Foguo Yuanwu's Blue Cliff Record, Fascicle Four (End)

垂示雲。是非交結處。聖亦不能知。逆順縱橫時。佛亦不能辨。為絕世超倫之士。顯逸群大士之能。向氷凌上行。劍刃上走。直下如麒麟頭角。似火裡蓮花。宛見超方。始知同道。誰是好手者。試舉看。

Introduction: Where right and wrong are entangled, even a sage cannot know; when adverse and favorable move freely in all directions, even a Buddha cannot discern. For one who transcends the world and surpasses his peers, and shows the ability of a great one beyond the herd, walking on ice and running on sword blades, directly he is like a unicorn's horn, like a lotus in fire; one sees him as one beyond the common, and only then knows he is of the same Way. Who is a skilled hand? Let us take it up and see.

【四一】舉。趙州問投子。大死底人卻活時如何(有恁麼事賊不打貧兒家。慣曾作客方憐客)投子云。不許夜行。投明須到(看樓打樓。是賊識賊。若不同床臥。焉知被底穿)。

[Case 41] Setting out: Zhaozhou asked Touzi: "What about one who has died the great death when he comes back to life? (There is such a thing. Thieves do not rob a poor household. One who has often been a guest pities guests.)" Touzi said: "Not permitted to travel at night; he must arrive by daybreak (Seeing the tower, strike the tower; it takes a thief to know a thief. If you do not sleep in the same bed, how do you know the quilt has holes?)."

趙州問投子。大死底人卻活時如何。投子對他道。不許夜行。投明須到。且道是什麼時節。無孔笛撞著氈拍版。此謂之驗主問。亦謂之心行問。投子趙州諸方皆美之得逸群之辯。二老雖承嗣不同。看他機鋒相投一船。投子一日為趙州。置茶筵相待。自過蒸餅與趙州。州不管。投子令行者過胡餅與趙州。州禮行者三拜。且道他意是如何。看他盡是向根本上。提此本分事為人。有僧問。如何是道。答雲。道。如何是佛。答雲。佛。又問。金鎖未開時如何。答雲。開。金雞未鳴時如何。答雲。無這箇音響。鳴後如何。答雲。各自知時。投子平生問答總如此。看趙州問。大死底人卻活時如何。他便道。不許夜行。投明須到。直下如擊石火。似閃電光。還他向上人始得。大死底人。都無佛法道理玄妙得失是非長短。到這裡只恁麼休去。古人謂之平地上死人無數。過得荊棘林是好手。也須是透過那邊始得。雖然如是。如今人到這般田地。早是難得。或若有依倚有解會。則沒交涉。喆和尚謂之見不淨潔。五祖先師。謂之命根不斷。須是大死一番。卻活始得。浙中永光和尚道。言鋒若差鄉關萬裡。直須懸崖撒手。自肯承當。絕後再甦。欺君不得。非常之旨。人焉廋哉。趙州問意如此。投子是作家。亦不辜負他所問。只是絕情絕跡。不妨難會。只露面前些子。所以古人道。欲得親切。莫將問來問。問在答處。答在問處。若非投子。被趙州一問。也大難酬對。只為他是作家漢。舉著便知落處。頌雲。廋(所留反匿也)。

Zhaozhou asked Touzi: "What about one who has died the great death when he comes back to life?" Touzi answered him: "Not permitted to travel at night; he must arrive by daybreak." Now tell me, what time is this? A holeless flute bumping into a felt clapper. This is called a question to test the host, and also called a question of mind-conduct. Touzi and Zhaozhou were praised everywhere and had a reputation for discourse that stood out from the herd. Although the two elders inherited from different lines, see how their sharpness met in one boat. One day Touzi set out a tea feast for Zhaozhou. He himself passed a steamed bun to Zhaozhou, but Zhou paid no heed; Touzi had an attendant pass a sesame cake to Zhaozhou, and Zhou bowed three times to the attendant. Now tell me, what was his meaning? See how they all go to the root and raise this original business for people. A monk asked: "What is the Way?" He answered: "The Way." "What is the Buddha?" He answered: "Buddha." He further asked: "When the golden lock is not yet opened, what then?" He answered: "Open." "When the golden rooster has not yet crowed?" He answered: "There is no such sound." "After it has crowed?" He answered: "Each knows the time." Touzi's questions and answers all his life were like this. See how Zhaozhou asked: "What about one who has died the great death when he comes back to life?" He said: "Not permitted to travel at night; he must arrive by daybreak." Directly it is like a spark from a flint or a flash of lightning; one must have one who has gone beyond to meet it. One who has died the great death has no Buddha-Dharma, no principle, no mystery, no gain or loss, no right or wrong, no long or short; at this point he just rests like this. The ancients called it: "Countless people die on level ground; one who passes through the thorn forest is a skilled hand," and one must also pass through to the other side to get it. Even so, for people today to reach such a state is already rare. If there is any leaning or understanding, there is no connection. Venerable Zhe called it seeing impurity and cleanliness; the late Master of Wuzu called it the life-root not being cut. One must die the great death once and only then come back to life. Venerable Yongguang of Zhejiang said: "If the edge of the words is off, the hometown is ten thousand li away; one must let go of the hand on the cliff, personally agree to take it on, and be revived after cutting off, and one cannot deceive the ruler. An extraordinary meaning, how could a person hide it?" Zhaozhou's meaning in asking was like this. Touzi was a master and did not fail the question; only that it was cut off from feeling and trace and quite hard to grasp, showing only a little before the eyes. So the ancients said: "If you want to be close, do not take the question as a question; the question is in the answer, and the answer is in the question." If it had not been Touzi, being asked this by Zhaozhou would have been very hard to answer. It was only because he was a master that he knew where it landed as soon as it was raised. The verse says: Sou (meaning to hide, with the fanqie 'suo-liu').

活中有眼還同死(兩不相知。翻來覆去。若不蘊藉。爭辨得這漢緇素)藥忌何須鑒作家(若不驗過。爭辨端的。遇著試與一鑒。又且何妨。也要問過)

In life there is an eye, yet it is the same as death (the two do not know each other; turning over and over; if not subtle, how could he tell this fellow black from white?). Medicine avoids what? Why must one test a master? (If he is not tested, how can the truth be told? On meeting him, why not try him once? One must ask him.)

古佛尚言會未到(賴是有伴。千聖也不傳。山僧亦不知)

Even the ancient Buddhas say they have not yet arrived (Fortunately there is company; a thousand sages do not transmit it, and this mountain monk does not know it either).

不知誰解撒塵沙(即今也不少。開眼也著。閤眼也著。闍黎恁麼舉。落在什麼處)

I do not know who knows how to scatter dust and sand (Right now there is no lack of them; open the eyes, it is there; close the eyes, it is there. Where does your saying it like that land?)

活中有眼還同死。雪竇是知有底人。所以敢頌。古人道。他參活句。不參死句。雪竇道。活中有眼還同於死漢相似。何曾死死。中具眼如同活人。古人道。殺盡死人方見活人。活盡死人方見死人。趙州是活底人。故作死問。驗取投子。如藥性所忌之物。故將去試驗相似。所以雪竇道。藥忌何須鑒作家。此頌趙州問處。後面頌投子。古佛尚言曾未到。只這大死底人卻活處。古佛亦不曾到。天下老和尚亦不曾到。任是釋迦老子。碧眼胡僧也須再參始得。所以道。只許老胡知。不許老胡會。雪竇道。不知誰解撒塵沙。不見僧問長慶。如何是善知識眼。慶雲。有願不撒沙。保福雲。不可更撒也。天下老和尚據曲彔木床上。行棒行喝竪拂敲床。現神通作主宰。盡是撒沙。且道如何免得。

'In life there is an eye, yet it is the same as death': Xuedou was one who knew it, so he dared to compose a verse. The ancients said: "He studies the live phrase, not the dead phrase." Xuedou says: in life there is an eye, yet it resembles a dead man; when was he dead? One with the eye within death is like a living person. The ancients said: "Kill all the dead and you see the living; revive all the dead and you see the dead." Zhaozhou was a living person who deliberately asked a dead question to test Touzi, like testing with what the nature of a medicine avoids. So Xuedou says: 'Medicine avoids what? Why must one test a master?' This verse is about Zhaozhou's question. Afterwards he composes a verse on Touzi. 'Even the ancient Buddhas say they have not yet arrived': this very place where one who has died the great death comes back to life, the ancient Buddhas have never reached, and the old teachers of the world have never reached. Even old Shakya, the blue-eyed foreign monk, would have to study again to get it. So it is said: "Only the old barbarian is allowed to know it; the old barbarian is not allowed to understand it." Xuedou says: 'I do not know who knows how to scatter dust and sand.' Did you not see a monk ask Changqing: "What is the eye of a good teacher?" Qing said: "One with a vow does not scatter sand." Baofu said: "One must not scatter any more." The old teachers of the world, seated on their curved wooden chairs, wielding sticks, shouting, raising whisks and rapping the seat, displaying spiritual powers and playing the master, are all scattering sand. Now tell me, how can one avoid it?

垂示雲。單提獨弄帶水拕泥敲唱俱行。銀山鐵壁。擬議則髑髏前見鬼。尋思則黑山下打坐。明明杲日麗天。颯颯清風匝地。且道古人還有誵訛處麼。試舉看。

Introduction: Raising it alone and playing with it alone, dragging mud and carrying water, with striking and chanting together; a silver mountain, an iron wall. If you hesitate, you see ghosts before the skull; if you ponder, you sit in meditation under the black mountain. The bright sun clearly graces the sky, a brisk clear breeze sweeps the earth. Now tell me, did the ancients have any places of confusion? Let us take it up and see.

