Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle Twelve

選得幽居愜野情終年無送亦無迎

I chose a secluded dwelling to suit my rustic feelings, all year with no seeing off and no welcoming,

有時直上孤峰頂月下披雲笑一聲

sometimes going straight up to the lone peak's summit, parting the clouds beneath the moon, laughing out loud once.

師大和八年二月臨順世叫雲。法堂倒法堂倒。眾皆持柱撐之。師舉手雲。子不會我意乃告寂。壽八十有四。臘六十。入室弟子沖虛建塔於院東隅。勅諡弘道大師。塔曰化城。

In the second month of the eighth year of the Dahe era, as the master was about to pass away, he cried: "The Dharma hall is falling, the Dharma hall is falling." The assembly all held the pillars to prop it up. The master raised his hand and said: "You do not understand my meaning." Then he passed into stillness. He lived eighty-four years, with sixty years as a monk. His private disciple Chongxu built a stupa at the east corner of the monastery. By imperial decree he was given the posthumous title Great Master Hongdao, and the stupa was called Huacheng.

潭州大川和尚(亦名湖)有江陵僧新到。禮拜了在一邊立師曰。幾時發江陵。僧拈起坐具。師曰。謝子遠來下去。僧便出。師曰。若不恁麼爭知眼自端的。僧拊掌曰。苦殺人幾錯判諸方老宿。師肯之(僧舉似丹霞。霞曰。於大川法道即得。於我遮裡即不然。僧曰。未審此間怎麼生。霞曰。猶較大川三步。其僧禮拜。霞曰。錯判諸方底甚多。洞山聞之曰。不是丹霞難分玉石)。

Reverend Dachuan of Tanzhou (also named Hu). A monk newly arrived from Jiangling bowed and stood to one side. The master said: "When did you leave Jiangling?" The monk picked up his sitting cloth. The master said: "Thank you for coming from afar; go down." The monk went out. The master said: "If it were not so, how could one know the eye is genuine?" The monk clapped his hands and said: "How miserable! I nearly misjudged the old masters of every quarter." The master approved. (The monk told Danxia about it. Xia said: "As to Dachuan's Dharma way, that is fine; as to my place, it is not so." The monk said: "I wonder how it is here?" Xia said: "Still three steps ahead of Dachuan." The monk bowed. Xia said: "There are very many who misjudge the various quarters." Dongshan heard of it and said: "If not for Danxia, jade and stone would be hard to tell apart.")

汾州石樓和尚。師上堂。有僧出問曰。未識本來生乞師方便指。曰石樓無耳朵。僧曰。某甲自知非。師曰。老僧還有過。僧曰。和尚過在什麼處。曰過在汝非處。僧禮拜。師乃打之。師問僧。發足何處。僧雲漢國。師雲。漢國天子還重佛法麼。僧雲。苦哉苦哉。賴遇問著某甲。問著別人則禍生。師雲。作什麼𡁠。僧雲。人尚不見有何佛法可重。師雲。闍梨受戒來多少夏。僧雲。三十夏。師雲。大好不見有人。便打之。

Reverend Shilou of Fenzhou. The master was in the hall. A monk came forward and asked: "I do not yet know my original birth; I beg the master to point it out by skillful means." He said: "Shilou has no ears." The monk said: "I know my own fault." The master said: "This old monk also has a fault." The monk said: "Where is the Reverend's fault?" He said: "The fault is in your not being at fault." The monk bowed. The master struck him. The master asked a monk: "Where did you set out from?" The monk said: "The Han country." The master said: "Does the Son of Heaven of the Han country still respect the Buddha-dharma?" The monk said: "How terrible. Fortunately you asked me; if you had asked someone else, there would be trouble." The master said: "What are you doing?" (A rare character in the base text was lost in transcription.) The monk said: "One does not even see people; what Buddha-dharma is there to respect?" The master said: "How many summers have you had since taking the precepts, Ajari?" The monk said: "Thirty summers." The master said: "Very good that you do not see any people." Then he struck him.

鳳翔府法門寺佛陀和尚。師常持一串數珠念三種名號曰。一釋迦。二元和。三佛陀。自餘是什麼椀躂丘。一箇過終而復始。事蹟異常時人不可測。

Reverend Fotuo of Famen Temple in Fengxiang Prefecture. The master always held a string of prayer beads and recited three names, saying: "First, Shakya. Second, Yuanhe. Third, Fotuo. What are the others, bowls and heaps?" One cycle, and again from the start. His deeds were extraordinary, and people of the time could not fathom him.

潭州華林和尚。僧到參方展坐具。師曰。緩緩。僧曰。和尚見什麼。師曰。可惜許磕破鍾樓。其僧大悟。

Reverend Hualin of Tanzhou. A monk came to visit and just spread his sitting cloth. The master said: "Slowly, slowly." The monk said: "What does the Reverend see?" The master said: "What a pity, the bell tower is smashed." The monk greatly awakened.

潮州大顛和尚初參石頭。石頭問師曰。那箇是汝心。師曰。言語者是。便被喝出。經旬日師卻問曰。前者既不是。除此外何者是心。石頭曰。除卻揚眉動目將心來。師曰。無心可將來。石頭曰。元來有心何言無心。無心盡同謗。師言下大悟。異日侍立次石頭問曰。汝是參禪僧。是州縣白蹋僧。師曰。是參禪僧。石頭曰。何者是禪。師曰。揚眉動目。石頭曰。除卻揚眉動目外將爾本來面目呈看。師曰。請和尚除揚眉動目外鑒某甲。石頭曰。我除竟。師曰。將呈和尚了也。石頭曰。汝既將呈。我心如何。師曰。不異和尚。石頭曰。不關汝事。師曰。本無物。石頭曰。汝亦無物。師曰。既無物即真物。石頭曰。真物不可得。汝心見量意旨如此也。大須護持。師後辭往潮州靈山隱居。學者四集。師上堂示眾曰。夫學道人須識自家本心。將心相示方可見道。多見時輩。只認揚眉動目一語一默。驀頭印可以為心要。此實未了。吾今為汝諸人分明說出。各須聽受。但除卻一切妄運想念見量。即汝真心。此心與塵境及守認靜默時全無交涉。即心是佛不待修治。何以故。應機隨照冷冷自用。窮其用處了不可得。喚作妙用乃是本心。大須護持不可容易。僧問。其中人相見時如何。師曰。早不其中也。僧曰。其中者如何。師曰。不作箇問。問苦海波深以何為船筏。師曰。以木為船筏。曰恁麼即得度也。師曰。盲者依前盲。瘂者依前瘂。

