Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 3

天台平田普岸禪師洪州人也。於百丈門下得旨。後聞天台勝概聖賢間出。思欲高蹈方外遠追遐躅。乃結茅薙草宴寂林下。日居月諸為四眾所知。創建精藍號平田禪院焉。有時謂眾曰。神光不昧萬古徽猷。入此門來莫存知解。有僧到參。師打一拄杖。其僧近前把住拄杖。師曰。老僧適來造次。僧卻打師一拄杖。師曰。作家作家。僧禮拜。師把住曰。是闍梨造次。僧大笑。師曰。遮箇師僧今日大敗也。有偈示眾曰。

Chan Master Puan of Pingtian in Tiantai was a man of Hongzhou. He gained the essential teaching under Baizhang. Later he heard of the scenic splendors of Tiantai, where sages and worthies appeared from time to time, and thinking to soar beyond the world and follow distant traces, he built a thatched hut, cleared grass, and sat in stillness beneath the trees. As days and months passed, he became known to the fourfold assembly. He founded a great monastery named Pingtian Chan Monastery. At times he told the assembly: "The divine light is not dark, a model for ten thousand ages. Once you enter this gate, do not retain knowledge and understanding." A monk came to visit. The master struck him with his staff. The monk came forward and seized the staff. The master said: "This old monk was hasty just now." The monk then struck the master with a staff. The master said: "A master hand, a master hand." The monk bowed. The master seized him and said: "It is you, Ajari, who is hasty." The monk laughed loudly. The master said: "This monk has suffered a great defeat today." He showed the assembly a verse saying:

大道虛曠常一真心善惡勿思

The great Way is vast and open, constantly the one true mind. Do not think of good and evil,

神清物表隨緣飲啄更復何為

the spirit is clear beyond things. Drinking and pecking as conditions allow, what more is there to do?

終於本院。今山門有遺塔存焉宋朝重加修飾。賜額曰壽昌。岸禪師即壽昌開山和尚也。

He died at the monastery. Today at the mountain gate the remaining stupa stands. In the Song dynasty it was renovated again, and the imperial plaque was bestowed reading Shouchang. Chan Master Puan was the founding abbot of Shouchang.

筠州五峰常觀禪師有僧問。如何是五峰境。師雲險。僧雲。如何是境中人。師雲塞。有僧辭師雲。闍梨向什麼處去。僧雲。臺山去。師竪起一指雲。若見文殊了。卻來遮裡與汝相見。僧無對。師問一僧。汝還見牛麼。僧雲見。師雲。見左角。見右角。僧無對。師自代雲。見無左右(仰山別雲。還辨左右麼。)又有僧辭師雲。汝去諸方去莫謗老僧在遮裡。僧雲。某甲不道和尚在遮裡。師雲。汝道老僧在什麼處僧竪起一指。師雲。早是謗老僧也。

Chan Master Changguan of Wufeng in Yunzhou. A monk asked: "What is the realm of Wufeng?" The master said: "Steep." The monk said: "What is the person in the realm?" The master said: "Blocked." A monk took leave. The master said: "Where is the Ajari going?" The monk said: "To Mount Tai." The master raised one finger and said: "If you see Manjushri, come back and meet me here." The monk had no reply. The master asked a monk: "Have you seen the ox?" The monk said: "I have." The master said: "Did you see the left horn or the right horn?" The monk had no reply. The master answered for him: "Seeing has no left or right." (Yangshan said separately: "Does he still discriminate left and right?") Another monk took leave. The master said: "When you go among the various quarters, do not slander this old monk as being here." The monk said: "I do not say the Reverend is here." The master said: "Where do you say this old monk is?" The monk raised one finger. The master said: "That is already slandering this old monk."

潭州石霜山性空禪師僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。若人在千尺井中。不假寸繩出得此人。即答汝西來意。僧曰。近日湖南暢和尚出世。亦為人東語西話。師喚沙彌。拽出死屍著(沙彌即仰山也)沙彌後舉問耽源。如何出得井中人。耽源曰。咄痴漢誰在井中。後問溈山。如何出得井中人。溈山乃呼慧寂。寂應諾。溈山曰。出也及住仰山嘗舉前語謂眾曰。我耽源處得名。溈山處得地。

Chan Master Xingkong of Mount Shishuang in Tanzhou. A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "If a person is in a well a thousand feet deep, and I can get that person out without borrowing an inch of rope, I will answer you the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." The monk said: "Recently Reverend Chang of Hunan has appeared in the world, and also speaks east and west for people." The master called to a novice: "Drag out this corpse." (The novice was Yangshan.) The novice later brought it up to Dan Yuan: "How does one get the person out of the well?" Dan Yuan said: "Hey, you fool, who is in the well?" Later he asked Weishan: "How does one get the person out of the well?" Weishan called out "Huiji." Huiji answered "Yes." Weishan said: "He is out." When he later lived on Mount Yang, he often cited these words to the assembly, saying: "I got my name at Dan Yuan's and my ground at Weishan's."

