Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 3

福州壽山師解禪師行腳時。造洞山法席。洞山問雲。闍梨生緣何處。師雲。和尚若實問某甲。即是閩中人。洞山雲。汝父名什麼。師雲。今日蒙和尚致此一問。直得忘前失後。住壽山。上堂雲。諸上坐。幸有真實言語相勸。諸兄弟合各自體悉。凡聖情盡體露真如。但一時卸劫從前虛妄攀緣塵垢心。如虛空相似。他時後日合識得些子好惡。閩師問曰。壽山年多少。師雲。與虛空齊年。曰虛空年多少。師雲。與壽山齊年。

Chan Master Shijie of Shoushan in Fuzhou. While traveling he went to Dongshan's Dharma seat. Dongshan asked: "Acolyte, where were you born?" The master said: "If the master is truly asking me, I am a person of Min." Dongshan said: "What is your father's name?" The master said: "Today I am favored with this question from the master, and it makes me forget the front and lose the back." He lived at Shoushan. He ascended the hall and said: "Venerable ones, fortunately I have real words to urge you. All you brothers should realize them yourselves. When feelings of ordinary and holy are exhausted, the substance reveals suchness. Just drop at once the deluded clinging, dusty mind of the past, like empty space. In due time you will know a little of good and bad." The King of Min asked: "How old is Shoushan?" The master said: "The same age as empty space." He asked: "How old is empty space?" The master said: "The same age as Shoushan."

饒州嶢山和尚。有僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。仲冬嚴寒。問如何是和尚深深處。師曰。待汝舌頭落地。即向汝道。問如何是丈六金身。師曰。判官斷案相公改。長慶問。從上宗乘此間如何言論。師曰。有願不負先聖。長慶雲。不負先聖作麼生。師曰。不露。長慶雲。恁麼即請師領話。師曰。什麼處去來。長慶雲。只者(舊作首字)什麼處去來。

The Monk of Yaoshan in Raozhou. A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the coming from the West?" The master said: "Midwinter is bitterly cold." He asked: "What is the master's deepest place?" The master said: "When your tongue falls to the ground, I will tell you." He asked: "What is the sixteen-foot golden body?" The master said: "The judge decides the case, and the minister revises it." Changqing asked: "The lineage from the past, how is it discussed here?" The master said: "I have a vow not to betray the former sages." Changqing said: "How does one not betray the former sages?" The master said: "Not revealing." Changqing said: "Then please, master, take the word." The master said: "Where have you been?" Changqing said: "Just this, where have I been?" (the old text has a different character)

泉州莆田縣國歡崇福院慧日大師。福州侯官縣人也。姓黃氏。生而有異。及長名文矩。為縣獄卒。往往棄役往神光靈觀和尚及西院大安禪師所。吏不能禁。後謁萬歲塔譚空禪師落髮。不披袈裟不受具戒。唯以雜綵為掛子。復至觀和尚所。觀曰我非汝師。汝去禮西院去。師攜一小青竹杖入西院法堂。安遙見而笑曰。入涅槃堂去。師應諾。輪竹杖而入。時有五百許僧。染時疾。師以杖次第點之。各隨點而起。閩王禮重創國歡禪苑以居之。厥後頗多靈跡。唐乾寧中示滅。

The Great Master Huiri of Chongfu Cloister in Guohuan, Putian County, Quanzhou, a native of Houguan County in Fuzhou, surnamed Huang. He was extraordinary from birth. When he grew up he was named Wenju and was a prison guard of the county. He often abandoned his duties to visit the Monk Guan of Shenguang Lingguan and Chan Master Da'an of the West Cloister, and the officials could not stop him. Later he visited Chan Master Tankong of Wansui Pagoda and had his head shaved. He did not wear a kasaya and did not receive full ordination, and wore only a vest of mixed colors. He again went to Monk Guan's place. Guan said: "I am not your teacher; go and pay respects at the West Cloister." The master took a small green bamboo staff and entered the Dharma hall of the West Cloister. Da'an saw him from afar and laughed, saying: "Go into the nirvana hall." The master assented, swung his bamboo staff and entered. At that time about five hundred monks had caught an epidemic. The master touched them in order with his staff, and each rose at the touch. The King of Min revered him greatly and founded the Guohuan Chan Cloister for him to live in. Afterward there were many marvels. In the Qianning era of the Tang he showed extinction.

