說。更有道。只是說那箇一法。有什麼交涉。非唯不會。更入地獄如箭。殊不知。古人意不如此。所以道。粉骨碎身未足酬。一句瞭然超百億。不妨奇特。如何是一代時教。只消道箇對一說。若當頭薦得。便可歸家穩坐。若薦不得。且伏聽處分。

For followers of Chan, to know the meaning of Buddha-nature one should observe the conditions of time and season. This is called a separate transmission outside the teachings, singly transmitting the mind seal, pointing directly at the human mind, seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha. The Old Man Shakyamuni lived in the world for forty-nine years and gave three hundred and sixty assemblies, expounding the sudden and gradual, the provisional and real; this is called the teaching of a whole lifetime. This monk picked it up and asked: 'What is the teaching of a whole lifetime?' Why did Yunmen not explain it to him in detail, but instead said 'an answer to one'? Yunmen's every single phrase had to contain three phrases, called the phrase that covers heaven and earth, the phrase that follows the waves and chases the billows, and the phrase that cuts off all streams. Letting go and gathering in, it is naturally extraordinary, like chopping nails and cutting iron, so that people cannot interpret it with doctrinal understanding or guesswork. The whole great canon needs only three words, and in all directions there is nowhere for you to drill through. Many people misunderstand and say: it is spoken in answer to a matter fitting a certain time. Others say, 'The ten thousand phenomena are all stamped by one Dharma,' and that is called 'an answer to one.' Yet others say it is only speaking of that one Dharma; what has this to do with it? Not only do they fail to understand, they enter hell like an arrow. They do not realize that the men of old did not mean it this way. So it is said: 'To grind your bones and smash your body is not enough to repay; one line, when understood, surpasses a hundred billion.' How extraordinary! What is the teaching of a whole lifetime? One need only say 'an answer to one.' If you receive it straight at the head, you can return home and sit at ease. If you cannot receive it, then humbly listen for the judgment.

對一說(活鱍鱍。言猶在耳。不妨孤峻)太孤絕(傍觀有分。何止壁立千仞。豈有恁麼事)

An answer to one (lively and alive; the words still in the ear; no matter how solitary and steep) is too solitary and unique (a bystander has a share; not only a wall a thousand fathoms high; how could there be such a thing).

無孔鐵鎚重下楔(錯會名言也。雲門老漢。也是泥裡洗土塊。雪竇也是粧飾)

An iron hammer without a hole drives the wedge down heavily. (Misunderstanding the words; old man Yunmen is also washing lumps of mud in the mud; Xuedou is also dressing it up.)

閻浮樹下笑呵呵(四州八縣。不會見箇漢。同道者方知。能有幾人知)

Beneath the Jambu tree he laughs aloud. (Four continents and eight counties, not one fellow who understands; only fellow practitioners know; how many can know it?)

昨夜驪龍拗角折(非止驪龍拗折。有誰見來。還有證明麼。啞)別別(讚歎有分。須是雪竇始得。有什麼別處)

Last night the horn of the black dragon was bent and broken. (Not only was the black dragon's horn broken; who saw it? Is there a witness? Dumb!) Different, different! (Praising that there is a share; only Xuedou can do it; where is the difference?)

韻陽老人得一橛(在什麼處。更有一橛。分付阿誰。德山臨濟也須退倒三千。那一橛又作麼生。便打)

The old man of Shaoyang got a stump. (Where is it? There is another stump; to whom will it be handed? Even Deshan and Linji must retreat three thousand paces. What about that stump? He strikes.)

對一說。太孤絕。雪竇讚之不及。此語獨脫孤危。光前絕後。如萬丈懸崖相似。亦如百萬軍陣。無爾人處。只是忒殺孤危。古人道。欲得親切。莫將問來問。問在答處。答在問端。直是孤峻。且道什麼處是孤峻處。天下人奈何不得。這僧也是箇作家。所以如此問。雲門又恁麼答。大似無孔鐵鎚重下楔相似。雪竇使文言。用得甚巧。閻浮樹下笑呵呵。起世經中說。須彌南畔吠琉璃樹。映閻浮洲中皆青色。此洲乃大樹為名。名閻浮提。其樹縱廣七千由旬。下有閻浮壇金聚。高二十由旬。以金從樹下出生故。號閻浮樹。所以雪竇自說。他在閻浮樹下笑呵呵。且道他笑箇什麼。笑昨夜驪龍拗角折。只得瞻之仰之。讚嘆雲門有分。雲門道。對一說似箇什麼。如拗折驪龍一角相似。到這裡若無恁麼事。焉能恁麼說話。雪竇一時頌了。末後卻道。別別。韶陽老人得一橛。何不道全得。如何只得一橛。且道那一橛。在什麼處。直得穿過第二人。

"Answering one with one" is too solitary and sheer. Xuedou praised it beyond words. This phrase alone slips free from solitary peril, outshining what came before and cutting off what comes after, like a precipice ten thousand fathoms high, like an army of a million in formation where you have no place to enter. It is only too solitary and perilous. The ancients said: if you want to be intimate, do not bring a question to ask; the question lies in the answer and the answer lies at the head of the question. It is simply solitary and steep. Tell me, where is the solitary steepness? Nothing in the world can do anything about it. This monk too was a master, and so asked like this. Yunmen answered like this; it is very much like driving a wedge with a heavy blow into a hammer that has no hole. Xuedou uses literary language very skillfully: under the jambu tree he laughs heartily. The Sutra of the Arising of the World says that to the south of Mount Sumeru there is a lapis lazuli tree whose reflection makes everything in the continent of Jambudvipa appear blue. This continent is named after a great tree, called Jambudvipa. The tree is seven thousand yojanas in height and breadth, and below it lies a heap of jambu river gold twenty yojanas high. Because the gold is produced from beneath the tree, it is called the jambu tree. So Xuedou himself says he laughs heartily under the jambu tree. Tell me, what is he laughing at? He laughs that last night the black dragon's horn was snapped, and one can only look up at it, praising Yunmen for having a share in it. Yunmen said: "Answering one with one, what is it like?" It is as if he had broken off a horn of the black dragon. If there were not such a thing here, how could he speak like this? Xuedou finished the verse in one go, but at the very end he said: "Different, different. The old man of Shaoyang got only a stump." Why not say he got it all? How is it that he got only a stump? Tell me, where is that stump? Go right through to the second person.

垂示雲。殺人刀活人劍。乃上古之風規。是今時之樞要。且道。如今那箇是。殺人刀活人劍。試舉看。

The introduction says: The knife that kills and the sword that gives life are the style of high antiquity and the pivot of the present. Tell me, which is the knife that kills and the sword that gives life now? Try citing it and see.

【一五】舉僧問雲門。不是目前機。亦非目前事時如何(𨁝跳作什麼。倒退三千里)門雲。倒一說(平出。款出囚人口。也不得放過。荒草裡橫身)。

[Case 15] Cited: A monk asked Yunmen, "What if it is not the mechanism before the eyes and not the matter before the eyes?" (What is he leaping about for? The base text writes a variant character here. He retreats three thousand miles.) Yunmen said, "Answering with a reversal." (Plain delivery. He is bringing out the prisoner's words for him. Do not let it go by. He lies across in the wild grass.)

這僧不妨是箇作家。解恁麼問。頭邊謂之請益。此是呈解問。亦謂之藏鋒問。若不是雲門。也不奈他何。雲門有這般手腳。他既將問來。不得已而應之。何故作家宗師。如明鏡臨臺。胡來胡現漢來漢現。古人道。欲得親切。莫將問來問。何故。問在答處。答在問處。從上諸聖。何曾有一法與人。那裡有禪道與爾來。爾若不造地獄業。自然不招地獄果。爾若不造天堂因。自然不受天堂果。一切業緣。皆是自作自受。古人分明向爾道。若論此事。不在言句上。若在言句上。三乘十二分教。豈是無言句。更何用祖師西來。前頭道對一說。這裡卻道倒一說。只爭一字。為什麼卻有千差萬別。且道。聱訛在什麼處。所以道。法隨法行。法幢隨處建立。不是目前機。亦非目前事時如何。只消當頭一點。若是具眼漢。一點也謾他不得問處既聱訛。答處須得恁麼。其實雲門騎賊馬趕賊。有者錯會道。本是主家話。卻是賓家道。所以雲門雲倒一說。有什麼死急。這僧問得好。不是目前機。亦非目前事時如何。雲門何不答他別語言。卻只向他道倒一說。雲門一時打破他底。到這裡道倒一說。也是好肉上剜瘡。何故。言跡之興白雲萬裡。異途之所由生也。設使一時無言無句露柱燈籠。何曾有言句。還會麼。若不會到這裡也須是轉動始知落處。

This monk is truly a master. He knows how to ask like this. The earlier kind is called a request for instruction, but this is asking by presenting an understanding. It is also called a question that hides the blade. If it were not Yunmen, he could do nothing about it. Yunmen has this kind of skill. Since he had brought the question, he was compelled to answer it. Why is it that a master teacher is like a bright mirror on its stand: when a foreigner comes, a foreigner appears; when a Chinese comes, a Chinese appears? The ancients said: if you want to be intimate, do not bring a question to ask. Why? The question lies in the answer, and the answer lies in the question. When have the former sages ever given a single dharma to people? Where has any Chan teaching come to you? If you do not make the karma of hell, you naturally do not invite the fruit of hell. If you do not make the cause of heaven, you naturally do not receive the fruit of heaven. All karmic conditions are made by oneself and received by oneself. The ancients said plainly to you: if one speaks of this matter, it is not in words and phrases. If it were in words and phrases, the Three Vehicles and twelve divisions of the teaching are hardly lacking in words and phrases; why then was there any need for the Patriarch to come from the west? Earlier he said "answering one with one," and here he says "answering with a reversal." The difference is only one word, so why is there such a thousand differences and ten thousand distinctions? Tell me, where is the knot of the confusion? So it is said: the Dharma goes along with the Dharma, and the Dharma banner is set up wherever one is. What if it is not the mechanism before the eyes and not the matter before the eyes? One only needs a single point right to the head. If he is one with eyes, not even a point can be hidden from him. Since the question was confused, the answer had to be like this. In fact Yunmen rode the thief's horse to chase the thief. Some misunderstand and say: this was originally the host's words but he spoke the guest's way. So Yunmen said "answering with a reversal." What is there to be in such a dead hurry about? This monk asked well: what if it is not the mechanism before the eyes and not the matter before the eyes? Why did Yunmen not answer with other words, and instead simply tell him "answering with a reversal"? Yunmen broke him all at once. To say "answering with a reversal" here is also to cut a sore in good flesh. Why? When the traces of words arise, white clouds stretch ten thousand miles, and from this different paths come to be. Suppose at once there were no words and no phrases, only pillars and lanterns; when would there ever have been words and phrases? Do you understand? If you do not, even here you must turn and move before you know where it falls.

倒一說(放不下。七花八裂。須彌南畔。卷盡五千四十八)分一節(在爾邊在我邊。半河南半河北。把手共行)

Answering with a reversal (Cannot be put down. Broken into seven flowers and eight splits. South of Mount Sumeru, he rolls up all five thousand and forty-eight.) Dividing a section (On your side or on my side? Half north of the river and half south; hand in hand we walk together.)

