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

【五五】舉。道吾與漸源至一家弔慰。源拍棺雲。生邪死邪(道什麼。好不惺惺。這漢猶在兩頭)吾雲。生也不道。死也不道(龍吟霧起。虎嘯風生。買㡌相頭。老婆心切)源雲。為什麼不道(蹉過了也。果然錯會)吾雲。不道不道(惡水驀頭澆。前箭猶輕後箭深)回至中路(太惺惺)源雲。和尚快與某甲道。若不道。打和尚去也(卻較些子。罕逢穿耳客。多遇刻舟人。似這般不唧𠺕漢。入地獄如箭)吾雲。打即任打。道即不道(再三須重事。就身打劫。這老漢滿身泥水。初心不改)源便打(好打且道。打他作什麼。屈棒元來有人吃在)後道吾遷化。源到石霜舉似前話(知而故犯。不知是不是。是則也大奇)霜雲。生也不道。死也不道(可殺新鮮。這般茶飯卻元來有人吃)源雲。為什麼不道(語雖一般。意無兩種。且道與前來問是同是別)霜雲。不道不道(天上天下。曹溪波浪如相似。無限平人被陸沈)源於言下有省(瞎漢。且莫瞞山僧好)源一日將鍬子。於法堂上。從東過西。從西過東(也是死中得活。好與先師出氣。莫問他。且看這漢一場懡㦬)霜雲。作什麼(隨後婁藪也)源雲。覓先師靈骨(喪車背後懸藥袋。悔不慎當初。爾道什麼)霜雲。洪波浩渺白浪滔天。覓什麼先師靈骨(也須還他作家始得。成群作隊作什麼)雪竇著語云。蒼天蒼天(太遲生。賊過後張弓。好與一坑埋卻)源雲。正好著力(且道落在什麼處。先師曾向爾道什麼。這漢從頭到尾。直至如今。出身不得)太原孚雲。先師靈骨猶在(大眾見麼。閃電相似。是什麼破草鞋。猶較些子)。

[Case 55] Cited: Daowu and Jianyuan went to a house to offer condolences. Yuan tapped the coffin and said: "Alive or dead?" (What is he saying? So unalert. This fellow is still on two sides.) Wu said: "I will not say alive, and I will not say dead." (The dragon sings and the mist rises; the tiger roars and the wind springs up. Buying a hat to measure the head; grandmotherly heart so earnest.) Yuan said: "Why will you not say?" (Missed it. Just as expected, he misunderstands.) Wu said: "I will not say, I will not say." (Dirty water poured over his head. The first arrow is light, the second goes deep.) On the way back, midway (too alert) Yuan said: "Master, quickly tell me. If you will not say, I will strike the Master." (A bit better. Rarely does one meet a man with pierced ears; often one meets those who mark the boat. Such a dull fellow will enter hell as swift as an arrow.) Wu said: "Strike if you like. Say it I will not." (Again and again it must be treated as a weighty matter. Robbing on the spot. This old man is covered in mud and water, his first intention unchanged.) Yuan then struck him. (A good blow; tell me, what for? Someone turns out to be eating the wrongful beating.) Later, after Daowu passed away, Yuan went to Shishuang and told him the earlier matter. (Knowing and doing it anyway. I do not know whether this is right. If it is right, it is very strange.) Shuang said: "I will not say alive, and I will not say dead." (So fresh. Turns out someone eats this kind of meal.) Yuan said: "Why will you not say?" (The words are the same, the meaning is not two kinds. Tell me, is it the same as the earlier question or different?) Shuang said: "I will not say, I will not say." (Above heaven and below heaven; if the waves of Caoxi are alike, countless ordinary people sink on dry land.) Yuan awakened at these words. (Blind fellow. Do not deceive this mountain monk.) One day Yuan took a spade and passed through the Dharma hall from east to west and from west to east. (Gaining life in death. A good way to vent for the late teacher. Do not ask him; just watch this fellow's fit of vexation.) Shuang said: "What are you doing?" (Rummaging after him.) Yuan said: "Looking for the late teacher's spirit bones." (A medicine bag hung behind the funeral cart; regretting not being careful at the start. What are you saying?) Shuang said: "Vast waves, white breakers reaching the sky; what spirit bones of the late teacher are you seeking?" (He has to be given back to a master. What are you doing, in groups and herds?) Xuedou added a word: "Heavens, heavens!" (Too late. Drawing the bow after the thief has passed. Better to bury him in one pit.) Yuan said: "Just right to put in effort." (Tell me, where does it fall? What did the late teacher ever say to you? This fellow from beginning to end, right to now, has not got out.) Taiyuan Fu said: "The late teacher's spirit bones are still here." (Does the assembly see? Like lightning. What worn-out straw sandals! Still somewhat better.)

道吾與漸源。至一家弔慰。源拍棺木雲。生邪死邪。吾曰生也不道。死也不道。若向句下便入得。言下便知歸。只這便是透脫生死底關鍵。其或未然。往往當頭蹉過。看他古人行住坐臥。不妨以此事為念。才至人家弔慰。漸源便拍棺問道吾雲。生邪死邪。道吾不移易一絲毫。對他道。生也不道。死也不道。漸源當面蹉過。逐他語句走更雲。為什麼不道。吾雲。不道不道。吾可謂赤心片片。將錯就錯。源猶自不惺惺。回至中路又云。和尚快與某甲道。若不道。打和尚去也。這漢識什麼好惡。所謂好心不得好報。道吾依舊老婆心切更向他道。打即任打。道即不道。源便打。雖然如是。卻是他贏得一籌。道吾恁麼血滴滴地為他。漸源得恁麼不瞥地。道吾既被他打。遂向漸源雲。汝且去。恐院中知事探得。與爾作禍。密遣漸源出去。道吾忒殺傷慈。源後來至一小院。聞行者誦觀音經云。應以比丘身得度者即現比丘身而為說法。忽然大悟雲。我當時錯怪先師。爭知此事。不在言句上。古人道。沒量大人。被語脈裡轉卻。有底情解道。道吾雲。不道不道。便是道了也。喚作打背翻筋斗。教人摸索不著。若恁麼會。作麼生得平穩去。若腳踏實地。不隔一絲毫。不見七賢女遊屍陀林。遂指屍問雲。屍在這裡。人在什麼處。大姊雲。作麼作麼。一眾齊證無生法忍。且道有幾箇。千箇萬箇。只是一箇。漸源後到石霜。舉前話。石霜依前雲。生也不道。死也不道。源雲。為什麼不道。霜雲。不道不道。他便悟去。一日將鍬子。於法堂上。從東過西。從西過東。意欲呈己見解。霜果問雲。作什麼。源雲。覓先師靈骨。霜便截斷他腳跟雲。我這裡洪波浩渺白浪滔天。覓什麼先師靈骨。他既是覓先師靈骨。石霜為什麼卻恁麼道。到這裡。若於生也不道。死也不道處。言下薦得。方知自始至終全機受用。爾若作道理。擬議尋思。直是難見。