台州浮江和尚。有時雪峰和尚領眾到問雲。即今有二百人寄院過夏得也無。師將拄杖劃地一下雲。著不得即道。雪峰無語。

The Monk Fujiang of Taizhou. Once the Monk Xuefeng came leading an assembly and asked: "Right now there are two hundred people who want to lodge in the cloister for the summer; can it be done?" The master drew a line on the ground with his staff and said: "If it cannot be accommodated, say so." Xuefeng had no words.

潞州淥水和尚。僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師雲。還見庭前花藥欄麼。僧無語。

The monk Lushui of Luzhou. A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "Do you see the flower-and-herb railing in front of the courtyard?" The monk had no words.

廣州文殊院圓明禪師福州人。姓陳氏。本參大溈得旨。後造雪峰請益法無異味。又甞遊五臺山覩文殊化現。乃隨方建院以文殊為額。開寶中前樞密使李崇矩巡護南方。因入師院覩地藏菩薩像。問僧曰。地藏何以展手。僧曰。手中珠被賊偷卻也。李卻問師。既是地藏為什麼遭賊。師曰。今日捉下也。李乃謝之。淳化元年示滅。壽一百三十有六。

Zen Master Yuanming of Manjusri Cloister in Guangzhou was a man of Fuzhou, surnamed Chen. He originally studied under Dagui and gained the essential point. Later he went to Xuefeng to ask for further instruction, and found the Dharma the same in flavor. He also once traveled to Mount Wutai, saw a manifestation of Manjusri, and accordingly built a cloister in that region with Manjusri as its plaque. In the Kaibao era, the former Military Affairs Commissioner Li Chongju inspected and protected the south, and so entered the master's cloister and saw a statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. He asked a monk: "Why does Ksitigarbha hold out his hand?" The monk said: "The pearl in his hand has been stolen by a thief." Li asked the master in turn: "Since he is Ksitigarbha, why was he robbed?" The master said: "Today the thief has been caught." Li then thanked him. In the first year of Chunhua he showed extinction, at the age of one hundred thirty-six.

前趙州從諗禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Zen Master Zhaozhou Congshen

洪州武寧縣新興嚴陽尊者。僧問。如何是佛。師曰。土塊。曰如何是法。師曰。地動也。曰如何是僧。師曰。吃粥吃飯。僧問。如何是新興水。師曰。前面江裡。僧問。如何是應物現形。師曰。與我拈床子過來。師常有一蛇一虎。隨從左右手中與食。

The Venerable Yanyang of Xinxing in Wuning County, Hongzhou. A monk asked: "What is the Buddha?" The master said: "A clod of earth." He asked: "What is the Dharma?" The master said: "The earth shakes." He asked: "What is the Sangha?" The master said: "Eating gruel and eating rice." A monk asked: "What is Xinxing's water?" The master said: "In the river in front." A monk asked: "What is responding to things and manifesting form?" The master said: "Hand me that stool." The master was often followed by a snake and a tiger, and fed them from his left and right hands.

楊州城東光孝院慧覺禪師。僧問。覺花才綻遍滿娑婆。祖印西來合譚何事。師曰。情生智隔。曰此是教意。師曰。汝披什麼衣服。問一棒打破虛空時如何。師曰。困即歇去。師問宋齊丘。還會道麼。宋曰。道也著不得。師曰。有著不得無著不得。宋曰。總不恁麼。師曰。著不得底。宋無對。師領眾出。見露柱師合掌曰。不審世尊。一僧曰。和尚是露柱。師曰。啼得血流無用處。不如緘口過殘春。僧問。遠遠投師師意如何。曰官家嚴切不許安排。曰師豈無方便。師曰。且向火倉裡一宿。張居士問。爭奈老何。師曰。年多少。張曰。八十也。師曰。可謂老也。曰究竟如何。師曰。直至千歲也未住。有人問。某甲平生愛殺牛。還有罪否。師曰。無罪。曰為什麼無罪。師曰。殺一箇還一箇。