福州大安禪師者本州人也。姓陳氏。幼於黃檗山受業聽習律乘。嘗自念言。我雖勤苦而未聞玄極之理。乃孤錫遊方將往洪州路出上元逢一老父。謂師曰。師往南昌當有所得。師即造於百丈。禮而問曰。學人慾求識佛。何者即是。百丈曰。大似騎牛覓牛。師曰。識後如何。百丈曰。如人騎牛至家。師曰。未審始終如何保任。百丈曰。如牧牛人執杖視之不令犯人苗稼。師自茲領旨更不馳求。同參祐禪師創居溈山也。師躬耕助道。及祐禪師歸寂。眾請接踵住持。師上堂雲。汝諸人總來就安求覓什麼。若欲作佛汝自是佛而卻傍家走。怱怱如渴鹿趁陽焰。何時得相應去。阿爾欲作佛。但無如許多顛倒攀緣妄想惡覺垢欲不淨眾生之心。則汝便是初心正覺佛。更向何處別討所以。安在溈山三十來年。吃溈山飯屙溈山屎。不學溈山禪。只看一頭水牯牛。若落路入草便牽出。若犯人苗稼即鞭撻調伏。既久可憐生受人言語。如今變作箇露地白牛常在面前。終日露逈逈地。趁亦不去也。汝諸人各自有無價大寶。從眼門放光照山河大地。耳門放光領釆一切善惡音響。六門晝夜常放光明。亦名放光三昧。汝自不識取影在四大身中。內外扶持不教傾側。如人負重擔從獨木橋上過。亦不教失腳。且是什麼物任持便得。如是汝若覓豪髮即不見。故誌公和尚雲。內外追尋覓總無。境上施為渾大有。問一切施為是法身用如何是法身。師雲。一切施為是法身用。僧雲。離卻五蘊如何是本來身。師雲地水火風受想行識僧雲。遮箇是五蘊。師雲。遮箇異五蘊。問此陰已謝彼陰未生時如何。師雲。此陰未謝那箇是大德。僧雲。不會。師雲。若會此陰便明彼陰。問大用現前不存軌則時如何。師雲。汝用得但用。僧乃脫膊遶師三匝。師雲。向上事何不道取。僧擬開口。師便打雲。遮野狐精出去。有僧上法。堂顧視東西不見師。乃雲。好箇法堂只是無人。

Chan Master Da'an of Fuzhou was a native of that prefecture, surnamed Chen. In youth he was ordained on Mount Huangbo and studied the vinaya vehicle. He once thought to himself: "Although I am diligent and suffer hardship, I have not heard the principle of the profound ultimate." So he set out alone with his staff, intending to go to Hongzhou. On the road he passed through Shangyuan and met an old man, who said to the master: "If you go to Nanchang, you will gain something." The master then went to Baizhang, bowed, and asked: "This student wishes to know the Buddha; what is it?" Baizhang said: "Very much like riding an ox looking for the ox." The master said: "What after knowing?" Baizhang said: "Like a person riding an ox home." The master said: "I wonder how one maintains it from beginning to end?" Baizhang said: "Like a herdsman holding a staff and watching it, not letting it trespass on people's crops." From then on the master grasped the essential point and no longer sought outward. His fellow student Chan Master You founded his residence on Mount Wei, and the master worked the fields to support the Way. When Chan Master You passed into stillness, the assembly asked him to take over. In the hall the master said: "What are you all coming to An to seek? If you want to become a Buddha, you are yourselves Buddha, yet you run about elsewhere, hurrying like a thirsty deer chasing a mirage; when will you ever be in accord? If you want to become a Buddha, just do not have the mind of inverted clinging, deluded thoughts, evil perceptions, and defiled desires of impure sentient beings, and then you are the Buddha of first-mind right awakening; where else could you go to seek? So I, An, have lived on Mount Wei for some thirty years, eating Weishan's rice and defecating Weishan's excrement, not studying Weishan's Chan, but only watching one water buffalo. If it strays off the road into the grass I pull it out; if it trespasses on people's crops I whip it into submission. Having been at it a long time, it has become pitiable and listens to people's words. Now it has turned into a white ox on open ground, always before my face, exposed and distinct all day; even if driven away it will not go. Each of you has a priceless great treasure, which sends out light from the gate of the eyes, illuminating mountains, rivers, and the great earth; from the gate of the ears it sends out light, gathering all sounds of good and evil. The six gates send out light constantly day and night, and this is also called the samadhi of emitting light. You do not recognize it yourselves; its shadow is within the body of the four elements, supporting inside and out, not letting it tilt over. Like a person carrying a heavy load across a single-log bridge, who also does not let his foot slip. What thing sustains it so that it is like this? If you look for it in a hair's breadth, you do not see it. So Reverend Zhigong said: Searching inside and outside, there is nothing at all; in the realm of action, there is everything." Someone asked: "All activity is the function of the Dharma body; what is the Dharma body?" The master said: "All activity is the function of the Dharma body." The monk said: "Apart from the five aggregates, what is the original body?" The master said: "Earth, water, fire, wind; feeling, perception, volition, consciousness." The monk said: "These are the five aggregates." The master said: "This is different from the five aggregates." Someone asked: "When this aggregate has ended and that aggregate has not yet arisen, what then?" The master said: "When this aggregate has not ended, which one is the Great Virtue?" The monk said: "I do not understand." The master said: "If you understand this aggregate, you will understand that aggregate." Someone asked: "When the great function appears and no rules remain, what then?" The master said: "If you can use it, just use it." The monk bared his shoulder and circled the master three times. The master said: "Why not say the matter above?" The monk was about to open his mouth. The master struck him and said: "You wild fox spirit, get out." A monk went up into the Dharma hall and looked east and west without seeing the master, and said: "A fine Dharma hall, but no one in it."

