Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 3

新羅國洪直禪師(已上三人無機緣語句不錄)

Chan Master Hongzhi of the country of Silla (the above three have no recorded sayings and are not included)

前蒲州麻谷山寶徹禪師法嗣二人壽州良遂禪師(一人見錄)

Two Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Baoche of Mount Magu in Puzhou: Chan Master Liangsui of Shouzhou (one recorded)

新羅國無染禪師(一人無機緣語句不錄)

Chan Master Wuran of the country of Silla (one person, no recorded sayings, not included)

前湖南東寺如會禪師法嗣四人吉州薯山慧超禪師(一人見錄)

Four Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Ruhui of Dongsi in Hunan: Chan Master Huichao of Mount Shu in Jizhou (one recorded)

舒州景諸禪師

Chan Master Jingzhu of Shuzhou

莊嚴寺光肇禪師

Chan Master Guangzhao of Zhuangyan Monastery

潭州幕輔山昭禪師(已上三人無機緣語句不錄)

Chan Master Zhao of Mount Mufu in Tanzhou (the above three have no recorded sayings and are not included)

前京兆章敬寺懷惲禪師法嗣一十六人京兆薦福弘辯禪師

Sixteen Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Huaiyun of Zhangjing Monastery in Jingzhao: Chan Master Hongbian of Jianfu in Jingzhao

福州龜山智真禪師

Chan Master Zhizhen of Mount Gui in Fuzhou

朗州懷政禪師

Chan Master Huaizheng of Langzhou

金州操禪師

Chan Master Cao of Jinzhou

朗州古堤和尚

Monk Guti of Langzhou

河中公畿和尚(已上六人見錄)

Monk Gongji of Hezhong (the above six are recorded)

柏林閑雲禪師

Chan Master Xianyun of Bolin

宣州玄哲禪師

Chan Master Xuanzhe of Xuanzhou

河中寶堅禪師

Chan Master Baojian of Hezhong

西京道志禪師

Chan Master Daozhi of the Western Capital

絳州神祐禪師

Chan Master Shenyou of Jiangzhou

西京智藏禪師

Chan Master Zhizang of the Western Capital

許州無跡禪師

Chan Master Wuji of Xuzhou

壽州惟肅禪師

Chan Master Weisu of Shouzhou

新羅國玄昱禪師

Chan Master Xuanyu of the country of Silla

新羅國覺體禪師(已上一十人無機緣語句不錄)

Chan Master Jueti of the country of Silla (the above ten have no recorded sayings and are not included)

前百丈懷海禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Baizhang Huaihai

潭州溈山靈祐禪師者福州長谿人也。姓趙氏。年十五辭親出家。依本郡建善寺法常律師剃髮。於杭州龍興寺受戒。究大小乘經律。二十三遊江西參百丈大智禪師。百丈一見許之入室。遂居參學之首。一日侍立百丈問誰。師曰。靈祐。百丈雲。汝撥鑪中有火否。師撥雲。無火。百丈躬起深撥得少火。舉以示之雲。此不是火。師發悟禮謝陳其所解。百丈曰此乃暫時岐路耳。經云。欲見佛性當觀時節因緣。時節既至如迷忽悟。如忘忽憶。方省己物不從他得。故祖師雲。悟了同未悟。無心得無法。只是無虛妄凡聖等心。本來心法元自備足。汝今既爾善自護持。時司馬頭陀自湖南來。百丈謂之曰。老僧欲往溈山可乎(司馬頭陀參禪外。蘊人倫之鑒。兼窮地理。諸方剏院多取決焉)對雲。溈山奇絕可聚千五百眾。然非和尚所住。百丈雲。何也。對雲。和尚是骨人。彼是肉山。設居之徒不盈千。百丈雲。吾眾中莫有人住得否。對雲。待歷觀之。百丈乃令侍者喚第一坐來(即華林和尚也)問雲。此人如何。頭陀令謦欬一聲行數步。對雲。此人不可。又令喚典坐來(即祐師也)頭陀雲。此正是溈山主也。百丈是夜召師入室。囑雲。吾化緣在此。溈山勝境汝當居之嗣續吾宗廣度後學。時華林聞之曰。某甲忝居上首。祐公何得住持。百丈雲。若能對眾下得一語出格當與住持。即指淨瓶問雲。不得喚作淨瓶。汝喚作什麼。華林雲。不可喚作木𣔻也。百丈不肯。乃問師。師蹋倒淨瓶。百丈笑雲。第一坐輸卻山子也。遂遣師往溈山。是山峭絕敻無人煙。師猿猱為伍橡栗充食。山下居民稍稍知之。帥眾共營梵宇。連率李景讓奏號同慶寺。相國裴公休嘗諮玄奧。繇是天下禪學若輻湊焉。師上堂示眾雲。夫道人之心質直無偽。無背無面無詐妄心行。一切時中視聽尋常更無委曲。亦不閉眼塞耳。但情不附物。即得從上諸聖只是說濁邊過患。