Zen Master Huijue of Guangxiao Cloister east of Yangzhou city. A monk asked: "When the flower of awakening has just blossomed, it fills the whole Saha world. The Patriarch's seal came from the West; what matter should be discussed?" The master said: "When feeling arises, wisdom is cut off." He asked: "This is the meaning of the teaching." The master said: "What clothes are you wearing?" He asked: "What when a single blow smashes empty space?" The master said: "When tired, go and rest." The master asked Song Qiqiu: "Do you understand the Way?" Song said: "The Way cannot be attached to either." The master said: "There is what cannot be attached to, and there is the non-attaching that cannot be attached to." Song said: "It is not like that at all." The master said: "What cannot be attached to." Song had no reply. The master led the assembly out, saw a pillar, put his palms together and said: "Greetings, World-Honored One." A monk said: "Venerable, that is a pillar." The master said: "Crying until blood flows is useless; better to keep the mouth shut and pass the last of spring." A monk asked: "I have come a long way to the master; what is the master's intent?" He said: "The government is strict, and no arranging is allowed." He asked: "Does the master have no expedient means?" The master said: "Then spend the night in the fire storehouse." Layman Zhang asked: "What can I do about old age?" The master said: "How old are you?" Zhang said: "Eighty." The master said: "One may say you are old." He asked: "What is ultimate?" The master said: "Until a thousand years, it still does not stop." Someone asked: "All my life I have loved to kill oxen; is there guilt?" The master said: "No guilt." He asked: "Why no guilt?" The master said: "Kill one and repay one."

隴州國清院奉禪師。問祖意與教意同別。師曰。雨滋三草秀。春風不裹頭。僧曰。畢竟是一是二。師曰。祥雲競起巖洞不虧。問如何是和尚家風。師曰。臺柈椅子火爐牕牖。問如何是出家人。曰銅頭鐵額鳥嘴鹿身。僧曰。如何是出家人本分事。師曰。早起不審夜間珍重。僧問牛頭未見四祖時。為什麼鳥獸銜花。師曰。如陝府人送錢財與鐵牛。曰見後為什麼不街花。師曰。木馬投明行八百。問十二時中如何降伏其心。師曰。敲氷求火論劫不逢。問十二分教是止啼之義。離卻止啼請師一句。師曰。孤峰頂上雙角女。問如何是佛法大意。師曰。釋迦是牛頭獄卒。祖師是馬面阿婆。問如何是西來意。師曰。東壁打西壁。問如何是撲不破底句。師曰。不隔毫釐時人遠嚮。

Zen Master Feng of Guoqing Cloister in Longzhou. He was asked: "Are the Patriarch's intent and the teaching's intent the same or different?" The master said: "Rain nourishes the three kinds of grass and makes them flourish; the spring wind does not wrap the head." The monk said: "Are they ultimately one or two?" The master said: "Auspicious clouds rise in competition, and the cliffs and caves are not diminished." He asked: "What is the Venerable's family style?" The master said: "Tables and chairs, stove and windows." He asked: "What is a homeleaver?" He said: "Copper head and iron forehead, bird's beak and deer's body." The monk said: "What is the homeleaver's proper business?" The master said: "Greet in the morning, take care in the evening." A monk asked: "Before Niutou had seen the Fourth Patriarch, why did birds and beasts carry flowers to him?" The master said: "Like the people of Shaanfu sending money to the iron ox." He asked: "After he saw him, why did they not carry flowers?" The master said: "The wooden horse travels eight hundred li toward dawn." He asked: "How does one subdue the mind in the twelve periods of the day?" The master said: "Knocking on ice to get fire, one will not find it in a kalpa." He asked: "The twelve divisions of the teaching mean stopping a child's crying. Apart from stopping the crying, please give a phrase, Master." The master said: "On the peak of a lone mountain, a girl with two horns." He asked: "What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" The master said: "Shakyamuni is the ox-headed jailer of hell, and the Patriarch is the horse-faced old woman." He asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "The east wall strikes the west wall." He asked: "What is the phrase that cannot be broken?" The master said: "Not a hair's breadth away, yet people of today look far off."