Reverend Dadian of Chaozhou first visited Shitou. Shitou asked the master: "Which is your mind?" The master said: "What speaks is it." He was shouted out. After ten days the master asked: "Earlier you said that is not it; besides this, what is mind?" Shitou said: "Apart from raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes, bring me the mind." The master said: "There is no mind to bring." Shitou said: "So you do have mind; why say there is no mind? To say no mind is all slander." The master was greatly awakened at these words. On another day while attending, Shitou asked: "Are you a Chan-visiting monk, or a prefectural freeloader monk?" The master said: "A Chan-visiting monk." Shitou said: "What is Chan?" The master said: "Raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes." Shitou said: "Apart from raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes, present your original face for me to see." The master said: "Please, Reverend, apart from raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes, look at me." Shitou said: "I have already set them aside." The master said: "I have already presented it to you." Shitou said: "Since you have presented it, how is my mind?" The master said: "No different from the Reverend's." Shitou said: "It has nothing to do with you." The master said: "Originally there is nothing." Shitou said: "You also have nothing." The master said: "Since there is nothing, it is the true thing." Shitou said: "The true thing cannot be obtained. Your mind's view and measure is just such. You must take great care to maintain it." The master later took leave and went to live in seclusion on Lingshan in Chaozhou, and students gathered from all sides. The master told the assembly in the hall: "One who studies the Way must recognize one's own original mind; only by showing mind to one another can one see the Way. I see many people of this time who recognize only raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes, one word and one silence, and approve it abruptly as the essence of mind. This is truly not complete. Today I will set it out clearly for all of you, and each of you must listen and accept. Just remove all deluded movements of thought, views, and measures, and that is your true mind. This mind has no dealings at all with dust objects, nor with holding on to stillness and silence. Mind itself is Buddha and does not wait for cultivation or repair. Why? Responding to the occasion it illuminates accordingly, functioning of itself cool and clear. Search its function and it cannot be found. Calling it wondrous function, it is the original mind. You must take great care to maintain it, and not be casual." A monk asked: "What about when people in that state meet?" The master said: "Already not in that state." The monk said: "What of those in that state?" The master said: "Do not make a question." He asked: "The waves of the sea of suffering are deep; what shall be the boat and raft?" The master said: "Wood is the boat and raft." He said: "Then one can cross." The master said: "The blind remain blind, the mute remain mute."

潭州攸縣長髭曠禪師。初往曹谿禮祖塔。迴參石頭。石頭問。什麼處來。曰嶺南來。石頭曰。嶺頭一尊功德成就也未。師曰。成就久矣。只欠點眼在。石頭曰。莫要點眼麼。師曰。便請。石頭乃翹一足。師禮拜。石頭曰。汝見什麼道理便禮拜。師曰。據某甲所見如洪鑪上一點雪(玄覺雲。且道長髭具眼秖對不具眼秖對。若具眼為什麼請他點眼。若不具眼又道成就久矣。且作麼生商量。法燈代雲。和尚可謂眼昏)。

Chan Master Kuang of Changzi in You county, Tanzhou. At first he went to Caoxi to bow at the Patriarch's stupa, and on returning visited Shitou. Shitou asked: "Where do you come from?" He said: "From Lingnan." Shitou said: "Has the honored figure at the Ridge been completed with merit yet?" The master said: "It was completed long ago. It only lacks the dotting of the eyes." Shitou said: "Do you not want to dot the eyes?" The master said: "Please do." Shitou then raised one foot. The master bowed. Shitou said: "What principle did you see that you bowed?" The master said: "As I see it, like a snowflake on a blazing furnace." (Xuanjue said: "Tell me, does Changzi answer with the eye or without the eye? If with the eye, why did he ask him to dot the eyes? If without the eye, he also said it was completed long ago. How do you weigh it?" Fadeng replied for him: "The Reverend can be said to have dim eyes.")

水空和尚。師一日廊下逢見一僧乃問。時中事作麼生。僧良久。師曰。只恁便得麼。僧曰。頭上更安頭。師便打之曰。去去已後惑亂人家男女在。

Reverend Shuikong. One day in the corridor the master met a monk and asked: "What are your affairs in this moment?" The monk was silent a long while. The master said: "Is it enough to be only like this?" The monk said: "Putting a head on top of a head." The master struck him and said: "Go, go; later you will confuse the sons and daughters of people."

行思禪師第三世

Third Generation from Chan Master Xingsi

荊州天皇道悟禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Daowu of Tianhuang in Jingzhou

澧州龍潭崇信禪師。本渚宮賣餅家子也。未詳姓氏。少而英異。初悟和尚為靈鑒潛請居天皇寺人莫之測。師家居於寺巷。常日以十餅饋之。悟受之每食畢。常留一餅曰。吾惠汝以蔭子孫。師一日自唸曰。餅是我持去。何以返遺我耶。其別有旨乎。遂造而問焉。悟曰。是汝持來。復汝何咎。師聞之頗曉玄旨。因請出家。悟曰。汝昔崇福善今信吾言。可名崇信。由是服勤左右。一日問曰。某自到來不蒙指示心要。悟曰。自汝到來吾未嘗不指汝心要。師曰。何處指示。悟曰。汝擎茶來吾為汝接。汝行食來吾為汝受。汝和南時吾便低首。何處不指示心要。師低頭良久。悟曰。見則直下便見。擬思即差。師當下開解。乃復問如何保任。悟曰。任性逍遙隨緣放曠。但盡凡心無別勝解。師後詣澧陽龍潭棲止。僧問髻中珠誰人得。師曰。不賞翫者得。僧曰。安著何處。師曰。有處即道來。尼眾問。如何得為僧去。師曰。作尼來多少時也。尼曰。還有為。僧時也無。師曰。汝即今是什麼。尼曰。現是尼身何得不識師曰。誰識汝。李翱問。如何是真如般若。師曰。我無真如般若。翱曰。幸遇和尚師曰。此猶是分外之言。德山問。久嚮龍潭。到來潭又不見龍亦不現。師曰。子親到龍潭。德山即休(玄覺雲。且道德山肯龍潭不肯龍潭。若肯龍潭德山眼在什麼處。若不肯為什麼承嗣他)。

Chan Master Chongxin of Longtan in Lizhou. He was originally the son of a family that sold flatbreads at Zhugong. His surname is not known. From youth he was outstanding. At first Reverend Wu was secretly invited by Lingjian to live at Tianhuang Temple, and no one fathomed him. The master's family lived in the temple lane, and every day he brought him ten flatbreads. Wu accepted them, and after each meal always left one flatbread, saying: "I give you this to shelter your descendants." One day the master thought: "The flatbreads are what I carry here; why does he return one to me? Is there some other meaning?" So he went and asked. Wu said: "You brought it; what fault is there in returning it to you?" The master, hearing this, quite understood the profound meaning, and so asked to leave home. Wu said: "You formerly honored blessed good deeds, and now you believe my words; you may be named Chongxin (Honoring Faith)." Thereafter he served diligently at his side. One day he asked: "Since I came, I have not received any instruction in the essence of mind." Wu said: "Since you came, I have never failed to point out the essence of mind to you." The master said: "Where did you point it out?" Wu said: "When you brought tea, I received it for you. When you brought food, I accepted it for you. When you greeted me, I bowed my head. Where have I not pointed out the essence of mind?" The master lowered his head for a long while. Wu said: "If you see it, see it right now; if you think about it, you are off." The master opened to understanding on the spot, and asked how to maintain it. Wu said: "Roam freely following your nature, be unrestrained following conditions. Only exhaust the ordinary mind; there is no other superior understanding." The master later went to Longtan in Liyang to dwell. A monk asked: "Who obtains the pearl in the topknot?" The master said: "One who does not admire it." He said: "Where is it placed?" The master said: "If there is a place, speak it." The assembly of nuns asked: "How can one become a monk?" The master said: "How long have you been a nun?" The nun said: "Is there a time of being a monk?" The master said: "What are you right now?" The nun said: "I am a nun's body now; how can you not know?" The master said: "Who knows you?" Li Ao asked: "What is true suchness prajna?" The master said: "I have no true suchness prajna." Ao said: "I am fortunate to meet the Reverend." The master said: "This is still an extra word." Deshan asked: "I have long admired Longtan. Now that I have come, I neither see the pool nor does the dragon appear." The master said: "You have come to Longtan in person." Deshan stopped. (Xuanjue said: "Tell me, did Deshan approve of Longtan or not? If he approved of Longtan, where was Deshan's eye? If not, why did he become his successor?")