Daowu and Jianyuan went to a house to offer condolences. Yuan tapped the coffin and said: "Alive or dead?" Wu said: "I will not say alive, and I will not say dead." If you can enter right at the phrase and know the return right at the words, this is the key to passing through life and death. If not, you will often miss it right at the start. See how the ancients, walking, standing, sitting and lying, did not neglect keeping this matter in mind. As soon as they arrived at the house to offer condolences, Jianyuan tapped the coffin and asked Daowu: "Alive or dead?" Daowu did not shift a hair's breadth and said to him: "I will not say alive, and I will not say dead." Jianyuan missed it right in front of him, ran after his words, and further said: "Why will you not say?" Wu said: "I will not say, I will not say." Wu could be called all sincerity in every piece, letting the mistake stand as it was. Yuan was still not alert; halfway back he said: "Master, quickly tell me. If you will not say, I will strike the Master." What did this fellow know of good and bad? It is what is called a good heart without a good reward. Daowu, again with a grandmotherly heart, spoke to him: "Strike if you like. Say it I will not." Yuan then struck him. Even so, he gained a point. Daowu was dripping with blood for him in this way, and Jianyuan received it without a blink. Daowu, having been struck by him, said to Jianyuan: "Go away now. I fear the steward of the monastery will find out and make trouble for you." He secretly sent Jianyuan away. Daowu was too full of compassion. Later Yuan came to a small monastery and heard an attendant chanting the Guanyin Sutra: 'Those who should be saved in the body of a monk, he appears in the body of a monk and preaches the Dharma for them.' He suddenly awakened greatly and said: "I wrongly blamed the late teacher at that time. How could I know this matter is not in words and phrases?" The ancients said: 'Great ones beyond measure are turned around inside the thread of words.' Some say with their reasoning: "Daowu's 'I will not say, I will not say' is just saying it," calling it a back somersault that lets people find nothing to grasp. If you understand it like this, how can you ever get to peaceful ground? If you tread on solid ground, without a hair's breadth of separation... Have you not seen the seven worthy women walking in the charnel ground? One of them pointed to a corpse and asked: "The corpse is here; where is the person?" The eldest sister said: "What, what?" and the whole group together realized the acceptance of the non-arising of phenomena. Tell me, how many are there? A thousand, ten thousand, but only one. Jianyuan later came to Shishuang and cited the earlier matter. Shishuang said as before: "I will not say alive, and I will not say dead." Yuan said: "Why will you not say?" Shuang said: "I will not say, I will not say." He awakened. One day, he took a spade and passed through the Dharma hall from east to west and from west to east, wanting to present his own view. Shuang indeed asked: "What are you doing?" Yuan said: "Looking for the late teacher's spirit bones." Shuang then cut off his heels, saying: "Here I have vast waves and white breakers reaching the sky; what spirit bones of the late teacher are you seeking?" Since he was seeking the late teacher's spirit bones, why did Shishuang say this? Here, if you can pick it up right at 'I will not say alive, I will not say dead,' then you will know the whole working from beginning to end. If you make it into reasoning and ponder with deliberation, it is truly hard to see.

漸源雲。正好著力。看他悟後道得自然奇特。道吾一片頂骨如金色。擊時作銅聲。雪竇著語云。蒼天蒼天。其意落在兩邊。太原孚雲。先師靈骨猶在。自然道得穩當。這一落索。一時拈向一邊。且道作麼生是省要處。作麼生是著力處。不見道。一處透千處萬處一時透。若向不道不道處透得去。便乃坐斷天下人舌頭。若透不得。也須是自參自悟。不可容易過日。可惜許時光。雪竇頌雲。

(Yuanwu continues:) Yuan said: "Just right to put in effort." See how after his awakening, what he says is naturally extraordinary. Daowu's piece of skull was golden in color and rang like bronze when struck. Xuedou added a word: "Heavens, heavens!" whose meaning falls on two sides. Taiyuan Fu said: "The late teacher's spirit bones are still here," and naturally spoke steadily. This whole set, put it all to one side. Tell me, what is the essential place, and what is the place to put in effort? Have you not heard it said: if one place is penetrated, a thousand and ten thousand places are penetrated at once? If you can penetrate at 'I will not say, I will not say,' then you sit on and cut off the tongues of everyone in the world. If you cannot penetrate, you must investigate and awaken by yourself; you must not pass the days lightly and waste the time. Xuedou's verse says:

兔馬有角(斬可殺奇特。可殺新鮮)牛羊無角(斬。成什麼模樣。瞞別人即得)

Rabbits and horses have horns (cut! Truly extraordinary, truly fresh) Cattle and sheep have no horns (cut! What shape is this? Deceiving others will do)

絕毫絕氂(天上天下唯我獨尊。爾向什麼處摸索)如山如嶽(在什麼處。平地起波瀾。𡎺著爾鼻孔)

Cut off to a hair and a fraction (above heaven and below heaven, I alone am honored; where will you grope?) Like mountains and like peaks (where? Waves rising on level ground, pounding your nostrils)

黃金靈骨今猶在(截卻舌頭。塞卻咽喉。拈向一邊。只恐無人識得伊)

The golden spirit bones are still here today (cut off the tongue, stop the throat, put it to one side; I only fear no one will recognize it)

白浪滔天何處著(放過一著。腳跟下蹉過。眼裡耳裡著不得)

White breakers reaching the sky, where can they be put? (Letting one move pass; missed under your heels; it cannot be put in the eyes or ears)

無處著(果然。卻較些子果然沒溺深坑)隻履西歸曾失卻(祖禰不了。累及兒孫。打雲。為什麼卻在這裡)

Nowhere to put them (just so. Rather better; indeed not drowned in a deep pit) The single shoe going west was lost long ago (the ancestors were not done, and burdened their descendants. Strike! Why is it here?)

雪竇偏會下注腳。他是雲門下兒孫。凡一句中。具三句底鉗鎚。向難道處道破。向撥不開處撥開。去他緊要處頌出。直道兔馬有角。牛羊無角。且道兔馬為什麼有角。牛羊為什麼卻無角。若透得前話。始知雪竇有為人處。有者錯會道。不道便是道。無句是有句。兔馬無角。卻雲有角。牛羊有角。卻雲無角。且得沒交涉。殊不知。古人千變萬化。現如此神通。只為打破爾這精靈鬼窟。若透得去。不消一箇了字。兔馬有角牛羊無角。絕毫絕氂。如山如嶽。這四句。似摩尼寶珠一顆相似。雪竇渾淪地。吐在爾面前了也。末後皆是據欵結案。黃金靈骨。今猶在。白浪滔天何處著。此頌石霜與大原孚語。為什麼無處著。隻履西歸曾失卻。靈龜曳尾。此是雪竇轉身為人處。古人道。他參活句不參死句。既是失卻。他一火為什麼。卻競頭爭。

Xuedou is especially good at adding footnotes. He is a descendant of Yunmen's line: in every single phrase there are three phrases of pincers and hammer. He says what is hard to say, opens what cannot be opened, and gives the verse at the critical point. He straight out says: 'Rabbits and horses have horns, cattle and sheep have no horns.' Tell me, why do rabbits and horses have horns, and why do cattle and sheep have none? If you can pass through the earlier talk, only then will you know that Xuedou has a way of helping people. Some mistakenly understand it, saying: "Not saying is just saying; no phrase is a phrase. Rabbits and horses have no horns, yet he says they have horns; cattle and sheep have horns, yet he says they have none," and this has nothing to do with it. They do not know that the ancients, in their thousand changes and ten thousand transformations, showed such spiritual powers only to smash this cave of ghosts that is your intelligence. If you can pass through, you will not need even the word 'done.' 'Rabbits and horses have horns, cattle and sheep have no horns; cut off to a hair and a fraction; like mountains and like peaks': these four lines are like a mani jewel, which Xuedou has spat out whole before you. At the end everything concludes the case on the confession. 'The golden spirit bones are still here today; white breakers reaching the sky, where can they be put?' This praises the words of Shishuang and Taiyuan Fu. Why is there nowhere to put them? 'The single shoe going west was lost long ago': the spirit turtle drags its tail. This is where Xuedou turns his body to help others. The ancients said: 'He studies the live phrase and does not study the dead phrase.' Since it was lost, why do that crowd compete over it?

