Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Twenty-Seven
玄旨
The Profound Essential
去去無標的。來來只麼來。有人相借問。不語笑咍咍。
Going, going, with no target. Coming, coming, just thus coming. If someone asks, without speaking, laugh and chuckle.
與鄧州行者
With the Practitioner of Dengzhou
林下覺身愚。緣不帶心珠。開口無言說。筆頭無可書。人問香嚴旨。莫道在山居。
Beneath the trees I feel my body is foolish; the condition is that I do not carry the pearl of mind. Opening my mouth, I have no words to say; at the tip of the brush there is nothing to write. If people ask the essential meaning of Xiangyan, do not say he dwells in the mountains.
三跳後
After the Three Leaps
三門前合掌。兩廊下行道。中庭上作舞。後門外搖頭。
At the three gates, join the palms. Along the two corridors, walk the Way. In the central courtyard, dance. Outside the back gate, shake the head.
上根
Highest Capacity
咄哉莫錯頓爾無覺。空處發言龍驚一著。小語呼召妙絕名貌。巍巍道流無可披剝。
How shocking—do not err; suddenly you are without awareness. Speaking in empty space, a dragon is startled by a single move. A whisper calls and summons; wondrously surpassing name and appearance. Majestic is the stream of the Way; nothing can be stripped away.
破法身見
Breaking the view of the Dharma-body.
向上無父孃。向下無男女。獨自一箇身。切須了卻去。聞我有此言。人人競來取。對他一句子。不話無言語。
Above, there is no father or mother. Below, there are no sons or daughters. Alone, a single body. You must settle it and go. Hearing that I have these words, everyone races to seize them. Facing him with a single phrase—if you do not speak, there are no words.
獨腳
Single-foot.
子啐母啄子覺無㲉。母子俱亡應緣不錯。同道唱和妙雲獨腳。
The child pecks, the mother pecks; the child awakens and has no shell. (In the base text this character belongs to the category of eggshells; it should be “shell.”) Mother and child both perish; according with conditions is not mistaken. Comrades sing in harmony: wondrous clouds, single-foot.
洞山和尚良价頌一首
One verse by Reverend Dongshan Liangjia.
無心合道
No-mind joins the Way.
道無心合人。人無心合道。欲識箇中意。一老一不老。
The Way has no mind to join with people. People have no mind to join with the Way. If you wish to know the meaning within this, one is old, one is not old.
龍牙和尚居遁頌一十八首
Eighteen verses by Reverend Longya Judun.
龍牙山裡龍。形非世間色。世上畫龍人。巧巧描不得。唯有識龍人。一見便心息。
In Longya Mountain there is a dragon. Its form is not a color of the world. The dragon-painters in the world, with utmost skill, cannot depict it. Only one who knows the dragon, upon seeing it, immediately has his mind rest.
唯念門前樹。能容鳥泊飛。來者無心喚。騰身不慕歸。若人心似樹。與道不相違。
Only think of the tree before the gate: it can let birds settle and fly. Those who come are not summoned by any mind; it springs up and does not long to return. If a person’s mind is like the tree, it does not go against the Way.
一得無心便道情。六門休歇不勞形。有緣不是餘朋友。無用雙眉卻弟兄。
Once you attain no-mind, then it is the sentiment of the Way. The six gates rest; no toil of form. Those with conditions are not my friends; the useless pair of eyebrows are instead brothers.
悟了還同未悟人。無心勝負自安神。從前古德稱貧道。向此門中有幾人。
Awakened, one is still the same as an unawakened person. With no mind for victory or defeat, one naturally pacifies the spirit. From of old, the ancient worthies called themselves “the poor Daoist.” Within this gate, how many people are there?
學道先須有悟由。還如曾鬪快龍舟。雖然舊閣於空地。一度贏來方始休。
In learning the Way, one must first have a cause for awakening. It is like having once raced swift dragon boats. Although the old pavilion stands on empty ground, only after winning once do you then stop.
心空不及道空安。道與心空狀一般。參玄不是道空士。一乍相逢不易看。
Mind-empty is not as good as Way-empty’s peace. The Way and mind-empty have the same appearance. One who investigates the mystery is not a Way-empty person; meeting for a moment is not easy to see.