Chan Master Lingyou of Mount Wei in Tanzhou was a native of Changxi in Fuzhou, with the surname Zhao. At fifteen he took leave of his parents to leave home, had his head shaved by the Vinaya master Fachang of Jianshan Monastery in his home prefecture, received the precepts at Longxing Monastery in Hangzhou, and studied the sutras and vinaya of the Great and Small Vehicles. At twenty-three he traveled to Jiangxi and visited Chan Master Baizhang Dazhi. Baizhang approved him at first sight and let him into his room, and so he became first among the students. One day he was standing in attendance. Baizhang asked: "Who is it?" The master said: "Lingyou." Baizhang said: "Stir the stove; is there fire?" The master stirred and said: "No fire." Baizhang got up himself and stirred deeply, found a little fire, held it up and showed him, saying: "Isn't this fire?" The master awakened, bowed in thanks and stated his understanding. Baizhang said: "This is only a temporary fork in the road. The sutra says: If you wish to see Buddha-nature, you should observe the timing and conditions. When the time arrives, it is like waking suddenly from delusion or suddenly remembering what was forgotten; only then do you realize that what is yours is not obtained from another. Therefore the Patriarch said: After awakening it is the same as before awakening; with no mind you attain no dharma. It is only that there is no false mind of ordinary and holy and so on. The original mind-dharma is fully complete in itself. Now that you are like this, take good care of it." At that time Sima Toutuo came from Hunan. Baizhang said to him: "This old monk wishes to go to Mount Wei; is that acceptable?" (Besides Chan study, Sima Toutuo had the judgment of human character and also thoroughly knew geography; the founding of monasteries in various places was mostly decided by him.) He answered: "Mount Wei is marvelous and can hold fifteen hundred people. But it is not where the master should live." Baizhang said: "Why?" He answered: "The master is a man of bone, while that is a mountain of flesh. If you lived there, your disciples would not reach a thousand." Baizhang said: "Is there anyone in my assembly who can live there?" He answered: "Let me look them over." Baizhang then had an attendant call the first seat (that is Monk Hualin). He asked: "How is this man?" The Toutuo had him clear his throat and walk a few steps. He answered: "This man will not do." He then had the cook called (that is Master Lingyou). The Toutuo said: "This is precisely the master of Mount Wei." That night Baizhang summoned the master to his room and charged him: "My transforming affinity lies here. Mount Wei is a superb place; you should live there, continue my lineage and widely ordain later students." At that time Hualin heard of it and said: "I have the honor of being first among them; how can Lingyou be abbot?" Baizhang said: "If you can say one phrase that goes beyond the norm before the assembly, you will be made abbot." He pointed at the pure water bottle and asked: "You may not call it a pure water bottle; what do you call it?" Hualin said: "It cannot be called a wooden block." Baizhang did not approve, and asked the master. The master kicked over the pure water bottle. Baizhang laughed and said: "The first seat has lost to the mountain man." So he sent the master to Mount Wei. This mountain was steep and cut off, with no trace of human habitation. The master lived among monkeys and gibbons and ate acorns and chestnuts. The people living at the foot of the mountain gradually learned of him and led the crowd to build a temple together. The military governor Li Jingrang memorialized and obtained the name Tongqing Monastery. Prime Minister Pei Xiu once consulted him about the profound mysteries. From then on Chan students across the empire gathered there like spokes to a hub. The master addressed the assembly in the hall, saying: "The mind of a person of the Way is straight and without falsehood, with no back and no front and no mind of deceit or falsity. At all times seeing and hearing are ordinary, with nothing twisted. Nor does one close the eyes or stop the ears. It is enough that feeling does not cling to things. All the sages of the past only spoke of the faults on the turbid side.

若無如許多惡覺情是想習之事。譬如秋水澄渟。清淨無為澹濘無礙。喚他作道人。亦名無事之人。時有僧問。頓悟之人更有修否。師雲。若真悟得本他自知時。修與不修。是兩頭語如今初心雖從緣得。一念頓悟自理。猶有無始曠劫習氣未能頓淨須教渠淨除現業流識。即是修也。不道別有法教渠修行趣。向。從聞入理聞理深妙。心自圓明不居惑地。縱有百千妙義抑揚當時。此乃得坐披衣自解作活計。以要言之。則實際理地不受一塵。萬行門中不捨一法。若也單刀趣入。則凡聖情盡體露真常。理事不二即如如佛。仰山問。如何是西來意。師雲。大好燈籠。仰山雲。莫只遮箇便是麼。師雲。遮箇是什麼。仰山雲。大好燈籠。師雲。果然不識。一日師謂眾雲。如許多人只得大機(舊本雲大識。今改作大機。按廣燈並別錄。皆雲只得大機。而第十六卷九峰慧禪師章中雲只得大體。未詳孰是)不得大用。仰山舉此語問山下庵主雲。和尚恁麼道意旨何如。庵主雲。更舉看。仰山擬再舉。被庵主蹋倒。歸舉似師。師大笑。師在法堂坐。庫頭擊木魚。火頭擲卻火抄。拊掌大笑。師雲。眾中也有恁麼人。喚來問。作麼生。火頭雲。某甲不吃粥肚飢所以喜歡。師乃點頭(東使聞雲。將知溈山眾裡無人。臥龍雲。將知溈山眾裡有人)普請摘茶。師謂仰山曰。終日摘茶只聞子聲不見子形。請現本形相見。仰山撼茶樹。師雲。子只得其用不得其體。仰山雲。未審和尚如何。師良久。仰山雲。和尚只得其體不得其用。師雲。放子二十棒(玄覺雲。且道過在什麼處)師上堂有僧出雲。請和尚為眾說法。師雲。我為汝得徹困也。僧禮拜(後人舉似雪峰。雪峰雲。古人得恁麼老婆心。玄沙雲。山頭和尚蹉過古人事也。雪峰聞之乃問玄沙。什麼處是老僧蹉過古人事處。玄沙雲。大小溈山被那僧一問得百雜碎。雪峰駭之乃休)。師謂仰山曰。