同死同生為君訣(泥裡洗土塊。著甚來由。放爾不得)

Dying together and living together, I part with you (Washing a clod of earth in the mud, what is the point? I cannot let you go.)

八萬四千非鳳毛(羽毛相似。太殺減人威光。漆桶如麻如粟)三十三人入虎穴(唯我能知。一將難求。野狐精一隊)

Eighty-four thousand, none are phoenix feathers (Feathers look alike, but this lessens a person's majesty too much; lacquer buckets, thick as hemp and millet.) Thirty-three people enter the tiger's den (Only I can know it. A general is hard to find; a pack of wild fox spirits.)

別別(有什麼別處。少賣弄。一任𨁝跳)

Different, different (Where is there a difference? Show off less; let him leap around as he likes.)

擾擾怱怱水裡月(青天白日。迷頭認影。著忙作什麼)

Busily, hurriedly, the moon in the water (Blue sky, bright sun; mistaking one's own shadow for one's head, what is the hurry for?)

雪竇亦不妨作家。於一句下。便道分一節。分明放過一著。與他把手共行。他從來有放行手段。敢與爾入泥入水。同死同生。所以雪竇恁麼頌。其實無他。只要與爾解粘去縛。抽釘拔楔。如今卻因言句。轉生情解。只如巖頭道雪峰雖與我同條生。不與我同條死。若非全機透脫得大自在底人。焉能與爾同死同生。何故。為他無許多得失是非滲漏處。故洞山雲。若要辨認向上之人真偽者。有三種滲漏。情滲漏。見滲漏。語滲漏。見滲漏。機不離位。墮在毒海。情滲漏。智常向背。見處偏枯。語滲漏。體妙失宗。機昧終始。此三滲漏。宜已知之。又有三玄。體中玄。句中玄。玄中玄。古人到這境界。全機大用。遇生與爾同生。遇死與爾同死。向虎口裡橫身。放得手腳。千里萬裡。隨爾銜去。何故還他得這一著子。始得。八萬四千非鳳毛者。靈山八萬四千聖眾。非鳳毛也。南史雲。宋時謝超宗。陳郡陽夏人。謝鳳之子。博學文才傑俊。朝中無比。當世為之獨步。善為文為王府常侍。王母殷淑儀薨。超宗作誄奏之。武帝見其文。大加嘆賞曰。超宗殊有鳳毛。古詩云。朝罷香煙攜滿袖。詩成珠玉在揮毫。欲知世掌絲綸美。池上如今有鳳毛。昔日靈山會上四眾雲集。世尊拈花。唯迦葉獨破顏微笑。餘者不知是何宗旨。雪竇所以道。八萬四千非鳳毛。三十三人入虎穴。阿難問迦葉雲。世尊傳金襴袈裟外。別傳何法。迦葉召阿難。阿難應喏。迦葉雲。倒卻門前剎竿著。阿難遂悟。已後祖祖相傳。西天此土。三十三人。有入虎穴底手腳。古人道。不入虎穴。爭得虎子。雲門是這般人。善能同死同生。宗師為人須至如此。據曲彔木床上坐。捨得教爾打破。容爾捋虎鬚。也須是到這般田地始得。具七事隨身。可以同生同死。高者抑之。下者舉之。不足者與之。在孤峰者。救令入荒草。落荒草者。救令處孤峰。爾若入鑊湯爐炭。

Xuedou too is certainly a master. At one phrase he says "dividing a section," clearly letting a move go by and walking hand in hand with him. He has always had the means of letting go, and dares to enter mud and water with you, dying together and living together. So Xuedou's verse is like this. In fact there is no other aim than to untie your clinging and loosen your bonds, to pull out nails and draw out wedges. Now, because of words and phrases, you instead give rise to emotional understanding. Yantou said that Xuefeng, though born with me on the same branch, would not die with me on the same branch. Without a person of complete mechanism who has passed through to great freedom, how could one live and die together with you? Why? Because he has no such leaks of gain and loss, right and wrong. So Dongshan said: if you want to judge whether a person of the upward vehicle is true or false, there are three kinds of leaks: leak of feeling, leak of view, and leak of speech. A leak of view means the mechanism does not leave its place and falls into the poisonous sea. A leak of feeling means wisdom is constantly turning toward and away, and the view is one-sided and withered. A leak of speech means the essence is wonderful but the lineage is lost, and the mechanism is dark from beginning to end. These three leaks you should already know. There are also the three mysteries: the mystery in the essence, the mystery in the phrase, and the mystery within the mystery. When the ancients arrived at this realm, with full mechanism and great function, when they met life they lived with you, and when they met death they died with you. Lying across the tiger's mouth, they let go of hands and feet, and for a thousand or ten thousand miles let it carry them off. Why must one return this move to him before it works? Eighty-four thousand, none are phoenix feathers: the eighty-four thousand holy ones at Vulture Peak are not phoenix feathers. The History of the Southern Dynasties says that in the Song dynasty Xie Chaozong was from Yangxia in Chenjun, the son of Xie Feng. He was learned and gifted in literature, matchless at court, and unrivaled in his age. He was good at composition and served as attendant of the prince's household. When the prince's mother, Consort Yin Shuyi, died, Chaozong wrote a eulogy and presented it. Emperor Wu saw his writing and greatly praised it, saying: "Chaozong truly has phoenix feathers." An old poem says: after court the incense smoke fills both sleeves, and when the poem is done, pearls and jade lie at the tip of the brush. If you wish to know the beauty of those who manage the edicts, by the pond there are now phoenix feathers. In the past at the Vulture Peak assembly, the four groups gathered like clouds. The World-Honored One held up a flower, and only Kasyapa broke into a smile; the rest did not know what the point was. So Xuedou said: eighty-four thousand, none are phoenix feathers. Thirty-three people enter the tiger's den: Ananda asked Kasyapa: "Besides transmitting the golden brocade robe, what Dharma did the World-Honored One transmit separately?" Kasyapa called, "Ananda!" and Ananda answered, "Yes." Kasyapa said, "Knock down the flagpole at the gate." Ananda then awakened. After that, generation after generation, in the Western Heaven and in this land, thirty-three people had the skill to enter the tiger's den. The ancients said: if you do not enter the tiger's den, how can you get the tiger's cub? Yunmen was such a person. He was good at living and dying together. A master helping people must be like this: sitting on a curved wooden bench, willing to let you break it and allowing you to stroke the tiger's whiskers; one must reach this point before it works. Having the seven things with him, he can live and die together; he checks the high, lifts the low, gives to those who lack; those on the lonely peak he rescues and leads into the wild grass, and those fallen in the wild grass he rescues and leads to the lonely peak. If you enter the boiling cauldron and the furnace of coals,

我也入鑊湯爐炭。其實無他。只要與爾解粘去縛。抽釘拔楔。脫卻籠頭。卸卻角馱。平田和尚。有一頌最好。靈光不昧。萬古徽猷。入此門來。莫存知解。別別。擾擾怱怱水裡月。不妨有出身之路。亦有活人之機。雪竇拈了。教人自去明悟生機。莫隨他語句。爾若隨他。正是擾擾怱怱水裡月。如今作麼生得平穩去。放過一著。

(Yuanwu continued:) "I too enter the boiling cauldron and the furnace of coals." In fact there is no other aim than to untie your clinging and loosen your bonds, to pull out nails and draw out wedges, take off the halter and unload the horn pack. Abbot Pingtian has a verse that is best: the spiritual light is not dark, a standard for ten thousand ages. Entering this gate, do not keep knowing and understanding. Different, different. Busily, hurriedly, the moon in the water. There is certainly a way out and also a mechanism to give life to people. Xuedou picked it up and told people to awaken to the living mechanism themselves; do not follow his words and phrases. If you follow him, that is exactly the moon in the water, busy and hurried. Now how can you get to a steady place? Let one move go by.

垂示雲。道無橫徑。立者孤危。法非見聞。言思逈絕。若能透過荊棘林。解開佛祖縛。得箇穩密田地。諸天捧花無路。外道潛窺無門。終日行而未甞行。終日說而未甞說。便可以自由自在。展啐啄之機。用殺活之劍。直饒恁麼更須知有建化門中一手擡一手搦。猶較些子。若是本分事上。且得沒交涉。作麼生是本分事。試舉看。

The introduction says: The Way has no side paths; the one who stands is solitary and in peril. The Dharma is not seen or heard, and words and thought are far cut off. If one can pass through the thicket of brambles, untie the bonds of buddhas and patriarchs, and find a steady and secret ground, then devas holding flowers have no road to offer, and heretics peeking in have no gate. All day walking without having walked, all day speaking without having spoken, one can then be free and unhindered, spread the mechanism of the chick pecking from inside while the hen pecks from outside, and wield the sword of killing and giving life. Even so, you must still know that within the gate of establishing teaching, one hand lifts and one hand presses down, which is somewhat better. As for the true-lineage matter, there is no relation at all. What is the true-lineage matter? Try citing it and see.

【一六】舉僧問鏡清。學人啐。請師啄(無風起浪。作什麼。爾用許多見解。作什麼)。清雲。還得活也無(剳。買㡌相頭。將錯就錯。不可總恁麼)僧雲。若不活遭人怪笑(相帶累。撐天拄地。簷板漢)。清雲。也是草裡漢(果然。自領出去。放過即不可)。

[Case 16] Cited: A monk asked Jingqing, "The student pecks from inside; please, master, peck from outside." (Making waves without wind, what for? What use are all your views?) Jingqing said, "Can it live or not?" (Wrong. Measuring heads to buy a hat; taking the mistake as the way. It cannot always be like this.) The monk said, "If it does not live, people will laugh at it." (Dragging each other down; propping up heaven and holding up earth; a board-carrying fellow.) Jingqing said, "You too are a fellow in the grass." (Sure enough. Take it out yourself; letting it go is not allowed.)