【四二】舉。龐居士辭藥山(這老漢作怪也)山命十人禪客。相送至門首(也不輕他。是什麼境界。也須是識端倪底衲僧始得)居士指空中雪雲。好雪片片不落別處(無風起浪指頭。有眼。這老漢言中有響)時有全禪客雲。落在什麼處(中也。相隨來也。果然上鈎來)士打一掌(著。果然。勾賊破家)全雲。居士也不得草草(棺木裡瞠眼)士雲。汝恁麼稱禪客。閻老子未放汝在(第二杓惡水潑了。何止閻老子。山僧這裡也不放過)全雲。居士作麼生(麤心不改。又是要吃棒。這僧從頭到尾不著便)士又打一掌(果然。雪上加霜。吃棒了呈欵)雲眼見如盲。口說如啞(更有斷和句。又與他讀判語)雪竇別雲。初問處但握雪團便打(是則是。賊過後張弓。也漏逗不少。雖然如是要見箭鋒相拄。爭奈落在鬼窟裡了也)。

[Case 42] Setting out: Layman Pang was taking leave of Yaoshan (This old fellow is making a fuss). Yaoshan ordered ten Chan guests to see him off as far as the gate (He too does not treat him lightly. What kind of realm is this? Only a monk who knows the beginnings can tell). The layman pointed to the snow in the air and said: "Good snow, flake by flake, falls nowhere else (He stirs waves without wind; the fingertip has an eye; this old fellow has resonance in his words)." Then a Chan guest named Quan said: "Where does it fall?" (Hit. They come along together; indeed he takes the hook.) The layman slapped him once (Got him. Indeed. Hooking the thief breaks up the house). Quan said: "Layman, you must not be so rash (Staring in a coffin)." The layman said: "Calling yourself a Chan guest like this, old Yama will not let you off (The second ladle of dirty water is thrown. Not only old Yama; this mountain monk will not let it pass either)." Quan said: "And you, Layman, what then?" (He does not change his coarse mind; he is about to take another beating. From beginning to end this monk is not in the right.) The layman slapped him again (Indeed. Frost on top of snow. After the beating he confesses): "Seeing with eyes like a blind man, speaking with a mouth like a mute (There is still a closing phrase; he reads out the verdict as well)." Xuedou separately said: At the first question, just grasp a snowball and strike (Right, but drawing the bow after the thief has passed; much is leaked. Even so, if you want to see arrow points meeting, alas he has fallen into a ghost cave).

龐居士。參馬祖石頭兩處有頌。初見石頭。便問。不與萬法為侶。是什麼人。聲未斷。被石頭掩卻口。有箇省處作頌道。日用事無別。唯吾自偶諧。頭頭非取捨。處處沒張乖。朱紫誰為號。青山絕點埃。神通並妙用。運水及搬柴後參馬祖。又問。不與萬法為侶。是什麼人。祖雲。待爾一口吸盡西江水。即向汝道。士豁然大悟。作頌雲。十方同聚會。箇箇學無為。此是選佛場。心空及第歸。為他是作家。後列剎相望。所至競譽。到藥山盤桓既久。遂辭藥山。山至重他。命十人禪客相送。是時值雪下。居士指雪雲。好雪片片不落別處。全禪客雲。落在什麼處。士便掌。全禪客既不能行令。居士令行一半。令雖行。全禪客恁麼酬對。也不是他不知落處。各有機鋒。卷舒不同。然有不到居士處。所以落他架下。難出他彀中。居士打了。更與說道理雲。眼見如盲口說如啞。雪竇別前語云。初問處但握雪團便打。雪竇恁麼。要不辜他問端。只是機遲。慶藏主道。居士機如掣電。等爾握雪團。到幾時。和聲便應和聲打。方始勦絕。雪竇自頌他打處雲。彀(古豆切。張弓弩也。弓滿也)。

Layman Pang studied with both Mazu and Shitou and has verses on both. When he first saw Shitou he asked: "Who is the one who is not a companion of the myriad dharmas?" Before his voice had stopped, Shitou covered his mouth, and he had an insight and composed a verse: "In daily activities there is nothing different; only I myself am naturally in harmony. In each and every thing there is no taking or rejecting, in no place is there contradiction. Who bestows the names of vermilion and purple? On the green mountain there is not a speck of dust. Spiritual powers and wondrous function: carrying water and hauling firewood." Later he studied with Mazu and again asked: "Who is the one who is not a companion of the myriad dharmas?" Mazu said: "When you have drunk up all the water of the West River in one gulp, I will tell you." The layman was suddenly greatly enlightened and composed a verse: "Gathered together from the ten directions, each one studies non-action. This is the place to select Buddhas; with mind empty, one returns having passed the examination." Because he was a master, later monasteries stood in view of each other and wherever he went he was praised. He lingered long at Yaoshan, and then took leave of Yaoshan. Yaoshan valued him greatly and ordered ten Chan guests to see him off. It happened that snow was falling. The layman pointed at the snow and said: "Good snow, flake by flake, falls nowhere else." The Chan guest Quan said: "Where does it fall?" The layman slapped him. Since the Chan guest Quan could not carry out the command, the layman carried out half of it. Though the command was carried out, Quan answered like this, not because he did not know where it landed; each has his sharpness, and the rolling up and unrolling differ; yet there is what did not reach the layman's level, so he fell under his frame and found it hard to get out of his range. After the layman struck him, he further explained: "Seeing with eyes like a blind man, speaking with a mouth like a mute." Xuedou added a separate line to the earlier words: "At the first question, just grasp a snowball and strike." Xuedou wanted not to fail the question, but was slow in his working. Zangzhu Qing said: "The layman's working is like a flash of lightning; how long would you take to grasp a snowball?" At the voice he responds, and at the voice he strikes, and only then is it cut off completely. Xuedou's own verse on the blow says: Gou (the word means to draw a bow or crossbow; the bow is full).

雪團打雪團打(爭奈落在第二機。不勞拈出。頭上漫漫腳下漫漫)龐老機關沒可把(往往有人不知。只恐不恁麼)

A snowball strikes, a snowball strikes (Alas, it falls on the second working; no need to bring it out; above is vast, below is vast). Old Pang's mechanism has nothing to grasp (often people do not know; I fear it is not so).

天上人間不自知(是什麼消息。雪竇還知麼)

In heaven and among humans, none know it of themselves (What news is this? Does Xuedou know?)

眼裡耳裡絕瀟灑(箭鋒相拄。眼見如盲。口說如啞)

In the eyes and in the ears, utterly free and easy (arrow points meet; seeing with eyes like a blind man, speaking with a mouth like a mute).

瀟灑絕(作麼生。向什麼處。見龐老與雪竇)碧眼胡僧難辨別(達磨出來。向爾道什麼。打雲。闍𥠖道什麼。一坑理卻)

Utterly free and easy (What now? Where do you see Old Pang and Xuedou?). Even the blue-eyed foreign monk can hardly distinguish it (Bodhidharma comes out; what would he tell you? Strike him. What do you say, Teacher? [Note: the source text has a variant form of the character for 'teacher' here.] Buried in one pit. [Note: the source text has a mistaken form of the character for 'buried'.])

雪團打雪團打。龐老機關沒可把雪竇要在居士頭上行。古人以雪明一色邊事。雪竇意道。當時若握雪團打時。居士縱有如何機關。亦難搆得。雪竇自誇他打處。殊不知有落節處。天上人間不自知。眼裡耳裡絕瀟灑。眼裡也是雪。耳裡也是雪。正住在一色邊。亦謂之普賢境界一色邊事。亦謂之打成一片。雲門道。直得盡乾坤大地無纖毫過患。猶為轉句。不見一色。始是半提。若要全提。須知有向上一路始得。到這裡須是大用現前。針劄不入。不聽他人處分。所以道。他參活句。不參死句。古人道。一句合頭語。萬劫繫驢橛。有什麼用處。雪竇到此頌殺了。復轉機道。只此瀟灑絕。直饒是碧眼胡僧也難辨別。碧眼胡僧尚難辨別。更教山僧說箇什麼。

'A snowball strikes, a snowball strikes; Old Pang's mechanism has nothing to grasp.' Xuedou wishes to walk over the layman's head. The ancients used snow to illuminate the side of one color. Xuedou's meaning is that if at that time one had grasped a snowball and struck, then however much mechanism the layman had, it would have been hard for him to catch. Xuedou boasts of his blow, not knowing it has a place where it falls flat. 'In heaven and among humans, none know it of themselves; in the eyes and in the ears, utterly free and easy.' In the eyes there is snow, in the ears there is snow; he is right at the side of one color. This is also called the realm of Samantabhadra, the matter of one color, and also called making it all one piece. Yunmen said: "Even if the whole great earth has not the slightest fault, it is still a turning phrase; not seeing one color is only half raised. If you want to raise it whole, you must know there is the one road beyond." At this point great function must appear, needles cannot penetrate, and one does not heed the disposal of others. So it is said: "He studies the live phrase, not the dead phrase." The ancients said: "A phrase that fits the head is a post to tether a donkey for ten thousand kalpas." What use is it? When Xuedou reaches here, he has finished the verse, and again turns the mechanism and says: 'Just this utter freedom and ease: even the blue-eyed foreign monk can hardly distinguish it.' If even the blue-eyed foreign monk can hardly distinguish it, what more should this mountain monk say?

垂示雲。定乾坤句。萬世共遵。擒虎兕機。千聖莫辨。直下更無纖翳。全機隨處齊彰。要明向上鉗鎚。須是作家爐韛。且道從上來還有恁麼家風也無。試舉看。

Introduction: The phrase that settles heaven and earth is followed by all generations; the mechanism that seizes tigers and rhinos cannot be discerned by a thousand sages. Directly there is not the slightest film; the whole mechanism is displayed everywhere at once. If you wish to understand the tongs and hammer of the way beyond, you need a master's furnace and bellows. Now tell me, has there been such a family style from of old? Let us take it up and see.

【四三】舉。僧問洞山。寒暑到來如何迴避(不是這箇時節。劈頭劈面在什麼處)山雲。何不向無寒暑處去(天下人尋不得。藏身露影。蕭何賣卻假銀城)僧雲。如何是無寒暑處(賺殺一船人。隨他轉。也一釣便上)山雲。寒時寒殺闍黎。熱時熱殺闍黎(真不掩偽。曲不藏直。臨崖看虎兕。特地一場愁。掀翻大海踢倒須彌。且道洞山在什麼處)。

[Case 43] Setting out: A monk asked Dongshan: "When cold and heat come, how can one avoid them? (It is not this time. Head on and face to face, where is it?)" Dongshan said: "Why not go to a place where there is no cold or heat? (No one in the world can find it; hiding the body while showing the shadow. Xiao He sold a false silver city.)" The monk said: "What is the place with no cold or heat? (He cheats a whole boat; following him, one is hooked at one cast.)" Dongshan said: "When it is cold, the cold kills you, Teacher; when it is hot, the heat kills you, Teacher (The true does not cover the false, the crooked does not hide the straight. Watching a tiger and a rhinoceros at the cliff's edge, he specially creates a grief; he overturns the great sea and kicks down Mount Sumeru. Now tell me, where is Dongshan?)".