婺州木陳從朗禪師。僧問。放鶴出籠和雪去時如何。師曰。我道不一色因金剛倒。僧問。既是金剛不壞身。為什麼卻倒地。師敲禪床曰。行住坐臥。師將歸寂。有頌曰。

Zen Master Conglang of Muchen in Wuzhou. A monk asked: "What about releasing a crane from its cage and going off with the snow?" The master said: "I say it is not one color." Because a vajra statue fell over, a monk asked: "Since the vajra body is indestructible, why does it fall to the ground?" The master tapped the Zen couch and said: "Walking, standing, sitting, lying." When the master was about to return to stillness, he had a verse that said:

三十年來住木陳時中無一假功成

For thirty years I have lived at Muchen; in all that time not one false achievement.

有人問我西來意展似眉毛作麼生

If someone asks me the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West, what do I do but spread out my eyebrows?

婺州新建禪師不度小師。有僧問。和尚年老何不畜一童子侍奉。師曰。有瞽聵者為吾討來。僧辭。師問。什麼處去。僧曰。府下開元寺去。師曰。我有一信附與了。寺主汝將得去否。僧曰。便請。師曰。想汝也不奈何。

Zen Master Xinjian of Wuzhou would not ordain young disciples. A monk asked: "The Venerable is old; why not keep a boy to attend you?" The master said: "Find me a deaf and blind one." The monk took leave. The master asked: "Where are you going?" The monk said: "To Kaiyuan Monastery in the prefecture." The master said: "I have a letter for the abbot; can you take it?" The monk said: "Please give it." The master said: "I thought you could do nothing about it."

杭州多福和尚。僧問。如何是多福一叢竹。師曰。一莖兩莖斜。曰學人不會。師曰。三莖四莖曲。僧問。如何是納衣下事。師曰。大有人疑在。曰為什麼如是。師曰。月裡藏頭。

The monk Duofu of Hangzhou. A monk asked: "What is Duofu's clump of bamboo?" The master said: "One stalk, two stalks, slanting." He said: "This student does not understand." The master said: "Three stalks, four stalks, crooked." A monk asked: "What is the matter beneath the patched robe?" The master said: "Many people have doubts about it." He asked: "Why is it so?" The master said: "Hiding the head in the moon."

益州西睦和尚上堂。有一俗士舉手雲。和尚便是一頭驢。師曰。老僧被汝騎。彼無語去。後三日再來自言。某甲三日前著賊。師拈拄杖趁出。師有時驀喚侍者。侍者應諾。師曰。更深夜靜共伊商量。

The monk Ximu of Yizhou ascended the hall. A layman raised his hand and said: "The Venerable is just a donkey." The master said: "This old monk is ridden by you." He left without a word. Three days later he came again and said himself: "Three days ago I met a thief." The master took up his staff and chased him out. Sometimes the master would suddenly call his attendant. The attendant would answer. The master said: "Late at night and quiet, let us discuss it with him."

前衢州子湖巖利蹤禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Zen Master Lizong of Zihu Yan in Quzhou

台州勝光和尚。問如何是和尚家風。師曰。福州茘枝泉州刺桐。問如何是佛法兩字。師曰。即便道。僧曰。請師道。師曰。穿耳胡僧笑點頭。龍華照和尚來。師把住雲。作麼生。照雲。莫錯。師乃放手。照雲。久嚮勝光。師默然。照乃辭。師門送雲。自此一別什麼處相見。照呵呵而去。

The monk Shengguang of Taizhou. He was asked: "What is the Venerable's family style?" The master said: "Lychees of Fuzhou, coral trees of Quanzhou." He asked: "What are the two words 'Buddha Dharma'?" The master said: "Say it at once." The monk said: "Please say it, Master." The master said: "The foreign monk with pierced ears nods and laughs." The monk Zhao of Longhua came. The master seized him and said: "What now?" Zhao said: "Do not mistake." The master then let go. Zhao said: "I have long looked up to Shengguang." The master was silent. Zhao then took leave. The master saw him to the gate and said: "After this parting, where shall we meet?" Zhao laughed heartily and left.

漳州浮石和尚上堂雲。山僧開卜鋪。能斷人貧富定人生死。時有僧出雲。離卻生死貧富。不落五行請師直道。師雲。金木水火土。

The monk Fushi of Zhangzhou ascended the hall and said: "This mountain monk has opened a fortune-telling shop, and can tell people's riches and poverty and decide their life and death." At that time a monk came forward and said: "Apart from life and death, riches and poverty, not falling into the five phases, I ask the Master to say it directly." The master said: "Metal, wood, water, fire, earth."