鏡清承嗣雪峰。與本仁玄沙疎山太原孚輩同時。初見雪峰。得旨後。常以啐啄之機。開示後學。善能應機說法。示眾雲。大凡行腳人。須具啐啄同時眼。有啐啄同時用。方稱衲僧。如母欲啄。而子不得不啐。子欲啐。而母不得不啄。有僧便出問。母啄子啐。於和尚分上。成得箇什麼邊事。清雲。好箇消息。僧雲。子啐母啄。於學人分上。成得箇什麼邊事。清雲。露箇面目。所以鏡清門下。有啐啄之機。這僧亦是他門下客。會他家裡事。所以如此問。學人啐請師啄。此問洞下謂之借事明機。那裡如此。子啐而母啄。自然恰好同時。鏡清也好。可謂拳踢相應。心眼相照。便答道。還得活也無。其僧也好。亦知機變。一句下有賓有主。有照有用。有殺有活。僧雲。若不活遭人怪笑。清雲。也是草裡漢。一等是入泥入水。鏡清不妨惡腳手。這僧既會恁麼問。為什麼卻道。也是草裡漢。所以作家眼目。須是恁麼。如擊石火似閃電光。構得構不得。未免喪身失命。若恁麼。便見鏡清道草裡漢。所以南院示眾雲。諸方只具啐啄同時眼。不具啐啄同時用。有僧出問。如何是啐啄同時用。南院雲。作家不啐啄。啐啄同時失。僧雲。猶是學人疑處。南院雲。作麼生是爾疑處。僧雲。失。南院便打。其僧不肯。院便趕出。僧後到雲門會裡舉前話。有一僧雲。南院棒折那。其僧豁然有省。且道意在什麼處。其僧卻回見南院。院適已遷化。卻見風穴。才禮拜。穴雲。莫是當時問先師啐啄同時底僧麼。僧雲。是。穴雲。爾當時作麼生會。僧雲。某甲當初時。如燈影裡行相似。穴雲。爾會也。且道是箇什麼道理。這僧都來只道某甲當初時。如燈影裡行相似。因甚麼風穴便向他道爾會也。後來翠巖拈雲。南院雖然運籌帷幄。爭柰土曠人稀。知音者少。風穴拈雲。南院當時。待他開口。劈脊便打。看他作麼生。若見此公案。

Jingqing succeeded Xuefeng and lived at the same time as Benren, Xuansha, Shushan, and Taiyuan Fu. When he first saw Xuefeng and obtained the point, he often used the mechanism of the chick pecking and hen pecking to open up later students. He was good at teaching in response to the occasion. Addressing the assembly he said: "In general, a pilgrim must have the eye of simultaneous pecking from inside and outside, and have the function of simultaneous pecking from inside and outside, to be called a monk. It is like the mother wanting to peck, so the chick cannot but peck from within; the chick wanting to peck, so the mother cannot but peck from without." A monk came forward and asked, "If the mother pecks and the chick pecks, what business does it accomplish on the master's part?" Jingqing said, "A good piece of news." The monk said, "The chick pecks and the mother pecks; what business does it accomplish on the student's part?" Jingqing said, "Revealing a face." So under Jingqing there was the mechanism of pecking from inside and outside. This monk too was a guest of his school and knew its household matters, so he asked like this: "The student pecks, please, master, peck." Among the Caodong lineage, this question is called illuminating the mechanism by borrowing a matter. But it is not so here. The chick pecks and the mother pecks, naturally just at the same moment. Jingqing too was good; one might say fist and kick answered each other and mind and eye reflected each other, and he answered, "Can it live or not?" The monk was also good and knew how to change at the moment: in one phrase there was guest and host, illumination and function, killing and giving life. The monk said, "If it does not live, people will laugh." Jingqing said, "You too are a fellow in the grass." They are alike in entering mud and water, and Jingqing is certainly a fierce hand. Since this monk knew how to ask like this, why did Jingqing say, "You too are a fellow in the grass"? A master's eye must be like this: like a spark struck from stone, like a flash of lightning; whether you grasp it or not, you cannot avoid losing your body and life. If it is so, you see why Jingqing said "fellow in the grass." So Nanyuan addressed the assembly, saying: "Every quarter has only the eye of simultaneous pecking, but lacks the function of simultaneous pecking." A monk came out and asked, "What is the function of simultaneous pecking?" Nanyuan said, "A master does not peck from inside or outside; to peck simultaneously is to lose." The monk said, "That is still the student's doubt." Nanyuan said, "What is your doubt?" The monk said, "Lose." Nanyuan struck him. The monk was not convinced, and Nanyuan drove him out. The monk later came to Yunmen's assembly and cited the earlier matter. Another monk said, "Nanyuan's staff was broken!" That monk suddenly had an awakening. Tell me, where does the intention lie? That monk returned to see Nanyuan, but Nanyuan had just passed away. He saw Fengxue instead. As soon as he bowed, Fengxue said, "Are you not the monk who asked my late teacher about simultaneous pecking?" The monk said, "Yes." Fengxue said, "How did you understand it then?" The monk said, "At the time I was like walking in the shadow of a lamp." Fengxue said, "You understood." Tell me, what principle is this? This monk only said, "At the time I was like walking in the shadow of a lamp." Why did Fengxue tell him "you understood"? Later Cuiyan raised it and said: "Although Nanyuan planned in the tent, alas the land was vast and people were few; those who knew the tone were rare." Fengxue raised it and said: "At the time Nanyuan waited for him to open his mouth and struck him right on the spine, to see what he would do." If you see this case,

便見這僧與鏡清相見處。諸人作麼生。免得他道草裡漢。所以雪竇愛他道草裡漢。便頌出。

(Yuanwu continued:) "you will see the place where this monk and Jingqing met." What will all of you do to avoid his saying "fellow in the grass"? So Xuedou loved his saying "fellow in the grass" and put out his verse.

古佛有家風(言猶在耳。千古榜樣。莫謗釋迦老子好)對揚遭貶剝(鼻孔為什麼。卻在山僧手裡。八棒對十三。爾作麼生。放過一著。便打)

The ancient buddha has a household style (The words are still in the ear, a model for a thousand ages. Do not slander old Shakyamuni.) Facing and displaying, he receives censure (Why are the nostrils in this mountain monk's hands? Eight blows against thirteen; what will you do? Let one move go by, and strike.)

子母不相知(既不相知。為什麼卻有啐啄。天然)

Mother and child do not know each other (If they do not know each other, why is there pecking from inside and outside? It is natural.)

是誰同啐啄(百雜碎。老婆心切。且莫錯認)

Who is it that pecks together? (Hundred scraps and shatters; an old woman's earnest heart. Do not mistake it.)

啄覺(道什麼。落在第二頭)猶在殼(何不出頭來)重遭撲(錯。便打。兩重公案。三重四重了也)

Pecking, awakened (What are you saying? You fall into second place.) still in the shell (Why not stick your head out?) and again beaten (Wrong. Strike. Two cases, three cases, four cases.)

天下衲僧徒名邈(放過了也。不須舉起。還有名邈得底麼。若名邈得。也是草裡漢。千古萬古黑漫漫。填溝塞壑無人會)

The monks of the whole world vainly name it (Let it go; no need to raise it. Is there anyone who can name it? Even if one can name it, he too is a fellow in the grass. For a thousand ages and ten thousand ages, it is dark and vast, filling ditches and valleys, with no one to understand.)

古佛有家風。雪竇一句頌了也。凡是出頭來。直是近傍不得。若近傍著。則萬裡崖州。才出頭來。便是落草。直饒七縱八橫。不消一揑。雪竇道。古佛有家風。不是如今恁麼也。釋迦老子。初生下來。一手指天。一手指地。目顧四方雲。天上天下。唯我獨尊。雲門道。我當時若見。一棒打殺。與狗子吃卻。貴要天下太平。如此方酬得恰好。所以啐啄之機。皆是古佛家風。若達此道者。便可一拳拳倒黃鶴樓。一踢踢翻鸚鵡洲。如大火聚。近之則燎卻面門。如太阿劍。擬之則喪身失命。此箇唯是透脫得大解脫者。方能如此。苟或迷源滯句。決定搆這般說話不得。對揚遭貶剝。則是一賓一主。一問一答。於問答處。便有貶剝。謂之對揚遭貶剝。雪竇深知此事。所以只向兩句下。頌了。末後只是落草。為爾注破。子母不相知。是誰同啐啄。母雖啄。不能致子之啐。子雖啐。不能致母之啄。各不相知。當啐啄之時。是誰同啐啄。若恁麼會。也出雪竇末後句。不得在。何故。不見香嚴道。子啐母啄。子覺無殼。子母俱忘。應緣不錯。同道唱和。妙玄獨腳。雪竇不妨落草。打葛藤道啄。此一字。頌鏡清答道還得活也無。覺。頌這僧道若不活遭人怪笑。為什麼雪竇卻便道。猶在殼。雪竇向石火光中別緇素。閃電機裡辨端倪。鏡清道。也是草裡漢。雪竇道。重遭撲。者難處些子。是鏡清道也是草裡漢。喚作鏡清換人眼睛得麼。這句莫是猶在殼麼。且得沒交涉。那裡如此。若會得。繞天下行腳。報恩有分。山僧恁麼說話。也是草裡漢。天下衲僧徒名邈。誰不是名邈者。到這裡。雪竇自名邈不出。卻更累他天下衲僧。且道鏡清作麼生是為這僧處。天下衲僧跳不出。

The ancient buddha has a household style. Xuedou finished the verse in a single line. Whoever sticks his head out simply cannot be approached; if you approach, it is ten thousand miles to exile in Yazhou. The moment you stick your head out, you fall into the grass. Even if you go vertically seven ways and horizontally eight ways, it takes not even a pinch. Xuedou says: the ancient buddha has a household style; it is not like this nowadays. When old Shakyamuni was first born, with one hand he pointed to heaven and with the other to earth, looked around in the four directions and said: "Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am the honored one." Yunmen said: "If I had seen him then, I would have struck him dead with one blow and fed him to the dogs, to bring peace to the world." Only so would it be requited just right. So the mechanism of pecking from inside and outside is all the household style of the ancient buddha. One who has reached this Way can knock down the Yellow Crane Tower with one fist and kick over Parrot Island with one kick; like a great mass of fire, approach it and it singes your face; like the Taia sword, aim it and you lose body and life. Only one who has passed through to great liberation can do this. If one is deluded about the source and stuck on phrases, one certainly cannot form such words. Facing and displaying, he receives censure: this is one guest and one host, one question and one answer; in the question and answer there is censure, which is called facing and displaying, receiving censure. Xuedou knows this deeply, so he finished the verse with just two lines; at the end he simply falls into the grass to explain it for you. Mother and child do not know each other; who is it that pecks together? Though the mother pecks, she cannot cause the chick's pecking; though the chick pecks, it cannot cause the mother's pecking; each does not know the other. At the moment of pecking, who is it that pecks together? If you understand like this, you still do not escape Xuedou's final line. Why? Have you not seen that Xiangyan said: the chick pecks and the mother pecks, the chick wakes and has no shell; mother and chick both forgotten, responding to conditions without error; those on the same path sing and harmonize, the wonderful mystery stands on one leg. Xuedou is certainly willing to fall into the grass, and in tangled talk says "pecking." This one word is the verse for Jingqing's answer "Can it live or not?" "Awakened" is the verse for the monk saying "If it does not live, people will laugh." Why then does Xuedou say "still in the shell"? Xuedou distinguishes black from white in a flash of sparks, and tells the clues apart in the mechanism of lightning. Jingqing said, "You too are a fellow in the grass." Xuedou said, "And again beaten." This is the difficult part. Jingqing said, "You too are a fellow in the grass"; is that called Jingqing swapping people's eyes? Might this line be "still in the shell"? There is no relation at all; how could it be so? If you understand it, then traveling around the world on pilgrimage, you have a share in repaying kindness. This mountain monk speaking like this is also a fellow in the grass. The monks of the whole world vainly name it; who is not vainly naming it? Here Xuedou himself cannot name it, yet he implicates all the monks of the world. Tell me, how was Jingqing helping this monk? The monks of the whole world cannot jump out.

垂示雲。斬釘截鐵。始可為本分宗師。避箭隈刀。焉能為通方作者。針劄不入處。則且置。白浪滔天時如何。試舉看。

The introduction says: One who can cut nails and slice iron can be a master of the true lineage; one who dodges arrows and avoids blades, how can he be an author who penetrates every direction? Where a needle cannot enter, let us leave aside. When white waves flood the sky, then what? Try citing it and see.