黃龍新和尚拈雲。洞山袖頭打領腋下剜襟。爭柰這僧不甘。如今有箇出來問黃龍。且道如何支遣。良久雲。安禪不必須山水。滅卻心頭火自涼。諸人且道。洞山圈繢落在什麼處。若明辨得。始知洞山下五位回互正偏接人。不妨奇特。到這向上境界。方能如此。不消安排。自然恰好。所以道。正中偏。三更初夜月明前。莫怪相逢不相識。隱隱猶懷舊日嫌。偏中正失。曉老婆逢古鏡。分明覿面更無真。休更迷頭還認影。正中來。無中有路出塵埃。但能不觸當今諱。也勝前朝斷舌才。偏中至。兩刃交鋒不須避。好手還同火裡蓮。宛然自有沖天氣。兼中到。不落有無誰敢和。人人盡欲出常流。摺合還歸炭裡坐。浮山遠錄公。以此公案。為五位之格。若會得一則。餘者自然易會。巖頭道。如水上葫蘆子相似。捺著便轉。殊不消絲毫氣力。曾有僧問洞山。文殊普賢來參時如何。山雲。趕向水牯牛群裡去。僧雲。和尚入地獄如箭。山雲。全得他力。洞山道。何不向無寒暑處去。此是偏中正。僧雲。如何是無寒暑處。山雲。寒時寒殺闍黎。熱時熱殺闍黎。此是正中偏。雖正卻偏雖偏。卻圓曹洞錄中。備載子細。若是臨濟下。無許多事。這般公案直下便會。有者道。大好無寒暑。有什麼巴鼻。古人道。若向劍刃上走則快。若向情識上見則遲。不見僧問翠微。如何是祖師西來意。微雲。待無人來。向爾道。遂入園中行。僧雲。此間無人。請和尚道。微指竹雲。這一竿竹得恁麼長。那一竿竹得恁麼短其僧忽然大悟。又曹山問僧。恁麼熱。向什麼處迴避。僧雲。鑊湯爐炭裡迴避。山雲。鑊湯爐炭裡如何迴避。僧雲。眾苦不能到。看他家裡人。自然會他家裡人說話。雪竇用他家裡事頌出。

Master Xin of Huanglong commented: "Dongshan ties the collar in his sleeve and cuts the lapel from under his arm. Alas this monk is not satisfied. If someone came out and asked Huanglong now, how would he dispose of it?" After a long while he said: "For quiet meditation, one need not have mountains and water; when the fire in the mind is extinguished, it is cool by itself." All of you, tell me, where does Dongshan's trap fall? If you can discern it clearly, you will know that Dongshan's teaching of the Five Ranks with their mutual interchange of the true and the biased to receive people is quite extraordinary. Only on reaching this state beyond can one do it like this, with no need for arrangement, and it is naturally just right. So it is said: 'The true within the biased: at the start of the night's third watch, before the moon is bright. Do not wonder that they meet without recognizing each other; faintly still she holds the old grudge. The biased within the true: the old woman who overslept meets an ancient mirror; clearly face to face, there is nothing more real; do not again lose your head and mistake the shadow. Coming from the true: from within non-being there is a road out of the dust. If only one does not touch the present taboo, it is better than the talent of the tongue-cut ones of earlier courts. Arriving at the biased: two blades cross edges, no need to avoid them; a fine hand is like a lotus in fire, naturally with the breath that rushes to heaven. Arriving at the combined: not falling into being or non-being, who dares to join? Everyone wants to leave the common stream; in the end they return to sit in the charcoal.' Yuan Lu of Fushan took this case as the model of the five ranks. If you understand one, the rest will naturally be easy to understand. Yantou said: "Like a gourd on the water: push it and it turns, with no effort at all." A monk once asked Dongshan: "When Manjusri and Samantabhadra come to study, what then?" Dongshan said: "Drive them into the herd of water buffaloes." The monk said: "Master, you enter hell like an arrow." Dongshan said: "I depend entirely on their power." Dongshan said: 'Why not go to a place where there is no cold or heat?' This is the biased within the true. The monk said: 'What is the place with no cold or heat?' Dongshan said: 'When it is cold, the cold kills you; when it is hot, the heat kills you.' This is the true within the biased. Though true, it is biased; though biased, it is round. The records of the Caodong school give the details. In Linji's line there is not so much business; such cases are understood directly. Some say: 'Great is the place without cold or heat. What is the handle?' The ancients said: "If you run on the sword's edge, it is fast; if you see it through feeling and consciousness, it is slow." Did you not see a monk ask Cuiwei: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the west?" Wei said: "Wait until no one is around, and I will tell you." Then they went into the garden. The monk said: "There is no one here; please speak, Master." Wei pointed to the bamboo and said: "This stalk of bamboo is this long, that stalk of bamboo is this short." The monk was suddenly greatly enlightened. Also Caoshan asked a monk: "It is this hot; where do you go to avoid it?" The monk said: "I avoid it in the boiling cauldron and the furnace of charcoal." Shan said: "How can one avoid it in the boiling cauldron and the furnace of charcoal?" The monk said: "The many sufferings cannot reach there." See him: a member of the house naturally understands what a member of the house says. Xuedou used the house's own business to bring out his verse.

垂手還同萬仞崖(不是作家。誰能辨得。何處不圓融。王勅既行諸侯避道)

With hands hanging down, he is like a cliff ten thousand fathoms high (If not a master, who can discern it? Where is it not round and fused? When the king's decree is carried out, the feudal lords yield the road).

正偏何必在安排(若是安排。何處有今日。作麼生兩頭不涉。風行草傴。水到渠成)

True and biased need not depend on arrangement (If it were arranged, where would today be? How, then, to be involved in neither extreme? The wind moves and the grass bends. [Note: the source text has a variant character where the word for 'bends' should be.] When the water arrives, the channel is formed).

琉璃古殿照明月(圓陀陀地切忌認影。且莫當頭)忍俊韓獹空上階(不是這回。蹉過了也。逐塊作什麼。打雲。爾與這僧同參)

An ancient hall of lapis lazuli reflects the bright moon (Perfectly round; take care not to mistake the shadow, and above all do not face it head-on). The Han hound, unable to restrain his excitement, climbs the steps in vain (Not this time. You missed it. Why chase the clod? Strike him. You and this monk study together).

獹(龍都切通作盧)。

Lu (the word is pronounced with the fanqie 'long-du', and is also written as another character for 'Lu').

曹洞下有出世不出世。有垂手不垂手。若不出世目視雲霄。若出世便灰頭土面。目視雲霄即是萬仞峰頭。灰頭土面即是垂手邊事。有時灰頭土面即在萬仞峰頭。有時萬仞峰頭即是灰頭土面。其實入鄽垂手。與孤峰獨立一般。歸源了性與差別智無異。切忌作兩橛會。所以道。垂手還同萬仞崖。直是無爾湊泊處。正偏何必在安排。若到用時。自然如此。不在安排也。此頌洞山答處。後面道。琉璃古殿照明月。忍俊韓獹空上階。此正頌這僧逐言語走。洞下有此石女木馬無底籃。夜明珠。死蛇等十八般。大綱只明正位。如月照琉璃古殿。似有圓影。洞山答道。何不向無寒暑處去。其僧一似韓獹逐塊。連忙上階。捉其月影相似。又問。如何是無寒暑處。山雲。寒時寒殺闍黎。熱時熱殺闍黎。如韓獹逐塊走到階上。又卻不見月影。韓獹乃出戰國策。雲韓氏之獹駿狗也。中山之兔狡兔也。是其獹方能尋其兔。雪竇引以喻這僧也。只如諸人。還識洞山為人處麼。良久雲。討甚兔子。

In the Caodong school there is "coming into the world" and "not coming into the world," and there is "hanging down the hands" and "not hanging down the hands." If one does not come into the world, one's eyes look to the clouds and sky; if one comes into the world, one has ashes on the head and mud on the face. Eyes looking to the clouds and sky are the peak of ten thousand fathoms; ashes on the head and mud on the face belong to hanging down the hands. Sometimes ashes on the head and mud on the face are right on the peak of ten thousand fathoms, and sometimes the peak of ten thousand fathoms is ashes on the head and mud on the face. In truth, entering the marketplace with hands hanging down is the same as standing alone on a solitary peak; returning to the source and completing one's nature is no different from the wisdom of discrimination. Be sure not to understand them as two separate pegs. So it is said: "Hanging down the hands is the same as a cliff of ten thousand fathoms; there is simply no place for you to get a foothold. Why must the true and the partial be arranged? When the time comes to use it, it is naturally so, not a matter of arrangement." This verse praises Dongshan's reply. Later it says: "The old glazed hall is lit by the bright moon; the Han hound, unable to hold back, climbs the steps in vain." This exactly praises that monk chasing after words. In the Dong line there are the eighteen kinds, such as the stone woman, the wooden horse, the bottomless basket, the night-shining pearl and the dead snake. The main point is only to make clear the true position, like the moon shining on an old glazed hall, which seems to have a round shadow. Dongshan answered: "Why not go to the place where there is no cold or heat?" That monk was just like the Han hound chasing a clod of earth, hurrying up the steps to grab the moon's shadow. He asked again: "What is the place with no cold or heat?" Dongshan said: "When it is cold, the cold kills you, Ācārya; when it is hot, the heat kills you, Ācārya." Like the Han hound chasing a clod up the steps and then not seeing the moon's shadow. The Han hound comes from the Strategies of the Warring States, which says that the hound of the Han clan was a swift dog and the hare of Zhongshan was a cunning hare, and only that hound could track that hare. Xuedou uses this as a metaphor for that monk. As for all of you here, do you know where Dongshan was helping people? After a long silence, he said: "Why chase a hare?"