師從門裡出雲。作麼。無對雪峰和尚因入山採得一枝木。其形似蛇。於背上題雲。本自天然不假雕琢寄來與師。師雲。本色住山人且無刀斧痕。人問師。佛在何處。師雲。不離心。又云。雙峰上人有何所得。師雲。法無所得。設有所得得本無得。有僧問雲。黃巢軍來和尚向什麼處迴避。師雲。五蘊山中。僧雲。忽被他捉著時如何。師雲。惱亂將軍。師大化閩城二十餘載。唐中和三年十月二十二日歸黃檗寺示疾而終。塔於楞伽山。勅諡圓智禪師證真之塔。

The master came out from the door and said: "What?" There was no reply. Reverend Xuefeng, having entered the mountains and found a branch of wood shaped like a snake, wrote on its back: "Originally natural, needing no carving." and sent it to the master. The master said: "A mountain dweller of true color has no knife or axe marks." Someone asked the master: "Where is the Buddha?" The master said: "Not apart from the mind." Again he asked: "What did Elder Shuangfeng attain?" The master said: "The Dharma has nothing to be attained. If there is something attained, what is attained is originally non-attainment." A monk asked: "When the army of Huang Chao comes, where will the Reverend go to take shelter?" The master said: "In the mountain of the five aggregates." The monk said: "What if he is suddenly caught by them?" The master said: "It will vex the general." The master greatly taught in Min city for more than twenty years. On the twenty-second day of the tenth month of the third year of Zhonghe of the Tang, he returned to Huangbo Temple, showed illness, and died. His stupa is at Mount Lengqie. By imperial decree he was given the posthumous title Chan Master Yuanzhi, and the stupa was called Zhengzhen.

福州古靈神贊禪師。本州大中寺受業後。行腳遇百丈開悟。卻迴本寺。受業師問曰。汝離吾在外得何事業。曰並無事業。遂遣執役。一日因澡身。命師去垢。師乃拊背曰。好所佛殿而佛不聖。其師。迴首視之師曰。佛雖不聖且能放光。其師又一日在窓下看經。蜂子投窓紙求出。師覩之曰。世界如許廣闊不肯出。鑽他故紙驢年去得。其師置經問曰。汝行腳遇何人。吾前後見汝發言異常。師曰。某甲蒙百丈和尚指箇歇處。今欲報慈德耳。其師於是告眾致齋。請師說法。師登座舉唱百丈門風。乃曰。靈光獨耀逈脫根塵。體露真常不拘文字。心性無染本自圓成。但離妄緣即如如佛。其師於言下感悟曰。何期垂老得聞極則事。師後住古靈聚徒數載。臨遷化剃沐聲鍾。告眾曰。汝等諸人還識無聲三昧否。眾曰。不識。師曰。汝等靜聽莫別思惟眾皆側聆。師儼然順寂。塔存本山焉。

Chan Master Shenzan of Guling in Fuzhou. After being ordained at Dazhong Temple in his prefecture, he wandered, met Baizhang and awakened, and returned to his home temple. His preceptor asked: "You left me to be outside; what work have you accomplished?" He said: "None at all." He was then set to do chores. One day while bathing, his preceptor asked the master to scrub his back. The master patted his back and said: "A fine Buddha hall, but the Buddha is not sacred." His preceptor turned and looked at him. The master said: "Though the Buddha is not sacred, he can emit light." Another day his preceptor was reading a sutra at the window, and a bee kept throwing itself at the window paper trying to get out. The master saw it and said: "The world is so vast and it refuses to leave; boring into old paper, it will not get out in a donkey year." His preceptor put down the sutra and asked: "Whom did you meet in your travels? I have seen your words be extraordinary all along." The master said: "I received from Reverend Baizhang a place to rest, and now I wish to repay his kindness." His preceptor then told the assembly to hold a feast and asked the master to speak the Dharma. The master ascended the seat and set forth the school of Baizhang, saying: "The spiritual light shines alone, far beyond the sense organs and their dust. The substance reveals the true and constant, not bound by writing. Mind-nature is without defilement and is originally complete. Just leave deluded conditions, and it is suchness, the Buddha." His preceptor was awakened on hearing it and said: "I never expected in my old age to hear of the supreme principle." The master later lived at Guling and gathered followers for several years. Before his passing he had his head shaved and bathed and sounded the bell, and told the assembly: "Do you all know the soundless samadhi?" The assembly said: "We do not." The master said: "Listen quietly, and think of nothing else." The assembly all listened closely. The master solemnly passed into stillness. His stupa remains on that mountain.