紫桐和尚。僧問如何是紫桐境。師曰。阿爾眼裡著沙得麼。曰大好紫桐境也不識。師曰。老僧不諱此事。其僧出去。師下禪床擒住雲。今日好箇公案。老僧未得分文入手。曰賴遇某甲是僧。師曰。禍不單行。

The monk Zitong. A monk asked: "What is Zitong's realm?" The master said: "Can you put sand in your eye?" He said: "A very fine realm of Zitong, and you do not know it." The master said: "This old monk does not hide this matter." The monk went out. The master got down from the Zen couch, seized him and said: "A fine case today, and this old monk has not got a cent from it." He said: "Luckily I am a monk." The master said: "Misfortunes do not come singly."

日容和尚。奯(音豁)上座參。師拊掌三下雲。猛虎當軒誰是敵者。奯曰。俊鷂沖天阿誰捉得。師曰。彼此難當。曰且休未斷遮公案。師將拄杖舞歸方丈。奯無語。師曰。死卻遮漢也(雲山雲。奯不別前語)。

The monk Rirong. The senior monk Huo came to study. The master clapped his hands three times and said: "A fierce tiger sits at the eaves; who is the opponent?" Huo said: "A swift falcon strikes the sky; who can catch it?" The master said: "Both are hard to match." He said: "Stop; this case is not yet settled." The master danced with his staff back to his room. Huo had no words. The master said: "This fellow is dead." (Yunshan said: "Huo did not distinguish the earlier words.")

前鄂州茱萸和尚法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former monk Zhuyu of Ezhou

石梯和尚。僧新到於師前立少頃便出。師曰。有什麼辨白處。僧再立良久。師曰。辨得也辨得也。僧曰。辨後作麼生。師曰。埋卻得也。僧曰。蒼天蒼天。師曰。適來卻恁麼如今還不當。僧。乃出去。

The monk Shiti. A newly arrived monk stood before the master, and after a little while went out. The master said: "Is there anything you can explain?" The monk stood again for a long time. The master said: "You can explain it, you can explain it." The monk said: "What after explaining?" The master said: "It is buried." The monk said: "Blue Heaven, blue Heaven." The master said: "Just now it was like that, but now it is still not right." The monk then went out.

天龍和尚法嗣

Dharma heirs of the monk Tianlong

婺州金華山俱胝和尚初住庵。有尼名實際。到庵戴笠子執錫繞師三匝雲。道得即拈下笠子。三問。師皆無對。尼便去。師曰。日勢稍晚且留一宿。尼曰。道得即宿。師又無對。尼去後歎曰。我雖處丈夫之形。而無丈夫之氣。擬棄庵往諸方參尋。其夜山神告曰。不須離此山。將有大菩薩來為和尚說法也。果旬日天龍和尚到庵。師乃迎禮具陳前事。天龍竪一指而示之。師當下大悟。自此凡有參學僧到。師唯舉一指無別提唱。有一童子於外被人詰曰。和尚說何法要。童子竪起指頭。歸而舉似師。師以刀斷其指頭。童子叫喚走出。師召一聲。童子回首。師卻竪起指頭。童子豁然領解。師將順世。謂眾曰。吾得天龍一指頭禪一生用不盡。言訖示滅(長慶代眾雲。美食不中飽人吃。玄沙雲。我當時若見。抝折指頭。玄覺雲。且道。玄沙恁麼道意作麼生。雲居錫雲。只如玄沙恁麼道。肯伊不肯伊。若肯何言抝折指頭。若不肯俱胝過在什麼處。先曹山雲。俱胝承當處鹵莾。只認得一機一境一種。是拍手拊掌是他西園奇怪。玄覺又云。且道俱胝還悟也未。若悟為什麼道承當處莾鹵。若不悟又道用一指頭禪不盡。且道曹山意旨在什麼處)。