【四四】舉。禾山垂語云。習學謂之聞。絕學謂之隣(天下衲僧跳不出。無孔鐵鎚一箇鐵橛子)過此二者。是為真過(頂門上具一隻眼作什麼)僧出問。如何是真過(道什麼。一筆勾下。有一箇鐵橛子)山雲。解打鼓(鐵橛。鐵蒺藜。確確)又問。如何是真諦(道什麼。兩重公案。又有一箇鐵橛子)山雲。解打鼓(鐵橛。鐵蒺藜。確確)又問。即心即佛即不問。如何是非心非佛(道什麼。這箇坵圾堆。三段不同。又一箇鐵蒺藜子)山雲。解打鼓(鐵橛。鐵蒺藜。確確)又問。向上人來時如何接(道什麼。遭他第四杓惡水來也。又有一箇鐵橛子)山雲。解打鼓(鐵橛。鐵蒺藜。確確。且道落在什麼處。朝到西天暮歸東土)。

[Case 44] Cited: Heshan gave a teaching, saying: "Studying is called hearing. Cutting off study is called being near. [No Chan monk in the world can jump out of this: an iron hammer without a hole, an iron peg.] Passing beyond these two is called true passing. [What do you want an extra eye on top of your head for?]" A monk came forward and asked: "What is true passing?" [What are you saying? One stroke cancels it. There is an iron peg.] Heshan said: "I know how to beat the drum." [Iron peg. Iron caltrop. Solid.] He asked again: "I do not ask about 'this very mind is Buddha.' What is 'not mind, not Buddha'?" [What are you saying? This is a rubbish heap. Three sections that differ. Another iron caltrop.] Heshan said: "I know how to beat the drum." [Iron peg. Iron caltrop. Solid.] He asked again: "When someone from beyond comes, how do you receive him?" [What are you saying? He has been hit with the fourth ladle of dirty water. There is another iron peg.] Heshan said: "I know how to beat the drum." [Iron peg. Iron caltrop. Solid. Now say, where does it land? In the morning at the Western Heaven, in the evening back in the Eastern Land.]

禾山垂示雲。習學謂之聞。絕學謂之隣。過此二者。是為真過。此一則語。出寶藏論。學至無學。謂之絕學。所以道。淺聞深悟。深聞不悟。謂之絕學。一宿覺道。吾早年來積學問。亦曾討疏尋經論。習學既盡。謂之絕學無為閑道人。及至絕學。方始與道相近。直得過此二學。是謂真過。其僧也不妨明敏。便拈此語問禾山。山雲。解打鼓。所謂言無味語無味。欲明這箇公案。須是向上人方能見此語不涉理性。亦無議論處。直下便會。如桶底脫相似。方是衲僧安穩處。始契得祖師西來意。所以雲門道。雪峰輥毬。禾山打鼓。國師水碗。趙州吃茶。盡是向上拈提。又問。如何是真諦。山雲。解打鼓。真諦更不立一法。若是俗諦萬物俱備。真俗無二。是聖諦第一義。又問。即心即佛即不問。如何是非心非佛。山雲。解打鼓。即心即佛即易求。若到非心非佛即難。少有人到。又問。向上人來時如何接。山雲。解打鼓。向上人即是透脫灑落底人。此四句語諸方以為宗旨。謂之禾山四打鼓。只如僧問鏡清。新年頭還有佛法也無。清雲。有。僧雲。如何是新年頭佛法。清雲。元正啟祚萬物鹹新。僧雲。謝師答話。清雲。老僧今日失利。似此答話。有十八般失利。又僧問淨果大師。鶴立孤松時如何。果雲。腳底下一場懡㦬。又問雪覆千山時如何。果雲。日出後一場懡㦬。又問。會昌沙汰時。護法神向什麼處去。果雲。三門外兩箇漢一場懡㦬。諸方謂之三懡㦬。又保福問僧。殿裡是什麼佛。僧雲。和尚定當看。福雲。釋迦老子。僧雲。莫瞞人好。福雲。卻是爾瞞我。又問僧雲。爾名什麼。僧雲。鹹澤。福雲。或遇枯涸時如何。僧雲。誰是枯涸者。福雲。我。僧雲。和尚莫瞞人好。福雲。卻是爾瞞我。又問僧。爾作什麼業。吃得恁麼大。僧雲。和尚也不小。福作蹲身勢。僧雲。和尚莫瞞人好。福雲。卻是爾瞞我。又問浴主。

Heshan's teaching says: "Studying is called hearing. Cutting off study is called being near. Passing beyond these two is called true passing." This passage comes from the Treasury Treatise. Study that reaches the point of no more study is called cutting off study. So it is said: shallow hearing and deep awakening, or deep hearing and no awakening, is called cutting off study. Yongjia said: "In my early years I accumulated learning, and also sought commentaries and scriptures and treatises. When study was exhausted, it was called cutting off study, an idle person of the Way with nothing to do." Only when study is cut off does one begin to be close to the Way. To pass beyond these two kinds of study is called true passing. That monk was not lacking in sharpness, and picked up these words to ask Heshan. Heshan said: "I know how to beat the drum." This is what is called words with no flavor and speech with no flavor. To understand this case, one must be a person of the highest kind to see that these words do not involve principle or nature and leave no place for discussion; one understands directly, as if the bottom of a bucket has fallen out, and only then is it the place where a Chan monk is at ease and in accord with the Patriarch's coming from the West. So Yunmen said: Xuefeng rolling the ball, Heshan beating the drum, the National Teacher's water bowl, and Zhaozhou's drinking tea are all the picking up of the highest matter. He asked again: "What is true truth?" Heshan said: "I know how to beat the drum." True truth does not set up a single dharma. In conventional truth all the myriad things are complete. True and conventional are not two; this is the first principle of the holy truths. He asked again: "I do not ask about 'this very mind is Buddha.' What is 'not mind, not Buddha'?" Heshan said: "I know how to beat the drum." 'This very mind is Buddha' is easy to seek, but 'not mind, not Buddha' is difficult, and few reach it. He asked again: "When someone from beyond comes, how do you receive him?" Heshan said: "I know how to beat the drum." A person from beyond is someone who has broken through and is free and unattached. These four sentences are regarded in all quarters as the main teaching, and are called Heshan's four drumbeats. Now take the monk who asked Jingqing: "At the head of the new year, is there Buddha Dharma?" Qing said: "There is." The monk said: "What is the Buddha Dharma at the head of the new year?" Qing said: "The first day of the year begins its blessing, and all things are new." The monk said: "Thank you, Master, for your answer." Qing said: "I lost out today." An answer like this has eighteen kinds of losing out. Another monk asked Master Jingguo: "What about when a crane stands on a lone pine?" Guo said: "A bout of vexation under your feet." He asked again: "What about when snow covers a thousand mountains?" Guo said: "A bout of vexation after the sun comes out." He asked again: "At the time of the Huichang suppression, where did the Dharma-protecting spirits go?" Guo said: "Two fellows outside the mountain gate, a bout of vexation." All quarters call these the three vexations. Again, Baofu asked a monk: "Which Buddha is in the hall?" The monk said: "Let the Abbot decide." Fu said: "The old man Shakya." The monk said: "Better not deceive people." Fu said: "Actually it is you who are deceiving me." He also asked a monk: "What is your name?" The monk said: "Xianze." Fu said: "What if you meet a time of drying up?" The monk said: "Who is the one that dries up?" Fu said: "I am." The monk said: "Abbot, better not deceive people." Fu said: "Actually it is you who are deceiving me." He also asked a monk: "What work do you do, that you eat so much?" The monk said: "The Abbot is not small either." Fu made a crouching gesture. The monk said: "Abbot, better not deceive people." Fu said: "Actually it is you who are deceiving me." He also asked the bath attendant:

浴鍋闊多少。主雲。請和尚量看。福作量勢。主雲。和尚莫瞞人好。福雲。卻是爾瞞我。諸方謂之保福四瞞人。又如雪峰四漆桶。皆是從上宗師。各出深妙之旨接人之機。雪竇後面引一落索。依雲門示眾。頌出此公案。

(Yuanwu continues:) "How wide is the bathing cauldron?" The attendant said: "Please measure it yourself, Abbot." Fu made a gesture of measuring. The attendant said: "Abbot, better not deceive people." Fu said: "Actually it is you who are deceiving me." All quarters call these Baofu's four deceivings of people. Likewise Xuefeng's four lacquer buckets. All were ancient masters each putting forth profound and subtle teachings as devices for receiving people. Afterward Xuedou cites a string of verses, following Yunmen's instruction to the assembly, and composes a verse on this case.

一拽石(寰中天子勅。癩兒牽伴。向上人恁麼來)二般土(塞外將軍令。兩箇一狀領過。同病相憐)

One hauls a stone; [By edict of the emperor within the realm. A leper leading his companion. A person of the highest kind comes like this.] two kinds of earth. [By order of the general beyond the frontier. Two taking one indictment together. Fellow sufferers pity each other.]

發機須是千鈞弩(若是千鈞。也透不得。不可輕酬。豈為死蝦䗫)

To release the trigger, it must be a crossbow of a thousand pounds. [If it is a thousand pounds, even so it cannot pierce through. One must not repay lightly. Is it for a dead toad?]

象骨老師曾輥毬(也有人曾恁麼來。有箇無孔鐵鎚。阿誰不知)

Old Master Xianggu once rolled the ball. [There have been people who came like this. There is an iron hammer without a hole; who does not know it?]

爭似禾山解打鼓(鐵橛子。須還這老漢始得。一子親得)報君知(雪竇也未夢見。在雪上加霜。爾還知麼)

How can it compare with Heshan knowing how to beat the drum? [Iron peg. One must give it back to this old man. One son personally obtained it.] I report it to you: [Xuedou has not even dreamed of it. Adding frost to snow. Do you know?]

莫莽鹵(也有些子。儱儱侗侗)甜者甜兮苦者苦(謝答話。錯下注腳。好與三十棒。吃棒得也未。便打。依舊黑漫漫)

Do not be careless. [There is a little something. Muddled and confused.] Sweet is sweet, bitter is bitter. [Thanking for the answer. Wrongly adding a footnote. He deserves thirty blows. Has he gotten his blows yet? Strike him. It is still dark and vast as before.]