If there were none of these many evil perceptions, emotional views and habits of thought, it would be like autumn water, clear and still, pure and unconditioned, calm and unobstructed; call such a one a person of the Way, also called a person of no affairs." At that time a monk asked: "For one who has suddenly awakened, is there still cultivation?" The master said: "If one has truly awakened to the root, he will know for himself when. Cultivating or not cultivating are two-sided words. Now, although the beginner's mind is obtained from conditions, a single thought suddenly awakens to the principle, yet the habits of beginningless kalpas cannot be purified all at once; one must be taught to purify present karma and flowing consciousness, and that is cultivation. I do not say there is a separate method for teaching him to practice and head toward something. One enters the principle through hearing; when the principle heard is profound and wondrous, the mind itself becomes round and bright and does not dwell in the ground of delusion. Even if hundreds of thousands of wondrous meanings are raised and lowered in the moment, one can only sit and put on one's robe and understand how to make a living. In brief, in the ground of the true limit, not a speck of dust is accepted, and in the gate of myriad practices, not a single dharma is abandoned. If one enters with a single sword, the feelings of ordinary and holy are exhausted and the body reveals the true constant. Principle and phenomena are not two, and this is the Buddha of suchness." Yangshan asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "A very fine lantern." Yangshan said: "Is it just this?" The master said: "What is this?" Yangshan said: "A very fine lantern." The master said: "Indeed you do not recognize it." One day the master told the assembly: "So many people only attain the great potential (the old text says "great awareness," now changed to "great potential"; according to the Guang Deng Lu and other records, all say "only attain great potential." But in the chapter on Chan Master Hui of Jiufeng in Fascicle 16 it says "only attain the great substance," and it is not clear which is correct) and do not attain the great function." Yangshan raised these words to the hermit below the mountain and asked: "The master says this; what is the intent?" The hermit said: "Say it again." Yangshan was about to repeat it when the hermit kicked him over. He returned and told the master. The master laughed heartily. The master was sitting in the Dharma hall. The storekeeper struck the wooden fish. The fire-tender threw down his fire scoop, clapped his hands and laughed loudly. The master said: "In the assembly there is also such a person." He called him over and asked: "What is it?" The fire-tender said: "I did not eat congee and my belly is hungry, so I am happy." The master nodded (The Eastern envoy heard and said: "So I know there is no one in Mount Wei's assembly." Wolong said: "So I know there is someone in Mount Wei's assembly."). There was a general call to work to pick tea. The master said to Yangshan: "Picking tea all day, I only hear your voice and do not see your form. Please show your original form." Yangshan shook the tea tree. The master said: "You have only attained its function and not its substance." Yangshan said: "What about the master?" The master was silent for a long while. Yangshan said: "The master has only attained the substance and not the function." The master said: "Twenty blows for you." (Xuanjue said: "Tell me, where is the fault?") The master was in the hall when a monk came out and said: "Please, master, preach the Dharma for the assembly." The master said: "I have done it for you thoroughly." The monk bowed (Later someone told this to Xuefeng. Xuefeng said: "The ancient had such an old woman's heart." Xuansha said: "The Mountain Head monk has overstepped the ancient's affair." Hearing this, Xuefeng asked Xuansha: "Where did this old monk overstep the ancient's affair?" Xuansha said: "Great Mount Wei, with a single question from that monk, was smashed into a hundred pieces." Xuefeng was startled and left it at that.). The master said to Yangshan: "

寂子速道莫入陰界。仰山雲。慧寂信亦不立。師雲。子信了不立不信不立。仰山雲。只是慧寂更信阿誰。師雲。若恁麼即是定性聲聞。仰山雲。慧寂佛亦不見。師問仰山。涅槃經四十卷多少佛說多少魔說。仰山雲。總是魔說。師雲。已後無人奈子何。仰山雲。慧寂即一期之事。行履在什麼處。師雲。只貴子眼正。不說子行履。仰山蹋衣次提起問師雲。正恁麼時和尚作麼生。師雲。正恁麼時我遮裡無作麼生。仰山雲。和尚有身而無用。師良久卻拈起問。汝正恁麼時作麼生。仰山雲。正恁麼時和尚還見伊否。師雲汝有用而無身(此語是二月中問答)師忽問仰山。汝春間有話未圓。今試道看。仰山雲。正恁麼時切忌勃塑。師雲。停囚長智。師一日喚院主。院主來。師雲。我喚院主汝來作什麼。院主無對(曹山代雲。也知和尚不喚某甲)又令侍者喚第一座。第一座來。師雲。我喚第一座汝來作什麼。亦無對(曹山代雲。若令侍者喚恐不來。法眼別雲。適來侍者喚)師問新到僧名什麼。僧雲。名月輪。師作一圓相問。何似遮箇。僧雲。和尚恁麼語話。諸方大有人不肯在。師雲。貧道即恁麼。闍梨作麼生。僧雲。還見月輪麼。師雲。闍梨恁麼道。此間大有人不肯諸方。師問雲巖雲。聞汝久在藥山是否。巖雲是。師雲。藥山大人相如何。雲巖雲。涅槃後有。師雲。涅槃後有如何。雲巖雲。水灑不著。雲巖卻問師。百丈大人相如何。師雲。巍巍堂堂煒煒煌煌。聲前非聲。色後非色。蚊子上鐵牛。無汝下嘴處。師過淨瓶與仰山。仰山擬接。師卻縮手雲。是什麼。仰山雲。和尚還見箇什麼。師雲。若恁麼何用更就吾覓。仰山雲。雖然如此仁義道中與和尚提瓶挈水亦是本分事。師乃過淨瓶與仰山師與仰山行次指柏樹子問雲。前面是什麼。仰山雲。只遮箇柏樹子。師卻指背後田翁雲。遮阿翁向後亦有五百眾。師問仰山。從何處歸。