【一七】舉。僧問香林。如何是祖師西來意(大有人疑著。猶有這箇消息在)林雲。坐久成勞(魚行水濁。鳥飛落毛。合取狗口好。作家眼目。鋸解稱鎚)。

[Case 17] Cited: A monk asked Xianglin, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the west?" (Many people are doubtful about it; there is still this news in it.) Xianglin said, "Sitting long becomes toil." (A fish moves and the water clouds; a bird flies and feathers fall. It is best to shut the dog's mouth. A master's eye; sawing apart a steelyard weight.)

香林道。坐久成勞。還會麼。若會得。百草頭上。罷卻干戈。若也不會。伏聽處分。古人行腳。結交擇友。為同行道伴。撥草瞻風。是時雲門旺化廣南。香林得得出蜀。與鵝湖鏡清同時。先參湖南報慈。後方至雲門會下。作侍者十八年。在雲門處。親得親聞。他悟時雖晚。不妨是大根器。居雲門左右十八年。雲門常只喚遠侍者。才應喏。門雲是什麼。香林當時。也下語呈見解弄精魂。終不相契。一日忽雲。我會也。門雲。何不向上道將來。又住三年。雲門室中。垂大機辯。多半為他遠侍者。隨處入作。雲門凡有一言一句。都收在遠侍者處。香林後歸蜀。初住導江水晶宮。後住青城香林。智門祚和尚。本浙人。盛聞香林道化。特來入蜀參禮。祚乃雪竇師也。雲門雖接人無數。當代道行者。只香林一派最盛。歸川住院四十年。八十歲方遷化。嘗雲。我四十年。方打成一片。凡示眾雲。大凡行腳。參尋知識。要帶眼行。須分緇素。看淺深始得。先須立志。而釋迦老子。在因地時。發一言一念。皆是立志。後來僧問。如何是室內一盞燈。林雲。三人證龜成鼈。又問。如何是衲衣下事。林雲。臘月火燒山。古來答祖師意甚多。唯香林此一則坐斷天下人舌頭。無爾計較作道理處。僧問。如何是祖師西來意。林雲。坐久成勞。可謂言無味句無味。無味之談。塞斷人口。無爾出氣處。要見便見。若不見切忌作解會。香林曾遇作家來。所以有雲門手段。有三句體調。人多錯會道。祖師西來。九年面壁。豈不是坐久成勞。有什麼巴鼻。不見他古人得大自在處。他是腳踏實地。無許多佛法知見道理。臨時應用。所謂法隨法行。法幢隨處建立。雪竇因風吹火。傍指出一箇半箇。

Xianglin said, "Sitting long becomes toil." Do you understand? If you understand, on top of a hundred grasses the shields and spears cease. If you do not understand, then listen to the order and humbly receive it. The ancients in their pilgrimage sought out friends and companions on the Way, parting the grass to look for the style. At that time Yunmen was flourishing in teaching in Guangnan, and Xianglin made his way out of Shu, at the same time as Jingqing of Ehu. He first visited Baoci in Hunan, and only afterward came to Yunmen's assembly, where he served as attendant for eighteen years. At Yunmen's place he personally got to see and hear it. Though he awakened late, he was certainly a person of great capacity. For eighteen years he stayed at Yunmen's side. Yunmen always only called out, "Attendant Yuan!" and as soon as he answered, Yunmen would say, "What is it?" Xianglin at that time also offered words and displayed his view, playing with spirit, but never matched him. One day he suddenly said, "I understand." Yunmen said, "Why not say something further up?" He stayed three more years. In Yunmen's room, the great mechanism and eloquence were mostly for Attendant Yuan, who entered and worked everywhere. Whatever word or phrase Yunmen spoke, all were collected at Attendant Yuan's place. Xianglin later returned to Shu. At first he lived at the Crystal Palace in Daojiang, and later at Xianglin in Qingcheng. Abbot Zhimen Zuo was originally from Zhejiang. He heard much of Xianglin's teaching and came especially to Shu to pay his respects. Zuo was Xuedou's teacher. Though Yunmen received countless people, among those of the time who practiced the Way, only Xianglin's branch flourished most. He returned to Sichuan and lived in a monastery for forty years, passing away at eighty. He once said: "After forty years I finally made everything into one piece." In addressing the assembly he generally said: "When pilgrims search for teachers, they must go with their eyes open, must tell monk from layperson, and must see the shallow and the deep before it works. First one must set one's resolve. When old Shakyamuni was in the causal stage, every word and thought he made was setting resolve." Later a monk asked, "What is the lamp in the room?" Xianglin said, "Three people confirming a turtle as a soft-shelled turtle." He also asked, "What is the matter beneath the patched robe?" Xianglin said, "In the twelfth month, fire burns the mountain." Since ancient times there have been many answers on the Patriarch's intention, but only this one of Xianglin's cuts off the tongues of all people, with no place for you to calculate or make principle. A monk asked, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the west?" Xianglin said, "Sitting long becomes toil." One might call it words without flavor and phrases without flavor; a talk without flavor that stops up people's mouths and leaves you no place to breathe. If you want to see, see right now. If you do not see, above all avoid making an understanding of it. Xianglin once met a master, and so had Yunmen's skill and the style of the three phrases. Many people misunderstand and say: the Patriarch coming from the west, nine years facing the wall, is that not sitting long becomes toil? What grip does it have? Have you not seen the place where the ancients attained great freedom? They had their feet on solid ground, without all that Buddhist views and principles, and used it as the occasion required. This is what is called: the Dharma goes along with the Dharma, and the Dharma banner is set up wherever one is. Xuedou blew on the fire by the wind and pointed out one or half a person at the side.

一箇兩箇千萬箇(何不依而行之。如麻似粟。成群作隊作什麼)脫卻籠頭卸角馱(從今日去應須灑灑落落。還休得也未)

One, two, thousands, tens of thousands (Why not rely on it and practice it? Thick as hemp and millet, forming crowds and ranks, what for?) Take off the halter, unload the horn pack (From today on one must be free and unattached; will you stop or not?)

左轉右轉隨後來(猶自放不下。影影響響。便打)

Turning left, turning right, coming behind (Still unable to let go; shadows and echoes. Strike.)

紫胡要打劉鐵磨(山僧拗折拄杖子。更不行此令。賊過後張弓。便打。嶮)

Zihu wants to strike Liu the Iron Grindstone (This mountain monk breaks the staff and no longer carries out this order. Drawing the bow after the thief has passed. Strike. Dangerous.)

雪竇直下如擊石火。似閃電光。拶出放教爾見。聊聞舉著便會始得。也不妨是他屋裡兒孫。方能恁麼道。若能直下便恁麼會去。不妨奇特。一箇兩箇千萬箇。脫卻籠頭卸角馱。灑灑落落。不被生死所染。不被聖凡情解所縛。上無攀仰。下絕己躬。一如他香林雪竄相似。何止只是千萬箇。直得盡大地人。悉皆如此。前佛後佛。也悉皆如此。苟或於言句中作解會。便似紫胡要打劉鐵磨相似。其實才舉。和聲便打。紫胡參南泉。與趙州岑大蟲同參。時劉鐵磨在溈山下卓庵。諸方皆不柰何他。一日紫胡得得去訪雲。莫便是劉鐵磨否。磨雲。不敢。胡云。左轉右轉。磨雲。和尚莫顛倒。胡和聲便打。香林答這僧問如何是祖師西來意。卻雲。坐久成勞。若恁麼會得。左轉右轉隨後來也。且道雪竇如此頌出。意作麼生。無事好。試請舉看。

Xuedou strikes straight down like a spark from flint, like a flash of lightning. He pushes it out and lets you see. Only one who understands the moment he hears it cited, and is a descendant of his household, can speak like this. If you can understand it straight on like this, it is quite extraordinary: one, two, ten million of you, shedding the halter and unloading the horn-load, free and easy, not stained by birth and death, not bound by emotional views of sage and ordinary, with nothing above to cling to and no self below, just like Xianglin and Xuedou. Not only ten million, but the whole earth full of people all become so, and the Buddhas before and after also all become so. If you work out an understanding within words and phrases, it is like Zihu wanting to beat Liu the Iron Grindstone; in fact, the moment it is cited, with the sound itself he strikes. Zihu studied under Nanquan, alongside Zhaozhou and Cen the Great Tiger. At that time Liu the Iron Grindstone had set up a hut below Mount Gui, and no one anywhere could do anything with her. One day Zihu hurried to visit her and said: 'Are you Liu the Iron Grindstone?' She said: 'I would not dare.' Zihu said: 'Turning left, turning right?' She said: 'Teacher, are you upside down?' Zihu, with the sound, struck. Xianglin answered this monk's question 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' by saying: 'Sitting long becomes toil.' If you can understand it like this, you will follow after 'turning left, turning right.' Tell me, what does Xuedou mean by bringing out this verse? Having nothing to do is good. Please try citing it.

【一八】舉。肅宗皇帝(本是代宗此誤)問忠國師。百年後所須何物(預搔待癢。果然起模畫樣。老老大大作這去就。不可指東作西)國師雲。與老僧作箇無縫塔(把不住)帝曰。請師塔樣(好與一剳)國師良久雲。會麼(停囚長智。直得指東劃西。將南作北。直得口似匾簷)帝雲。不會(賴值不會。當時更與一拶。教伊滿口含霜。卻較些子)國師雲。吾有付法弟子耽源。卻諳此事。請詔問之(賴值不掀倒禪床。何不與他本分草料。莫搽胡人好。放過一著)國師遷化後(可。惜果然錯認定盤星)帝詔耽源。問此意如何(子承父業去也。落在第二頭第三頭)源雲。湘之南潭之北(也是把不住。兩兩三三作什麼。半開半合)雪竇著語云。獨掌不浪鳴(一盲引眾盲。果然隨語生解。隨邪逐惡作什麼)中有黃金。充一國(上是天下是地。無這箇消息。是誰分上事)雪竇著語云。山形拄杖子(拗折了也。也是起模畫樣)無影樹下合同船(祖師喪了也。闍黎道什麼)雪竇著語云。海晏河清(洪波浩渺白浪滔天。猶較些子)瑠璃殿上無知識(咄)雪竇著語云。拈了也(賊過後張弓。言猶在耳)。

[Case 18] Cited: Emperor Suzong (the original note says: it was really Daizong; this is an error) asked National Teacher Zhong, 'After a hundred years, what will you need?' (Scratching beforehand to wait for the itch; indeed he starts shaping and sketching; an old, grown man making this kind of move; one must not point east and call it west.) The National Teacher said, 'Make for this old monk a seamless tower.' (Cannot hold it.) The Emperor said, 'Please show me the pattern of the tower.' (Give him a stroke of the brush.) The National Teacher was silent for a long while, then said, 'Do you understand?' (Holding the prisoner brings wisdom; he is made to point east and sketch west, to take south for north, until his mouth is like a flat basket.) The Emperor said, 'I do not understand.' (Fortunate that he does not understand; at that time one should have pressed him once more and made his mouth full of frost, which would have been rather better.) The National Teacher said, 'I have a disciple to whom I have transmitted the Dharma, Dan Yuan, who knows this matter. Please summon him and ask.' (Fortunate he did not overturn the Chan seat; why not give him his proper fodder and not smear on foreign stuff? It is good to let one move pass.) After the National Teacher passed away (Right. A pity: he really mistakes the fixed star on the scale.) the Emperor summoned Dan Yuan and asked what this meant. (The son takes up the father's work; he falls into the second and third place.) Yuan said, 'South of the Xiang, north of the Tan.' (Also cannot hold it; two by two and three by three, what are they doing? Half open, half closed.) Xuedou added a comment: 'A single palm does not clap in vain.' (One blind man leads a crowd of blind men; indeed, producing understanding from the words; what is the use of following the wrong and chasing the bad?) 'In it there is gold, filling a whole country.' (Above is heaven and below is earth; without this news, whose business is it?) Xuedou added a comment: 'A staff in the shape of a mountain.' (Broken in two; also shaping and sketching.) 'Beneath the shadowless tree, a joint boat.' (The Patriarch is lost; what are you saying, teacher?) Xuedou added a comment: 'The sea is calm and the river clear.' (Vast billows, white waves reaching the sky; still somewhat better.) 'In the lapis lazuli palace there is no one who knows.' (Chi!) Xuedou added a comment: 'Picked up.' (A thief, after he has gone, draws the bow; the words are still in the ear.)