鄧州丹霞山天然禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Tianran of Mount Danxia in Dengzhou

京兆終南山翠微無學禪師。初問丹霞。如何是諸佛師。丹霞咄曰。幸自可憐生。須要執巾箒作麼。師退三步。丹霞曰錯。師即進前。丹霞曰。錯錯。師翹一足旋身一轉而出。丹霞曰。得即得孤他諸佛。師由是領旨住翠微。投子問。未審二祖初見達磨當何所得。師曰。汝今見吾復何所得。一日師在法堂內行。投子進前接禮而問曰。西來密旨和尚如何示人。師駐步少時。又曰。乞師垂示。師曰。更要第二杓惡水作麼。投子禮謝而退。師曰。莫垛卻投子曰。時至根苗自生。師因供養羅漢。有僧問曰。丹霞燒木佛。和尚為什麼供養羅漢。師曰。燒也不燒著。供養亦一任供養。又問。供養羅漢羅漢還來也無。師曰。汝每日還吃麼。僧無語。師曰。少有靈利底。

Chan Master Wuxue of Cuiwei on Mount Zhongnan in Jingzhao. At first he asked Danxia: "What is the teacher of all Buddhas?" Danxia scolded: "You are pitiable enough already; why must you hold a towel and broom?" The master retreated three steps. Danxia said: "Wrong." The master advanced. Danxia said: "Wrong, wrong." The master raised one foot, turned his body around once, and went out. Danxia said: "You got it, but you have betrayed the Buddhas." From this the master grasped the essential point and lived at Cuiwei. Touzi asked: "I wonder what the Second Patriarch obtained when he first saw Bodhidharma?" The master said: "What do you obtain now that you see me?" One day the master was walking in the Dharma hall. Touzi came forward, received him with a bow, and asked: "The secret meaning of the coming from the West; how does the Reverend show it to people?" The master paused a moment. He said again: "I beg the master to instruct me." The master said: "Why do you want a second ladle of dirty water?" Touzi bowed in thanks and withdrew. The master said: "Do not pile it up." Touzi said: "When the time comes, roots and sprouts grow of themselves." The master was making offerings to arhats. A monk asked: "Danxia burned a wooden Buddha; why does the Reverend make offerings to arhats?" The master said: "Burning does not burn it. Making offerings is also left to making offerings." He asked further: "When making offerings to arhats, do the arhats come?" The master said: "Do you eat every day?" The monk was speechless. The master said: "There are few sharp ones."

丹霞山義安禪師(第二世住)僧問。如何是佛。師曰。如何是上坐。曰恁麼即無異去也。師曰。向汝道。

Chan Master Yi'an of Mount Danxia (second abbot). A monk asked: "What is Buddha?" The master said: "What is the senior monk?" He said: "In that case there is no difference." The master said: "I am telling you."

吉州性空禪師。有一僧來參。師乃展手示之。僧近前卻退。師曰。父母俱喪略不慘顏。僧呵呵大笑。師曰。少間與闍梨舉哀。其僧打筋斗而出。師曰。蒼天蒼天。

Chan Master Xingkong of Jizhou. A monk came to visit. The master spread out his hand to show him. The monk came forward and retreated. The master said: "Both parents dead, and not the slightest grief on your face." The monk laughed loudly. The master said: "In a moment I will mourn together with you, Ajari." The monk turned a somersault and went out. The master said: "Blue sky, blue sky."

本童和尚。因門僧寫師真呈師。師曰。此若是我更呈阿誰。僧曰。豈可分外。師曰。若不分外汝卻收取這箇。僧便擬收。師打雲。正是分外彊為。僧曰。若恁麼即須呈於師。師曰。收取收取。

Reverend Bentong. A monk who had written the master's portrait presented it to him. The master said: "If this is me, to whom else would you present it?" The monk said: "How could it be beyond one's share?" The master said: "If it is not beyond your share, then take this one back." The monk was about to take it. The master struck him and said: "Exactly beyond your share, forced." The monk said: "If so, I must present it to the master." The master said: "Take it, take it."

米倉和尚。有僧新到參。繞師三匝敲禪床曰。不見主人翁終不下參眾。師曰。什麼處情識去來。僧曰。果然不在。師打一拄杖。僧曰。幾落情識呵呵。師曰。村草步頭逢著一箇有什麼話處。僧曰。且參眾去。

Reverend Micang. A newly arrived monk came to visit, circled the master three times, knocked on the meditation seat, and said: "If I do not see the master, I will never go down to join the assembly." The master said: "Where are sentiment and consciousness coming and going?" The monk said: "Indeed it is not here." The master struck him once with the staff. The monk said: "I nearly fell into sentiment and consciousness, ha ha." The master said: "Meeting someone at the landing of a village path, what is there to say?" The monk said: "Then I shall go join the assembly."

前藥山惟儼禪師法嗣

Dharma Heirs of the Former Chan Master Weiyan of Yaoshan

潭州道吾山圓智禪師豫章海昏人也。姓張氏。幼依槃和尚受教登戒。預藥山法會密契心印。一日藥山問。子去何處來。曰遊山來。藥山曰。不離此室速道將來。曰山上烏兒白似雪。㵎底遊魚忙不徹。師與雲巖侍立次。藥山曰。智不到處切忌道著。道著即頭角生。智頭陀怎麼生。師便出去。雲巖問藥山曰。智師兄為什麼不祇對和尚。藥山曰。我今日背痛。是他卻會。汝去問取。雲巖即來問師曰。師兄適來為什麼不祇對和尚。師曰。汝卻去問取和尚(僧問雲居。切忌道著意怎麼生。雲居雲。此語最毒。僧雲。如何是最毒底語。雲居雲。一棒打殺龍蛇)雲巖臨遷化時。遣人送辭書到。師展書覽之曰。雲巖不知有悔。當時不向伊道。然雖如是要且不違藥山之子(玄覺雲。古人恁麼道還有也未。又云。雲巖當時不會。且道什麼處是伊不會處)藥山上堂雲。我有一句子未曾說向人。師出雲。相隨來也。僧問藥山。一句子如何說。藥山曰。非言說。師曰。早言說了也。師臥次椑樹雲。作甚麼。師雲。蓋覆。椑雲。臥是坐是。師雲。不在兩頭。椑雲。爭奈蓋覆。師雲。莫亂道。師見椑樹坐次。師雲。作什麼。椑雲。和南。師雲。隔闊來多少時。椑雲。恰是。乃拂袖出。師提笠子出。雲巖雲。作甚麼。師雲。有用處。巖雲。風雨來怎麼生。師雲。蓋覆著。巖雲。他還受蓋覆麼。師雲。雖然如此且無遺漏。因溈山問雲巖。菩提以何為坐。雲巖曰。以無為為坐。雲巖卻問溈山。溈山曰。以諸法空為坐。溈山又問師。怎麼生。師曰。坐也聽伊坐。臥也聽伊臥。有一人不坐不臥。速道速道。溈山問師。什麼處去來。師曰。看病來。曰有幾人病。師曰。有病底有不病底。曰不病底莫是智頭陀否。師曰。病與不病總不干他事。急道急道。僧問。萬裡無雲未是本來天。如何是本來天。師曰。今日好曬麥。問無神通菩薩為什麼足跡難尋。師曰。