垂示雲。諸佛不曾出世。亦無一法與人。祖師不曾西來。未甞以心傳授。自是時人不了。向外馳求。殊不知自己腳跟下。一段大事因緣。千聖亦摸索不著。只如今見不見聞不聞。說不說知不知。從什麼處得來。若未能洞達。且向葛藤窟裡會取。試舉看。

Introduction: The buddhas never appeared in the world, and there is not a single dharma given to people. The patriarch never came from the west and never transmitted anything with the mind. Only because people of the time do not understand, they run outward seeking, not knowing that under their own heels is a great matter of causes and conditions that a thousand sages cannot find. Right now, seeing without seeing, hearing without hearing, speaking without speaking, knowing without knowing: where does it come from? If you cannot yet penetrate it, for the time being come to understand it in the cave of tangled vines. Try citing it.

【五六】舉。良禪客問欽山。一鏃破三關時如何(嶮不妨奇特。不妨是箇猛將)山雲。放出關中主看(劈面來也。也要大家知。主山高按山低)良雲。恁麼則知過必改(見機而作。已落第二頭)山雲。更待何時(有擒有縱。風行草偃)良雲。好箭放不著所在便出(果然。擬待翻欵那。第二棒打人不痛)山雲。且來闍黎(呼則易遣則難。喚得回頭。堪作什麼)良回首(果然把不住。中也)山把住雲。一鏃破三關即且止。試與欽山發箭看(虎口裡橫身。逆水之波。見義不為無勇也)良擬議(果然摸索不著。打雲。可惜許)山打七棒雲。且聽這漢疑三十年(令合恁麼。有始有終。頭正尾正。這箇棒合是欽山吃)。

[Case 56] Cited: The Chan traveler Liang asked Qinshan: "What about when one arrowhead breaks through three barriers?" (Dangerous but extraordinary. He is certainly a fierce general.) Shan said: "Let the master within the barrier come out and show himself." (Right in the face. He wants everyone to know. The master presses down the high mountain and the low.) Liang said: "In that case I know my fault and will mend it." (Acting on the moment; already fallen to second place.) Shan said: "What are you waiting for?" (There is seizing and releasing; the wind blows and the grass bends.) Liang said: "A good arrow does not land in any place, and goes out." (Just so. Trying to reverse the confession, the second blow does not hurt.) Shan said: "Come here, student." (Easy to call, hard to send away. Calling him back, what is it good for?) Liang turned his head. (Just as expected, he cannot hold it. Hit.) Shan seized him and said: "Leave aside for now the arrow that breaks three barriers. Try shooting an arrow for Qinshan." (Throwing his body across the tiger's mouth, a wave against the current. To see what is right and not do it is lack of courage.) Liang hesitated. (Just as expected, he gropes and finds nothing. Strike! A pity.) Shan struck him seven times, saying: "Let this fellow doubt for thirty years." (The order must be like this. A beginning and an end, head straight and tail straight. This blow should be Qinshan's to eat.)

良禪客也不妨是一員戰將。向欽山手裡。左盤右轉。墜鞭閃𩍐。末後可惜許。弓折箭盡。雖然如是。李將軍自有嘉聲在。不得封侯也是閑。這箇公案。一齣一入。一擒一縱。當機覿面提。覿面當機疾。都不落有無得失。謂之玄機。稍虧些子力量。便有顛蹶。這僧亦是箇英靈底衲子。致箇問端。不妨驚群。欽山是作家宗師。便知他問頭落處。鏃者箭鏃也。一箭射透三關時如何。欽山意道。爾射透得則且置。試放出關中主看。良雲。恁麼則知過必改。也不妨奇特。欽山雲。更待何時。看他恁麼祇對。欽山所問。更無些子空缺處。後頭良禪客卻道。好箭放不著所在。拂袖便出。欽山才見他恁麼道。便喚雲。且來闍黎。良禪客果然把不住。便回首。欽山擒住雲。一鏃破三關則且止。試與欽山發箭看。良擬議。欽山便打七棒。更隨後與他念一道呪雲。且聽這漢疑三十年。如今禪和子盡道。為什麼不打八下。又不打六下。只打七下。不然等他問道試與欽山發箭看。便打。似則也似。是則未是在。這箇公案。須是胸襟裡不懷些子道理計較。超出語言之外。方能有一句下破三關。及有放箭處。若存是之與非。卒摸索不著。當時這僧。若是箇漢。欽山也大嶮。他既不能行此令。不免倒行。且道關中主。畢竟是什麼人。看雪竇頌雲。

The Chan traveler Liang was certainly a fighting general. In Qinshan's hands he turned left and right, dropping the whip and dodging the stirrup, and in the end it was a pity: the bow broken and the arrows used up. Even so, General Li has his good name; not being enfeoffed as a marquis is also a trivial thing. This case, in going out and entering, seizing and releasing, raising it face to face at the moment and quick face to face at the moment, does not fall into being or non-being, gain or loss; it is called the mysterious device. If there is a little shortfall in strength, there will be a stumble. This monk too was a spirited monk, and his question certainly startled the group. Qinshan was a master and knew where the question fell. The arrowhead is the head of an arrow. 'What about when one arrow shoots through three barriers?' Qinshan's meaning is: leave aside whether you can shoot through; try letting out the master within the barrier. Liang said: "In that case I know my fault and will mend it," which is also extraordinary. Shan said: "What are you waiting for?" See how he answered this way: Qinshan's question had not the slightest gap. Afterward the Chan traveler Liang said: "A good arrow does not land in any place," and brushed his sleeves and went out. As soon as Qinshan saw him say this, he called: "Come here, student." Liang indeed could not hold it and turned his head. Qinshan seized him, saying: "Leave aside for now the one arrow that breaks three barriers. Try shooting an arrow for Qinshan." Liang hesitated, and Qinshan struck him seven times, then followed with a spell: "Let this fellow doubt for thirty years." Now Chan students all say: why not eight blows, or six, and only seven? Or else wait until he says 'try shooting an arrow for Qinshan' and then strike. It seems so, but it is not yet so. This case requires a chest holding not a bit of reasoning or calculation, going beyond speech, before one can have a phrase that breaks three barriers and a place to shoot the arrow. If you hold on to right and wrong, in the end you will grope in vain. At that time, if this monk had been a real man, Qinshan too would have been in great danger. Since he could not carry out this order, he could not avoid acting backward. Tell me, who in the end is the master within the barrier? See Xuedou's verse:

與君放出關中主(中也。當頭蹉過。退後退後)放箭之徒莫莽鹵(一死不再活。大誵訛過了)