肅宗代宗。皆玄宗之子孫。為太子時。常愛參禪。為國有巨盜。玄宗遂幸蜀。唐本都長安。為安祿山僣據。後都洛陽。肅宗攝政。是時忠國師。在鄧州白崖山住庵。今香嚴道場是也。四十餘年不下山。道行聞於帝裡。上元二年勅中使。詔入內。待以師禮。甚敬重之。甞與帝演無上道。師退朝。帝自攀車而送之。朝臣皆有慍色。欲奏其不便。國師具他心通。而先見聖奏曰。我在天帝釋前。見粟散天子。如閃電光相似。帝愈加敬重。及代宗臨御。復延止光宅寺。十有六載。隨機說法。至大曆十年。遷化。山南府青銼山和尚。昔與國師同行。國師甞奏帝令詔他。三詔不起。常罵國師耽名愛利。戀著人間。國師於他父於三朝中。為國師。他家父子。一時參禪。據傳燈錄所考。此乃是代宗設問。若是問國師如何是十身調御。此卻是肅宗問也。國師緣終。將入涅槃。乃辭代宗。代宗問曰。國師百年後。所須何物。也只是平常一箇問端。這老漢無風起浪。卻道與老僧造箇無縫塔。且道白日青天如此作什麼。做箇塔便了。為什麼卻道。做箇無縫塔。代宗也不妨作家。與爾一拶道。請師塔樣。國師良久雲。會麼。奇怪這些子。最是難參。大小大國師。被他一拶。直得口似匾簷。然雖如此。若不是這老漢。幾乎弄倒了。多少人道。國師不言處。便是塔樣。若恁麼會。遶磨一宗掃地而盡。若謂良久便是。啞子也合會禪。豈不見外道問佛。不問有言不問無言世尊良久。外道禮拜。贊嘆曰。世尊大慈大悲。開我迷雲。令我得入。及外道去後。阿難問佛。外道有何所證。而言得入。世尊雲。如世良馬。見鞭影而行。人多向良久處會。有什麼巴鼻。五祖先師拈雲。前面是珍珠瑪瑙。後面是瑪瑙珍珠。左邊是觀音勢至。右邊是文殊普賢。中間有箇旛子。被風吹著。道胡盧胡盧。國師雲。會麼。帝曰。不會。卻較些子。且道這箇不會。

Suzong and Daizong were both descendants of Xuanzong. When they were crown princes, they often liked to practice Chan. Because there were great bandits in the state, Xuanzong then went on a progress to Shu. The Tang originally had its capital at Chang'an, which was usurped by An Lushan; later the capital was moved to Luoyang, and Suzong acted as regent. At that time National Teacher Zhong lived in a hut on Baiya Mountain in Dengzhou, which is now Xiangyan monastery, and for more than forty years did not come down from the mountain. His practice and reputation were heard in the imperial capital. In the second year of the Shangyuan era an imperial order sent a palace envoy to summon him into the palace, where he was received with the courtesy due a teacher and held in great reverence. He once discussed the unsurpassed Way with the Emperor. When the teacher left court, the Emperor himself held onto the carriage to see him off, and the court ministers all looked displeased and wished to report that it was improper. The National Teacher, who had the power of knowing others' minds, anticipated the sage's report and said: 'In front of the Heavenly Emperor Shakra, I see these petty emperors like grains of millet scattered, like flashes of lightning.' The Emperor revered him still more. When Daizong came to the throne, he again invited him to stay at Guangzhai monastery, where he taught as occasion demanded for sixteen years, until the tenth year of Dali, when he passed away. The monk of Qingcuo Mountain in Shannan Prefecture had formerly traveled with the National Teacher. The National Teacher once memorialized the Emperor asking him to be summoned, but he did not rise even after three summonses, and often scolded the National Teacher for loving fame and profit and clinging to the human world. The National Teacher served as national teacher over three reigns of that family, father and sons, and the father and sons all practiced Chan with him. According to what is examined in the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, this was a question put by Daizong. If the question was how to be the Ten-Body Tamer, that was Suzong's question. When the National Teacher's karmic conditions ended and he was about to enter nirvana, he took leave of Daizong. Daizong asked: 'National Teacher, after a hundred years, what will you need?' This is only an ordinary question. This old fellow raised waves out of no wind and said: 'Build for this old monk a seamless tower.' Tell me: in broad daylight under a clear sky, why do this? Just build a tower and be done; why say 'build a seamless tower'? Daizong was also an adept and pressed him: 'Please show me the pattern of the tower.' The National Teacher was silent for a long while and said: 'Do you understand?' How strange! This little bit is the hardest to study. Great National Teacher that he was, when pressed by him, his mouth became like a flat basket. Even so, if it were not for this old fellow, it would almost have been toppled. How many say that where the National Teacher said nothing is the pattern of the tower. If you understand it like this, Bodhidharma's school is swept away completely. If you say that being silent for a long while is it, even a mute should be able to understand Chan. Have you not seen how when an outsider asked the Buddha, 'I do not ask about words and I do not ask about no words,' the World-Honored One was silent for a long while, and the outsider bowed in homage and praised him: 'The World-Honored One is greatly compassionate and has opened my clouds of delusion so that I may enter.' After the outsider left, Ananda asked the Buddha: 'What did the outsider realize, that he says he has entered?' The World-Honored One said: 'Like a fine horse of the world, which goes on seeing the shadow of the whip.' Many people try to understand at the place of being silent for a long while; what handle is there? My late master Wuzu commented: 'In front are pearls and agate, behind are agate and pearls; on the left are Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta, on the right are Manjusri and Samantabhadra; in the middle there is a banner blown by the wind, saying hulu hulu.' The National Teacher said: 'Do you understand?' The Emperor said: 'I do not understand.' This is rather better. Tell me, this 'I do not understand,' what is it?

與武帝不識。是同是別。雖然似則似。是則未是。國師雲。吾有付法弟子耽源。卻諳此事。請詔問之。雪竇拈雲。獨掌不浪鳴。代宗不會則且置。耽源還會麼。只消道箇請師塔樣。盡大地人不柰何。五祖先師拈雲。爾是一國之師。為箇什麼不道卻推與弟子。國師遷化後。帝詔耽源問此意如何。源便來為國師。胡言漢語說道理。自然會他國師說話。只消一頌(祖庭事苑出齊時)湘之南潭之北。中有黃金充一國。無影樹下合同船。瑠璃殿上無知識。耽源名應真。在國師處作侍者。後住吉州耽源寺。時仰山來參耽源。源言重性惡不可犯。住不得。仰山先去參性空禪師。有僧問性空。如何是祖師西來意。空雲。如人在千尺井中。不假寸繩出得此人。即答汝西來意。僧雲。近日湖南暢和尚。亦為人東語西話。空乃喚沙彌拽出這死屍著(沙彌仰山)山後舉問耽源。如何出得井中人。耽源曰。咄。痴漢。誰在井中。仰山不契。後問溈山。山乃呼慧寂。山應諾。溈雲。出了也。仰山因此大悟。雲。我在耽源處得體。溈山處得用。也只是這一箇頌子。引人邪解不少。人多錯會道。相是相見。譚是譚論。中間有箇無縫塔。所以道。中有黃金充一國。帝與國師對答。便是無影樹下合同船。帝不會。遂道瑠璃殿上無知識。又有底道。相是相州之南。潭是潭州之北。中有黃金充一國。頌官家眨眼顧視雲。這箇是無縫塔。若恁麼會。不出情見。只如雪竇下四轉語。又作麼生會。今人殊不知古人意。且道。湘之南。潭之北。爾作麼生會。中有黃金充一國。爾作麼生會。無影樹下合同船。爾作麼生會。瑠璃殿上無知識。爾作麼生會。若恁麼見得。不妨慶快平生。湘之南潭之北。雪竇道。獨掌不浪鳴。不得已與爾說。中有黃金充一國。雪竇道。山形拄杖子。古人道。識得拄杖子。一生參學事畢。無影樹下合同船。雪竇道。海晏河清。

(Yuanwu continued:) Is it the same as or different from 'I do not know' to Emperor Wu? Though it resembles it, it is not yet it. The National Teacher said: 'I have a disciple to whom I have transmitted the Dharma, Dan Yuan, who knows this matter. Please summon him and ask.' Xuedou comments: 'A single palm does not clap in vain.' Let us set aside Daizong's not understanding; does Dan Yuan understand? He only needs to say 'Please show me the pattern of the tower' and the whole earth cannot do anything with it. My late master Wuzu commented: 'You are the teacher of a nation; why not say it, but instead push it to a disciple?' After the National Teacher passed away, the Emperor summoned Dan Yuan to ask what this meant. Yuan came and acted as the National Teacher, speaking reasons in foreign and Chinese words, and naturally understood the National Teacher's talk. A single verse suffices (the Garden of Patriarchs' Affairs records it from the Qi period): 'South of the Xiang, north of the Tan; in it there is gold, filling a whole country. Beneath the shadowless tree a joint boat; in the lapis lazuli palace there is no one who knows.' Dan Yuan's name was Yingzhen. He was an attendant with the National Teacher and later lived at Danyuan monastery in Jizhou. At that time Yangshan came to study with Dan Yuan. Yuan said that his nature was heavy and bad and one should not offend him; he could not stay. Yangshan went first to study with Chan Master Xingkong. A monk asked Xingkong: 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' Xingkong said: 'It is like a man in a thousand-foot well. Without borrowing an inch of rope he gets this man out; then I will answer your 'coming from the West.'' The monk said: 'Recently Master Chang in Hunan also speaks to people east and west.' Xingkong then called a novice to drag this corpse out (the novice was Yangshan). Yangshan later cited it and asked Dan Yuan: 'How does one get the man out of the well?' Dan Yuan said: 'Chi! You fool, who is in the well?' Yangshan did not accord with it. Later he asked Weishan, who called out 'Huiji!' Yangshan responded 'Yes!' Wei said: 'Out.' Yangshan thereupon greatly awakened and said: 'I got the substance at Dan Yuan's place and the function at Weishan's.' Just this one verse has led many people into wrong understanding. Many misunderstand and say: 'Xiang' means seeing each other, 'Tan' means discussing, and in the middle there is a seamless tower; so it says 'in it there is gold, filling a whole country.' The Emperor's exchange with the National Teacher is 'beneath the shadowless tree, a joint boat'; the Emperor did not understand, so it says 'in the lapis lazuli palace there is no one who knows.' Others say: 'Xiang' is south of Xiangzhou and 'Tan' is north of Tanzhou, 'in it there is gold, filling a whole country,' and the verse winks and glances at the emperor, saying: 'This is the seamless tower.' If you understand it like this, you do not leave emotional views. Take just Xuedou's four turning words; how would you understand them? People today do not realize what the men of old meant. Tell me: 'South of the Xiang, north of the Tan,' how do you understand it? 'In it there is gold, filling a whole country,' how do you understand it? 'Beneath the shadowless tree, a joint boat,' how do you understand it? 'In the lapis lazuli palace there is no one who knows,' how do you understand it? If you can see it so, you may celebrate your whole life. 'South of the Xiang, north of the Tan': Xuedou says, 'A single palm does not clap in vain,' and reluctantly tells you. 'In it there is gold, filling a whole country': Xuedou says, 'A staff in the shape of a mountain.' The men of old said: 'Know the staff and the matter of a lifetime's study is finished.' 'Beneath the shadowless tree, a joint boat': Xuedou says, 'The sea is calm and the river clear.'