Chan Master Yuanzhi of Mount Daowu in Tanzhou was a native of Haihun in Yuzhang, surnamed Zhang. In childhood he entered the monastic life under the monk Pan, received instruction, and took the full precepts. He attended Yaoshan's Dharma assembly and secretly realized the mind seal. One day Yaoshan asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ He said, ‘I have been wandering in the mountains.’ Yaoshan said, ‘Without leaving this room, tell me quickly.’ He said, ‘On the mountain the birds are white as snow; in the ravine the fish swim without cease.’ He and Yunyan were standing in attendance when Yaoshan said, ‘Where wisdom does not reach, be careful not to speak. Once spoken, horns grow on your head. How does the ascetic Zhi fare?’ He went out. Yunyan asked Yaoshan, ‘Why did Senior Brother Zhi not answer you?’ Yaoshan said, ‘My back hurts today. He understands; go ask him.’ Yunyan asked him, ‘Why did you not answer the master just now?’ He said, ‘Go ask the master.’ (A monk asked Yunju, ‘What does “be careful not to speak” mean?’ Yunju said, ‘Those words are most poisonous.’ The monk asked, ‘What are the most poisonous words?’ Yunju said, ‘A single blow kills dragons and snakes.’) When Yunyan was near death, he sent someone with a farewell letter. The master opened and read it, then said, ‘Yunyan did not know this. I regret not telling him then. Even so, he did not betray Yaoshan’s teaching.’ (Xuansha said, ‘Did the ancients really speak this way? And when he says Yunyan did not understand, where exactly did Yunyan fail to understand?’) Yaoshan addressed the assembly: ‘I have a phrase I have never spoken to anyone.’ The master came forward and said, ‘I have been following you.’ A monk asked Yaoshan, ‘How is that phrase spoken?’ Yaoshan said, ‘It is not speech.’ The master said, ‘You have already spoken it.’ As he lay down, Pi Shu asked, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘Covering myself.’ Pi Shu asked, ‘Are you lying down or sitting?’ He said, ‘Neither of the two.’ Pi Shu said, ‘Yet you are covering yourself.’ He said, ‘Do not talk nonsense.’ When the master saw Pi Shu sitting, he asked, ‘What are you doing?’ Pi Shu said, ‘Paying my respects.’ The master asked, ‘How long have we been apart?’ Pi Shu said, ‘Exactly so,’ then swept out with his sleeve. The master took up his hat and went out. Yunyan asked, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘It has its use.’ Yunyan asked, ‘What if wind and rain come?’ He said, ‘Then I cover myself.’ Yunyan asked, ‘Will it still be covered?’ He said, ‘Even so, nothing is left out.’ Weishan asked Yunyan, ‘What does bodhi use as its seat?’ Yunyan said, ‘It sits on non-doing.’ Yunyan asked Weishan in return. Weishan said, ‘It sits on the emptiness of all dharmas.’ Weishan then asked the master, ‘What about you?’ He said, ‘Let one sit if sitting, and lie down if lying down. There is one who neither sits nor lies down. Speak quickly!’ Weishan asked, ‘Where have you been?’ He said, ‘Visiting the sick.’ ‘How many were ill?’ ‘Some were ill; some were not.’ ‘Could the one who was not ill be the ascetic Zhi?’ He said, ‘Illness and health have nothing to do with him. Speak quickly!’ A monk asked, ‘When there are no clouds for ten thousand miles, that is not yet the original sky. What is the original sky?’ He said, ‘Today is a fine day for drying grain.’ Asked, ‘Why are the footprints of a bodhisattva without supernatural powers hard to find?’ he said:

同道方知。曰和尚知否。師曰。不知。曰為什麼不知。師曰。汝不識我語。雲巖問。師兄家風作麼生。師曰。教汝指點著堪作什麼。曰無遮箇來多少時也。師曰。牙根猶帶生澁在。又問。如何是今時著力處。師曰。千人喚不迴頭方有少分。曰忽然火起時如何。師曰。能燒大地。師問僧。除卻星及焰阿那箇是火。僧曰。不是火。別一僧卻問師還見火否。師曰見。曰見從何起。師曰。除卻行住坐臥更請一問。南泉示眾雲。法身具四大否。有人道得與他一䙅裩。師雲。性地非空空非性地。此是地大。三(一本作四)大亦然。南泉不違前言乃與師裩。師見雲巖不安。乃謂曰。離此殼漏子向什麼處相見。巖雲。不生不滅處相見。師曰。何不道非不生不滅處。亦不求相見。師見雲巖補草鞋雲。作甚麼。巖雲。將敗壞補敗壞。師雲。何不道即敗壞非敗壞。師聞僧念維摩經云。八千菩薩五百聲聞。皆欲隨從文殊師利。師雲。甚麼處去。其僧無對。師便打。後僧問禾山。禾山代雲。給侍者方諧。師下山到五峰。五峰問。還識藥山老宿否。師曰。不識。五峰曰。為甚麼不識。師曰。不識不識。問如何是和尚家風。師下禪床作女人拜曰。謝子遠來都無祇待。問如何是祖師西來意。師曰。東土不曾逢。問設先師齋未審先師還來也無。師曰。汝諸人設齋作麼生。問頭上寶蓋生不得道我是如何。師曰。聽他。曰和尚如何。師曰。我無遮箇。石霜問師。百年後有人問極則事。作麼生向他道。師喚沙彌。沙彌應諾。師曰。添卻淨缾水著。師良久卻問石霜。適來問什麼。石霜再舉。師便起去。石霜異日又問。和尚一片骨敲著似銅鳴。向什麼處去也。師喚侍者。侍者應諾。師曰。驢年去。師唐大和九年乙卯九月示疾有苦。僧眾慰問體候。師曰。有受非償子知之乎。眾皆愀然。十一日將行。謂眾曰。吾當西邁理無東移。言訖告寂。壽六十有七。