廣州和安寺通禪師者。婺州雙林寺受業。自幼寡言。時人謂之不語通也。因禮佛有禪者問雲。座主禮底是什麼。師雲。是佛。禪者乃指像雲。這箇是何物。師無對。至夜具威儀禮問禪者雲。今日所問某甲未知意旨如何。禪者雲。座主幾夏邪師雲。十夏。禪者雲。還曾出家也未。師轉茫然。禪者雲。若也不會百夏奚為。禪者乃命師同參馬祖。行至江西馬祖已圓寂。乃謁百丈頓釋疑情。有人問。師是禪師否。師雲。貧道不曾學禪。師良久卻召其人。其人應諾。師指椶櫚樹子(其人無對)。

Chan Master Tong of Hean Temple in Guangzhou was ordained at Shuanglin Temple in Wuzhou. From childhood he spoke little, and people of the time called him Tong the Mute. When he was bowing to the Buddha, a Chan practitioner asked: "What does the lecturer bow to?" The master said: "The Buddha." The Chan practitioner pointed to the image and said: "What is this thing?" The master had no reply. At night he put on his ceremonial dress, bowed, and asked the Chan practitioner: "What you asked today, I do not know what it means." The Chan practitioner said: "How many summers does the lecturer have?" The master said: "Ten summers." The Chan practitioner said: "Have you left home yet?" The master became more bewildered. The Chan practitioner said: "If you do not understand, what use are a hundred summers?" The Chan practitioner then told the master to go together to Mazu. They went to Jiangxi, but Mazu had already passed into perfect stillness, so he visited Baizhang and at once resolved his doubts. Someone asked: "Are you a Chan master?" The master said: "This poor monk has never studied Chan." After a long while the master called to that person. The person answered "Yes." The master pointed to a palm tree (the person had no reply).

師一日令仰山將床子來。仰山將到。師雲。卻送本處。仰山從之。師雲。床子那邊是什麼物。仰山雲。無物。師雲遮邊是什麼物。仰山雲。無物。師召雲慧寂。仰山雲諾。師雲去。

One day the master had Yangshan bring a bed. Yangshan brought it. The master said: "Take it back to where it was." Yangshan did so. The master said: "What is on the other side of the bed?" Yangshan said: "Nothing." The master said: "What is on this side?" Yangshan said: "Nothing." The master called: "Huiji." Yangshan said: "Yes." The master said: "Go."

江州龍雲臺禪師有僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師雲。老僧昨夜欄裡失卻牛。

Chan Master Tai of Longyun in Jiangzhou. A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "Last night this old monk lost his ox in the pen."

京兆(目錄及正宗記皆言洛京)衛國院道禪師僧到參。師問。何方來。僧雲。湘南來。師雲。黃河清未。僧無對(溈山代雲。小小狐兒要過但知過用疑作什麼)師因疾。有人來問疾。師不出。其人云。久聆和尚道德。忽承法體遺和。請和尚相見。師將缽鐼盛缽榰。令侍者擎出呈之。其人無對。

Chan Master Dao of Weiguo Monastery in Jingzhao (both the catalog and the Zhengzong Ji say Luojing). A monk came to visit. The master asked: "Where do you come from?" The monk said: "From south of the Xiang." The master said: "Has the Yellow River turned clear yet?" The monk had no reply (Weishan replied for him: "A small fox that wants to cross simply crosses; what is the use of doubting?"). The master was ill, and someone came to ask after his illness. The master did not come out. The person said: "I have long heard of the Reverend's virtue and Way. Now I hear that the Reverend's health is out of sorts; please let me see you." The master put his bowl and bowl-stand in a basin and had an attendant carry them out and present them. The person had no reply.

鎮州萬歲和尚僧問。大眾雲集合譚何事。師雲。序品第一(歸宗柔別雲。禮拜了去)。

Reverend Wansui of Zhenzhou. A monk asked: "The great assembly has gathered; what should be discussed?" The master said: "The first chapter, the Introduction." (Guizong Rou said separately: "Bow and leave.")

洪州百丈山惟政禪師(此傳。舊在第六卷馬祖法嗣中大珠和尚之次。今以機緣推之。即移入此卷百丈海禪師法嗣中。作百丈涅槃和尚機緣也。按唐柳公權書。武翊黃所撰涅槃和尚碑雲。師諱法正。以其善講涅槃經。故以涅槃為稱。今師本章中有云。汝與我開田。吾為汝說大義。則知其為涅槃和尚明矣。又稱南泉為師伯。則知其嗣百丈海公亦明矣。雖然惟政法正二名不同。蓋傳寫之訛耳。又覺範林間錄亦謂舊本之誤。及觀正宗記則有惟政法正之名。然百丈第代可數。明教但見其名不同。不能辨而俱存之。今當以碑為正也。而又卿公事苑乃雲。百丈涅槃和尚是溈山嗣子而海公之孫。此尤大謬也。不足取矣)一日謂僧曰。汝與我開田了。我為汝說大義。僧開田了。歸請師說大義。師乃展開兩手。有老宿見日影透窓。問師曰。為復窓就日日就窓。師曰。長老房內有客歸去好。師問南泉曰。諸方善。知識還有不說似。人底法也無。南泉曰。有師曰作麼生。曰不是心不是佛。師曰恁麼即說。似人了也曰某甲即恁麼。師曰。師伯作麼生。曰我又不是善知識。爭知有說不說底法。師曰。某甲不會請師伯說。曰我大殺為汝說了也。僧問。如何是佛佛道齊。師曰。定也。師因入。京路逢官人。命吃飯。忽見驢鳴。官人召雲頭陀。師舉頭。官人卻指驢。師卻指官人(法眼別雲但作驢鳴)洪州東山慧和尚遊山見一巖。僧問雲。此巖有主也無。師雲有。僧雲。是什麼人。師雲。三家村裡覓什麼。其僧入問。如何是巖中主。師雲。還氣急麼。有小師行腳迴。師問。汝離吾在外多少時邪。小師雲。十年。師雲。不用指東指西。直道將來。小師雲。對和尚不敢謾語。師喝雲。遮打野漢。清田和尚一日與瑫上坐煎茶次。師敲繩床三下。瑫亦敲三下。師雲。老僧敲有箇善巧。上座敲有何道理。瑫曰。某甲敲有箇方便。和尚敲作麼生。師舉起盞子。