歸宗一日。普請拽石。宗問維那。什麼處去。維那雲。拽石去。宗雲。石且從汝拽。即不得動著中心樹子。木平凡有新到至。先令般三轉土。木平有頌。示眾雲。東山路窄西山低。新到莫辭三轉泥。嗟汝在途經日久。明明不曉卻成迷。後來有僧問雲。三轉內即不問。三轉外事作麼生。平雲。鐵輪天子寰中勅。僧無語。平便打。所以道。一拽石二般土。發機須是千鈞弩。雪竇以千鈞之弩喻此話。要見他為人處。三十斤為一鈞。一千鈞則三萬斤。若是獰龍虎狼猛獸。方用此弩。若是鷦鷯小可之物。必不可輕發。所以千鈞之弩。不為鼷鼠而發機。象骨老師曾輥毬。即雪峰一日見玄沙來。三箇木毬一齊輥。玄沙便作斫牌勢。雪峰深肯之。雖然總是全機大用處。俱不如禾山解打鼓。多少徑截。只是難會。所以雪竇道。爭似禾山解打鼓。又恐人只在話頭上。作活計不知來由。莽莽鹵鹵。所以道。報君知莫莽鹵。也須是實到這般田地始得。若要不莽鹵。甜者甜兮。苦者苦。雪竇雖然如是拈弄。畢竟也跳不出。

One day when Guizong called an assembly to haul stones, Zong asked the supervisor: "Where are you going?" The supervisor said: "To haul stones." Zong said: "I will let you haul the stones, but you must not disturb the tree in the center." Muping, whenever a newcomer arrived, first had him carry three loads of earth. Muping had a verse for the assembly: "The east mountain road is narrow and the west mountain is low; newcomers, do not refuse three loads of mud. Alas, you have been long on the road, clearly not understanding and instead getting lost." Later a monk asked: "I do not ask about within the three loads. What about matters beyond the three loads?" Ping said: "The iron-wheel emperor's edict within the realm." The monk had no words. Ping struck him. So it is said: "One hauls a stone, two kinds of earth; to release the trigger it must be a crossbow of a thousand pounds." Xuedou uses the thousand-pound crossbow as a metaphor for this saying, wanting to show how he helps people. Thirty pounds make one jun; a thousand jun is thirty thousand pounds. This crossbow is used only against fierce dragons, tigers, wolves and wild beasts; against small things like a wren it surely should not be released lightly. So the thousand-pound crossbow does not release its trigger for a field mouse. "Old Master Xianggu once rolled the ball" refers to the day Xuefeng saw Xuansha come and rolled three wooden balls at once, and Xuansha made a gesture of chopping with a shield; Xuefeng deeply approved. Although these all are places of the whole function and great use, none compares with Heshan knowing how to beat the drum. How direct it is, and yet how hard to understand! So Xuedou says: "How can it compare with Heshan knowing how to beat the drum?" He also feared people would stay only at the head of the phrase and make a living without knowing where it comes from, being careless. So he says: "I report it to you: do not be careless." One must truly arrive at this ground. If you want not to be careless, sweet is sweet and bitter is bitter. Although Xuedou plays with it like this, in the end he too cannot jump out.

垂示雲。要道便道。舉世無雙。當行即行。全機不讓。如擊石火。似閃電光。疾焰過風。奔流度刃。拈起向上鉗鎚。未免亡鋒結舌。放一線道。試舉看。

The introduction says: If you want to speak, speak, unmatched in the whole world. When it is time to act, act, yielding nothing of the whole function. Like striking sparks from stone, like a flash of lightning, like a flame passing before the wind, like a torrent rushing over a blade. If one takes up the tongs and hammer of the highest matter, one cannot avoid blunting the point and tying the tongue. Let me leave a thread of a path. Let us try citing it.

【四五】舉。僧問趙州。萬法歸一。一歸何處(拶著這老漢。堆山積嶽。切忌向鬼窟裡作活計)州雲。我在青州。作一領布衫。重七斤(果然七縱八橫。拽卻漫天網。還見趙州麼。衲僧鼻孔曾拈得。還知趙州落處麼。若這裡見得。便乃天上天下唯我獨尊。水到渠成。風行草偃。苟或未然。老僧在爾腳跟下)。

[Case 45] Cited: A monk asked Zhaozhou: "The ten thousand things return to one; where does the one return to?" [He presses on the old man. Piled like mountains. Be careful not to make a living in the ghost's cave.] Zhou said: "When I was in Qingzhou I made a cloth robe; it weighed seven pounds." [Indeed, seven vertical and eight horizontal. He has cast off the net filling the sky. Do you still see Zhaozhou? The Chan monk's nostrils have once been grasped; do you know where Zhaozhou lands? If you see it here, then 'above heaven and below heaven, I alone am the honored one'; the water arrives and the channel forms, the wind blows and the grass bends. If not, this old monk is under your heels.]

若向一擊便行處會去。天下老和尚鼻孔一時穿卻。不奈爾何。自然水到渠成。苟或躊躇。老僧在爾腳跟下。佛法省要處。言不在多。語不在繁。只如這僧問趙州。萬法歸一。一歸何處。他卻答道。我在青州作一領布衫重七斤。若向語句上辨。錯認定盤星。不向語句上辨。爭奈卻恁麼道。這箇公案。雖難見卻易會。雖易會卻難見。難則銀山鐵壁。易則直下惺惺。無爾計較是非處。此話與普化道來日大悲院裡有齋話。更無兩般。一日僧問趙州。如何是祖師西來意。州雲。庭前柏樹子。僧雲。和尚莫將境示人。州雲。老僧不曾將境示人。看他恁麼向極則轉不得處轉得。自然蓋天蓋地。若轉不得。觸途成滯。且道他有佛法商量也無。若道他有佛法。他又何曾說心說性。說玄說妙。若道他無佛法旨趣。他又不曾辜負爾問頭。豈不見。僧問木平和尚。如何是佛法大意。平雲。這箇冬瓜如許大。又僧問古德。深山懸崖逈絕無人處。還有佛法也無。古德雲。有。僧雲。如何是深山裡佛法。古德雲。石頭大底大小底小。看這般公案。誵訛在什麼處。雪竇知他落處。故打開義路。與爾頌出。

If you understand it at the point where one strike and it is gone, the nostrils of all the old teachers in the world are pierced at once and they can do nothing to you; naturally the water arrives and the channel forms. If you hesitate, this old monk is under your heels. At the essential point of the Buddha Dharma, words need not be many nor speech elaborate. Take this monk who asked Zhaozhou: "The ten thousand things return to one; where does the one return to?" He answered: "When I was in Qingzhou I made a cloth robe weighing seven pounds." If you judge by the words, you mistake the fixed star of the scale; if you do not judge by the words, how can he speak like this? This case is hard to see but easy to understand; easy to understand but hard to see. Hard, it is a silver mountain and iron wall; easy, it is directly clear and awake, with no place for your calculation of right and wrong. This saying is no different from Puhua's saying that tomorrow there will be a vegetarian feast at Daibei Temple. One day a monk asked Zhaozhou: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch coming from the West?" Zhou said: "The cypress tree in the courtyard." The monk said: "Abbot, do not use an object to show people." Zhou said: "This old monk did not use an object to show people." Look at how he can turn where there is no turning at the very limit; naturally it covers heaven and covers earth. If one cannot turn, every step is blocked. Now say, does he have Buddha Dharma to discuss or not? If you say he has Buddha Dharma, when did he ever speak of mind or nature, of the profound or the subtle? If you say he has no Buddha Dharma, he did not fail your question. Have you not seen it? A monk asked the Abbot Muping: "What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" Ping said: "This winter melon is so big." And a monk asked an old master: "In a deep mountain on a sheer cliff, in a place utterly without people, is there Buddha Dharma?" The old master said: "There is." The monk said: "What is the Buddha Dharma in the deep mountain?" The old master said: "Big stones are big, small stones are small." Look at these cases; where is the confusion? Xuedou knows where they land, so he opens the road of meaning and composes a verse for you.

編闢曾挨老古錐(何必拶著這老漢。挨拶向什麼處去)七斤衫重幾人知(再來不直半分錢。直得口似匾擔。又卻被他贏得一籌)

Pushing aside, he once pressed on the old awl; [Why press on this old man? Where does pressing go?] the seven-pound robe is heavy, but how many know? [Come again and it is not worth half a cent. He makes his mouth like a carrying pole, and yet he wins a point.]

如今拋擲西湖裡(還雪竇手腳始得。山僧也不要)

Now throw it into West Lake. [It must go back to Xuedou's hands and feet. This mountain monk does not want it either.]

下載清風付與誰(自古自今。且道雪竇與他酬唱。與他下注腳。一子親得)

Downloading the clear breeze, to whom shall it be handed? [From ancient times to now. Now say, Xuedou matches his song with him and adds a footnote for him. One son personally obtained it.]

十八問中。此謂之編闢問。雪竇道。編闢曾挨老古錐。編闢萬法。教歸一致。這僧要挨拶他趙州。州也不妨作家。向轉不得處有出身之路。敢開大口便道。我在青州作一領布衫。重七斤。雪竇道。這箇七斤布衫能有幾人知。如今拋擲西湖裡。萬法歸一。一亦不要。七斤布衫亦不要。一時拋在西湖裡。雪竇住洞庭翠峰。有西湖也。下載清風付與誰。此是趙州示眾。爾若向北來。與爾上載。爾若向南來。與爾下載。爾若從雪峰雲居來。也是箇擔板漢。雪竇道。如此清風堪付阿誰。上載者。與爾說心說性。說玄說妙。種種方便。若是下載。更無許多義理玄妙。有底擔一擔禪。到趙州處。一點也使不著。一時與他打疊。教灑灑落落無一星事。謂之悟了還同未悟時。如今人盡作無事會。有底道。無迷無悟。不要更求。只如佛未出世時。達磨未來此土時。不可不恁麼也。用佛出世作什麼。祖師更西來作什麼。總如此有什麼干涉。也須是大徹大悟了。依舊山是山水是水。乃至一切萬法悉皆成現。方始作。箇無事底人。不見龍牙道學道。先須有悟由。還如曾鬪快龍舟。雖然舊閣閑田地。一度贏來方始休。只如趙州這箇七斤布衫話子。看他古人恁麼道。如金如玉。山僧恁麼說。諸人恁麼聽。總是上載。且道作麼生是下載。三條椽下看取。