(The master continued:) ‘Only one who shares the Way can know.’ ‘Does the master know?’ ‘No.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘You do not understand my words.’ Yunyan asked, ‘What is your family style?’ He said, ‘What use is it if I point it out to you?’ Yunyan said, ‘It has been a long time since this was absent.’ He said, ‘Your roots still taste raw.’ Yunyan asked, ‘Where should one apply effort now?’ He said, ‘When a thousand people call and you do not turn your head, you have a little understanding.’ ‘What if fire suddenly breaks out?’ ‘It can burn the whole earth.’ The master asked a monk, ‘Apart from stars and flames, which is fire?’ The monk said, ‘It is not fire.’ Another monk asked, ‘Do you see fire?’ ‘I do.’ ‘Where does seeing arise?’ ‘Apart from walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, ask another question.’ Nanquan told the assembly, ‘Does the Dharma-body possess the four elements? Whoever can answer will receive a pair of trousers.’ The master said, ‘The nature-ground is not emptiness, and emptiness is not the nature-ground. This is the element earth; the same applies to the other three (one edition says four) elements.’ Nanquan kept his word and gave him the trousers. Seeing Yunyan unwell, the master said, ‘When you leave this leaky shell, where shall we meet?’ Yunyan said, ‘We shall meet where there is neither birth nor death.’ The master said, ‘Why not say: “Neither in birth nor in death, and no meeting is sought”?’ Seeing Yunyan mend a sandal, he asked, ‘What are you doing?’ Yunyan said, ‘Mending what is worn with what is worn.’ The master said, ‘Why not say that what is worn is not worn?’ Hearing a monk recite the Vimalakirti Sutra—‘Eight thousand bodhisattvas and five hundred disciples all wished to follow Manjushri’—the master asked, ‘Where were they going?’ The monk had no answer, so the master struck him. Later the monk asked Heshan, who answered for him, ‘Only by serving the attendant could it be accomplished.’ The master descended the mountain and visited Wufeng. Wufeng asked, ‘Do you know the old master Yaoshan?’ ‘I do not.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘I do not know; I do not know.’ Asked, ‘What is the master’s family style?’ he stepped down from the meditation seat, bowed like a woman, and said, ‘Thank you for coming from afar; there is nothing here to offer you.’ Asked, ‘What is the meaning of the ancestral teacher’s coming from the West?’ he said, ‘He never met anyone in the Eastern Land.’ Asked whether the late master would attend a memorial meal, he said, ‘How do you people prepare the meal?’ Asked, ‘A jeweled canopy has appeared above my head; may I say “I am it”?’ he said, ‘Let it be.’ ‘What about the master?’ ‘I do not have this.’ Shishuang asked him, ‘When someone asks about the ultimate matter after your hundred years, what will you say?’ He called a novice. The novice answered. He said, ‘Add water to the clean-water bottle.’ After a long pause, he asked Shishuang, ‘What did you ask just now?’ Shishuang repeated the question, and the master got up and left. Another day Shishuang asked, ‘Your bones ring like bronze when struck. Where have you gone?’ He called an attendant. The attendant answered. The master said, ‘In the Year of the Donkey.’ In the ninth month of the yiyou year, the ninth year of Taihe in the Tang, the master fell ill. The monks comforted him. He said, ‘One who receives must repay. Do you understand?’ They all looked saddened. On the eleventh day he told the assembly, ‘I am going west; reason does not move east.’ With that he passed away. He was sixty-seven.

闍維得靈骨數片。建塔於石霜山之陽。勅諡修一大師。塔曰寶相。

At the cremation, several pieces of sacred bone were recovered. A stupa was built on the southern slope of Mount Shishuang. By imperial decree he was posthumously titled Master Xiuyi, and his stupa was named Baoxiang.

潭州雲巖曇晟禪師鍾陵建昌人也。姓王氏。少出家於石門。初參百丈海禪師。未悟玄旨侍左右二十年。百丈歸寂。師乃謁藥山言下契會(語見藥山章)一日藥山問。汝除在百丈。更到什麼處來。師曰。曾到廣南來。曰見說廣州城東門外有一團石。被州主移卻是否。師曰。非但州主。闔國人移亦不動。藥山乃又問。聞汝解弄師子是否。師曰是。曰弄得幾出。師曰。弄得六出。曰我亦弄得。師曰。和尚弄得幾出。曰我弄得一齣。師曰。一即六六即一。師後到溈山。溈山問曰。承長老在藥山弄師子是否。師曰是。曰長弄耶還有置時。師曰。要弄即弄要置即置。曰置時師子在什麼處。師曰。置也置也。問從上諸聖什麼處去。師良久雲。作麼作麼。問暫時不在如同死人如何。師曰。好埋卻。問大保任底人與那箇是一是二。師雲。一機之絹是一段是兩段。洞山聞雲。如人接樹。師煎茶次道吾問。煎與阿誰。師曰。有一人要。曰何不教伊自煎。師曰。幸有某甲在。師問石霜。什麼處來。霜雲。溈山來。師雲。在彼中得多少時。霜雲。粗經冬夏。師雲。恁麼即成山長也。霜雲。雖在彼中卻不知。師雲。他家亦非知非識。無對。後道吾聞雲。得恁無佛法身心。師後居潭州攸縣雲巖山。一日謂眾曰。有箇人家兒子。問著無有道不得底。洞山問。他屋裡有多少典籍。師曰。一字也無。曰爭得恁麼多知。師曰。日夜不曾眠。曰問一段事還得否。師曰。道得卻不道。師問僧。什麼處來。僧曰。添香來。師曰。見佛否。曰見。師曰。什麼處見。曰下界見。師曰。古佛古佛。道吾問。大悲千手眼如何。師曰。如無燈時把得枕子怎麼生。道吾曰。我會也我會也。師曰。怎麼生會。道吾曰。通身是眼。師掃地次溈山雲。太驅驅生。師雲。須知有不驅驅者。溈雲。恁麼即有第二月也。師竪起掃箒雲是第幾月。師低頭而去(玄妙聞雲。