I let out the master within the barrier for you (hit! Missed right at the start. Back off, back off) You who shoot arrows must not be rash (dead once, never to live again. The great confusion has passed)

取箇眼兮耳必聾(左眼半斤。放過一著。左邊不前右邊不後)

Take one eye and the ear is surely deaf (left eye is half a pound. Letting one move pass. Not advancing on the left, not retreating on the right)

捨箇耳兮目雙瞽(右眼八兩。只得一路。進前則墮坑落壍。退後則猛虎䘖腳)

Give up one ear and both eyes are blind (right eye is eight ounces. Only one road. Going forward you fall into a pit; backing off a fierce tiger bites your foot)

可憐一鏃破三關(全機恁麼來時如何。道什麼。破也。墮也)

Pitiful, the one arrow that breaks three barriers (when the whole device comes like this, what then? What are you saying? Broken. Fallen)

的的分明箭後路(死漢。咄。打雲。還見麼)君不見(癩兒牽伴。打葛藤去也)

The road after the arrow is clear and distinct (dead fellow. Hey. Strike! Do you see?) Have you not seen (a leper leading a companion; off into tangled talk)

玄沙有言兮(那箇不是玄沙)大丈夫先天為心祖(一句截流萬機寢削。鼻孔在我手裡。未有天地世界已前。在什麼處安身立命)

Xuansha had a saying (who is not Xuansha) A great man is the ancestor of the mind before Heaven (one phrase cuts the current and the ten thousand devices are stilled; the nostrils are in my hand. Before there were Heaven, Earth and world, where did you settle your body and establish your life?)

此頌數句。取歸宗頌中語。歸宗昔日。因作此頌。號曰歸宗。宗門中謂之宗旨之說。後來同安聞之雲。良公善能發箭。要且不解中的。有僧便問。如何得中的。安雲。關中主是什麼人。後有僧舉似欽山。山雲。良公若恁麼。也未免得欽山口。雖然如是。同安不是好心。雪竇道。與君放出關中主。開眼也著。閤眼也著。有形無形。盡斬為三段。放箭之徒莫莽鹵。若善能放箭。則不莽鹵。若不善放。則莽鹵可知。取箇眼兮耳必聾。捨箇耳兮目雙瞽。且道取箇眼。為什麼卻耳聾。捨箇耳。為什麼卻雙瞽。此語無取捨。方能透得。若有取捨則難見。可憐一鏃破三關的的分明箭後路。良禪客問。一鏃破三關時如何。欽山雲。放出關中主看。乃至末後同安公案。盡是箭後路。畢竟作麼生。君不見。玄沙有言兮。大丈夫先天為心祖。尋常以心為祖宗極則。這裡為什麼。卻於天地未生已前。猶為此心之祖。若識破這箇時節。方識得關中主。的的分明箭後路。若要中的。箭後分明有路。且道作麼生是箭後路。也須是自著精彩始得。大丈夫先天為心祖。玄沙常以此語示眾。此乃是歸宗有此頌。雪竇誤用為玄沙語。如今參學者。若以此心為祖宗。參到彌勒佛下生。也未會在若。是大丈夫漢心猶是兒孫。天地未分已是第二頭。且道正當恁麼時。作麼生是先天地。

These lines of the verse are taken from Guizong's verse. In former days Guizong made this verse, and it was named after Guizong; in the Chan school it is called the doctrine of the main point. Later Tong'an heard of it and said: "Master Liang is good at shooting arrows, but does not know how to hit the target." A monk then asked: "How does one hit the target?" An said: "Who is the master within the barrier?" Later a monk told this to Qinshan, and Shan said: "If Master Liang is like this, he cannot avoid Qinshan's mouth." Even so, Tong'an did not have a good heart. Xuedou says: 'I let out the master within the barrier for you.' With open eyes you hit it, with closed eyes you hit it; things with form and without form are all cut into three pieces. 'You who shoot arrows must not be rash.' If you are good at shooting arrows, you are not rash; if you are not good at it, you are known to be rash. 'Take one eye and the ear is surely deaf; give up one ear and both eyes are blind.' Tell me, why is the ear deaf if you take an eye? Why are both eyes blind if you give up an ear? Only with these words, with no taking or giving up, can you pass through; if there is taking and giving up, it is hard to see. 'Pitiful, the one arrow that breaks three barriers; the road after the arrow is clear and distinct.' The Chan traveler Liang asked: "What about when one arrowhead breaks through three barriers?" Qinshan said: "Let the master within the barrier come out and show himself." And on to the case of Tong'an at the end: all of it is the road after the arrow. What after all is it? 'Have you not seen Xuansha's saying: a great man is the ancestor of the mind before Heaven?' Ordinarily the mind is taken as the utmost ancestor; why here is it said to be the ancestor of this mind even before Heaven and Earth were born? If you see through this moment, you will know the master within the barrier. 'The road after the arrow is clear and distinct': if you want to hit the target, after the arrow there is clearly a road. Tell me, what is the road after the arrow? You must show your own spirit before you get it. 'A great man is the ancestor of the mind before Heaven': Xuansha often used this phrase to instruct the assembly, but this was originally Guizong's verse, and Xuedou mistakenly took it as Xuansha's words. Now students, if you take this mind as the ancestral source, even if you study until Maitreya Buddha descends to be born you will not yet understand. If a great man, the mind is still a descendant; before Heaven and Earth were divided is already second place. Tell me, at just such a time, what is before Heaven and Earth?

垂示雲。未透得已前。一似銀山鐵壁。及乎透得了。自己元來是鐵壁銀山。或有人問且作麼生。但向他道。若尚箇裡。露得一機。看得一境。坐斷要津不通凡聖。未為分外。苟或未然。看取古人樣子。

Introduction: Before you have penetrated it, it is like a silver mountain and iron wall. When you have penetrated it, you yourself turn out to be the iron wall and silver mountain. If someone asks how it is, just say to him: if in this you reveal one device and see one realm, sitting on the key crossing and letting neither the common nor the holy pass, it is not yet beyond what is ordinary. If not yet so, look at the pattern of the ancients.

【五七】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。如何是不揀擇(這鐵蒺藜。多少人吞不得。大有人疑著在。滿口含霜)州雲。天上天下唯我獨尊(平地上起骨堆。衲僧鼻孔一時穿卻。金剛鑄鐵券)僧雲。此猶是揀擇(果然隨他轉了也。拶著這老漢)州雲。田厙奴。什麼處是揀擇(山高石裂)僧無語(放爾三十棒。直得目瞪口呿)厙(式夜切音含)。

[Case 57] Cited: A monk asked Zhaozhou: "'The Perfect Way is not difficult, it only dislikes picking and choosing.' What is not picking and choosing?" (This iron caltrop! How many people cannot swallow it. Many are doubting it. A mouth full of frost.) Zhou said: "Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am honored." (Raising a heap of bones on level ground. The nostrils of monks are pierced all at once. A diamond-cast iron certificate.) The monk said: "This is still picking and choosing." (Just as expected, he follows and turns. Pressing this old man.) Zhou said: "You field slave! Where is the picking and choosing?" (The mountain is high and the rocks split.) The monk had nothing to say. (Let him off thirty blows. Eyes wide and mouth agape.) 'She' is pronounced like 'shi' plus 'ye', sound 'han'.

僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。三祖信心銘劈頭便道這兩句。有多少人錯會。何故至道本無難。亦無不難。只是唯嫌揀擇。若恁麼會。一萬年也未夢見在。趙州常以此語問人。這僧將此語。倒去問他。若向語上覓。此僧卻驚天動地。若不在語句上。又且如何更參三十年。這箇些子關捩子。須是轉得始解。捋虎鬚也須是本分手段始得。這僧也不顧危亡。敢捋虎鬚便道。此猶是揀擇。趙州劈口便塞道。田厙奴。什麼處是揀擇。若問著別底。便見腳忙手亂。爭奈這老漢是作家。向動不得處動。向轉不得處轉。爾若透得一切惡毒言句。乃至千差萬狀。世間戲論。皆是醍醐上味。若到著實處。方見趙州赤心片片。田厙奴。乃福唐人。鄉語罵人。似無意智相似。這僧道此猶是揀擇。趙州道田厙奴。什麼處是揀擇。宗師眼目。須至恁麼。如金翅鳥擘海直取龍吞。雪竇頌雲。

A monk asked Zhaozhou: "The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing." The Third Patriarch's Inscription on Faith in Mind opens with exactly these two lines. How many people have misunderstood them! Why is it that the Supreme Way is basically not difficult, yet also not not difficult, and simply dislikes picking and choosing? If you understand it like this, you will not have dreamed of it in ten thousand years. Zhaozhou often used this line to ask people. This monk turned the line around and asked him. If you seek it in the words, this monk shook heaven and earth; if it is not in the words and phrases, then what is the use of studying another thirty years? This little turning point you must be able to turn before you can untie it. To stroke the tiger's whiskers also requires the means of a true master. This monk, not minding danger or ruin, dared to stroke the tiger's whiskers by saying: "This is still picking and choosing." Zhaozhou stopped his mouth right away: "You field-hand slave! Where is the picking and choosing?" If he had asked anything else, he would have been seen flustered. But this old fellow was a master: he moved where one cannot move and turned where one cannot turn. If you can pass through all vicious words and phrases, and even a thousand differences and ten thousand forms, the idle theories of the world, all are the finest taste of ghee. Only when you reach the solid place do you see Zhaozhou's sincere heart in every piece. "Field-hand slave" is a local expression of Futang for scolding people, as if without intention. The monk said "this is still picking and choosing," and Zhaozhou said "you field-hand slave! Where is the picking and choosing?" A master's eye must be like this: like a golden-winged garuda that parts the sea to seize a dragon and swallow it. Xuedou's verse says:

似海之深(是什麼度量。淵源難測。也未得一半在)如山之固(什麼人撼得。猶在半途)

Deep like the sea (What measure is this? The source is hard to fathom, and you have not yet got even half of it.) Firm like the mountain (Who can shake it? Still halfway along.)

蚊虻弄空裡猛風(也有恁麼底。果然不料力。可殺不自量)

Gnats and horseflies play against the fierce wind in the air (There are such as these. Sure enough, they do not gauge their strength; truly unable to measure themselves.)

螻蟻撼於鐵柱(同坑無異土。且得沒交涉。闍黎與他同參)揀兮擇兮(擔水河頭賣。道什麼趙州來也)

Ants shake an iron pillar (Same pit, no different soil. There is no connection at all; you, Zhili, study together with them.) Picking, choosing (Carrying water to sell at the river's edge; what are you saying, Zhaozhou has come!)

當軒布鼓(已在言前一坑埋卻。如麻似粟打雲。塞卻爾咽喉)

A cloth drum before the hall (Already buried before the words in a single pit. Beating like hemp and millet, it stops up your throat.)

雪竇注兩句雲。似海之深如山之固。僧雲。此猶是揀擇。雪竇道。這僧一似蚊虻弄空裡猛風。螻蟻撼於鐵柱。雪竇賞他膽大。何故此是上頭人用底。他敢恁麼道。趙州作不放他。便雲。田厙奴。什麼處是揀擇。豈不是猛風鐵柱。揀兮擇兮。當軒布鼓。雪竇末後提起教活。若識得明白。十分爾自將來了也。何故不見道。欲得親切。莫將問來問。是故當軒布鼓。

Xuedou annotated with two lines: deep like the sea, firm like the mountain. The monk said: "This is still picking and choosing." Xuedou says this monk is like gnats and horseflies playing against the fierce wind in the air, like ants shaking an iron pillar. Xuedou admires his boldness: why? Because this is what people of the highest standing do. He dared to speak like that. Zhaozhou would not let him off, and said: "You field-hand slave! Where is the picking and choosing?" Is this not the fierce wind and the iron pillar? Picking, choosing: a cloth drum before the hall. At the very end Xuedou raises it and brings it to life. If you recognize it clearly, you yourself have already brought it in. Why? Have you not heard: if you want to be intimate, do not bring a question to ask. Therefore, a cloth drum before the hall.

【五八】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。是時人窠窟否(兩重公案。也是疑人處。踏著秤鎚硬似鐵。猶有這箇在。莫以己妨人)州雲。曾有人問我。直得五年分疎不下(面赤不如語直。胡孫吃毛蟲。蚊子咬鐵牛)。

[Case 58] Cited: A monk asked Zhaozhou: "The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing. Is this the nest and den of people of the time?" (Two cases, and also a place that makes people doubt. Treading on the steelyard weight, hard as iron; there is still this in it. Do not let your own concern block others.) Zhaozhou said: "Someone once asked me, and for five years I could not explain it." (A red face is not as good as straight speech. A monkey eating a caterpillar. A mosquito biting an iron ox.)

趙州平生不行棒喝。用得過於棒喝。這僧問得來。也甚奇怪。若不是趙州。也難答伊。蓋趙州是作家。只向伊道。曾有人問我。直得五年分疎不下。問處壁立千仞。答處亦不輕他。只恁麼會直是當頭。若不會。且莫作道理計較。不見投子宗道者。在雪竇會下作書記。雪竇令參至道無難唯嫌揀擇。於此有省。一日雪竇問他。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。意作麼生。宗雲。畜生畜生。後隱居投子。凡去住持。將袈裟裹草鞋與經文。僧問。如何是道者家風。宗雲。袈裟裹草鞋。僧雲。未審意旨如何。宗雲。赤腳下桐城。所以道。獻佛不在香多。若透得脫去。縱奪在我。既是一問一答。歷歷現成。為什麼趙州卻道。分疎不下。且道是時人窠窟否。趙州在窠窟裡答他。在窠窟外答他。須知此事不在言句上。或有箇漢徹骨徹髓。信得及去。如龍得水。似虎靠山。頌雲。

Zhaozhou never in his life used the stick and shout, yet what he used went beyond the stick and shout. This monk's question was very strange. If it had not been Zhaozhou, it would have been hard to answer. Zhaozhou was a master and simply told him: "Someone once asked me, and for five years I could not explain it." The question stands like a wall a thousand fathoms high, and the answer is not to be taken lightly either. If you understand it just like this, you are right at the head. If you do not understand, do not make principle and calculation of it. Have you not heard of the Chan practitioner Zongdao of Touzi? He was the record-keeper in Xuedou's assembly. Xuedou had him study "The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing," and he had an awakening here. One day Xuedou asked him: "The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing; what is the meaning?" Zong said: "Beast, beast!" Later he lived in seclusion at Touzi. Whenever he went to take up a post, he wrapped a straw sandal and sutras in his robe. A monk asked: "What is the household style of the Way person?" Zong said: "A robe wrapping straw sandals." The monk said: "I wonder what the meaning is." Zong said: "Barefoot down to Tongcheng." So it is said: offering to the Buddha does not depend on how much incense. If you can pass through and escape, you can seize or give as you like. Since it is one question and one answer, all clear and ready-made, why did Zhaozhou say "I could not explain it"? Tell me, is it the nest and den of people of the time? Zhaozhou answered him inside the nest and answered him outside the nest. You must know that this matter is not in words and phrases. If there is someone who goes through to the bone and marrow and can believe it, he is like a dragon in water, like a tiger leaning on the mountain. The verse says:

象王嚬呻(富貴中之富貴。誰人不悚然。好箇消息)獅子哮吼(作家中作家。百獸腦裂。好箇入路)

The elephant king frowns and groans (Richness within richness; who is not awed? What good news.) The lion roars (Master among masters; the brains of the hundred beasts split. What a good way in.)