自小從師學祖宗。閑華猶似纏人蜂。僧真不假居雲外。得後知無色自空。
From childhood I followed a teacher to learn the ancestral tradition. Idle flowers are still like bees that entangle people. A true monk need not reside beyond the clouds; after attaining, one knows that form of itself is empty.
學道無端學畫龍。元來未得筆頭蹤。一朝體得真龍後。方覺從前枉用功。
In learning the Way, one pointlessly learns to paint a dragon. Originally one had not attained the trace of the brush. Once one personally attains the true dragon, only then does one realize all former effort was wasted.
成佛人希念佛多。念來歲久卻成魔。君今欲得自成佛。無念之人不較多。
Those who become Buddhas are rare; those who invoke the Buddha are many. Invoking for years on end instead becomes a demon. If you now wish to become a Buddha yourself, the person of no-thought is not more numerous.
在夢那知夢是虛。覺來方覺夢中無。迷時恰是夢中事。悟後還同睡起夫。
While dreaming, how can one know the dream is empty? Only upon waking does one realize there is nothing in the dream. When deluded, it is exactly a matter in a dream; after awakening, one is the same as one who has risen from sleep.
學道蒙師詣卻閑。無中有路隱人間。饒君講得千經論。一句臨機下口難。
In learning the Way, having been guided by a teacher, one instead becomes idle. Within the void there is a road hidden among people. Even if you can expound a thousand scriptures and treatises, a single phrase at the crucial moment is hard to utter.
菩薩聲聞未盡空。人天來往訪真宗。爭如佛是無疑士。端坐無心只麼通。
Bodhisattvas and Hearers have not exhausted emptiness. Humans and gods come and go seeking the true teaching. How can they compare with the Buddha, a person without doubt, sitting upright with no mind, simply thus penetrating?
此生不息息何時。息在今生共要知。心息只緣無妄想。妄除心息是休時。
If in this life you do not rest, when will you rest? Rest in this present life—together we must know it. The mind rests only because there are no false thoughts. When false thoughts are removed and the mind rests, that is the time of rest.
迷人未了勸盲聾。土上加泥更一重。悟人有意同迷意。只在迷中迷不逢。
Deluded people, not yet understanding, urge the blind and deaf. Adding mud on top of soil adds another layer. Awakened people have intentions similar to deluded people’s intentions; only within delusion do they not meet delusion.
夫人學道莫貪求。萬事無心道合頭。無心始體無心道。體得無心道亦休。
When people learn the Way, do not be greedy for seeking. When all things are no-mind, the Way accords at the head. Only with no-mind do you first embody the Way of no-mind. Having embodied no-mind, the Way too ceases.
眉間毫相焰光身。事見爭如理見親。事有隻因於理有。理權方便化天人。一朝大悟俱消卻。方得名為無事人。
The body of flame-light with the white-hair mark between the brows: seeing through things is not as intimate as seeing through principle. Things exist only because principle exists; principle provisionally uses skillful means to transform humans and gods. Once greatly awakened, all are dissolved; only then can one be called a person with no affairs.
人情濃厚道情微。道用人情世豈知。空有人情無道用。人情能得幾多時。
Human feelings are thick; the sentiment of the Way is faint. The Way employs human feelings—how could the world know? If there are only human feelings and no use of the Way, how long can human feelings last?
尋牛須訪跡。學道訪無心。跡在牛還在。無心道易尋。
Seeking the ox, one must visit traces. Learning the Way, one visits no-mind. Where traces remain, the ox still remains. With no-mind, the Way is easy to seek.
玄沙師備宗一大師頌三首
Three verses by Great Master Zongyi, Xuan Sha Shibei.
玄沙遊徑別。時人切須知。三冬陽氣盛。六月降霜時。有語非關舌。無言切要辭。會我最後句出世少人知。
Xuan Sha’s traversed path is different; people of the time must surely know it. In the three winter months, yang energy flourishes; in the sixth month, it is the time of frostfall. There are words not involving the tongue; with no words, one must surely take leave. If you understand my final phrase, few in the world will know it.