Chan Master Tansheng of Yunyan in Tanzhou was a native of Jianchang in Zhongling, surnamed Wang. He left home young at Shimen. He first called on Chan Master Hai of Baizhang but did not yet awaken to the profound meaning, and attended him for twenty years. After Baizhang passed away, he visited Yaoshan and realized the matter in a single exchange (see the Yaoshan chapter). One day Yaoshan asked, ‘Besides Baizhang, where else have you been?’ He said, ‘I once went to Guangnan.’ Yaoshan said, ‘I heard there is a boulder outside the east gate of Guangzhou that the prefect moved away. Is that so?’ He said, ‘Not even all the people of the kingdom could move it, let alone the prefect.’ Yaoshan asked, ‘I hear you know how to play with lions.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How many routines?’ ‘Six.’ ‘I know one too.’ ‘How many do you know, Master?’ ‘One.’ He said, ‘One is six; six is one.’ Later he went to Weishan. Weishan asked, ‘I hear you played with lions at Yaoshan.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you play all the time, or do you ever stop?’ ‘When I want to play, I play; when I want to stop, I stop.’ ‘Where is the lion when you stop?’ ‘Stopped, stopped.’ Asked, ‘Where have all the sages of the past gone?’ he paused, then said, ‘What is it? What is it?’ Asked, ‘If one is absent even for a moment, is that like being dead?’ he said, ‘Bury him.’ Asked, ‘Are the person who has fully preserved the Great Matter and another person one or two?’ he said, ‘Is a bolt of silk one length or two?’ Dongshan heard this and said, ‘It is like grafting a tree.’ While he was making tea, Daowu asked, ‘Who is it for?’ He said, ‘Someone wants it.’ ‘Why not have him make it himself?’ ‘Fortunately, I am here.’ The master asked Shishuang, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘Weishan.’ ‘How long were you there?’ ‘A few seasons.’ ‘Then you have become a long-standing mountain.’ Shishuang said, ‘Though I was there, I did not know it.’ The master said, ‘That house is neither knowing nor consciousness.’ Shishuang had no reply. Later Daowu heard of it and said, ‘This is getting the body and mind of the Buddha-Dharma without a Buddha.’ The master later lived on Mount Yunyan in You County, Tanzhou. One day he told the assembly, ‘There is a man whose son can answer anything he is asked.’ Dongshan asked, ‘How many books are in his house?’ ‘Not a single word.’ ‘How can he know so much?’ ‘He never sleeps, day or night.’ ‘Can I ask him something?’ ‘If he can answer, he will not answer.’ He asked a monk, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘Burning incense.’ ‘Did you see the Buddha?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Where?’ ‘In the lower realm.’ ‘Ancient Buddha, ancient Buddha.’ Daowu asked, ‘What of the great compassion with a thousand hands and eyes?’ He said, ‘As when one picks up a pillow in the dark without a lamp.’ Daowu said, ‘I understand! I understand!’ ‘How do you understand?’ ‘My whole body is eyes.’ While the master was sweeping, Weishan said, ‘You are working very hard.’ He replied, ‘You should know there is one who does not work hard.’ Weishan said, ‘Then there is a second moon.’ The master raised the broom and asked, ‘Which moon is this?’ Then he lowered his head and left. (Xuanmiao said, ‘That is precisely the second moon.’) Asked by a monk, ‘Where have you come from?’ he replied, ‘I came from speaking with a stone.’ ‘Did the stone nod?’ The monk had no answer. The master said, ‘It nodded before you asked.’ While making sandals, Dongshan asked, ‘May I ask for your eyes—can I get them?’ He said, ‘To whom have you given yours?’ ‘I, Liangjie, have none.’ ‘You have them. Where will you put them?’ Dongshan was silent. The master asked, ‘Is the one asking for eyes an eye?’ ‘No.’ He scolded him. He asked a group of nuns, ‘Is your father alive?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How old is he?’ ‘Eighty.’ ‘Do you know the father you have who is not eighty?’ ‘Could it be the one who came this way?’ ‘Still a child.’ (Dongshan said, ‘Even one who did not come this way is still a child.’) A monk asked, ‘What if a single thought suddenly arises and falls into the realm of demons?’ He said, ‘Why did you come from the Buddha-realm?’ The monk had no answer. The master asked, ‘Understand?’ ‘I do not.’ ‘Do not say you cannot embody it. Even if you could, it would only be going left and right.’ He asked a monk, ‘I hear you can tell fortunes.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Try telling mine.’ The monk had no answer. (Dongshan answered for him: ‘Please tell me the master’s birth month.’) In the tenth month of the xinyou year, the first year of Huichang, the master fell ill. After bathing on the twenty-sixth, he told the chief monk to prepare a meal, saying a senior monk would depart the next day. No one departed on the twenty-seventh. That night the master passed away, aged sixty. At cremation more than a thousand relics were recovered and buried at Shifen. By imperial decree he was titled Master Wuzhu, and his stupa named Jingsheng.

正是第二月)師問僧。什麼處來。僧曰。石上語話來。師曰。石還點頭也無。僧無對。師曰。未問時卻點頭。師作鞋次洞山問。就師乞眼睛。未審還得也無。師曰。汝底與阿誰去也。曰良价無。師曰有。汝向什麼處著。洞山無語。師曰。乞眼睛底是眼否。曰非眼。師咄之。師問尼眾。汝爺在否。曰在。師曰。年多少。曰年八十。師曰。汝有箇爺不。年八十還知否。曰莫是恁麼來者。師曰。猶是兒子(洞山雲。直是不恁麼來者。亦是兒子)僧問。一念瞥起便落魔界時如何。師曰。汝因什麼從佛界而來。僧無對。師曰。會麼。曰不會。師曰。莫道體不得。設使體得也只是左之右之。師問僧。聞汝解卜是。否曰是。師曰。試卜老僧看。僧無對(洞山代雲。請和尚生月)師唐會昌元年辛酉十月示疾。二十六日沐身竟。喚主事僧令備齋。來日有上坐發去。至二十七日並無人去。及夜師歸寂。壽六十。荼毘得舍利一千餘粒。瘞於石墳。勅諡無住大師。塔曰淨勝。

The master asked a monk, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘From speaking on a stone.’ ‘Did the stone nod?’ The monk was silent. The master said, ‘It nodded before I asked.’ While making sandals, Dongshan asked, ‘May I ask for your eyes—can I get them?’ The master said, ‘To whom have you given yours?’ ‘I, Liangjie, have none.’ ‘You have them. Where will you put them?’ Dongshan was silent. The master asked, ‘Is the one asking for eyes an eye?’ ‘No.’ He scolded him. He asked the nuns, ‘Is your father alive?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘How old is he?’ ‘Eighty.’ ‘Do you know the father you have who is not eighty?’ ‘Could it be the one who came this way?’ ‘Still a child.’ (Dongshan said, ‘Even one who did not come this way is still a child.’) A monk asked, ‘What if a single thought suddenly arises and falls into the realm of demons?’ He said, ‘Why did you come from the Buddha-realm?’ The monk was silent. ‘Understand?’ ‘I do not.’ ‘Do not say you cannot embody it. Even if you could, it would only be going left and right.’ He asked a monk, ‘I hear you can tell fortunes.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Try telling mine.’ The monk had no answer. (Dongshan answered for him: ‘Please tell me the master’s birth month.’) In the tenth month of the xinyou year, the first year of Huichang, the master fell ill. After bathing on the twenty-sixth, he told the chief monk to prepare a meal, saying a senior monk would depart the next day. No one departed on the twenty-seventh. That night the master passed away, aged sixty. At cremation more than a thousand relics were recovered and buried at Shifen. By imperial decree he was titled Master Wuzhu, and his stupa named Jingsheng.

華亭船子和尚名德誠。嗣樂山。甞於華亭吳江汎一小舟。時謂之船子和尚。師甞謂同參道吾曰。他後有靈利坐主指一箇來。道吾後激勉京口和尚善會參禮師。師問曰。坐主住甚寺。會曰。寺即不住。住即不似。師曰。不似似箇什麼。會曰。目前無相似。師曰。何處學得來。曰非耳目之所到。師笑曰。一句合頭語萬劫繫驢橛。垂絲千尺意在深潭。離鉤三寸速道速道。會擬開口。師便以篙撞在水中。因而大悟。師當下棄舟而逝。莫知其終。

The boatman monk of Huating was named Decheng and inherited Yaoshan’s Dharma (the base text says ‘Leshan,’ a mistake for Yaoshan). He often rowed a small boat on the Wu River at Huating, and people called him the Boatman Monk. He once told his fellow practitioner Daowu, ‘In the future, if you meet a keen teacher, send him to me.’ Daowu later encouraged the monk Shanhui of Jingkou to visit him. The master asked, ‘Where do you reside?’ Shanhui said, ‘I do not reside in a temple; where I reside is not like a temple.’ ‘What is it like?’ ‘Nothing before me resembles it.’ ‘Where did you learn that?’ ‘It is beyond the reach of eyes and ears.’ The master laughed: ‘One fitting phrase can tether a donkey for ten thousand kalpas. A thousand feet of line hang down, yet the meaning lies in the deep pool. Three inches from the hook—speak quickly!’ Shanhui was about to speak when the master struck him into the water with his pole. He suddenly awakened. The master immediately abandoned his boat and disappeared; no one knew where he went.