The monk Juzhi of Mount Jinhua in Wuzhou first lived in a hermitage. A nun named Shiji came to the hermitage wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a staff, circled the master three times and said: "If you can say it, I will take off my hat." She asked three times, and the master had no answer to any. The nun was about to leave. The master said: "It is getting late; stay one night." The nun said: "If you can say it, I will stay." The master again had no answer. After the nun left, he sighed and said: "Though I have the form of a man, I do not have a man's spirit." He planned to abandon the hermitage and go to various places to study. That night the mountain spirit told him: "You need not leave this mountain. A great Bodhisattva will come to preach the Dharma for you." Indeed ten days later the monk Tianlong came to the hermitage. The master welcomed him with a bow and told him everything. Tianlong raised one finger to show him. The master was greatly awakened at once. From then on, whenever a student monk came, the master only raised one finger, with no other teaching. There was a boy outside who was questioned by someone: "What Dharma essentials does the Venerable teach?" The boy raised his finger. He went back and told the master. The master cut off the boy's finger with a knife. The boy cried out and ran away. The master called out once. The boy turned his head. The master then raised his finger. The boy suddenly understood. When the master was about to pass away, he said to the assembly: "I got one finger of Tianlong's Zen, and I have not used it up in my whole life." Having said this, he showed extinction. (Changqing said on behalf of the assembly: "Fine food is not for those who are full." Xuansha said: "If I had seen it then, I would have snapped his finger." Xuanjue said: "Tell me, what was Xuansha's intent in saying so?" Yunju Xi said: "As for Xuansha saying so, does he approve of him or not? If he approves, why say snap the finger? If he does not approve, where was Juzhi's fault?" The former Caoshan said: "Juzhi's acceptance was careless; he only recognized one opportunity and one realm. It is just like clapping the hands, a strangeness of his West Garden." Xuanjue also said: "Tell me, did Juzhi awaken or not? If he awakened, why say his acceptance was careless? If he did not awaken, why does he say he used one finger of Zen without exhausting it? Tell me, where is Caoshan's meaning?")

前長沙景岑禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Zen Master Jingcen of Changsha

明州雪竇山常通禪師邢州人也。姓李氏。入鵲山出家。年二十本州開元寺受戒。習經律凡七載。乃曰。摩騰入漢譯著斯文。達磨來梁復明何事。遂遠參長沙岑和尚。岑問曰。何處人。師曰。邢州人。岑曰。我道不從彼來。曰和尚還曾住此無。岑然之。乃容入室。後往洞山石霜而法無異味。唐咸通末遊宣城。郡守於謝仙山奏置禪苑。號瑞聖院請師居焉。僧問。如何是密室。師曰。不通風。信曰。如何是密室中人。師曰。諸聖求覩不見。又曰。千佛不能思。萬聖不能議。乾坤壞不壞。虛空包不包。一切比無倫。三世唱不起。問如何是三世諸佛出身處。師曰。伊不肯知有汝三世。良久又曰。薦否。不然者且向著佛不得處。體取時中常在。識盡功成瞥然而起。即是傷他而況言句乎。光啟中群寇起。師領徒至四明。大順二年郡守請居雪竇欝然盛化。天祐二年乙丑七月示疾。集眾焚香付囑訖合掌而逝。壽七十二。其年八月七日建石塔於院西南隅。

Zen Master Changtong of Mount Xuedou in Mingzhou was a man of Xingzhou, surnamed Li. He left home at Magpie Mountain. At twenty he received the precepts at Kaiyuan Monastery in his home prefecture. He studied the sutras and vinaya for seven years, and then said: "Kasyapa Matanga entered Han and translated and wrote these texts. Bodhidharma came to Liang; what was it he further clarified?" So he went far to study with the monk Cen of Changsha. Cen asked: "Where are you from?" The master said: "Xingzhou." Cen said: "I say you do not come from there." He said: "Has the Venerable ever lived there?" Cen approved and allowed him to enter his room. Later he went to Dongshan and Shishuang, and the Dharma flavor was the same. At the end of Xiantong of the Tang he traveled to Xuancheng. The prefect, at Mount Xiexian, memorialized to set up a Zen cloister named Ruisheng, and invited the master to live there. A monk asked: "What is the secret chamber?" The master said: "Wind does not pass through." He asked: "What is the person in the secret chamber?" The master said: "All the sages seek to see him and cannot." He also said: "A thousand Buddhas cannot think of it, ten thousand sages cannot discuss it. Heaven and earth are destroyed and it is not destroyed, empty space encloses it and does not enclose it. Nothing compares with it, and the three times cannot sing of it." He asked: "Where do the Buddhas of the three times come from?" The master said: "He does not agree to know your three times." After a long time he added: "Do you recommend it? If not, then go and grasp it in the place where you cannot attach to the Buddha. Always be there at all times, and when consciousness is exhausted, the work is complete. If it suddenly arises, it harms him; how much more with words and phrases?" In the Guangqi era, bands of bandits arose, and the master led his disciples to Siming. In the second year of Dashun, the prefect invited him to live at Xuedou, where he flourished in his teaching. In the seventh month of yichou, the second year of Tianyou, he showed illness. He gathered the assembly, burned incense, gave his charge, and passed away with palms together at the age of seventy-two. In the eighth month, on the seventh day of that year, a stone stupa was built at the southwest corner of the cloister.