Huiji, say it quickly; do not enter the realm of the aggregates." Yangshan said: "Huiji does not even establish belief." The master said: "Do you believe and not establish it, or do you not believe and not establish it?" Yangshan said: "Only Huiji; whom else would I believe?" The master said: "If so, you are a fixed-nature sravaka." Yangshan said: "Huiji does not even see a Buddha." The master asked Yangshan: "In the forty fascicles of the Nirvana Sutra, how much was spoken by the Buddha and how much by Mara?" Yangshan said: "All is spoken by Mara." The master said: "After this, no one will be able to handle you." Yangshan said: "Huiji is a matter of one period; where is the conduct?" The master said: "I value only that your eye is correct; I do not speak of your conduct." Yangshan was treading on clothes and held them up, asking the master: "At just this moment what does the master do?" The master said: "At just this moment I have nothing to do here." Yangshan said: "The master has a body but no function." The master was silent for a long time, then picked them up and asked: "What do you do at just this moment?" Yangshan said: "At just this moment does the master see it?" The master said: "You have function but no body." (This exchange took place in the second month.) The master suddenly asked Yangshan: "You had some words unfinished in spring; try saying them now." Yangshan said: "At just this moment beware of abruptness." The master said: "Holding a prisoner increases wisdom." One day the master called the abbot. The abbot came. The master said: "I called the abbot; why did you come?" The abbot had no answer (Caoshan answered in his place: "I also know the master did not call me."). He also had an attendant call the first seat. The first seat came. The master said: "I called the first seat; why did you come?" Again no answer (Caoshan answered in his place: "If you had the attendant call, I am afraid he would not have come." Fayan added: "The attendant called just now."). The master asked a newly arrived monk: "What is your name?" The monk said: "Moon Wheel." The master drew a circle and asked: "How is it like this?" The monk said: "When the master speaks like this, many in other places will not approve." The master said: "This poor monk is like this; what will you do?" The monk said: "Do you still see the moon wheel?" The master said: "When you say this, many here will not approve other places." The master asked Yunyan: "I hear you were long at Yaoshan; is that so?" Yan said: "Yes." The master said: "What was the great person aspect of Yaoshan?" Yunyan said: "After nirvana, it exists." The master said: "What of what exists after nirvana?" Yunyan said: "Water cannot wet it." Yunyan asked in return: "What was the great person aspect of Baizhang?" The master said: "Towering and majestic, glorious and brilliant. Before sound it is not sound, after form it is not form. A mosquito on an iron ox: you have nowhere to put your mouth." The master passed the pure water bottle to Yangshan. Yangshan was about to take it. The master pulled back his hand and said: "What is it?" Yangshan said: "What does the master see?" The master said: "If so, why seek further from me?" Yangshan said: "Even so, within the Way of benevolence and righteousness, carrying the bottle and fetching water for the master is also my proper duty." The master then passed the pure water bottle to Yangshan. The master was walking with Yangshan and pointed at a cypress tree, asking: "What is in front?" Yangshan said: "Just this cypress tree." The master pointed to an old farmer behind them and said: "In the future this old man will also have five hundred disciples." The master asked Yangshan: "Where have you come from?"

仰山雲。田中歸。師雲。禾好刈也未。仰山雲。好刈也。師雲。作青見作黃見作不青不黃見。仰山雲。和尚背後是什麼。師雲。子還見麼。仰山拈起禾穗雲。和尚何曾問遮箇。師雲。此是鵝王擇乳。冬月師問仰山。天寒人寒。仰山雲。大家在遮裡。師雲。何不直說。仰山雲。適來也不曲和尚如何。師雲。直須隨流。有僧來禮拜。師作起勢。僧雲。誰和尚不起。師雲。老僧未曾坐。僧雲。某甲亦未曾禮師雲。何故無禮。僧無對(同安代雲。和尚不怪)石霜會下有二禪客到雲。此間無一人會禪。後普請般柴。仰山見二禪客歇。將一橛柴問雲。還道得麼。俱無語。仰山雲。莫道無人會禪好。歸舉似溈山雲。今日二禪客被慧寂勘破。師雲。什麼處被子勘破。仰山便舉前話。師雲。寂子又被吾勘破(雲居錫雲。什麼處是溈山勘破仰山處)師睡次仰山問訊。師便迴面向壁。仰山雲。和尚何得如此。師起雲。我適來得一夢。汝試為我原看。仰山取一盆水與師洗面。少頃香嚴亦來問訊。師雲。我適來得一夢寂子原了。汝更與我原看。香嚴乃點一椀茶來。師雲。二子見解過於鶖子。僧雲。不作溈山一頂笠。無由得到莫傜村。如何是溈山一頂笠。師即蹋之。師上堂示眾雲。老僧百年後向山下作一頭水牯牛。左脅書五字雲溈山僧某甲。此時喚作溈山僧。又是水牯牛。喚作水牯牛。又云溈山僧。喚作什麼即得(雲居代雲。師無異號。資福代作圓相。托起古人頌雲。不道溈山不道牛。一身兩號實難醻。離卻兩頭應須道。如何道得出常流)師敷揚宗教凡四十餘年。達者不可勝數。入室弟子四十一人。唐大中七年正月九日盥漱敷坐怡然而寂。壽八十三。臘六十四。塔於本山。勅諡大圓禪師。塔曰清淨。