Among the eighteen kinds of questions, this is called the pushing-aside question. Xuedou says: "Pushing aside, he once pressed on the old awl." He pushes aside the ten thousand things and makes them return to one. This monk wanted to press on Zhaozhou. Zhou was indeed a master, who had a way out at the point where one cannot turn, and boldly opened his mouth and said: "When I was in Qingzhou I made a cloth robe weighing seven pounds." Xuedou says: "This seven-pound robe, how many know it? Now throw it into West Lake." The ten thousand things return to one, but the one is also not wanted; the seven-pound robe is also not wanted; all are thrown into West Lake at once. Xuedou lived at Cuifeng on Dongting, so there was West Lake. "Downloading the clear breeze, to whom shall it be handed?" This is what Zhaozhou said to the assembly: "If you come from the north, I will upload to you; if you come from the south, I will download to you. If you come from Xuefeng or Yunju, you are also a fellow carrying a board." Xuedou says: "To whom shall such a clear breeze be handed?" To upload is to speak to you of mind and nature, of the profound and subtle, with all kinds of expedient means. To download has none of these many principles and mysteries. Some carry a load of Chan to Zhaozhou's place and cannot use a bit of it, and he tidies it all up for them at once, so that they are free and unattached, with not a speck of anything. This is called, having awakened, to be the same as before awakening. People now all take this as having nothing to do. Some say: no delusion, no awakening, no need to seek further. But before the Buddha came into the world and before Bodhidharma came to this land, was it not already like that? What need then for the Buddha to appear, what need for the Patriarch to come from the West? Whatever the case, one must thoroughly awaken, and then mountains are still mountains and rivers still rivers, and all the ten thousand things become manifest, and only then can one be a person with nothing to do. Have you not seen Longya say: "One who studies the Way must first have a reason for awakening, like once racing a dragon boat quickly. Though it is the same old pavilion and idle field, only after winning once does one stop." As for this Zhaozhou saying about the seven-pound robe, look at how the ancients spoke, like gold and jade. This mountain monk speaks like this and you listen like this; all of it is uploading. Now what is downloading? Look for it under the three rafters.

垂示雲。一槌便成超凡越聖。片言可折。去縛解粘。如氷凌上行。劍刃上走。聲色堆裡坐。聲色頭上行。縱橫妙用則且置。剎那便去時如何。試舉看。

The introduction says: One strike and one passes beyond the ordinary and surpasses the sacred; a single word can break through, removing bonds and loosening clinging. Like walking on ice, like walking on a sword's edge, sitting in a heap of sounds and forms, walking on top of sounds and forms. Leave aside free and unhindered subtle use; what about the instant of going? Let us try citing it.

【四六】舉。鏡清問僧。門外是什麼聲(等閑垂一釣。不患聾問什麼)僧雲。雨滴聲(不妨實頭。也好箇消息)清雲。眾生顛倒迷己逐物(事生也。慣得其便。鐃鈎搭索。還他本分手腳)僧雲。和尚作麼生(果然納敗缺。轉槍來也。不妨難當。卻把槍頭倒刺人)清雲。洎不迷己(咄直得分疎不下)僧雲。洎不迷己意旨如何(拶著這老漢。逼殺人。前箭猶輕後箭深)清雲。出身猶可易。脫體道應難(養子之緣。雖然如是。德山臨濟向什麼處去。不喚作雨滴聲。喚作什麼聲。直得分疎不下)洎(巨至切及也)。

[Case 46] Cited: Jingqing asked a monk: "What is the sound outside the door?" [Casually casting a hook. Why worry about being deaf? What are you asking?] The monk said: "The sound of raindrops." [Truly honest. A good piece of news.] Qing said: "Beings are upside down, deluded about themselves and chasing after things." [A matter has arisen. He has gotten used to the convenience. With a cymbal hook and a rope, give it back to his own hands. ] The monk said: "What about you, Abbot?" [Indeed he is defeated, and the spear is turned around. Not easy to resist, he stabs back with the tip of the spear.] Qing said: "I am nearly not deluded about myself." [Ah, one cannot explain it.] The monk said: "What is the meaning of 'nearly not deluded about myself'?" [He presses on the old man. Pressing him to death. The first arrow is light, the second goes deep.] Qing said: "Coming forth is perhaps easy; to speak of shedding the body is perhaps hard." [The cause of raising a child. Even so, where would Deshan and Linji go? If one does not call it the sound of raindrops, what sound does one call it? One cannot explain it.] Ji (pronounced ju and zhi, meaning "reach").

只這裡也好薦取。古人垂示一機一境。要接人。一日鏡清問僧。門外是什麼聲。僧雲。雨滴聲。清雲。眾生顛倒迷己逐物。又問。門外什麼聲。僧雲。鵓鳩聲。清雲。欲得不招為間業。莫謗如來正法輪。又問。門外什麼聲。僧雲。蛇咬蝦䗫聲。清雲。將謂眾生苦。更有苦眾生。此語與前頭公案。更無兩般。衲僧家於這裡透得去。於聲色堆裡不妨自由。若透不得。便被聲色所拘。這般公案。諸方謂之煅煉語。若是煅煉只成心行。不見他古人為人處。亦喚作透聲色。一明道眼。二明聲色。三明心宗。四明忘情。五明展演。然不妨子細。爭奈有窠臼在。鏡清恁麼問。門外什麼聲。僧雲。雨滴聲。卻道。眾生顛倒迷己逐物。人皆錯會。喚作故意轉人。且得沒交涉。殊不知鏡清有為人底手腳。膽大不抅一機一境。忒殺不惜眉毛。鏡清豈不知是雨滴聲。何消更問。須知古人以探竿影草。要驗這僧。這僧也善挨拶便道。和尚又作麼生直得。鏡清入泥入水向他道。洎不迷己。其僧迷己逐物。則故是鏡清為什麼也迷己。須知驗他句中便有出身處。這僧太懞懂要勦絕此話。更問道。只箇洎不迷己意旨如何。若是德山臨濟門下棒喝已行。鏡清通一線道。隨他打葛藤。更向他道。出身猶可易。脫體道應難。雖然恁麼。古人道。相續也大難。他鏡清只一句。便與這僧明腳跟下大事。雪竇頌雲。

Even right here one can take hold of it. The ancients showed a device and an object in order to receive people. One day Jingqing asked a monk: "What is the sound outside the door?" The monk said: "The sound of raindrops." Qing said: "Beings are upside down, deluded about themselves and chasing after things." He asked again: "What is the sound outside the door?" The monk said: "The sound of a turtledove." Qing said: "If you wish not to invite the karma of hell, do not slander the Tathagata's true Dharma wheel." He asked again: "What is the sound outside the door?" The monk said: "The sound of a snake biting a toad." Qing said: "I thought beings were suffering, but there are suffering beings besides." These words are no different from the preceding case. A Chan monk who can pass through here is free in a heap of sounds and forms; if he cannot pass through, he is bound by sounds and forms. Such cases are called tempering sayings in all quarters. If one only tempers, it merely becomes a matter of mind activity, and one does not see how the ancients helped people. It is also called passing through sounds and forms. First, making clear the eye of the Way; second, making clear sounds and forms; third, making clear the mind school; fourth, making clear forgetting of feeling; fifth, making clear unfolding. Though careful, there is still a rut. Jingqing asked like this: "What is the sound outside the door?" The monk said: "The sound of raindrops." He said: "Beings are upside down, deluded about themselves and chasing after things." People mistake it all, calling it deliberately turning people around, and it has nothing to do with it. They do not know that Jingqing had the hands and feet to help people, bold and not bound by a single device or object. Too far, not sparing his eyebrows. Did Jingqing not know it was the sound of raindrops? Why ask again? One must know the ancients used a probing pole and a grass shadow to test this monk. This monk also pressed well and said: "What about you, Abbot?" This drove Jingqing into the mud and water to say to him: "I am nearly not deluded about myself." That monk was deluded about himself and chasing things, so that was right; why was Jingqing also deluded about himself? One must know that testing him in the line, there is a way out. This monk was too muddled; wanting to cut off this talk he asked further: "What is the meaning of 'nearly not deluded about myself'?" If it were under Deshan or Linji, the stick and shout would already have been used. Jingqing opened a thread of a path and followed him in his entanglement, and further said to him: "Coming forth is perhaps easy; to speak of shedding the body is perhaps hard." Even so, the ancients said: continuing is also very hard. In just one sentence Jingqing made clear to this monk the great matter under his heels. Xuedou's verse says:

虛堂雨滴聲(從來無間斷。大家在這裡)作者難酬對(果然不知。山僧從來不是作者。有權有實有放有收。殺活擒縱)

The empty hall, the sound of raindrops; [From the beginning no interruption. Everyone is right here.] a master is hard put to answer. [Indeed he does not know. This mountain monk has never been a master. There is expedient and real, release and gathering, killing and giving life, seizing and letting go.]

若謂曾入流(刺頭入膠盆。不喚作雨滿聲。喚作什麼聲)

If you say you have entered the stream, [Poking your head into a pot of glue. If you do not call it the sound of raindrops filling the air, what sound do you call it?]

依前還不會(山僧幾曾問爾來。這漆桶。還我無孔鐵鎚來)。

you still do not understand, as before. [When did this mountain monk ever ask you? You lacquer bucket. Give me back the iron hammer without a hole.]

曾不會(兩頭坐斷。兩處不分。不在這兩邊)南山北山轉𩃎霈(頭上腳下。若喚作雨聲則瞎。不喚作雨聲。喚作什麼聲。到這裡須是腳踏實地始得)

Once not understanding, [Sitting cut off from both ends. Not distinguishing the two places. Not on these two sides.] the south mountain and the north mountain turn into pouring rain. [Head above and feet below. If you call it the sound of rain, you are blind; if you do not call it the sound of rain, what sound do you call it? Here you must have your feet on the ground.]