前關南道常禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Zen Master Chang of Guannan

襄州關南道吾和尚。始經村墅聞巫者樂神雲識神無。師忽然惺悟。後參常禪師印其所解。復遊德山門下法味彌著。凡上堂示徒。戴蓮花笠披襴執簡。擊鼓吹笛口稱魯三郎。有時雲。打動關南鼓。唱起德山歌。僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師以簡揖雲喏。師有時執木劍橫在肩上作舞。僧問。手中劍什麼處得來。師擲於地。僧卻置師手中。師曰。什麼處得來。僧無對。師曰。容汝三日內下取一語。其僧亦無對。師自代拈劍肩上作舞雲。恁麼始得。問如何是和尚家風。師下禪床作女人拜雲。謝子遠來都無祇待。師問灌溪。作麼生。灌溪雲。無位。師雲。莫同虛空麼。雲遮屠兒。師雲。有生可殺即不倦。漳州羅漢和尚。始於關南常禪師拳下悟旨(語見常禪師章)乃為歌曰。

The monk Daowu of Guannan in Xiangzhou. He first passed through a village and heard a shaman playing music to the spirits and saying "consciousness-spirit has none," and the master suddenly awakened. Later he visited Zen Master Chang, who confirmed his understanding. He then traveled to the gate of Deshan, and his Dharma flavor became ever more evident. Whenever he ascended the hall to instruct his disciples, he wore a lotus hat, put on a robe, held a tablet, beat a drum and played a flute, and called himself Lu Sanlang. Sometimes he said: "Beat the Guannan drum and sing the Deshan song." A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master bowed with his tablet and said: "Yes." Sometimes the master danced with a wooden sword across his shoulder. A monk asked: "Where did the sword in your hand come from?" The master threw it on the ground. The monk put it back in the master's hand. The master said: "Where did it come from?" The monk had no reply. The master said: "I allow you three days to come up with a phrase." The monk again had no reply. The master answered for him, holding the sword on his shoulder and dancing, and said: "Only thus is it right." A monk asked: "What is the Venerable's family style?" The master came down from the Zen couch, bowed like a woman and said: "Thank you for coming from afar; there is no reception." The master asked Guanxi: "What is it?" Guanxi said: "No position." The master said: "Is that not the same as empty space?" He said: "This butcher." The master said: "If there are living things to kill, one is never tired." The monk Luohan of Zhangzhou first awakened to the essential point under a blow of the fist from Zen Master Chang of Guannan (the words are in Zen Master Chang's chapter), and then composed a song that said:

咸通七載初參道到處逢言不識言

In the seventh year of Xiantong I first studied the Way; everywhere I met words and did not know the words.

心裡痴團若栲栳三春不樂止林泉

My mind was a foolish lump like a wicker basket; for three springs I was unhappy and stayed in the groves and springs.

忽遇法王氈上坐便陳疑懇向師前

Suddenly I met the Dharma King seated on a felt mat, and I laid out my doubts and sincere request before the master.

師從氈上那伽起袒膊當胸打一拳

The master rose from the felt mat like a great naga, bared his arm and struck me a blow on the chest.

駭散痴團獦狚落舉頭看見日初圓

The foolish lump was scattered like a startled monkey; I raised my head and saw the sun just becoming round.

從茲蹬蹬以碣碣直至如今常快活

Since then I have gone on with big strides and steady steps, and until now I have been always happy.

只聞肚裡飽膨脝更不東西去持缽

I hear only my belly swelling with fullness, and no longer go east and west holding the bowl.