一時豁開戶牖。八面玲瓏。瑠璃殿上無知識。雪竇道。拈了也。一時與爾說了也。不妨難見。見得也好。只是有些子錯認處。隨語生解。至末後道拈了也。卻較些子。雪竇分明一時下語了。後面單頌箇無縫塔子。

(Yuanwu continued:) At once the doors and windows are thrown open, and it is brilliant on all eight sides. 'In the lapis lazuli palace there is no one who knows': Xuedou says, 'Picked up.' He says it all to you at once, and it is not at all easy to see. If you see it, good; there is just a little place of misrecognition, producing understanding from the words. By the end, when he says 'Picked up,' it is somewhat better. Xuedou has plainly given his comments all at once, and after that he sings only of the seamless tower.

無縫塔(這一縫。大小大。道什麼)見還難(非眼可見。瞎)澄潭不許蒼龍蟠(見麼。洪波浩渺。蒼龍向什處蟠。這裡直得摸索不著)

The seamless tower (this one seam, how large! What are you saying?) is hard to see again. (It cannot be seen by the eye. Blind!) A clear pool does not permit the blue dragon to coil. (Do you see? Vast billows; where would the blue dragon coil? Here you can grope and find nothing.)

層落落(莫眼花。眼花作什麼)

Tier upon tier, towering. (Do not let your eyes be dazzled; what is there to be dazzled about?)

影團團(通身是眼。落七落八。兩兩三三舊路行。左轉右轉隨後來)千古萬古與人看(見麼。瞎漢作麼生看。闍黎覷得見麼)

Shadow upon shadow, round. (The whole body is eyes; falling seven, falling eight; two by two and three by three they walk the old road; turning left, turning right and following behind.) For a thousand ages and ten thousand ages it is shown to people. (Do you see? How does a blind man look? Can you see it, teacher?)

雪竇當頭道。無縫塔見還難。雖然獨露無私。則是要見時還難。雪竇忒殺慈悲。更向爾道。澄潭不許蒼龍蟠。五祖先師道。雪竇頌古一𠕋。我只愛他澄潭不許蒼龍蟠一句。猶較些子。多少人去他國師良久處作活計。若恁麼會。一時錯了也。不見道。臥龍不鑒止水。無處有月波澄。有處無風浪起。又道。臥龍長怖碧潭清。若是這箇漢。直饒洪波浩渺。白浪滔天。亦不在裡許蟠。雪竇到此頌了。後頭著些子眼目。琢出一箇無縫塔。隨後說道。層落落影團團。千古萬古與人看。爾作麼生看。即今在什麼處。直饒爾見得分明。也莫錯認定盤星。

Xuedou says at the outset: 'The seamless tower is hard to see again.' Though it is revealed alone without any private reserve, it is still hard when you want to see it. Xuedou is excessively compassionate and says further to you: 'A clear pool does not permit the blue dragon to coil.' My late master Wuzu said: 'Xuedou's volume of verses on old cases (the base text has a variant character here for 'volume'): I love only that one line, 'A clear pool does not permit the blue dragon to coil.' It is still rather better.' How many people make a living at the National Teacher's 'silent for a long while'! If you understand it like this, you are wrong all at once. Have you not seen it said: 'A sleeping dragon does not look into still water; where there is no moon the waves are clear; where there is, no wind and waves rise.' It is also said: 'The sleeping dragon always fears the clear green pool.' If it is this fellow, then even vast billows and white waves reaching the sky will not make him coil in them. When Xuedou reaches this point in his verse, he puts in a little of the eye behind it and carves out a seamless tower, and then says: 'Tier upon tier, shadow upon shadow round, for a thousand ages and ten thousand ages it is shown to people.' How do you look? Where is it right now? Even if you see it clearly, do not mistake the fixed star on the scale.

垂示雲。一塵舉大地收。一花開世界起。只如塵未舉花未開時。如何著眼。所以道。如斬一綟絲。一斬一切斬。如染一綟絲。一染一切染。只如今便將葛藤截斷。運出自己家珍。高低普應。前後無差。各各現成。儻或未然。看取下文。

Introduction: When one mote of dust is raised, the whole earth is gathered in. When one flower opens, the world arises. But when the dust has not yet been raised and the flower has not yet opened, how do you set your eyes? So it is said: 'Like cutting one strand of silk: one cut, all are cut. Like dyeing one strand of silk: one dyeing, all are dyed.' Right now cut off the entanglements and bring out your own household treasure; high and low, all respond, before and behind without difference, each one ready-made. If it is not yet so, look at what follows.

【一九】舉。俱胝和尚。凡有所問(有什麼消息。鈍根阿師)只竪一指(這老漢也要坐斷天下人舌頭。熱則普天普地熱。寒則普天普地寒。換卻天下人舌頭)。

[Case 19] Cited: Whenever Master Juzhi was asked anything (what news is there? a dull-witted teacher) he simply held up one finger. (This old fellow also wants to cut off the tongues of all the world. When hot, the whole sky and earth are hot; when cold, the whole sky and earth are cold; he replaces the tongues of all the world.)

若向指頭上會。則辜負俱胝。若不向指頭上會。則生鐵鑄就相似。會也恁麼去。不會也恁麼去。高也恁麼去。低也恁麼去。是也恁麼去。非也恁麼去。所以道。一塵才起大地全收。一花欲開世界便起。一毛頭獅子。百億毛頭現。圓明道。寒則普天普地寒。熱則普天普地熱。山河大地。下徹黃泉。萬象森羅。上通霄漢。且道。是什麼物得恁麼奇怪。若也識得。不消一揑。若識不得。礙塞殺人。俱胝和尚。乃婺州金華人。初住庵時。有一尼名實際。到庵直入。更不下笠。持錫遶禪床三匝雲。道得即下笠。如是三問。俱胝無對。尼便去。俱胝曰。天勢稍晚。且留一宿。尼曰道得即宿。胝又無對。尼便行。胝嘆曰。我雖處丈夫之形。而無丈夫之氣。遂發憤要明此事。擬棄庵往諸方參請。打疊行腳。其夜山神告曰。不須離此。來日有肉身菩薩。來為和尚說法。不須去。果是次日。天龍和尚到庵。胝乃迎禮。具陳前事。天龍只竪一指而示之。俱胝忽然大悟。是他當時鄭重專注。所以桶底易脫。後來凡有所問。只竪一指。長慶道。美食不中飽人吃。玄沙道。我當時若見。拗折指頭。玄覺雲。玄沙恁麼道。意作麼生。雲居錫雲。只如玄沙恁麼道。是肯伊。是不肯伊。若肯伊。何言拗折指頭。若不肯伊。俱胝過在什麼處。先曹山雲。俱胝承當處莽鹵。只認得一機一境。一等是拍手撫掌。見他西園奇怪。玄覺又云。且道俱胝還悟也未。為什麼承當處莽鹵。若是不悟。又道平生。只用一指頭禪不盡。且道曹山意在什麼處。當時俱胝實然不會。及乎到他悟後凡有所問。只竪一指。因什麼。千人萬人。羅籠不住。撲他不破。爾若用作指頭會。決定不見古人意。這般禪易參。只是難會。如今人才問著。也竪指竪拳。只是弄精魂。也須是徹骨徹髓。見透始得。俱胝庵中有一童子。於外被人詰曰。和尚尋常以何法示人。童子竪起指頭。

If you try to understand at the fingertip, you fail Juzhi. If you do not understand at the fingertip, it is like cast raw iron. Understanding is like this, not understanding is like this; high is like this, low is like this; right is like this, wrong is like this. So it is said: 'When one mote of dust is raised, the whole earth is gathered in; when one flower is about to open, the world arises. On one hair-tip of a lion, a hundred billion hair-tips appear.' Yuanming said: 'When cold, the whole sky and earth are cold; when hot, the whole sky and earth are hot. Mountains, rivers and the great earth go down to reach the Yellow Springs; the ten thousand phenomena above connect with the Milky Way.' Tell me, what thing is this strange? If you can recognize it, no need to pinch; if you cannot recognize it, it chokes people to death. Master Juzhi was a native of Jinhua in Wuzhou. When he first lived in a hut, there was a nun named Shiji who came to the hut and walked straight in without taking off her bamboo hat, circled the Chan seat three times holding her staff, and said: 'If you can say it, I will take off my hat.' She asked three times like this, and Juzhi had no reply. The nun went off. Juzhi said: 'It is getting late; stay the night.' The nun said: 'If you can say it, I will stay.' Zhi again had no reply. The nun left. Zhi sighed: 'Though I have the form of a man, I do not have the spirit of a man.' So he resolved to clarify this matter and planned to abandon the hut and go to seek teachers elsewhere. He packed for the journey. That night the mountain spirit told him: 'You need not leave here. Tomorrow a flesh-body bodhisattva will come to preach the Dharma for the Master; do not go.' Indeed the next day Master Tianlong came to the hut. Zhi welcomed him with ritual and told him all that had happened. Tianlong simply held up one finger to show him. Juzhi suddenly awakened greatly. It was because at that time he was earnest and single-minded that the bottom of the bucket fell out easily. Afterward whenever he was asked anything, he just held up one finger. Changqing said: 'Fine food is not for one who is full.' Xuansha said: 'If I had seen it then, I would have broken his finger.' Xuanjue said: 'What did Xuansha mean by saying this?' Yunju Xi said: 'Just as Xuansha says it: does he affirm him or not? If he affirms him, why say break his finger? If he does not affirm him, where was Juzhi's fault?' Former Master Caoshan said: 'Juzhi's acceptance was rough; he only recognized one mechanism and one realm; it is the same as clapping hands and being amazed at another's western garden.' Xuanjue also said: 'Tell me, had Juzhi awakened or not? Why was his acceptance rough? If he had not awakened, why did he say that all his life he used one-finger Chan without exhausting it? Tell me, what was Caoshan's meaning?' At that time Juzhi truly did not understand; but after his awakening, whenever he was asked, he just held up one finger. Why is it that thousands and tens of thousands could not net him and could not break him? If you take it as understanding the finger, you will certainly not see what the men of old meant. This kind of Chan is easy to study but hard to understand. People today, as soon as they are asked, also hold up a finger or a fist; it is only playing with spirit. One must penetrate to the bone and marrow and see through it for it to do. In Juzhi's hut there was a boy attendant. Outside, someone asked him: 'What teaching does your master usually show to people?' The boy held up a finger.