Chan Master Weizheng of Mount Baizhang in Hongzhou (this biography was formerly in Fascicle 6, after the Reverend Dazhu among Mazu's Dharma heirs. Now, judging by the encounter stories, it is moved into this fascicle among the Dharma heirs of Chan Master Hai of Baizhang, as the encounter stories of Reverend Nirvana of Baizhang. According to the stele of Reverend Nirvana written in calligraphy by Liu Gongquan of the Tang and composed by Wu Yihuang, the master's name was Fazheng. Because he lectured well on the Nirvana Sutra, he was called Nirvana. Now in the master's own chapter there is the saying 'You open the field for me, and I will explain the great meaning for you,' so it is clear that he is Reverend Nirvana. He also calls Nanquan his senior uncle, so it is also clear that he succeeded Master Hai of Baizhang. Although the two names Weizheng and Fazheng differ, this is probably a copying error. Moreover, Juefan's Linjian Lu also says it is an error of the old edition. When one looks at the Zhengzong Ji, it has both names Weizheng and Fazheng. But the generations of Baizhang can be counted. Mingjiao saw only that the names differ, could not decide, and kept both. Now the stele should be taken as correct. And Qing Gong's Shiyuan says that Reverend Nirvana of Baizhang was a son of Weishan and a grandson of Master Hai; this is an even greater mistake and not worth adopting.) One day he said to the monks: "After you have opened the field for me, I will explain the great meaning for you." When the monks had opened the field, they returned and asked the master to explain the great meaning. The master spread out both hands. An old monk, seeing the sunlight pass through the window, asked the master: "Is it that the window approaches the sun, or the sun approaches the window?" The master said: "Elder, there is a guest in your room; better go back." The master asked Nanquan: "Is there any dharma that the good teachers of every quarter do not teach to people?" Nanquan said: "There is." The master said: "What is it?" He said: "It is not mind, not Buddha." The master said: "Then you have taught it to people." He said: "That is just how I am." The master said: "What of my senior uncle?" He said: "I am not a good teacher; how would I know whether there is a dharma that is taught or not taught?" The master said: "I do not understand; please, senior uncle, tell me." He said: "I have already told you in great detail." A monk asked: "What is 'Buddha and Buddha, the Way is the same'?" The master said: "Samadhi." When the master went to the capital, he met an official on the road who invited him to a meal. Suddenly a donkey brayed. The official called: "Ascetic." The master raised his head. The official pointed at the donkey. The master pointed at the official (Fayan said separately: "Just bray like a donkey."). Reverend Hui of Dongshan in Hongzhou, wandering in the mountains, saw a cliff. A monk asked: "Does this cliff have a master?" The master said: "It does." The monk said: "Who is it?" The master said: "What are you looking for in a three-family village?" The monk asked again: "Who is the master in the cliff?" The master said: "Are you short of breath?" A junior monk returned from wandering. The master asked: "How long were you away from me?" The junior monk said: "Ten years." The master said: "No need to point east and west; just say it straight out." The junior monk said: "Before the Reverend, I dare not speak falsely." The master shouted: "This wild fellow." One day Reverend Qingtian was brewing tea with Senior Monk Tao. The master knocked on the rope seat three times. Tao also knocked three times. The master said: "This old monk's knocking has a skillful device. What principle is there in the Senior's knocking?" Tao said: "My knocking has an expedient. What of the Reverend's knocking?" The master raised up the cup.