宣州椑樹慧省禪師。洞山參師。師問曰。來作什麼。洞山曰。來親近和尚。師曰。若是親近用動兩片皮作麼。洞山無對(曹山後聞乃雲。一子親得)僧問。如何是佛。師曰。貓兒上露柱。曰學人不會。師曰。問取露柱去。

Chan Master Huisheng of Beishu in Xuanzhou. Dongshan visited him. The master asked, ‘What have you come for?’ Dongshan said, ‘To draw near to you.’ He said, ‘If you want to draw near, why move your two lips?’ Dongshan was silent. (Caoshan later said, ‘One son has truly drawn near.’) A monk asked, ‘What is the Buddha?’ He said, ‘A cat climbing a pillar.’ ‘I do not understand.’ ‘Ask the pillar.’

高沙彌(藥山住庵)初參藥山。藥山問師。什麼處來。師曰。南嶽來。山雲。何處去。師曰。江陵受戒去。藥雲。受戒圖什麼。師曰。圖免生死。藥雲。有一人不受戒亦免生死。汝還知否。師曰。恁麼即佛戒何用。藥雲。猶掛唇齒在。便召維那雲。遮跛腳沙彌不任僧務。安排向後庵著。藥山又謂雲巖道吾曰。適來一箇沙彌卻有來由。道吾雲。未可全信更勘始得。藥乃再問師曰。見說長安甚鬧。師曰。我國晏然(法眼別雲。見誰說)藥雲。汝從看經得請益得。師曰。不從看經得。亦不從請益得。山雲。大有人不看經不請益。為什麼不得。師曰。不道他無只是他不肯承當。師乃辭藥山住庵。藥雲。生死事大何不受戒去。師曰。知是遮般事喚什麼作戒。藥咄遮沙彌饒舌入來近處住庵時復要相見。師住庵後雨裡來相看。藥雲。爾來也。師曰是。藥雲。可殺濕。師曰。不打遮箇鼓笛。雲巖雲。皮也無打什麼鼓。道吾雲。鼓也無打什麼皮。藥雲。今日大好曲調。僧問。一句子還有該不到處否。師曰。不順世。藥山齋時自打鼓。高沙彌捧缽作舞入堂。藥山便擲下鼓槌雲。是第幾和。高曰。第二和。曰如何是第一和。高就桶內舀一杓飯。便出去。

Novice Gao (who lived in a hut at Yaoshan) first called on Yaoshan. Yaoshan asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘Mount Heng.’ ‘Where are you going?’ ‘To Jiangling to receive the precepts.’ ‘Why receive them?’ ‘To escape birth and death.’ ‘There is someone who escapes birth and death without receiving precepts. Do you know him?’ ‘Then what use are the Buddha’s precepts?’ ‘You still have them hanging from your lips.’ Yaoshan called the supervisor and said, ‘This lame novice is unfit for monastic duties. Arrange for him to live in the rear hermitage.’ Yaoshan then told Yunyan and Daowu, ‘That novice who just came has something to him.’ Daowu said, ‘Do not trust him completely; test him again.’ Yaoshan asked Gao, ‘I hear Chang’an is very noisy.’ Gao said, ‘Our country is at peace.’ (Fayan offered another reply: ‘Who told you that?’) Yaoshan asked, ‘Did you get this from reading sutras or from asking questions?’ Gao said, ‘Neither from reading sutras nor from asking questions.’ ‘Many people do neither; why do they not get it?’ ‘I do not say they lack it; they simply will not take responsibility for it.’ Gao took leave to live in a hermitage. Yaoshan said, ‘Birth and death are a great matter. Why not go receive the precepts?’ Gao said, ‘Knowing this is the matter, what do you call “precepts”?’ Yaoshan scolded him: ‘This novice is glib!’ Then he said, ‘Live nearby and visit from time to time.’ After Gao settled in the hermitage, he came to see Yaoshan in the rain. Yaoshan said, ‘You have come.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘You are soaked!’ Gao said, ‘I am not playing drums and flutes.’ Yunyan said, ‘You have no drum skin; what can you play?’ Daowu said, ‘You have no drum; what skin do you play?’ Yaoshan said, ‘What a fine tune today!’ A monk asked, ‘Is there anything a single phrase does not encompass?’ Gao said, ‘It does not follow the world.’ At mealtime Yaoshan beat a drum. Gao carried his bowl into the hall dancing. Yaoshan threw down the drumstick and asked, ‘Which harmony is this?’ Gao said, ‘The second harmony.’ ‘What is the first?’ Gao dipped a ladle of rice from the tub and left.

鄂州百顏明哲禪師。洞山與密師伯到參。師問曰。闍梨近離什麼處。洞山曰。近離湖南。師曰。觀察使姓什麼。曰不得姓。師曰。名什麼。曰不得名。師曰。還治事也無。曰自有郎幕在。師曰。豈不出入。洞山便拂袖去。師明日入僧堂曰。昨日對二闍梨一轉語不稔。今請二闍梨道。若道得老僧便開粥飯相伴過夏。速道速道。洞山曰。太尊貴生。師乃開粥共過一夏。

Chan Master Mingzhe of Baiyan in Ezhou. Dongshan and Uncle Mi came to visit. The master asked, ‘Reverend, where have you just come from?’ Dongshan said, ‘Hunan.’ ‘What is the surname of the regional inspector?’ ‘He has no surname.’ ‘What is his name?’ ‘He has no name.’ ‘Does he govern affairs?’ ‘He has his staff.’ ‘Then does he not come and go?’ Dongshan swept out with his sleeve. The next day the master entered the monks’ hall and said, ‘Yesterday I spoke with the two reverends, but my words were not ripe. I ask you both to speak. If you can, I will open the gruel and rice and spend the summer with you. Quickly!’ Dongshan said, ‘You are too honored.’ The master opened the meal, and they spent the summer together.