無味之談(相罵饒爾接嘴。鐵橛子相似。有什麼咬嚼處。分疎不下五年強。一葉舟中載大唐。渺渺兀然波浪起。誰知別有好思量)

A talk without flavor (In a quarrel, you may chime in; it is like an iron stake; what is there to chew? Not explaining for over five years. One leaf of a boat carries the Great Tang; vast and still, waves rise; who knows there is a better thought elsewhere.)

塞斷人口(相唾饒爾潑水。咦闍黎道甚麼)

Stops up people's mouths (In spitting at each other, you may splash water; hey, what are you saying, Zhili?)

南北東西(有麼有麼。天上天下。蒼天蒼天)烏飛兔走(自古自今一時活埋)

North, south, east, west (Is there, is there? Above heaven and below heaven, blue sky, blue sky!) The crow flies and the hare runs (From ancient times to now, buried alive all at once.)

趙州道。曾有人問我。直得五年分疎不下。似象王嚬呻獅子哮吼。無味之談。塞斷人口。南北東西。烏飛兔走。雪竇若無末後句。何處更有雪竇來。既是烏飛兔走。且道趙州雪竇山僧畢竟落在什麼處。

Zhaozhou said: "Someone once asked me, and for five years I could not explain it." Like the elephant king frowning, like the lion roaring, a talk without flavor that stops up people's mouths; north, south, east, west, the crow flies and the hare runs. If Xuedou had not had his last line, where else would there be a Xuedou? Since the crow flies and the hare runs, tell me, where do Zhaozhou, Xuedou, and this mountain monk finally land?

垂示雲。該天括地。越聖超凡。百草頭上指出涅槃妙心。干戈叢裡點定衲僧命脈。且道承箇什麼人恩力。便得恁麼。試舉看。

The introduction says: Covering heaven and enclosing earth, surpassing sage and ordinary, on top of the hundred grasses he points out the wondrous mind of nirvana, and amid the shields and spears he fixes the lifeblood of monks. Tell me, whose kindness and power do you rely on to get this? Try citing it and see.

【五九】舉。僧問趙州。至道無難。唯嫌揀擇(再運前來。道什麼。三重公案)才有語言是揀擇(滿口含霜)和尚如何為人(拶著這老漢。㘞)州雲。何不引盡這語(賊是小人智過君子。白拈賊。騎賊馬趁賊)僧雲。某甲只念到這裡(兩箇弄泥團漢。逢著箇賊。垛根難敵手)州雲。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇(畢竟由這老漢。被他換卻眼睛。捉敗了也)。

[Case 59] Cited: A monk asked Zhaozhou: "The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing." (Carried forward again; what is he saying? The third case.) "As soon as there are words and language, there is picking and choosing." (A mouth full of frost.) "How does the master help people?" (Squeeze this old fellow! Hey!) Zhaozhou said: "Why not quote the whole line?" (The thief is a petty man whose wisdom exceeds a gentleman's. A thief who snatches clean-handed; riding the thief's horse to chase the thief.) The monk said: "I only recited up to here." (Two fellows playing with mud balls; meeting a thief, the pile of mud is no match.) Zhaozhou said: "Just this, the Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing." (In the end it is up to this old fellow; he had his eyes swapped and was caught and beaten.)

趙州道。只這至道無難唯嫌揀擇。如擊石火似閃電光。擒縱殺活。得恁麼自在。諸方皆謂。趙州有逸群之辯。趙州尋常示眾。有此一篇雲。至道無難唯嫌揀擇。才有語言。是揀擇。是明白。老僧不在明白裹。是汝等還護惜也無。

Zhaozhou said: "Just this, the Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing." Like a spark from striking a stone, like a flash of lightning, seizing, releasing, killing, and giving life, he was this free. Every quarter said that Zhaozhou had eloquence above the crowd. Zhaozhou often addressed the assembly with this piece: "The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing. As soon as there are words, that is picking and choosing; that is clarity. This old monk is not within clarity (the base text writes 'inside' with a wrong character; it should be the usual one). Do you still guard and cherish it or not?"

時有僧問雲。既不在明白裡。護惜箇什麼。州雲。我亦不知。僧雲。和尚既不知。為什麼道。不在明白裡。州雲。問事即得。禮拜了退。後來這僧只拈他釁罅處去問他。問得也不妨奇特。爭奈只是心行。若是別人奈何他不得。爭奈趙州是作家。便道何不引盡這語。這僧也會轉身吐氣。便道某甲只念到這裡。一似安排相似。趙州隨聲拈起便答。不須計較。古人謂之相續也大難。他辨龍蛇別休咎。還他本分作家。趙州換卻這僧眼睛。不犯鋒鋩。不著計較。自然恰好。爾喚作有句也不得。喚作無句也不得。喚作不有不無句也不得。離四句絕百非。何故。若論此事。如擊石火。似閃電光。急著眼看方見。若或擬議躊躇。不免喪身失命。雪竇頌雲躊躇(上音躊。下音除。猶豫不進也)。

(Yuanwu continued:) At that time a monk asked: "If you are not within clarity, what do you guard and cherish?" Zhaozhou said: "I do not know either." The monk said: "If the master does not know, why do you say you are not within clarity?" Zhaozhou said: "Asking about matters is fine; bow and withdraw." Later this monk took only the cracks in his words and went to ask him, and the question was also quite remarkable. But alas, it was only a work of the mind. Others could do nothing about him. But Zhaozhou was a master and said: "Why not quote the whole line?" This monk also knew how to turn his body and breathe out, and said: "I only recited up to here," as if it had been arranged. Zhaozhou picked it up at the sound and answered, with no calculation. The ancients called this continuing, which is very difficult. He distinguishes dragons and snakes and tells good from ill fortune, returning it to the true master. Zhaozhou swapped the monk's eyes without touching the blade and without calculation, naturally just right. You cannot call it a phrase with words, you cannot call it a phrase without words, and you cannot call it a phrase that neither has nor lacks. It leaves the four phrases and cuts off the hundred negations. Why? If one speaks of this matter, it is like a spark from striking stone, like a flash of lightning; look quickly and you see it. If you hesitate or ponder, you cannot avoid losing your body and life. Xuedou's verse says: hesitating (the first character is read chou, the second chu; it means to be undecided and not advance).