虛堂雨滴聲。作者難酬對。若喚作雨聲。則是迷己逐物。不喚作雨聲。又如何轉物。到這裡。任是作者也難酬對。所以古人道。見與師齊減師半德。見過於師方堪傳授。又南院道。棒下無生忍。臨機不讓師。若謂曾入流。依前還不會。教中道。初於聞中。入流忘所。所入既寂。動靜二相瞭然不生。若道是雨滴聲。也不是。若道不是雨滴聲。也不是。前頭頌。兩喝與三喝作者知機變。正類此頌。若道是入聲色之流。也不是。若喚作聲色。依前不會他意。譬如以指指月。月不是指。會與不會。南山北山轉𩃎霈也。

The empty hall, the sound of raindrops; a master is hard put to answer. If you call it the sound of rain, you are deluded about yourself and chasing things; if you do not call it the sound of rain, how do you turn things? Here, even a master is hard put to answer. So the ancients said: if your view equals your teacher's, you reduce the teacher's virtue by half; only if your view surpasses your teacher's are you fit to receive transmission. Nanyuan also said: "Under the stick, the patience of non-arising; facing the occasion, not yielding to the teacher." "If you say you have entered the stream, you still do not understand, as before." The teaching says: "At first, in hearing, entering the stream and forgetting the place; when what is entered is still, the two marks of motion and stillness are clearly not born." If you say it is the sound of raindrops, that is not it; if you say it is not the sound of raindrops, that is not it either. The earlier verse, "Two shouts and three shouts, the master knows the turn of the device," is just like this verse. If you say it enters the stream of sounds and forms, that is not it; if you call it sounds and forms, you still do not understand his meaning. It is like pointing a finger at the moon; the moon is not the finger. Whether you understand or not, the south mountain and the north mountain turn into pouring rain.

垂示雲。天何言哉。四時行焉。地何言哉。萬物生焉。向四時行處。可以見體。於萬物生處。可以見用。且道向什麼處見得衲僧。離卻言語動用行住坐臥。併卻咽喉唇吻。還辨得麼。

The introduction says: Does Heaven speak? The four seasons move. Does Earth speak? The myriad things are born. In the moving of the four seasons one can see the substance; in the birth of the myriad things one can see the function. Now say, where do you see a Chan monk? Apart from speech, movement, walking, standing, sitting and lying, and setting aside the throat and lips, can you still tell?

【四七】舉。僧問雲門。如何是法身(多少人疑著。千聖跳不出。漏逗不少)門雲。六不收(斬釘截鐵。八角磨盤空裡走。靈龜曳尾朕兆未分時薦得。已是第二頭。朕兆已生後薦得。又落第三首。若更向言語上辨得。且喜沒交涉)。

[Case 47] Cited: A monk asked Yunmen: "What is the Dharma body?" [How many people doubt it. A thousand sages cannot jump out of it. It leaks a great deal.] Men said: "Six do not take it in." [Cutting nails and slicing iron. An eight-cornered millstone running in the air. A numinous tortoise dragging its tail. If you grasp it before the signs divide, it is already second; if you grasp it after the signs have arisen, it falls to third. If you further distinguish it in words, congratulations, it has nothing to do with it.]

雲門道。六不收。直是難搆。若向朕兆未分時搆得。已是第二頭。若向朕兆已生後薦得。又落第三首。若向言句上辨明。卒摸索不著。且畢竟以何為法身。若是作家底。聊聞舉著。剔起便行。苟或佇思停機。伏聽處分。太原孚上座本為講師。一日登座講次。說法身雲。竪窮三際。橫亙十方。有一禪客。在座下聞之失笑。孚下座雲。某甲適來有甚短處。願禪者為說看。禪者雲。座主只講得法身量邊事。不見法身。孚雲。畢竟如何即是。禪者雲。可暫罷講於靜室中坐。必得自見。孚如其言。一夜靜坐。忽聞打五更鐘。忽然大悟。遂敲禪者門雲。我會也。禪者雲。爾試道看。孚雲。我從今日去。更不將父母所生鼻孔扭揑也。又教中道。佛真法身。猶若虛空。應物現形。如水中月。又僧問夾山。如何是法身。山雲。法身無相。如何是法眼。山雲。法眼。無瑕。雲門道。六不收。此公案有者道。只是六根六塵六識。此六皆從法身生。六根收他不得。若恁麼情解。且喜沒交涉。更帶累雲門。要見便見。無爾穿鑿處。不見教中道。是法非思量分別之所能解。他答話多惹人情解。所以一句中。須具三句。更不辜負爾問頭。應時應節。一言一句。一點一畫。不妨有出身處。所以道。一句透。千句萬句一時透。且道是法身。是祖師。放爾三十棒。雪竇頌雲。

Yunmen said: "Six do not take it in." It is truly hard to grasp. If you grasp it before the signs divide, it is already second; if you grasp it after the signs have arisen, it falls to third; if you try to make it clear in words and phrases, you grope in the end and do not find it. Then what, finally, is taken as the Dharma body? A true master, on merely hearing it raised, takes it up and goes; if he lingers in thought and stops the device, he must await instructions. Venerable Fu of Taiyuan was originally a lecturer. One day when he ascended the seat to lecture, he said of the Dharma body: "Vertically it exhausts the three times, horizontally it spans the ten directions." A Chan traveler sitting below heard this and laughed. Fu came down from the seat and said: "What fault did I have just now? I wish the Chan man would tell me." The Chan man said: "The lecturer can only speak of matters at the measure of the Dharma body, and has not seen the Dharma body." Fu said: "What then is it?" The Chan man said: "Stop lecturing for a while and sit in a quiet room; you will surely see it yourself." Fu did as he said. One night while sitting quietly, he suddenly heard the fifth-watch bell and suddenly awakened greatly. He then knocked on the Chan man's door and said: "I understand." The Chan man said: "Try saying it." Fu said: "From today I will no longer fiddle with the nostrils my parents gave me." The teaching also says: the true Dharma body of the Buddha is like empty space, appearing in form in response to things, like the moon in water. Again, a monk asked Jiashan: "What is the Dharma body?" Shan said: "The Dharma body has no form." "What is the Dharma eye?" Shan said: "The Dharma eye has no flaw." Yunmen said: "Six do not take it in." Some explain this case as simply the six sense organs, six sense objects and six consciousnesses, all born from the Dharma body, which the six sense organs cannot take in. To understand it with such an emotional interpretation has nothing to do with it, and moreover implicates Yunmen. If you want to see it, see it now; there is no place for you to bore through. Have you not seen it said in the teaching that this Dharma is not something that thinking and discrimination can understand? His answers often invite emotional interpretations, so in one sentence there must be three sentences, and he must not fail your question, responding to the occasion and the season, in every word and phrase, every dot and stroke, having a way out. So it is said: one sentence passes through, and a thousand and ten thousand sentences pass through at once. Now say, is it the Dharma body or is it the Patriarch? I spare you thirty blows. Xuedou's verse says:

一二三四五六(周而復始。滴水滴凍。費許多工夫作什麼)碧眼胡僧數不足(三生六十劫。達磨何曾夢見。闍黎為什麼知而故犯)

One, two, three, four, five, six. [Going around and starting again. Dripping water, dripping ice. What do you want with so much effort?] The blue-eyed barbarian monk cannot count enough. [Three lives and sixty kalpas; when did Bodhidharma ever dream of it? Ācārya, why do you knowingly offend?]

少林謾道付神光(一人傳虗萬人傳實。從頭來已錯了也)

Shaolin vainly said he transmitted to Shenguang. [When one person transmits what is empty, ten thousand transmit it as real. It was already wrong from the start. In the original text the word is written in a variant form of the character for empty.]

卷衣又說歸天竺(賺殺一船人。懡㦬不少)

Rolling up his robe, he also said he returned to India. [Deceiving a whole boatload of people. A great deal of vexation.]

天竺茫茫無處尋(在什麼處。始是太平。如今在什麼處)

India is vast and there is nowhere to look for him. [Where is it? Only then is there peace. Where is it now?]

夜來卻對乳峰宿(刺破爾眼睛。也是無風起浪。且道是法身是佛身。放爾三十棒)

Last night he stayed on Rufeng. [Pierce your eyes. Raising waves with no wind. Now say, is it the Dharma body or the Buddha body? I spare you thirty blows.]

雪竇善能於無縫罅處。出眼目頌出教人見。雲門道。六不收。雪竇為什麼卻道。一二三四五六。直是碧眼胡僧也數不足。所以道。只許老胡知。不許老胡會。須是還他屋裡兒孫始得。適來道。一言一句。應時應節。若透得去。方知道不在言句中。其或未然。不免作情解。五祖老師道。釋迦牟尼佛。下賤客作兒。庭前柏樹子。一二三四五。若向雲門言句下。諦當見得。相次到這境界。少林謾道付神光。二祖始名神光。及至後來。又道歸天竺。達磨葬於熊耳山之下。時宋雲奉使西歸。在西嶺見達磨手攜隻履歸西天去。使回奏聖。開墳惟見遺下一隻履。雪竇道。其實此事。作麼生分付。既無分付。卷衣又說歸天竺。且道為什麼。此土卻有二三。遞相恁麼傳來。這裡不妨誵訛。也須是搆得始可入作。天竺茫茫無處尋。夜來卻對乳峰宿。且道即今在什麼處。師便打雲。瞎。

Xuedou is good at producing the eye at places without a seam, composing verses to let people see. Yunmen said: "Six do not take it in." Why does Xuedou say instead: "One, two, three, four, five, six"? Even the blue-eyed barbarian monk cannot count enough. So it is said: only the old barbarian is allowed to know, and the old barbarian is not allowed to understand. One must give it back to the children and grandchildren of the household. As I said just now, in every word and phrase, responding to the occasion and the season, if you break through it you will know that the Way is not in words and phrases; if not, you cannot avoid emotional interpretation. The Fifth Patriarch's old teacher said: "Shakyamuni Buddha is a lowly hired hand; the cypress tree in the courtyard; one, two, three, four, five." If, under Yunmen's words, you see this clearly, you will come in turn to this realm: Shaolin vainly said he transmitted to Shenguang. The Second Patriarch was first named Shenguang. Later it was also said he returned to India. Bodhidharma was buried below Mount Xiong'er. At that time Song Yun, on a mission, was returning west, and on the western ridge saw Bodhidharma carrying one sandal and going back to the Western Heaven. When the envoy returned and reported to the emperor, the tomb was opened and only one sandal was found left behind. Xuedou says: in truth, how was this matter handed on? Since there was no handing on, rolling up his robe he also said he returned to India. Now say, why? In this land there are two or three such stories, passed on from one to another. Here there is no small confusion, and one must grasp it to be able to enter. India is vast and there is nowhere to look for him; last night he stayed on Rufeng. Now say, where is he at this very moment? The Master struck and said: "Blind."