Yangshan said: "From the fields." The master said: "Is the grain ready to be cut?" Yangshan said: "It is ready." The master said: "Do you see it as green, see it as yellow, or see it as neither green nor yellow?" Yangshan said: "What is behind the master?" The master said: "Do you see it?" Yangshan picked up an ear of grain and said: "When did the master ever ask about this?" The master said: "This is the goose king selecting milk." In winter the master asked Yangshan: "Is it the weather that is cold, or the person?" Yangshan said: "Everyone is here." The master said: "Why not say it directly?" Yangshan said: "I was not crooked just now. What about the master?" The master said: "One must go with the flow." A monk came to pay respects. The master made as if to rise. The monk said: "Why does the master not rise?" The master said: "This old monk has never sat." The monk said: "I too have never bowed." The master said: "Why no ritual?" The monk had no answer (Tong'an answered in his place: "The master does not mind."). Two Chan travelers came from Shishuang's assembly and said: "Here no one understands Chan." Later, at a general call to carry firewood, Yangshan saw the two Chan travelers resting, took up a piece of firewood and asked: "Can you say anything?" Both were silent. Yangshan said: "Don't say there is no one who understands Chan." He returned and told Mount Wei: "Today the two Chan travelers were seen through by Huiji." The master said: "Where were they seen through by you?" Yangshan then related the previous matter. The master said: "Huiji has again been seen through by me." (Yunju Xi said: "Where did Mount Wei see through Yangshan?") The master was sleeping and Yangshan came to greet him. The master turned his face to the wall. Yangshan said: "Why does the master do this?" The master rose and said: "I just had a dream; try interpreting it for me." Yangshan fetched a basin of water for the master to wash his face. After a moment Xiangyan also came to greet him. The master said: "I just had a dream, and Huiji has already interpreted it; you try interpreting it for me too." Xiangyan then prepared a bowl of tea. The master said: "The understanding of you two surpasses Sariputra's." A monk said: "Without Mount Wei's single bamboo hat, there is no way to reach Mo Yao village. What is Mount Wei's single bamboo hat?" The master stepped on it. The master addressed the assembly in the hall, saying: "A hundred years from now this old monk will be a water buffalo at the foot of the mountain. On its left flank will be written five characters: 'Mount Wei monk so-and-so.' At that time, if you call it Mount Wei monk, it is a water buffalo; if you call it a water buffalo, it is Mount Wei monk. What should you call it to be right?" (Yunju answered in his place: "The master has no different name." Zifu answered by drawing a circle. Holding up an ancient's verse: "Not saying Mount Wei and not saying ox, one body with two names is truly hard to answer. Apart from the two ends one must speak; how can one speak beyond the ordinary run?") The master taught the school for more than forty years, and those who reached the Way could not be counted. He had forty-one disciples who entered his room. On the ninth day of the first month of the seventh year of Dazhong in the Tang he washed, rinsed, spread his seat and peacefully died. He was eighty-three years old, with sixty-four years as a monk. His stupa was built on his own mountain. By imperial order he received the posthumous title Chan Master Dayuan, and the stupa was named Qingjing (Pure).

洪州黃檗希運禪師閩人也。幼於本州黃檗山出家。額間隆起如肉珠。音辭朗潤志意沖澹。後遊天台逢一僧。與之言笑如舊相識。熟視之目光射人。乃偕行屬㵎水暴漲。乃捐笠植杖而止。其僧率師同渡。師曰。兄要渡自渡。彼即褰衣躡波若履平地。迴顧雲。渡來渡來。師曰。咄遮自了漢。吾早知當斫汝脛。其僧歎曰。真大乘法器我所不及。言訖不見。師後遊京師。因人啟發乃往參百丈。問曰。從上宗承如何指示。百丈良久。師雲。不可教後人斷絕去也。百丈雲。將謂汝是箇人。乃起入方丈。師隨後入雲。某甲特來。百丈雲若爾則他後不得孤負吾。百丈一日問師。什麼處去來。曰大雄山下采菌子來。百丈曰。還見大蟲麼。師便作虎聲百丈拈斧作斫勢。師即打百丈一摑。百丈吟吟大笑便歸。上堂謂眾曰。大雄山下有一大蟲汝等諸人也須好看。百丈老漢今日親遭一口。師在南泉時普請擇菜。南泉問什麼處去。曰擇菜去。南泉曰。將什麼擇。師舉起刀子。南泉曰。大家擇菜去。一日南泉謂師曰。老僧偶述牧牛歌。請長老和。師雲。某甲自有師在。師辭南泉。門送提起師笠子云。長老身材勿量大。笠子太小生。師雲。雖然如此大千世界總在裡許。南泉雲。王老師聻。師便戴笠子而去。後居洪州大安寺海眾奔湊。裴相國休鎮宛陵。建大禪苑請師說法。以師酷愛舊山。還以黃檗名之。又請師至郡以所解一編示師。師接置於坐略不拔閱。良久雲。會麼。公雲。未測。師雲。若便恁麼會得猶較些子。若也形於紙墨何有吾宗。裴乃贈詩一章曰。