瑫雲。善知識眼應須恁麼。煎茶了瑫卻問。和尚適來舉起盞子意作麼生。師雲。不可更別有也大於和尚與南用到茶堂。見一僧近前不審用雲。我既不納汝。汝亦不見我。不審阿誰。僧無語。師雲。不得平白地恁麼問伊。用雲。大於亦無語。師乃把其僧雲。是爾恁麼累我。亦然打一摑用便笑曰。朗月與青天。侍者到看師問雲。金剛正定一切皆然。秋去冬來且作麼生。侍者雲。不妨和尚借問。師雲。即今即得去後作麼生。侍者雲。誰敢問著某甲。師雲。大於還得麼。侍者雲。猶要別人點檢在。師雲。輔弼宗師不廢光彩。侍者禮拜。

Tao said: "The eye of a good teacher should indeed be like that." After the tea was brewed, Tao asked: "What did the Reverend mean by raising the cup just now?" The master said: "There cannot be anything else." Reverend Dayu and Nanyong went to the tea hall and saw a monk come forward and bow. Yong said: "Since I do not accept you, you do not see me either. Who are you?" The monk was speechless. The master said: "You must not question him so baldly." Yong said: "Dayu also has nothing to say." The master then seized the monk and said: "It is you who has burdened me like this." He also struck him once. Yong laughed and said: "A bright moon and blue sky." An attendant came to look on. The master asked: "Vajra right concentration is thus in everything. When autumn goes and winter comes, what then?" The attendant said: "The Reverend may certainly borrow the question." The master said: "Right now it is fine; after I am gone, what then?" The attendant said: "Who would dare ask me?" The master said: "Can Dayu do it?" The attendant said: "He still needs someone else to check." The master said: "Assisting the master of the school, it does not lose its glory." The attendant bowed.

前虔州西堂藏禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of the Former Chan Master Zang of Xitang in Qianzhou

虔州處微禪師。僧問。三乘十二分教體理得妙。與祖師意為同為別。師雲。恁麼即須向六句。外鑒不得隨他聲色轉。僧曰。如何是六句。師曰。語底默底不語不默。總是總不是。汝合作麼生。僧無對。師問仰山。汝名什麼。對曰。慧寂。師曰。那箇是慧那箇是寂。曰只在目前。師曰。猶有前後在。寂曰。前後且置。和尚見什麼。師曰。吃茶去。

Chan Master Chuwei of Qianzhou. A monk asked: "The substance and principle of the three vehicles and twelve divisions of teaching are wondrous; are they the same as or different from the Patriarch's meaning?" The master said: "In that case you must look beyond the six phrases and not follow after sound and form." The monk said: "What are the six phrases?" The master said: "Speaking, silent, neither speaking nor silent, all right, all not right. What will you do?" The monk had no reply. The master asked Yangshan: "What is your name?" He answered: "Huiji." The master said: "Which is wisdom (hui) and which is stillness (ji)?" He said: "Right before the eyes." The master said: "There is still before and after." Ji said: "Leave before and after aside; what does the Reverend see?" The master said: "Go have tea."

前蒲州麻谷山寶徹禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of the Former Chan Master Baoche of Mount Magu in Puzhou

壽州良遂禪師初參麻谷。麻谷召曰。良遂。師應諾。如是三召三應。麻谷曰。遮鈍根阿師。師方省悟乃曰。和尚莫謾良遂。若不來禮拜和尚。幾空過一生。麻谷可之。

Chan Master Liangsui of Shouzhou first visited Magu. Magu called: "Liangsui." The master answered "Yes." Thus he called three times and the master answered three times. Magu said: "This dull-witted monk." The master then awakened and said: "Reverend, do not deceive Liangsui. If I had not come to bow to the Reverend, I would almost have passed my whole life in vain." Magu approved.

前湖南東寺如會禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of the Former Chan Master Ruhui of Dongsi in Hunan

吉州薯山慧超禪師洞山。來禮拜次。師曰。汝已住一方。又來遮裡作麼。對曰。良价無奈疑何。特來見和尚。師召良价。價應諾。師曰。是什麼。價無語。師曰。好箇佛只是無光焰。

Chan Master Huichao of Mount Shu in Jizhou. Dongshan came to pay respects. The master said: "You already preside over one place; what are you doing here?" He answered: "Liangjie cannot help his doubts and has come especially to see the Reverend." The master called: "Liangjie." Jie answered "Yes." The master said: "What is it?" Jie was speechless. The master said: "A fine Buddha, only without radiance."

京兆章敬寺懷惲禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Huaihun of Zhangjing Temple in Jingzhao

京兆大薦福寺弘辯禪師。唐宣宗問。禪宗何有南北之名。師對曰。禪門本無南北。昔如來以正法眼付大迦葉。展轉相傳至二十八祖菩提達磨。來遊此方為初祖。暨第五祖弘忍大師。在蘄州東山開法。時有二弟子。一名慧能。受衣法居嶺南為六祖。一名神秀。在北揚化。其後神秀門人普寂立本師為第六祖。而自稱七祖。其所得法雖一。而開導發悟有頓漸之異。故曰南頓北漸。非禪宗本有南北之號也。帝曰。云何名戒師。對曰。防非止惡謂之戒。帝曰。何為定。對曰。六根涉境心不隨緣名定。帝曰。何為慧。對曰。心境俱空照覽無惑名慧。帝曰。何為方便。對曰。方便者隱實覆相權巧之門也。被接中下曲施誘迪。謂之方便。設為上根言捨方便但說無上道者。斯亦方便之譚。乃至祖師玄言忘功絕謂亦無出方便之跡。帝曰。何為佛心。對曰。佛者西天之語。唐言覺。謂人有智慧覺照為佛心。心者佛之別名。有百千異號。體唯其一。本無形狀。非青黃赤白男女等相。在天非天在人非人。而現天現人。能男能女非始非終無生無滅。故號靈覺之性。如陛下日應萬機。即是陛下佛心。假使千佛共傳。而不念別有所得也。帝曰。如今有人念佛如何。對曰。如來出世為天人師善知識。隨根器而說法。為上根者開最上乘頓悟至理。中下者未能頓曉。是以佛為韋提希。權開十六觀門。令念佛生於極樂。故經云。是心是佛是心作佛。心外無佛佛外無心。帝曰。有人持經念佛持呪求佛如何。對曰。如來種種開讚皆為最上一乘。如百川眾流莫不朝宗於海。如是差別諸數皆歸薩婆若海。帝曰。祖師既契會心印。金剛經云。無所得法如何。對曰。佛之一化實無一法與人。但示眾人。各各自性同一法寶藏。當時然燈如來但印釋迦本法。而無所得方契然燈本意。故經云。無我無人無眾生無壽者。是法平等修一切善法不住於相。帝曰。禪師既會祖意。