歸而舉似師。俱胝以刀斷其指。童子叫喚走出。俱胝召一聲。童子回首。俱胝卻竪起指頭。童子豁然領解。且道見箇什麼道理。及至遷化。謂眾曰。吾得天龍一指頭禪。平生用不盡。要會麼。竪起指頭便脫去後來明招獨眼龍問國泰深師叔雲。古人道。俱胝只念三行呪。便得名超一切人。作麼生與他拈卻三行呪。深亦竪起一指頭。招雲。不因今日。爭識得這瓜州客。且道。意作麼生。秘魔平生。只用一杈。打地和尚凡有所問。只打地一下。後被人藏卻他棒。卻問如何是佛。他只張口。亦是一生用不盡。無業雲。祖師觀此土有大乘根器。唯單傳心印。指示迷塗。得之者不揀愚之與智。凡之與聖且多虛不如少實。大丈夫漢。即今直下休歇去。頓息萬緣去。超生死流。逈出常格。縱有眷屬莊嚴。不求自得。無業一生凡有所問。只道莫妄想。所以道。一處透。千處萬處一時透。一機明。千機萬機一時明。如今人總不恁麼。只管恣意情解。不會他古人省要處。他豈不是無機關轉換處。為什麼只用一指頭。須知俱胝到這裡。有深密為人處。要會得省力麼。還他圓明道寒則普天普地寒。熱則普天普地熱。山河大地。通上孤危。萬象森羅。徹下嶮峻什麼處得一指頭禪來。

(Yuanwu continued:) He returned and told the master. Juzhi cut off the boy's finger with a knife. The boy cried out and ran out. Juzhi called him, and the boy turned his head. Juzhi then held up his finger, and the boy suddenly understood. Tell me, what principle did he see? When he passed away, he said to the assembly: 'I got one-finger Chan from Tianlong and used it all my life without exhausting it. Do you want to understand?' He held up a finger and departed. Later Mingzhao the One-Eyed Dragon asked his uncle in the Dharma Guotai Shen: 'The men of old said that Juzhi only recited three lines of mantra and so his name surpassed everyone's. How would you pick up those three lines of mantra and take them away for him?' Shen also held up one finger. Zhao said: 'If not for today, how would I know this traveler from Guazhou?' Tell me, what is the meaning? Mimo used only one fork all his life. Master Dadi, whenever he was asked anything, just struck the ground once. Later someone hid his stick and then asked: 'What is Buddha?' He only opened his mouth. That also was not exhausted in a lifetime. Wuye said: 'The Patriarch saw that this land had capacity for the Great Vehicle, and transmitted only the mind seal to point out the deluded road. Those who obtain it do not choose between fool and wise, ordinary and sage. Besides, much falseness is not as good as little truth. Great man, right now rest straight on the spot, stop all conditions at once, leap beyond the stream of birth and death, and stand far apart from ordinary standards; even if there are dependents and adornments, they come without being sought.' Throughout his life, whenever Wuye was asked anything, he only said: 'Do not delude yourself with thoughts.' So it is said: 'Penetrate at one place and a thousand places, ten thousand places penetrate at once; one mechanism is clear and a thousand mechanisms, ten thousand mechanisms are clear at once.' People today are not at all like this; they only indulge in emotional understanding and do not understand the essential points that the men of old grasped. Is it not that they have no place for the mechanism to turn? Why only one finger? You must know that Juzhi, at this point, had a deep and secret way of helping people. Do you want to understand it with little effort? Give it back to Yuanming: 'When cold, the whole sky and earth are cold; when hot, the whole sky and earth are hot. Mountains, rivers and the great earth connect to the lonely and perilous above; the ten thousand phenomena penetrate the steep and dangerous below.' Where did one-finger Chan come from?

對揚深愛老俱胝(癩兒牽伴。同道方知。不免是一機一境)宇宙空來更有誰(兩箇三箇。更有一箇。也須打殺)

Facing and raising, I deeply love old Juzhi. (A leper leading a companion; only fellow practitioners know; he cannot avoid being one mechanism and one realm.) In all the emptied universe, who else is there? (Two, three; and if there is one more, he too must be struck dead.)

曾向滄溟下浮木(全是這箇。是則是。太孤峻生。破草鞋有什麼用處)

Once he lowered floating wood into the dark sea. (All of it is just this; right it is, but too solitary and steep; what use is a worn-out straw sandal?)

夜濤相共接盲龜(撈天摸地。有什麼了期。接得堪作何用。據令而行。趕向無佛世界。接得闍黎。一箇瞎漢)

On the night waves he joined to receive a blind turtle. (Groping at heaven and feeling at earth, when will it end? What use is what is received? Acting on the command, driving them into a world with no Buddha; he receives you, teacher, a blind fellow.)

雪竇會四六文章。七通八達。凡是誵訛奇特公案。偏愛去頌。對揚深愛老俱胝。宇宙空來更有誰。今時學者。抑揚古人。或賓或主。一問一答。當面提持。有如此為人處。所以道。對揚深愛老俱胝。且道雪竇愛他作什麼。自天地開闢以來。更有誰人。只是老俱胝一箇。若是別人須參雜。唯是俱胝老。只用一指頭。直至老死。時人多邪解道。山河大地也空。人也空。法也空。直饒宇宙一時空來。只是俱胝老一箇。且得沒交涉。曾向滄溟下浮木。如今謂之生死海。眾生在業海之中。頭出頭沒。不明自己。無有出期。俱胝老垂慈接物。於生死海中。用一指頭接人。似下浮木接盲龜相似。令諸眾生得到彼岸。夜濤相共接盲龜。法華經云。如一眼之龜。值浮木孔。無沒溺之患。大善知識接得一箇如龍似虎底漢。教他向有佛世界。互為賓主。無佛世界坐斷要津。接得箇盲龜。堪作何用。

Xuedou knew four-and-six parallel prose and was open and free in every direction; he especially loved to versify koans that were confusing and extraordinary. 'Facing and raising, I deeply love old Juzhi; in all the emptied universe, who else is there?' Students today praise and press down on the men of old, host or guest, one question and one answer, taking hold of it face to face. There is such a way of helping people. So it is said: 'Facing and raising, I deeply love old Juzhi.' Tell me, why does Xuedou love him so? Since the opening of heaven and earth, who else is there? There is only old Juzhi. If it were another, he would be mixed up; only old Juzhi used just one finger until he died of old age. People of the time mostly gave wrong interpretations, saying: mountains, rivers and the great earth are empty, people are empty, dharmas are empty; even if the whole universe became empty at once, only old Juzhi would remain. That has no connection at all. 'Once he lowered floating wood into the dark sea': now this is called the sea of birth and death. Sentient beings are in the sea of karma, heads rising and sinking, not clear about themselves, with no time to get out. Old Juzhi, out of compassion, received beings, using one finger in the sea of birth and death to receive people, like lowering floating wood to receive a blind turtle, enabling all beings to reach the other shore. 'On the night waves he joined to receive a blind turtle': the Lotus Sutra says: 'Like a one-eyed turtle meeting a hole in floating wood, there is no worry of drowning.' A great teacher receives a fellow who is like a dragon or tiger and has him serve as host and guest to each other in a world with a Buddha, and in a world without a Buddha sit cutting off the main ford. What use is a blind turtle that is received?

垂示雲。堆山積嶽。撞牆磕壁。佇思停機。一場苦屈。或有箇漢出來掀翻大海。踢倒須彌。喝散白雲。打破虛空。直下向一機一境。坐斷天下人舌頭。無爾近傍處。且道從上來。是什麼人曾恁麼。試舉看。

Introduction: Piling up mountains and heaping up peaks, striking walls and bumping barriers, pausing to ponder and stopping the mechanism: this is all a painful grievance. Or if a fellow comes out, overturns the great sea, kicks down Mount Sumeru, shouts apart the white clouds and breaks open empty space, straight down in one mechanism and one realm, cutting off the tongues of all the world, there is nowhere for you to come close. Tell me, since ancient times, who has ever been like this? Try citing it.

【二〇】舉。龍牙問翠微。如何是祖師西來意(諸方舊話。也要勘過)微雲。與我過禪板來(用禪板作什麼。洎合放過。噞)牙過禪板與翠微(也是把不住。駕與青龍不解騎。可惜許。當面不承當)。微接得便打(著。打得箇死漢濟甚事。也落在第二頭了也)牙雲。打即任打。要且無祖師西來意(這漢話在第二頭。賊過後張弓)牙又問臨濟。如何是祖師西來意(諸方舊公案。再問將來。不直半文錢)濟雲。與我過蒲團來(曹溪波浪如相似。無限平人被陸沈。一狀領過。一坑埋卻)牙取蒲團過與臨濟(依前把不住。依前不伶俐。依俙越國。髣髴揚州)濟接得便打(著。可惜打這般死漢。一模脫出)牙雲。打即任打。要且無祖師西來意(灼然在鬼窟裡作活計。將謂得便宜。賊過後張弓)。

[Case 20] Cited: Longya asked Cuiwei, 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' (An old story from everywhere; it too must be tested.) Wei said, 'Pass me the Chan board.' (What is the Chan board for? Almost let go; ha!) Longya passed the Chan board to Cuiwei. (Also cannot hold it; yoked to a blue dragon and does not know how to ride; a pity; he does not take it up face to face.) Wei took it and struck him. (There! What use is striking a dead fellow? He too falls into the second place.) Longya said, 'Strike if you like, but there is no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West.' (This fellow's talk is in the second place; a thief, after he has gone, draws the bow.) Longya also asked Linji, 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' (An old koan from everywhere; asked again, it is not worth half a cash.) Ji said, 'Pass me the meditation cushion.' (If the waves of Caoxi are like this, countless ordinary people are sunk without trace; taken in one report, buried in one pit.) Longya took the cushion and passed it to Linji. (As before he cannot hold it; as before not clever; vaguely Yue, dimly Yangzhou.) Ji took it and struck him. (There! A pity to strike such a dead fellow; they come out of one mold.) Longya said, 'Strike if you like, but there is no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West.' (Plainly making a living in a ghost cave; he thinks he has gained an advantage; a thief, after he has gone, draws the bow.)