Chan Master Xiyun of Mount Huangbo in Hongzhou was a native of Fujian. As a child he left home at Mount Huangbo in his home prefecture. His forehead rose like a fleshy pearl, his voice and speech were clear and mellow, and his aspirations were calm. Later he traveled to Tiantai and met a monk; they talked and laughed as if old acquaintances. Looking at him carefully, his eyes shot light at people. So they traveled together. When the mountain stream suddenly flooded, the master set aside his hat and planted his staff and stopped. The other monk led the master to cross together. The master said: "If you want to cross, cross yourself." The monk hitched up his robe and trod on the waves as if walking on level ground, and looked back and said: "Cross over, cross over." The master said: "Hmph, you self-liberated fellow. If I had known earlier, I would have chopped off your shins." The monk sighed: "A true vessel of the Great Vehicle, which I cannot match." When he finished speaking he vanished. Later the master traveled to the capital and, awakened by someone, went to study with Baizhang. He asked: "How is the school's succession from above pointed out?" Baizhang was silent for a long time. The master said: "It must not be allowed to be cut off for later people." Baizhang said: "I took you to be a real person." and got up and went into the abbot's room. The master followed after and said: "I have come especially for this." Baizhang said: "If so, then in the future you must not fail me." One day Baizhang asked the master: "Where have you been?" He said: "Picking mushrooms at the foot of Daxiong Mountain." Baizhang said: "Did you see a tiger?" The master roared like a tiger. Baizhang took an axe and made a chopping motion. The master slapped Baizhang. Baizhang laughed heartily and went back. He addressed the assembly in the hall, saying: "At the foot of Daxiong Mountain there is a tiger; you all must watch carefully. Old Baizhang personally got a bite today." When the master was at Nanquan, there was a general call to select vegetables. Nanquan asked: "Where are you going?" He said: "To select vegetables." Nanquan said: "With what do you select?" The master held up a knife. Nanquan said: "Everyone, go select vegetables." One day Nanquan said to the master: "This old monk happened to compose a song of herding the ox; please, elder, harmonize." The master said: "I have my own teacher." The master took leave of Nanquan. Nanquan saw him off at the gate, lifted the master's bamboo hat and said: "Elder, your stature is immeasurably large, but the hat is too small." The master said: "Even so, the whole great chiliocosm is in it." Nanquan said: "And Teacher Wang?" The master put on his hat and left. Later he lived at Da'an Monastery in Hongzhou, and the ocean assembly gathered. Prime Minister Pei Xiu was governing Wanling and built a great Chan monastery and invited the master to preach. Because the master dearly loved his old mountain, it was named Huangbo. He also invited the master to the prefecture and showed him a volume of his own understanding. The master took it and set it on his seat without opening it at all. After a long time he said: "Do you understand?" Pei said: "I cannot fathom it." The master said: "If you understand it just like this, you are still somewhat close. If it takes form in paper and ink, what would remain of my school?" Pei then presented a poem:

自從大士傳心印額有圓珠七尺身

Since the Great Being transmitted the mind-seal, with a round pearl on his forehead and a seven-foot body,

掛錫十年棲蜀水浮盃今日渡章濱

for ten years his staff hung and he dwelt by the waters of Shu; today, floating his cup, he crosses the Zhang shore.

一千龍象隨高步萬裡香華結勝因

A thousand dragon-elephants follow his lofty steps, and ten thousand li of fragrant flowers form excellent causes.

擬欲事師為弟子不知將法付何人

I wish to serve the master as his disciple, but do not know to whom he will entrust the Dharma.

(觀前所敘。則運禪師居洪州大安寺。後裴公在宣州剏寺請師居之。號曰黃蘗。而贈以詩也。然所敘之事與詩意全不相合。今詳此詩。乃裴公在洪州時作也。言掛錫十年棲蜀水者。謂師先住高安之黃蘗已十年也。按前漢地理志。豫章郡建成縣有蜀水。建成者即唐之高安縣也。浮盃今日渡章濱者。謂自黃蘗請師來至洪城也。按前漢地理誌。豫章水出贛縣西南北入大江。洪州城在章水之濱。而郡名豫章也。又裴公作傳心法要序雲。有大禪師號希運。住洪州高安縣黃蘗山鷲峰下。海眾常千餘人。予會昌二年廉於鍾陵。自山迎至州憩龍興寺。旦夕問道。大中二年廉於宛陵。復禮迎至所部。寓開元寺云云。鍾陵洪州也。宛陵宣州也。觀此序所述。亦謂師先住高安黃蘗。而裴公請至洪州。與前詩正合。逮其廉於宣州。雖復迎請師。但寓開元寺而已。初無建寺之說。不知本章何以差誤若此。蓋當以裴公法要序與詩為正。且會昌三年武宗廢教其二年。言師居黃蘗已十載。此必然之理也。裴公在宣州請師。乃大中重興之後。而師再聚徒於黃蘗之時也。故千頃南公章中雲。大中初裴公出撫宛陵。請黃蘗和尚出山。而南公隨之也。其餘在裴公章中辨之矣)。