Chan Master Hongbian of Great Jianfu Temple in Jingzhao. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang asked: "Why does the Chan school have the names south and north?" The master replied: "The Chan school originally has no south and north. In the past the Tathagata entrusted the true Dharma eye to Mahakashyapa, and it was passed on in turn until the Twenty-eighth Patriarch Bodhidharma came to this land as the First Patriarch. When the Fifth Patriarch Great Master Hongren opened the Dharma at Dongshan in Qizhou, he had two disciples: one named Huineng, who received the robe and Dharma and lived in Lingnan as the Sixth Patriarch; the other named Shenxiu, who taught in the north. Later Puji, a disciple of Shenxiu, established his own teacher as the Sixth Patriarch and called himself the Seventh. The Dharma they received is one, but their guidance and awakening differ as sudden and gradual, and so it is called 'south sudden, north gradual'; it is not that the Chan school originally has the names south and north." The emperor said: "What is called precepts?" The master replied: "Guarding against wrong and stopping evil is called precepts." The emperor said: "What is concentration?" He replied: "When the six faculties come into contact with objects and the mind does not follow conditions, this is called concentration." The emperor said: "What is wisdom?" He replied: "When mind and objects are both empty, and one illuminates and sees without confusion, this is called wisdom." The emperor said: "What are skillful means?" He replied: "Skillful means conceal the real and cover the characteristics; they are the gate of expedient skill. For the middling and lesser, taking them in and guiding them in roundabout ways is called skillful means. Even those who say that for people of the highest capacity one abandons skillful means and speaks only of the unsurpassed Way, that too is a discourse of skillful means. Even the Patriarchs' profound words, forgetting effort and cutting off description, do not go beyond the traces of skillful means." The emperor said: "What is the Buddha-mind?" He replied: "Buddha is a word of the western heavens, rendered in Tang speech as 'awakened'. A person's wisdom and awareness and illumination is the Buddha-mind. Mind is another name of the Buddha, with hundreds and thousands of different names; the substance is only one, originally without shape or form, not the characteristics of blue, yellow, red, white, male, female, and the like. In heaven it is not heavenly, among humans it is not human, yet it manifests as heavenly and human, can be male or female, has no beginning or end, no birth or extinction, and so it is called the nature of spiritual awareness. As Your Majesty daily responds to ten thousand affairs, that is Your Majesty's Buddha-mind. Even if a thousand Buddhas transmitted it together, they would not think there was anything separately attained." The emperor said: "What of people who now recite the Buddha's name?" He replied: "The Tathagata appeared in the world as teacher of gods and humans and a good teacher, and taught the Dharma according to capacity. For those of the highest capacity he opened the supreme vehicle, for sudden awakening to the ultimate principle. For those of middling and lesser capacity who could not yet awaken suddenly, the Buddha therefore provisionally opened the sixteen contemplations for Vaidehi, so that they would recite the Buddha's name and be born in the Land of Utmost Bliss. So the sutra says: This mind is Buddha, this mind makes Buddha. Outside the mind there is no Buddha; outside the Buddha there is no mind." The emperor said: "What of those who hold sutras and recite the Buddha's name, or hold mantras and seek the Buddha?" He replied: "The Tathagata's various teachings and praises are all for the supreme one vehicle. As the hundred rivers and many streams all flow toward the sea, such varied numbers all return to the ocean of omniscience." The emperor said: "Since the Patriarchs attained the mind seal, what of the dharma of nothing to be attained spoken of in the Diamond Sutra?" He replied: "In all the Buddha's teaching, in truth no dharma is given to anyone; he only showed everyone that each one's own nature is the same Dharma treasure. At that time Dipamkara Tathagata only sealed Shakyamuni's original Dharma, with nothing attained, and this alone accorded with Dipamkara's original meaning. So the sutra says: no self, no person, no sentient being, no lifespan. This dharma is equal, and one cultivates all good dharmas without abiding in characteristics." The emperor said: "Since the Chan master understands the Patriarchs' meaning,