翠巖芝和尚雲。當時如是。今時衲子。皮下還有血麼。溈山喆雲。翠微臨濟。可謂本分宗師。龍牙一等是撥草瞻風。不妨與後人作龜鑑。住院後有僧問。和尚當時還肯二尊宿麼。牙雲。肯即肯。只是無祖師西來意。龍牙瞻前顧後。應病與藥。大溈則不然。待伊問和尚當時還肯二尊宿麼。明不明。劈脊便打。非惟扶竪翠微臨濟。亦不辜負來問。石門聰雲。龍牙無人拶著。猶可。被箇衲子挨著。失卻一隻眼。雪竇雲。臨濟翠微。只解把住不解放開。我當時如作龍牙。待伊索蒲團禪板。拈起劈面便擲。五祖戒雲。和尚得恁麼面長。或雲。祖師土宿臨頭。黃龍新雲。龍牙驅耕夫之牛。奪飢人之食。既明則明矣。因什麼卻無祖師西來意。會麼。棒頭有眼明如日。要識真金火裡看。大凡激揚要妙。提唱宗乘。向第一機下明得。可以坐斷天下人舌頭。儻或躊躇落在第二。這二老漢。雖然打風打雨。驚天動地。要且不曾打著箇明眼漢。古人參禪多少辛苦。立大丈夫志氣。經歷山川。參見尊宿。龍牙先參翠微臨濟。後參德山。遂問學人仗鏌鎁劍。擬取師頭時如何。德山引頸雲。㘞。牙雲。師頭落也。山微笑便休去。次到洞山。洞山問。近離甚處。牙雲。德山來。洞山雲。德山有何言句。牙遂舉前話。洞山雲。他道什麼。牙雲。他無語。洞山雲。莫道無語。且試將德山落底頭呈似老僧看。牙於此有省。遂焚香遙望德山禮拜懺悔。德山聞雲。洞山老漢不識好惡。這漢死來多少時。救得有什麼用處。從他擔老僧頭遶天下走。龍牙根性聰敏。擔一肚皮禪。行腳。直向長安翠微。便問。如何是祖師西來意。微雲。與我過禪板來。牙取禪板與微。微接得便打。牙雲。打即任打。要且無祖師西來意。又問臨濟。如何是祖師西來意。濟雲。與我過蒲團來。牙取蒲團與臨濟。濟接得便打。牙雲。打即任打。要且無祖師西來意。他致箇問端。

Abbot Zhi of Cuiyan said: "That was how it was then. Monks nowadays, is there still blood under your skin?" Zhe of Weishan said: "Cuiwei and Linji can be called masters true to their station. Longya in the same way was a man who parted the grass and looked to the wind, and he can serve later people as a tortoise mirror." After Longya took up his temple, a monk asked: "Master, did you in fact approve of the two venerables then?" Ya said: "Approving is approving, but there was no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." Longya looked ahead and behind, giving medicine according to the illness. Dawei was not so; he would wait for the monk to ask, "Master, did you in fact approve of the two venerables then?" and then say, "Is it clear or not?" and strike him across the spine. This would not merely have propped up Cuiwei and Linji, but would also not have failed the questioner. Cong of Shimen said: "Longya met no one to press him, which was fine; but to be pushed by a monk lost him an eye." Xuedou said: "Linji and Cuiwei only understood how to hold fast and did not understand how to let go. Had I been Longya then, I would have waited for them to ask for the meditation board and rush cushion, picked them up and thrown them straight in their faces." Jie of Wuzu said: "The Master got a face this long." Some say: "The Patriarch's lodging spirit is upon your head." Xin of Huanglong said: "Longya drove off the plowman's ox and snatched the hungry man's food. If it was clear, it was clear; why then was there no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West? Do you understand? Behind the stick there are eyes bright as the sun; to know true gold, look for it in the fire." In general, when one stirs up and raises the essential and subtle, and expounds the doctrine of the school, if one is clear under the first principle one can sit and cut off the tongues of all under heaven; but if one hesitates and falls into the second, though these two old men beat the wind and the rain and shook heaven and earth, they never struck a clear-eyed man. How much hardship the ancients endured in studying Chan! They set up the resolve of a great man, traveled through mountains and rivers and called on venerable teachers. Longya first called on Cuiwei and Linji, and afterward on Deshan. He then asked: "If a student, holding the sword Moye, were about to take the Master's head, what then?" Deshan stretched out his neck and said: "Aah!" Ya said: "The Master's head has fallen." Shan smiled slightly and let it go. Next he went to Dongshan. Dongshan asked: "Where have you come from recently?" Ya said: "From Deshan." Dongshan said: "What did Deshan say?" Ya then told the previous exchange. Dongshan said: "What did he say?" Ya said: "He had no words." Dongshan said: "Don't say he had no words. Just try to bring the head that Deshan lost and show it to this old monk." Ya awakened somewhat here. He then burned incense, bowed toward Deshan from afar and repented. Hearing of this, Deshan said: "That old man Dongshan does not know good from bad. This fellow has been dead for how long now; what use is there in saving him? Let him go on carrying this old monk's head around the world." Longya's nature was sharp and quick-witted; carrying a bellyful of Chan, he went on pilgrimage, and went straight to Cuiwei in Chang'an and asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" Wei said: "Pass me the meditation board." Ya took the meditation board and gave it to Wei. Wei took it and struck him. Ya said: "Strike if you will, but there was no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." He then asked Linji: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" Ji said: "Pass me the rush cushion." Ya took the cushion and gave it to Linji. Ji took it and struck him. Ya said: "Strike if you will, but there was no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." He put forward his question in this way.

不妨要見他曲彔木床上老漢。亦要明自己一段大事。可謂言不虛設。機不亂發。出在做工夫處。不見五洩參石頭。先自約曰。若一言相契。即住。不然即去。石頭據座。洩拂袖而出。石頭知是法器。即垂開示。洩不領其旨。告辭而出至門。石頭呼之雲。闍黎。洩回顧。石頭雲。從生至死。只是這箇。回頭轉腦。更莫別求。洩於言下大悟。又麻谷持錫到章敬。遶禪床三匝。振錫一下。卓然而立。敬雲。是是。又到南泉。依前遶床振錫而立。南泉雲。不是不是。此是風力所轉。終成敗壞。谷雲。章敬道是。和尚為什麼道不是。南泉雲。章敬即是。是汝不是。古人也不妨要提持透脫此一件事。如今人才問著。全無些子用工夫處。今日也只是恁麼。明日也只是恁麼。爾若只恁麼盡未來際。也未有了日。須是抖擻精神。始得有少分相應。爾看龍牙發一問道。如何是祖師西來意。翠微雲。與我過禪板來。牙過與微。微接得便打。牙當時取禪板時。豈不知翠微要打他。也不得便道他不會。為什麼卻過禪板與他。且道當機承當得時。合作麼生。他不向活水處用。自去死水裡作活計。一向作主宰。便道打即任打。要且無祖師西來意。又走去河北參臨濟。依前恁麼問。濟雲。與我過蒲團來。牙過與濟。濟接得便打。牙雲。打即任打。要且無祖師西來意。且道二尊宿。又不同法嗣。為什麼答處相似。用處一般。須知古人。一言一句。不亂施為。他後來住院。有僧問雲。和尚當時見二尊宿。是肯他不肯他。牙雲。肯則肯。要且無祖師西來意。爛泥裡有刺。放過與人。已落第二。這老漢把得定。只做得洞下尊宿。若是德山臨濟門下。須知別有生涯。若是山僧則不然。只向他道。肯即未肯。要且無祖師西來意。不見僧問大梅。如何是祖師西來意。梅雲。西來無意。鹽官聞雲。一箇棺材。兩箇死漢。玄沙聞雲。鹽官是作家。雪竇道。

(Yuanwu continued:) It is indeed that he wanted to see the old man on the curved wooden seat, and also to clarify his own great matter. It can be said that his words were not set up idly, and his devices not released at random; it all came out of the place where he applied effort. Have you not seen how Wuxie called on Shitou? He first set the terms himself: "If a single word accords, I will stay; if not, I will leave." Shitou sat firmly in his seat. Xie flicked his sleeves and went out. Shitou knew he was a vessel of the Dharma and called out to give him instruction. Xie did not grasp the point, and took his leave and went out to the gate. Shitou called him: "Reverend!" Xie looked back. Shitou said: "From birth to death, it is only this. Turn your head and turn your brain; there is no need to seek elsewhere." Xie was greatly awakened at these words. Again, Magu carried his staff to Zhangjing, circled the meditation seat three times, shook the staff once, and stood erect. Jing said: "Right, right." He then went to Nanquan and as before circled the seat, shook the staff and stood. Nanquan said: "Wrong, wrong. This is turned by the force of the wind, and in the end will be ruined." Gu said: "Zhangjing said right; why does the Master say wrong?" Nanquan said: "Zhangjing is right; it is you who are wrong." The ancients too wanted to lift up and penetrate this one matter. People nowadays, as soon as they are asked, have no place at all to apply effort. Today it is just like this, tomorrow it is just like this; if you are just like this to the end of all future time, there will still be no day of finishing. You must shake up your spirit before you can have even a small measure of accord. Look at Longya, who raised one question: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" Cuiwei said: "Pass me the meditation board." Ya passed it to Wei, and Wei took it and struck him. When Ya took the board, did he not know that Cuiwei wanted to strike him? You cannot simply say he did not understand; why then did he pass him the board? Tell me, when the occasion is taken up, how should it be? He did not use his effort in living water; he went to make a living in dead water. He took charge of it all the time, and said, "Strike if you will, but there was no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." Then he went to Hebei to call on Linji, and asked the same way as before. Ji said: "Pass me the rush cushion." Ya passed it to Ji, and Ji took it and struck him. Ya said: "Strike if you will, but there was no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." Tell me, these two venerables were not Dharma heirs of the same line; why are their answers similar and their uses the same? You should know that the ancients did not act at random in a single word or phrase. Later, when he lived in his temple, a monk asked: "When you met the two venerables then, did you approve of them or not?" Ya said: "Approving is approving, but there was no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." There is a thorn in the mud. Letting it pass to another has already fallen into the second. This old man could hold firm, but could only be a venerable of the Dongshan line. If it were in the school of Deshan or Linji, you must know that there is a different way of life. As for this mountain monk, it would not be so; I would say to him only: "Approving is not yet approving, but there was no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." Have you not seen a monk ask Damei, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" Mei said: "The coming from the West has no meaning." Hearing of this, Yanguan said: "One coffin, two dead men." Hearing of it, Xuansha said: "Yanguan is a master." Xuedou said:

三箇也有。只如這僧問祖師西來意。卻向他道西來無意。爾若恁麼會。墮在無事界裡。所以道。須參活句。莫參死句。活句下薦得。永劫不忘。死句下薦得。自救不了。龍牙恁麼道。不妨盡善。古人道相續也大難。他古人一言一句。不亂施為。前後相照。有權有實。有照有用。賓主歷然。互換縱橫。若要辨其親切。龍牙雖不昧宗乘。爭柰落在第二頭。當時二尊宿。索禪板蒲團。牙不可不知他意。是他要用他胸襟裡事。雖然如是。不妨用得太峻。龍牙恁麼問。二老恁麼答。為什麼卻無祖師西來意。到這裡須知別有箇奇特處。雪竇拈出令人看。

(Yuanwu continued:) "There are three." Take this monk who asked about the Patriarch's coming from the West and was told that the coming from the West has no meaning. If you understand it like this, you fall into the realm of nothing-to-do. Therefore it is said: you must study the living phrase and not study the dead phrase. If you grasp it under the living phrase, you will never forget it through endless kalpas; if you grasp it under the dead phrase, you cannot even save yourself. Longya said it like this, which was quite excellent. The ancients said that continuing is very difficult. In every word and phrase the ancients did not act at random; front and back illuminate each other, with expedient and real, with illumination and function, host and guest clearly distinct, exchanging and moving freely. If you wish to distinguish what is truly intimate, though Longya did not obscure the doctrine of the school, how unfortunate that he fell into the second head. The two venerables then asked for the meditation board and the cushion, and Ya could not fail to know their meaning: they wanted him to use what was in his own breast. Even so, it was rather too steep a use. Longya asked in this way, and the two old men answered in this way; why then was there no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West? Here you must know there is a remarkable point elsewhere. Xuedou brought it out to show people.