(Judging from the account above, Chan Master Yun lived at Da'an Monastery in Hongzhou, and later Lord Pei founded a monastery in Xuanzhou and invited the master to live there, calling it Huangbo, and presented him with a poem. But the events narrated do not fit the sense of the poem at all. Examining this poem now, it was written when Lord Pei was in Hongzhou. The line 'Hanging my staff for ten years, I dwelt by the Shu River' means the master had already lived ten years at Huangbo in Gao'an. According to the Geography Treatise of the Former Han, Jiancheng county in Yuzhang commandery has the Shu River. Jiancheng is the Gao'an county of the Tang. The line 'Floating the cup today, I cross the Zhang shore' means that he was invited from Huangbo to Hongcheng. According to the Geography Treatise of the Former Han, the Yuzhang River rises west of Gan county and flows north into the Great River. The city of Hongzhou stands on the bank of the Zhang River, and the commandery is named Yuzhang. Also, Lord Pei wrote in his Preface to the Essentials of Mind Transmission: There was a great Chan master named Xiyun, who lived at the foot of Jiufeng Peak on Mount Huangbo in Gao'an county, Hongzhou, with a congregation of often more than a thousand. In the second year of Huichang, when I was an inspector at Zhongling, I welcomed him from the mountain to the prefecture, where he rested at Longxing Temple, and I asked about the Way morning and evening. In the second year of Dazhong, when I was an inspector at Wanling, I again welcomed him with ceremony to my jurisdiction, where he lodged at Kaiyuan Temple, and so on. Zhongling is Hongzhou. Wanling is Xuanzhou. Judging by what this preface says, it too says that the master first lived at Huangbo in Gao'an and that Lord Pei invited him to Hongzhou, which agrees exactly with the poem above. When he was inspector at Xuanzhou, he again invited the master, but only to lodge at Kaiyuan Temple, and there is no mention at all of founding a temple. It is not known why this chapter errs so. The Preface to the Essentials and the poem should be taken as correct. Moreover, in the third year of Huichang, Emperor Wuzong suppressed Buddhism; that in its second year the master is said to have lived at Huangbo for ten years is the natural reasoning. Lord Pei's invitation of the master at Xuanzhou was after the revival in the Dazhong era, when the master again gathered followers at Huangbo. So in the chapter of Nan of Qianqing it is said: In the early Dazhong era, Lord Pei came out to govern Wanling and invited the Reverend Huangbo to leave the mountain, and Nan followed him. The rest is discussed in Lord Pei's chapter.)

師亦無喜色。自爾黃蘗門風盛於江表矣。一日上堂大眾雲集。乃曰。汝等諸人慾何所求。因以棒趁散雲。盡是吃酒糟漢恁麼行腳取笑於人。但見八百一千人處便去。不可只圖熱鬧也。老漢行腳時或遇草根下有一箇漢。便從頂上一錐看他。若知痛癢可以布。袋盛米供養。可中總似汝如此容易。何處更有今日事也。汝等既稱行腳。亦須著些精神好還知道。大唐國內無禪師麼。時有一僧出問雲諸方尊宿盡聚眾開化。為什麼道無禪師。師雲不道無禪只道無師。闍梨不見。馬大師下有八十八人坐道場。得馬師正眼者。止三兩人。廬山和尚是其一人。夫出家人須知有從上來事分。且如四祖下牛頭融大師橫說堅說。猶未知向上關棙子。有此眼腦方辨得邪正宗黨。且當人事宜不能體會得。但知學言語。念向皮袋裡安著到處稱我會禪。還替得汝生死麼輕忽老宿入地獄如箭。我才見入門來。便識得汝了也。還知麼。急須努力莫容易事。持片衣口食空過一生。明眼人笑。汝久後總被俗漢算將去在。宜自看遠近。是阿誰面上事若會即便會。若不會即散去。問如何是西來意。師便打。自餘施設皆被上機。中下之流莫窺涯涘。唐大中年終於本山。勅諡斷際禪師。塔曰廣業。

The master showed no joy either. From then on, the school of Huangbo flourished throughout Jiangbiao. One day in the hall, when the assembly had gathered, he said: "What are you all seeking?" And he drove them away with his staff, saying: "All of you are dregs-eating fellows, wandering about like this and making a laughingstock of people. You only go where there are eight hundred or a thousand people, but you must not only seek bustle. When this old man was wandering, if I came upon a fellow beneath a grass root, I would stab him with an awl from the top of his head to see him. If he knew pain and itching, I could fill a cloth bag with rice and make offerings to him. If you were all as easy as this, where else would there be today's matter? Since you call yourselves wanderers, you should also put some spirit into it. Do you know there are no Chan masters in the Great Tang?" At that time a monk came forward and asked: "The venerable ones of every quarter all gather crowds and open teaching; why do you say there are no Chan masters?" The master said: "I do not say there is no Chan; I only say there are no teachers. Have you not seen that under the Great Master Ma there were eighty-eight who sat in the Way-places, and only two or three obtained the true eye of Master Ma. The Reverend of Mount Lu is one of them. One who has left home must know that there is a share in matters from above. Take Great Master Rong of Niutou under the Fourth Patriarch, who spoke horizontally and vertically, and still did not know the key point of the higher matter. Only with this eye and brain can you discern the lineages of the wrong and the right. If you cannot grasp even the matter right before you, but only know how to study words, stuff them in your leather bag, and go about everywhere calling yourselves understanders of Chan, can it stand in for your birth and death? Slighting the old masters, you enter hell like an arrow. The moment I see you come in the gate, I already recognize you. Do you know that? Make haste to exert yourselves; do not be casual. Relying on a piece of robe and a mouthful of food, passing a life in vain, men of clear eye will laugh at you. In time you will all be reckoned up by worldly fellows. You should look near and far yourselves; whose face is this matter about? If you understand, then understand; if you do not understand, then disperse." Someone asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master struck him. All his other measures were taken up by those of superior capacity, and the middling and lesser could not see their shore. In the Dazhong era of the Tang he died on his home mountain. By imperial decree he was given the posthumous title Chan Master Duanji, and his stupa was called Guangye.