還禮佛轉經否。對曰。沙門釋子禮佛轉經。蓋是住持常法有四報焉。然依佛戒修身。參尋知識漸修梵行。履踐如來所行之跡。帝曰。何為頓見何為漸修。對曰。頓明自性與佛同儔。然有無始染習故。假漸修對治。令順性起用。如人吃飯不一口便飽。是日辯師對七刻。賜紫方袍號圓智禪師。仍勅修天下祖塔各令守護。

does he still bow to the Buddha and turn the sutras?" He replied: "For shramanas, followers of Shakya, bowing to the Buddha and turning the sutras is the constant practice of maintaining the Dharma, with four kinds of repayment. And they cultivate themselves according to the Buddha's precepts, seek out good teachers, gradually cultivate pure conduct, and tread in the traces of the Tathagata's practice." The emperor said: "What is sudden seeing and what is gradual cultivation?" He replied: "Suddenly understanding one's own nature, one is the same as the Buddha. But because of beginningless habits of defilement, one relies on gradual cultivation as an antidote, so that one's function arises in accord with nature. It is like a person eating: one is not full after a single mouthful." That day the master debated for seven quarters of an hour. He was granted a purple robe and the title Chan Master Yuanzhi. And he was ordered to repair patriarchal stupas throughout the empire, each to be guarded.

福州龜山智真禪師者揚州人也。姓柳氏。受業於本州華林寺。唐元和元年潤州丹徒天香寺受戒。不習經論。唯慕禪那初謁惲禪師。惲問曰。何所而至。真曰。至無所至來無所來。惲雖默然真亦自悟。尋抵婺州五洩山會正原禪伯。長慶二年同遊建陽。受郡人葉玢請居東禪。至開成元年往福州。長谿邑人陳亮黃瑜請於龜山開剏。一日示眾曰。動容眴目無出當人一念淨心本來是佛。乃說偈曰。

Chan Master Zhizhen of Guishan in Fuzhou was a man of Yangzhou, surnamed Liu. He was ordained at Hualin Temple in his home prefecture. In the first year of Yuanhe of the Tang, he received the precepts at Tianxiang Temple in Dantu, Runzhou. He did not study sutras and treatises, but only admired dhyana. He first visited Chan Master Hun. Hun asked: "Where have you come from?" Zhen said: "Arriving where there is no arriving, coming from where there is no coming." Hun was silent, but Zhen also awakened himself. Soon he arrived at Mount Wuxie in Wuzhou and met the Chan elder Zhengyuan. In the second year of Changqing he traveled together to Jianyang, and at the invitation of Ye Bin, a man of the prefecture, lived at Dongchan. In the first year of Kaicheng he went to Fuzhou. At the request of Chen Liang and Huang Yu, men of Changxi county, he founded a monastery on Mount Gui. One day he told the assembly: "Every movement of countenance and blink of the eye does not go beyond the person right here. A single thought of pure mind is originally Buddha." Then he spoke a verse saying:

心本絕塵何用洗身中無病豈求醫

The mind is originally free of dust; why wash it? With no illness in the body, why seek a physician?

欲知是佛非身處明鑑高懸未照時

If you want to know where Buddha is, not the body: the bright mirror is hung high and has not yet illuminated.

後值武宗澄汰。有偈二首。示眾曰。

Later, when Emperor Wuzong purged the Sangha, he showed the assembly two verses saying:

明月分形處處新白衣寧墜解空人

The bright moon divides its form and is new everywhere; would a person in white fall, one who understands emptiness?

誰言在俗妨修道金粟曾為長者身

Who says that being in the lay world hinders cultivating the Way? Jinsu once took the body of an elder.

其二曰。

The second says:

忍仙林下坐禪時曾被歌王割截支

When the patient sage sat in meditation beneath the trees, he was once cut apart limb by limb by the king of song.

況我聖朝無此事只今休道亦何悲

And in our holy dynasty there is no such thing; now to stop speaking of it, what is there to grieve?

暨宣宗中興。乃不復披緇。咸通六年終於本山。壽八十四。臘六十。勅諡歸寂禪師。塔曰秘真。

When Emperor Xuanzong revived the dynasty, he no longer wore the black robe. In the sixth year of Xiantong he died on that mountain. He lived eighty-four years, with sixty years as a monk. By imperial decree he was given the posthumous title Chan Master Guiji, and the stupa was called Mizhen.

朗州東邑懷政禪師。仰山來參。師問。汝何處人。仰山曰。廣南人。師曰。我聞廣南有鎮海明珠是否。仰山曰是。師曰。此珠何形狀。仰山曰。白月即現。師曰。汝將得來否。仰山曰。將得來。師曰。何不呈似老僧看。仰山曰。昨到溈山亦就慧寂索此珠。直得無言可對無理可宣。師曰。真師子兒大師子吼。

Chan Master Huaizheng of Dongyi in Langzhou. Yangshan came to visit. The master asked: "Where are you from?" Yangshan said: "From Guangnan." The master said: "I have heard that in Guangnan there is a sea-pacifying bright pearl; is it so?" Yangshan said: "It is." The master said: "What shape does this pearl have?" Yangshan said: "It appears in the white moon." The master said: "Did you bring it?" Yangshan said: "I brought it." The master said: "Why not show it to this old monk?" Yangshan said: "Yesterday when I arrived at Weishan, he also demanded this pearl from Huiji, and I had nothing to say in reply and no principle to declare." The master said: "A true lion cub, roaring a great lion's roar."