【四八】舉。王太傅入招慶煎茶(作家相聚。須有奇特。等閑無事。大家著一隻眼。惹禍來也)時朗上座與明招把銚(一火弄泥團漢。不會煎茶。帶累別人)朗翻卻茶銚(事生也。果然)太傅見問上座。茶爐下是什麼(果然禍事)朗雲。捧爐神(果然中他箭了也。不妨奇特)太傅雲。既是捧爐神。為什麼翻卻茶銚(何不與他本分草料。事生也)朗雲。仕官千日失在一朝(錯指注是什麼語話。杜撰禪和如麻似粟)太傅拂袖便去(灼然作家。許他具一隻眼)明招雲。朗上座吃卻招慶飯了。卻去江外。打野榸(更與三十棒。這獨眼。龍只具一隻眼。也須是明眼人點破始得)朗雲。和尚作麼生(拶著。也好與一拶。終不作這般死郎當見解)招雲。非人得其便(果然只具一隻眼。道得一半。一手擡一手搦)雪竇雲。當時但踏倒茶爐(爭奈賊過後張弓。雖然如是。也未稱德山門下客。一等是潑郎潑賴。就中奇特)榸(椿皆切枯木根)。

[Case 48] Cited: Grand Tutor Wang visited Zhaoqing to make tea. [When masters gather there must be something extraordinary; even in casual idleness, everyone keeps an eye open, and trouble comes.] At that time Senior Monk Lang and Mingzhao were holding the kettle. [A group of clay-ball players who do not know how to make tea and implicate others.] Lang overturned the tea kettle. [A matter has arisen. Indeed.] The Grand Tutor saw it and asked the senior monk: "What is under the tea stove?" [Indeed, trouble.] Lang said: "The stove-holding spirit." [Indeed he has been hit by the arrow, and it is extraordinary.] The Grand Tutor said: "Since it is the stove-holding spirit, why did it overturn the tea kettle?" [Why not give him his proper fodder? A matter has arisen.] Lang said: "An official may lose in a single morning what he built over a thousand days." [What kind of talk is this wrongly pointing and annotating? Fabricating Chan folk are as thick as hemp and millet.] The Grand Tutor flicked his sleeve and left. [Truly a master. I grant that he has one eye.] Mingzhao said: "Senior Monk Lang has eaten Zhaoqing's food and then gone beyond the river to gather wild stumps." [Give thirty more blows. This one-eyed dragon has only one eye, and needs a clear-eyed person to point out the flaw.] Lang said: "What about you, Abbot?" [Pressing on him; it is good to press back. In the end he does not hold this kind of dead and sloppy view.] Zhao said: "A non-human has gained the opportunity." [Indeed he has only one eye. He said half of it. One hand lifts, one hand presses.] Xuedou said: "At that time I would simply have kicked over the tea stove." [But he draws the bow after the thief has gone. Even so, he still does not befit a guest from Deshan's door. Equally rough and unruly, and in that, extraordinary.] Stumps (pronounced chun and jie, meaning dry tree roots).

欲知佛性義。當觀時節因緣。王太傅知泉州。久參招慶。一日因入寺。時朗上座煎茶次。翻卻茶銚。太傅也是箇作家。才見他翻卻茶銚。便問上座。茶爐下是什麼。朗雲。捧爐神。不妨言中有響。爭柰首尾相違失卻宗旨傷鋒犯手。不惟辜負自己。亦且觸忤他人。這箇雖是無得失底事。若拈起來。依舊有親疎有皂白。若論此事。不在言句上。卻要向言句上辨箇活處。所以道。他參活句。不參死句。據朗上座恁麼道。如狂狗逐塊。太傅拂袖便去。似不肯他。明招雲。朗上座吃卻招慶飯了。卻去江外打野榸。野榸即是荒野中。火燒底木橛。謂之野榸。用明朗上座不向正處行。卻向外邊走。朗拶雲。和尚又作麼生。招雲。非人得其便。明招自然。有出身處。亦不辜負他所問。所以道。俊狗咬人不露牙。溈山哲和尚雲。王太傅大似相如奪璧直得鬚鬢衡冠。蓋明招忍俊不禁難逢其便。大溈若作朗上座。見他太傅拂袖便行。放下茶銚。呵呵大笑。何故。見之不取。千載難逢。不見寶壽問胡釘鉸雲。久聞胡釘鉸。莫便是否。胡云。是壽雲。還釘得虛空麼。胡云。請師打破將來。壽便打。胡不肯。壽雲。異日自有多口阿師。為爾點破在。胡後見趙州。舉似前話。州雲爾因什麼被他打。胡云。不知過在什麼處。州雲。只這一縫。尚不奈何。更教他打破虛空來。胡便休去。州代雲。且釘這一縫。胡於是有省。京兆米七師行腳歸。有老宿問雲。月夜斷井索。人皆喚作蛇。未審七師見佛時。喚作什麼。七師雲。若有所見即同眾生。老宿雲。也是千年桃核。忠國師問紫璘供奉。聞說供奉解註思益經。是否。奉雲。是師雲。凡當註經。須解佛意始得。奉雲。若不會意。爭敢言註經。師遂令侍者將一椀水七粒米一隻筯在椀上送與供奉。問雲。是什麼義。奉雲。不會。師雲。老師意尚不會。更說甚佛意。王太傅與朗上座。如此話會不一。

If you wish to know the meaning of Buddha nature, you must observe the occasion and conditions. Grand Tutor Wang governed Quanzhou and had long studied at Zhaoqing. One day, entering the temple, he met Senior Monk Lang making tea and overturning the tea kettle. The Grand Tutor was also a master. As soon as he saw him overturn the tea kettle, he asked the senior monk: "What is under the tea stove?" Lang said: "The stove-holding spirit." There was an echo in the words, but beginning and end contradicted each other, and he lost the main point. He injured the blade and offended against his hand, not only failing himself but also offending others. Although this is a matter of no gain or loss, if one takes it up, there are still close and distant, black and white. If one discusses this matter, it is not in words and phrases, yet one must distinguish a living place within words and phrases. So it is said: he studies the living phrase, not the dead phrase. According to Senior Monk Lang's answer, he was like a mad dog chasing a clod. The Grand Tutor flicked his sleeve and left, as if not approving of him. Mingzhao said: "Senior Monk Lang has eaten Zhaoqing's food and then gone beyond the river to gather wild stumps." Wild stumps are wooden stakes burned in the wilderness by fire. He used this to show that Senior Monk Lang did not walk in the proper place but ran outside. Lang pressed: "What about you, Abbot?" Zhao said: "A non-human has gained the opportunity." Mingzhao was naturally one who had a way out and did not fail what was asked, so it is said: a fine dog bites without showing its teeth. Zhe of Weishan said: "Grand Tutor Wang was very like Lin Xiangru reclaiming the jade disk, his whiskers bristling and his cap pushed up." Mingzhao could not hold himself back, and it was hard to meet such an opportunity. If Dawei had been Senior Monk Lang, on seeing the Grand Tutor flick his sleeve and go, he would have put down the tea kettle and laughed heartily. Why? Not taking what one sees is hard to meet in a thousand years. Have you not seen Baoshou ask Hu the nail-mender: "I have long heard of Hu the nail-mender; is that you?" Hu said: "Yes." Shou said: "Can you nail up empty space?" Hu said: "Please, Master, break it open and bring it here." Shou struck him. Hu did not accept it. Shou said: "Another day there will be a talkative monk who will point it out for you." Later Hu saw Zhaozhou and told him the previous story. Zhou said: "Why were you struck by him?" Hu said: "I do not know where my fault was." Zhou said: "Even this one seam you cannot handle, and you still want him to break open empty space?" Hu stopped. Zhou said in his place: "Just nail this one seam." Hu then had an insight. When Seventh Master Mi of Jingzhao returned from his travels, an old monk asked him: "On a moonlit night, a well rope in the dark, people all call it a snake. May I ask what you called it, Seventh Master, when you saw the Buddha?" The Seventh Master said: "If there is anything seen, it is the same as beings." The old monk said: "That too is a thousand-year-old peach pit." National Teacher Zhong asked Court Attendant Zilin: "I hear that you can annotate the Siyi Sutra; is that so?" The attendant said: "Yes." The Teacher said: "When annotating a sutra, one must understand the Buddha's meaning." The attendant said: "If I did not understand the meaning, how would I dare to speak of annotating a sutra?" The Teacher then had an attendant bring a bowl of water, seven grains of rice and one chopstick laid across the bowl, and sent it to the attendant, asking: "What is its meaning?" The attendant said: "I do not understand." The Teacher said: "You do not even understand this old monk's meaning; how can you speak of the Buddha's meaning?" Grand Tutor Wang and Senior Monk Lang, such talk and meetings are not one.

雪竇末後卻道。當時但與踏倒茶爐。明招雖是如此。終不如雪竇。雪峰在洞山會下作飯頭。一日淘米次。山問。作什麼。峰雲。淘米。山雲。淘米去沙。淘沙去米。峰雲。沙米一時去。山雲。大眾吃箇什麼。峰便覆卻盆。山雲。子因緣不在此。雖然恁麼。爭似雪竇雲當時但踏倒茶爐。一等是什麼時節。到他用處。自然騰今煥古有活脫處。頌雲。

(Yuanwu continues:) At the end Xuedou says: "At that time I would simply have kicked over the tea stove." Although Mingzhao was like this, in the end he was not as good as Xuedou. Xuefeng was the rice cook at Dongshan's assembly. One day while washing rice, Shan asked: "What are you doing?" Feng said: "Washing rice." Shan said: "Wash the rice and remove the sand, or wash the sand and remove the rice?" Feng said: "Sand and rice both removed at once." Shan said: "What will the assembly eat?" Feng then overturned the basin. Shan said: "Your affinity is not here." Even so, how does it compare with Xuedou saying that at that time he would simply have kicked over the tea stove? What time was it, equally? When it comes to his use, naturally he shines through past and present and has a place of freedom. His verse says:

來問若成風(箭不虛發偶爾成文。不妨要妙)應機非善巧(弄泥團漢有什麼限。方木逗圓孔。不妨撞著作家)

The question that came was like a gust of wind; [The arrow does not fly in vain; accidentally it forms a pattern; it has its essential subtlety.] the response to the occasion was not skillful. [A clay-ball player; what limit does he have? A square peg in a round hole; he happens to meet a master.]