杭州大慈山寰中禪師蒲坂人也。姓盧氏。頂骨圓聳其聲如鍾。少丁母憂廬於墓所。服闋思報罔極。於幷州童子寺出家。嵩嶽登戒習諸律學。後參百丈受心印。辭往南嶽常樂寺結茅于山頂。一日南泉至問。如何是庵中主。師雲蒼天蒼天。南泉雲。蒼天且置。如何是庵中主。師雲。會即便會莫忉忉南泉拂袖而出。後住浙江北大慈山。上堂雲。山僧不解答話。只能識病。時有一僧出師前立。師便下座歸方丈(法眼雲。眾中喚作病在目前不識。玄覺雲。且道大慈識病不識病。此僧出來是病不是病。若言是病。每日行住不可總是病。若言不是病出來。又作麼生)趙州問。般若以何為體。師雲。般若以何為體趙州大笑而出。師明日見趙州掃地。問般若以何為體。趙州置箒拊掌大笑。師便歸方丈。有僧辨。師雲。去什麼處。僧雲。暫去江西。師雲。我勞汝一段事得否。僧雲。和尚有什麼事。師雲。將取老僧去。僧雲。更有過於和尚者。亦不能將得去。師便休。其僧後舉似洞山。洞山雲。闍梨爭合恁麼道。僧雲。和尚作麼生。洞山雲得(法眼別雲。和尚若去某甲提笠子)洞山又問其僧。大慈別有什麼言句。僧雲。有時示眾雲。說得一丈不如行取一尺。說得一尺不如行取一寸。洞山雲。我不恁麼道。僧雲。作麼生。洞山雲。說取行不得底。行取說不得底(雲居雲。行時無說路。說時無行路。不說不行時合行什麼路。樂普雲。行說俱到即本事無。行說俱不到即本事在)後屬唐武宗廢教。師短褐隱居。大中壬申歲重剃染大揚宗旨。咸通三年二月十五日不疾而逝。壽八十三。臘五十四。僖宗諡性空大師定慧之塔。

Chan Master Huanzhong of Mount Daci in Hangzhou was a man of Puban, surnamed Lu. His skull was round and prominent, and his voice was like a bell. In youth he mourned his mother and lived in a hut at her grave. When the mourning period ended, he thought of repaying her immeasurable kindness and left home at Tongzi Temple in Bingzhou. He received the precepts on Mount Song and studied the vinaya. Later he visited Baizhang and received the mind seal. He took leave and went to Changle Temple on Mount Nan, and built a thatched hut on the summit. One day Nanquan came and asked: "Who is the master of this hermitage?" The master said: "Blue sky, blue sky." Nanquan said: "Leave the blue sky aside; who is the master of this hermitage?" The master said: "If you understand, then understand; do not chatter." Nanquan flicked his sleeves and went out. Later he lived on Mount Daci north of the Zhe River. In the hall he said: "This mountain monk does not know how to answer questions; I can only recognize illness." At that time a monk came forward and stood before the master. The master got down from the seat and returned to the abbot's room (Fayan said: "Among the assembly it is called illness that is before the eyes and not recognized." Xuanjue said: "Tell me, does Daci recognize illness or not? Is this monk's coming forward illness or not? If it is said to be illness, then one's daily walking and staying cannot all be illness. If it is said not to be illness, what then of his coming forward?"). Zhaozhou asked: "What is the substance of prajna?" The master said: "What is the substance of prajna?" Zhaozhou laughed loudly and went out. The next day the master saw Zhaozhou sweeping the ground and asked: "What is the substance of prajna?" Zhaozhou put down the broom, clapped his hands, and laughed loudly. The master returned to the abbot's room. A monk took leave. The master said: "Where are you going?" The monk said: "For the time being, to Jiangxi." The master said: "May I trouble you with a matter?" The monk said: "What matter does the Reverend have?" The master said: "Take this old monk along." The monk said: "Even someone greater than the Reverend could not take you along." The master stopped. The monk later brought it up to Dongshan. Dongshan said: "How could you answer like that, Ajari?" The monk said: "What would the Reverend say?" Dongshan said: "That's right." (Fayan said separately: "If the Reverend were to go, I would carry his bamboo hat.") Dongshan further asked the monk: "Did Daci have any other sayings?" The monk said: "Sometimes he instructed the assembly: To speak a foot is not as good as to practice an inch; to speak an inch is not as good as to practice a tenth of an inch." Dongshan said: "I do not say it that way." The monk said: "How do you say it?" Dongshan said: "Speak what cannot be practiced; practice what cannot be spoken." (Yunju said: "When practicing there is no road of speech; when speaking there is no road of practice. When neither speaking nor practicing, what road should one walk?" Lepu said: "If speaking and practicing both arrive, then the original matter is absent; if speaking and practicing both do not arrive, then the original matter is present.") Later, when Emperor Wuzong of the Tang suppressed Buddhism, the master lived in hiding in short coarse clothes. In the renshen year of the Dazhong era, he was again tonsured and robed, and greatly propagated the teaching. On the fifteenth day of the second month of the third year of Xiantong, he passed away without illness. He lived eighty-three years, with fifty-four years as a monk. Emperor Xizong conferred the title Great Master Xingkong, and his stupa was called Dinghui.