水灑不著(說什麼太深遠生。有什麼共語處)風吹不入(如虛空相似。硬剝剝地。望空啟告)

Water cannot splash on it (What are you saying, too deep and far? What is there to talk about together?) Wind cannot blow into it (Like empty space, stiff and hard, praying to the sky.)

虎步龍行(他家得自在。不妨奇特)鬼號神泣(大眾掩耳。草偃風行。闍黎莫是與他同參)

Tiger's stride, dragon's gait (He is free in his own house; truly remarkable.) Ghosts howl, spirits weep (The assembly covers its ears; grass bends and wind moves. Zhili, might you be studying with him?)

頭長三尺知是誰(怪底物。何方聖者。見麼見麼)

A head three feet long, who is it? (A strange creature! What sage from where? Do you see, do you see?)

相對無言獨足立(咄。縮頭去。放過一著。山魈。放過即不可。便打)

Facing each other without words, standing on one leg (Bah! Withdraw your head. Let one move pass. Mountain demon! Letting it go is not allowed; strike.)

水灑不著。風吹不入。虎步龍行。鬼號神泣。無爾啗啄處。此四句頌趙州答話大似龍馳虎驟。這僧只得一場懡㦬。非但這僧。直得鬼也號神也泣。風行草偃相似。末後兩句。可謂一子親得。頭長三尺知是誰。相對無言獨足立。不見僧問古德。如何是佛。古德雲。頭長三尺頸長二寸。雪竇引用。未審諸人還識麼。山僧也不識。雪竇一時脫體畫卻趙州。真箇在裡了也。諸人須子細著眼看。

Water cannot splash on it. Wind cannot blow into it. Tiger's stride, dragon's gait. Ghosts howl, spirits weep. There is no place for you to peck or bite. These four lines praise Zhaozhou's answer as like a dragon racing and a tiger galloping. This monk could only get a fit of vexation. Not only this monk; even ghosts howled and spirits wept, as if the wind moved and the grass bent. The last two lines can be called a direct personal gain: a head three feet long, who is it? Facing each other without words, standing on one leg. Have you not heard that a monk asked an old worthy, "What is the Buddha?" and the old worthy said, "A head three feet long and a neck two inches long." Xuedou cites this; do you all recognize it? This mountain monk does not either. Xuedou all at once painted Zhaozhou from his whole body; truly he is inside it. All of you must look at it carefully.

垂示雲。諸佛眾生本來無異。山河自己寧有等差。為什麼卻渾成兩邊去也。若能撥轉話頭。坐斷要津。放過即不可。若不放過。盡大地不消一揑。且作麼生是撥轉話頭處。試舉看。

The introduction says: All buddhas and sentient beings are originally no different; how could mountains, rivers, and the self have gradations? Why then does everything become two sides? If one can turn the topic around and sit cutting off the main crossing, letting go is not allowed. If you do not let go, the whole earth does not take even a pinch. So what is the place of turning the topic around? Try citing it and see.

【六〇】舉。雲門以拄杖示眾雲(點化在臨時。殺人刀活人劍。換卻爾眼睛了也)拄杖子化為龍(何用周遮。用化作什麼)吞卻乾坤了也(天下衲僧性命不存。還礙著咽喉麼。闍黎向什麼處安身立命)山河大地甚處得來(十方無壁落。四面亦無門。東西南北四維上下。爭奈這箇何)。

[Case 60] Cited: Yunmen held up his staff to the assembly and said (The transformation is in the moment. The knife that kills and the sword that gives life; your eyes are swapped out.): "The staff turns into a dragon (Why all the elaboration? What use is it to turn into one?) and swallows heaven and earth. (The lives of all the monks in the world do not survive. Is it still stuck in the throat? Zhili, where do you settle body and life?) Where do mountains, rivers and the great earth come from?" (The ten directions have no walls, and the four sides have no gate. East, west, south, north, the four corners, above and below; what can be done about this?)

只如雲門道。掛杖子化為龍。吞卻乾坤了也。山河大地甚處得來。若道有則瞎。若道無則死。還見雲門為人處麼。還我拄杖子來。如今人不會他雲門獨露處。卻道即色明心。附物顯理。且如釋迦老子四十九年說法。不可不知此議論。何故。更用拈花。迦葉微笑。這老漢便搽胡道。吾有正法眼藏涅槃妙心。分付摩訶大迦葉。更何必單傳心印。諸人既是祖師門下客。還明得單傳底心麼。胸中若有一物。山河大地。摐然現前胸中若無一物。外則了無絲毫。說什麼理與智冥境與神會。何故一會一切會。一明一切明。長沙道。學道之人不識真。只為從前認識神。無量劫來生死本。痴人喚作本來人。忽若打破陰界。身心一如身外無餘。猶未得一半在。說什麼即色明心附物顯理。古人道。一塵才起。大地全收。且道是那箇一塵。若識得這一塵。便識得拄杖子。才拈起拄杖子。便見縱橫妙用。恁麼說話。早是葛藤了也。何況更化為龍。慶藏主雲。五千四十八卷。還曾有恁麼。說話麼。雲門每向拄杖處。拈掇全機大用。活潑潑地為人。芭蕉示眾雲。衲僧巴鼻。盡在拄杖頭上。永嘉亦云。不是標形虛事褫。如來寶杖親蹤跡。如來昔於然燈佛時。布髮掩泥。以待彼佛。然燈曰。此處當建梵剎。時有一天子。遂標一莖草雲。建梵剎竟。諸人且道。這箇消息。從那裡得來。祖師道。棒頭取證。喝下承當。且道承當箇什麼。忽有人問。如何是拄杖子。莫是打筋斗麼。莫是撫掌一下麼。總是弄精魂。且喜沒交涉。雪竇頌雲褫(音馳)。

Take Yunmen's saying: the staff turns into a dragon (the base text writes a wrong character for 'staff'; it should be the usual one) and swallows heaven and earth. Where do mountains, rivers and the great earth come from? If you say they exist, you are blind. If you say they do not exist, you are dead. Do you see Yunmen's way of helping people? Give me back my staff! People now do not understand where Yunmen reveals himself alone, and instead say, illuminating the mind through form and showing principle through things. And consider old Shakyamuni's forty-nine years of teaching: one cannot fail to know this argument. Why? Why was there even a need to hold up the flower, and Kasyapa smiling? That old fellow then babbled nonsense: I have the treasury of the true Dharma eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana, and I entrust it to Mahakasyapa. Why bother with a single transmission of the mind seal? All of you are guests in the patriarchs' gate; do you understand the mind that is singly transmitted? If there is a single thing in the chest, mountains, rivers and the great earth stand clearly before you. If there is not a single thing in the chest, outside there is not the least bit. What is all this talk of principle merging with wisdom and realm meeting spirit? Why is it that when one understands, all understand; when one is clear, all are clear? Changsha said: students of the Way do not recognize the real, only because they have always taken the conscious spirit as such; the root of birth and death for countless kalpas, which fools call the original person. If suddenly you break through the realm of the aggregates, body and mind are one and nothing remains outside the body, you still do not have half of it. What is this talk of illuminating the mind through form and showing principle through things? The ancients said: once a single mote of dust arises, the whole earth is taken in. Tell me, which mote of dust is that? If you recognize this mote of dust, you recognize the staff. As soon as you pick up the staff, you see free and unhindered wondrous function. Speaking like this is already tangled talk, much more so to go on to transform into a dragon. Archivist Qing said: have the five thousand and forty-eight scrolls ever spoken like this? Yunmen would always, at the staff, raise the whole mechanism and great function, helping people in a lively way. Bajiao addressed the assembly, saying: the grip of a monk is entirely on top of the staff. Yongjia also said: it is not a sign of form or an empty matter to be stripped; it is the personal trace of the Tathagata's precious staff. When the Tathagata was in the time of Dipamkara Buddha, he spread his hair to cover the mud and wait for that Buddha. Dipamkara said: here a monastery should be built. At that time a deva planted a single stalk of grass and said: the monastery is built. All of you, tell me, where does this news come from? The patriarchs said: take proof from under the stick, take it on at the shout. Tell me, what do you take on? If someone asks suddenly, what is the staff, is it somersaulting? Is it clapping once? All of these are playing with spirit, and fortunately have no connection. Xuedou's verse says: chi (read chi).

拄杖子吞乾坤(道什麼。只用打狗)徒說桃花浪奔(撥開向上一竅。千聖齊立下風。也不在拏雲攫霧處。說得千遍萬遍。不如手腳羅籠一遍)

The staff swallows heaven and earth (What are you saying? It is only used to beat dogs.) In vain they speak of peach blossom waves surging (Open the one aperture of the upward; a thousand sages all stand downwind. It is also not in seizing clouds and grasping mist. Said a thousand times, ten thousand times, it is not as good as hands and feet being caught once.)

燒尾者不在拏雲攫霧(左之右之。老僧只管看。也只是一箇乾柴片)

Those with burned tails do not lie in seizing clouds and grasping mist (Left and right, this old monk just watches; it is only a piece of dry firewood.)

曝腮者何必喪膽亡魂(人人氣宇如王。自是爾千里。萬裡。爭奈悚然)

Those with sun-dried gills need not lose their courage and souls (Everyone's bearing is like a king; it is your own, a thousand miles, ten thousand miles; but alas, you are startled.)

拈了也(謝慈悲。老婆心切)

Picked up (Thanks for the compassion; the old woman's earnest heart.)

聞不聞(不免落草。用聞作什麼)直須灑灑落落(殘羹餿飯乾。坤大地甚處得來)

Hear or not hear? (You cannot avoid falling into the grass; what is hearing for?) Be simply free and unattached (Leftover soup and spoiled rice; where do heaven, earth, and the great earth come from?)

休更紛紛紜紜(舉令者先犯。相次到爾頭上。打雲放過則不可)

Do not be confused and chaotic again (The one who raises the order breaks it first; it comes to your head in turn. Saying let it pass is not allowed.)

七十二棒且輕恕(山僧不曾行此令。據令而行。賴值得山僧)一百五十難放君(正令當行。豈可只恁麼了。直饒朝打三千暮打八百堪作什麼)

Seventy-two blows, let it be lightly pardoned (This mountain monk never carried out this order. Acting by the order, thankfully I was worthy of it.) One hundred fifty, hard to let you off (When the true order is to be carried out, how can it end only like this? Even if you are beaten three thousand in the morning and eight hundred in the evening, what use is it?)

師驀拈拄杖下座。大眾一時走散(雪竇龍頭蛇尾作什麼)

The master suddenly picked up his staff and stepped down from the seat. The assembly scattered at once. (Xuedou, a dragon head and snake tail; what for?)

曝(音僕日干也。通作暴。又薄報切)

Pu (read pu; it means drying in the sun, used interchangeably with the character for exposure, and also read bo-bao qie).

雲門委曲為人。雪竇截徑為人。所以撥卻化為龍。不消恁麼道。只是拄杖子吞乾坤。雪竇大意免人情解。更道徒說桃花浪奔。更不必化為龍也蓋禹門有三級浪。每至三月。桃花浪漲。魚能逆水。而躍過浪者即化為龍。雪竇道縱化為龍。亦是徒說。燒尾者不在拏雲攫霧。魚過禹門。自有天火燒其尾。拏雲攫霧而去。雪竇意道。縱化為龍。亦不在拏雲攫霧也。曝腮者何必喪膽亡魂。清涼疏序雲。積行菩薩。尚乃曝腮於龍門。大意明華嚴境界非小德小智之所造詣。獨如魚過龍門透不過者。點額而回。困於死水沙磧中。曝其腮也。雪竇意道。既點額而回。必喪膽亡魂拈了也。聞不聞。重下注腳。一時與爾掃蕩了也。諸人直須灑灑落落去。休更紛紛紜紜。爾若更紛紛紜紜。失卻拄杖子了也。七十二棒且輕恕。雪竇為爾捨重從輕。古人道七十二棒。翻成一百五十。如今人錯會。卻只算數目。合是七十五棒。為什麼。卻只七十二棒殊不知。古人意在言外。所以道。此事不在言句中。免後人去穿鑿。雪竇所以引用。直饒真箇灑灑。落落正好與爾七十二棒。猶是輕恕直饒總。不如此一百五十難放君。一時頌了也。卻更拈拄杖。重重相為雖然恁麼。也無一箇皮下有血。

Yunmen helped people in a roundabout way, but Xuedou helps people by cutting straight through. So he pushes aside "turns into a dragon," saying there is no need to talk like this; it is only that the staff swallows heaven and earth. Xuedou's main intent is to spare people their emotional understanding, and he says further: "In vain they speak of peach blossom waves surging," which means there is no need to turn into a dragon. For at Yu Gate there are waves of three tiers; every year in the third month, when the peach blossom waves rise, the fish that can go against the current and leap over the wave become dragons. Xuedou says: even turning into a dragon is a vain talk. Those with burned tails do not lie in seizing clouds and grasping mist: when a fish passes Yu Gate, a heavenly fire burns its tail and it goes off seizing clouds and grasping mist. Xuedou means: even if it turned into a dragon, it is not in seizing clouds and grasping mist. Those with sun-dried gills need not lose their courage and souls: the preface to the Qingliang commentary says that even a Bodhisattva of accumulated practice dries his gills at Dragon Gate. The main point is to show that the realm of the Avatamsaka is not reached by small virtue or small wisdom, only like fish passing the Dragon Gate: those who cannot get through bump their foreheads and go back, trapped in dead water and sand, their gills dried in the sun. Xuedou means: since they bump their foreheads and go back, they must lose courage and souls. Picked up. Hear or not hear? He adds another footnote, sweeping it all away for you at once. All of you must simply be free and unattached, and no longer be confused and chaotic. If you are confused and chaotic again, you have lost the staff. Seventy-two blows, let it be lightly pardoned: Xuedou gives up the heavy for the light on your behalf. The ancients said seventy-two blows, which turned into one hundred fifty. People now misunderstand and only count the number, saying it should be seventy-five blows. Why then only seventy-two? They do not know that the ancients' intent lay beyond the words. So it is said: this matter is not in words and phrases, to spare later people from forced interpretations. This is why Xuedou cites it: even if you are truly free and unattached, you deserve seventy-two blows, and that is still a light pardon; even if not at all like this, one hundred fifty, hard to let you off. After finishing the verse in one go, he picks up the staff again, helping you layer upon layer. Even so, there is not one with blood under the skin.