潭州長髭曠禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Kuang of Changzi in Tanzhou

潭州石室善道和尚。嗣攸縣長髭曠禪師。作沙彌時長髭遣令受戒。謂之曰。汝迴日須到石頭禮拜。師受戒後迴參石頭。一日隨石頭遊山次。石頭曰。汝與我斫卻面前頭樹子礙我。師曰。不將刀來。石頭乃抽刀倒與師。師雲。不過那頭來。石頭曰。爾用那頭作什麼。師即大悟便歸。長髭問。汝到石頭否。師曰。到即到不通號。長髭曰。從誰受戒。師曰。不依他。長髭曰在彼即恁麼。來我遮裡作麼生。師曰。不違背。長髭曰。太忉忉生。師曰。舌頭未曾點著在。長髭咄曰。沙彌出去。師便出。長髭曰。爭得不遇於人。師尋值沙汰。乃作行者居於石室。每見僧便豎起杖子云。三世諸佛盡由遮箇。對者少得冥契。長沙聞之乃雲。我若見即令放下杖子。別通箇消息。三聖將此語到石室祇對。被師認破是長沙語。杏山聞三聖失機。又親到石室。師見杏山僧眾相隨。潛往碓米。杏山曰。行者不易貧道難消。師曰。無心椀子盛將來。無縫合盤合取去。說什麼難消。杏山便休。仰山問。佛之與道相去幾何。師曰。道如展手佛似握拳。曰畢竟如何的當可信可依。師以手撥空三兩下曰。無恁麼事無恁麼事。曰還假看教否。師曰。三乘十二分教是分外之事。若與他作對。即是心境兩法能所雙行。便有種種見解。亦是狂慧未足為道。若不與他作對一事也無。所以祖師雲。本來無一物。汝不見小兒出胎時。可道我解看教不解看教。當恁麼時亦不知有佛性義無佛性義。及至長大便學種種知解。出來便道我能我解。不知是客塵煩惱。十六行中嬰兒行為最。哆哆和和時喻學道之人離分別取捨心故。讚歎嬰兒。何況喻取之。若謂嬰兒是道。今時錯會。師一夕與仰山翫月。仰山問曰。遮箇月尖時圓相什麼處去。圓時尖相又什麼處去。師曰。尖時圓相隱。圓時尖相在(雲巖雲。尖時圓相在。圓時無尖相。道吾雲。尖時亦不尖。

The monk Shandao of Shishi in Tanzhou inherited the Dharma of Chan Master Kuang of Changzi in You County. When he was a novice, Changzi sent him to receive the precepts and told him, ‘When you return, you must bow to Shitou.’ After receiving the precepts, he visited Shitou. One day, while traveling in the mountains with him, Shitou said, ‘Cut down that tree in front of me; it is in my way.’ Shandao said, ‘I have no knife.’ Shitou drew his knife and handed it over with the blade reversed. Shandao said, ‘I will not take the other end.’ Shitou asked, ‘What would you use that end for?’ Shandao immediately awakened and returned. Changzi asked, ‘Did you reach Shitou?’ ‘I reached him, but no announcement was made.’ ‘From whom did you receive the precepts?’ ‘I did not rely on him.’ ‘If that is how you were there, how are you here with me?’ ‘I have not turned away.’ ‘You talk too much.’ ‘My tongue has not even touched it.’ Changzi scolded him, ‘Novice, get out!’ He left. Changzi said, ‘How could one not be fortunate to meet a true person?’ Soon the government suppressed Buddhism, and Shandao became a lay attendant, living at Shishi. Whenever he saw a monk, he raised his staff and said, ‘The Buddhas of the three times all come from this.’ Few understood him. Changsha heard this and said, ‘If I saw him, I would make him put down the staff, then give him another message.’ Sansheng carried these words to Shishi and repeated them. Shandao recognized they were Changsha’s words. Hearing Sansheng had missed the point, Xingshan personally came to Shishi. When Shandao saw Xingshan arrive with his monks, he secretly went to pound rice. Xingshan said, ‘The attendant is not easy to deal with; this poor monk cannot digest him.’ Shandao said, ‘Bring it in a mindless bowl; take it away on a seamless tray. Why speak of digesting?’ Xingshan stopped. Yangshan asked, ‘How far apart are Buddha and the Way?’ Shandao said, ‘The Way is an open hand; Buddha is a clenched fist.’ ‘Ultimately, what can one trust and rely on?’ Shandao waved his hand through the air two or three times and said, ‘There is no such thing; there is no such thing.’ ‘Must one still study the teachings?’ ‘The three vehicles and twelve divisions of scripture are beside the point. To oppose them is to set mind against object, subject against object, and generate all kinds of views. That is wild wisdom, not yet the Way. If one does not oppose them, there is not a single thing. Thus the ancestral teacher said, “Originally there is not one thing.” Have you not seen that a newborn does not say, “I know how to read scripture” or “I do not know how to read scripture”? At that time it knows nothing of Buddha-nature or its absence. As it grows, it learns all kinds of understanding, then says, “I can, I know,” unaware that these are afflictions accumulated like dust. Among the sixteen practices, the infant’s conduct is foremost. Its babbling is praised as a metaphor for one who has left behind discrimination and grasping. How much more so when used as a metaphor! To say that an infant itself is the Way is a mistake.’ One evening Shandao and Yangshan admired the moon. Yangshan asked, ‘When the moon is a crescent, where does its roundness go? When it is full, where does the crescent go?’ Shandao said, ‘When it is crescent-shaped, the round moon is hidden; when it is full, the crescent is present.’ (Yunyan said, ‘When crescent-shaped, the round moon is present; when full, there is no crescent.’ Daowu said, ‘When crescent-shaped, it is not crescent-shaped…’ )

圓時亦不圓)仰山辭師送出門。乃召曰。闍梨。仰山應諾。師曰。莫一向去卻迴遮邊來。僧問。師曾到五臺山否。師曰。曾到。僧曰。還見文殊麼。師曰見。僧曰。文殊向行者道什麼。師曰。文殊道闍梨父母生在村草裡。

(Daowu continued:) "When round it is also not round.") When Yangshan took leave, the master saw him out the gate and called: "Teacher." Yangshan answered. The master said: "Do not go straight on; come back this way." A monk asked: "Has the master ever been to Mount Wutai?" The master said: "I have." The monk said: "Did you see Manjusri?" The master said: "I did." The monk said: "What did Manjusri say to the layman?" The master said: "Manjusri said: Your parents were born in the village grass."

潮州大顛和尚法嗣

Dharma heirs of Monk Dadian of Chaozhou

漳州三平義忠禪師福州人也。姓楊氏。初參石鞏。石鞏常張弓架箭以待學徒。師詣法席。鞏曰。看箭。師乃撥開胸雲。此是殺人箭。活人箭又作麼生。鞏乃扣弓絃三下。師便作禮。鞏雲。三十年一張弓兩隻箭。只謝得半箇聖人。遂拗折弓箭。師後舉似大顛。顛雲。既是活人箭。為什麼向弓絃上辨。師無對。顛雲。三十年後要人舉此話也難。師後參大顛。往漳州住三平山。示眾曰。今時出來盡學馳求走作。將當自己眼目有什麼。相當阿爾欲學麼不要諸餘。汝等各有本分事何不體取。作麼心憤憤口悱悱有什麼利益。分明說。若要修行路及諸聖建立化門。自有大藏教文在。若是宗門中事。汝切不得錯用心。時有僧出問。還有學路也無。師曰。有一路滑如苔。僧曰。學人躡得否。師曰。不擬心汝自看。有人問黑豆未生牙時如何。師曰。佛亦不知。講僧問。三乘十二分教某甲不疑。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。龜毛拂子兔角拄杖。大德藏向什麼處。僧曰。龜毛兔角豈是有耶。師曰。肉重千斤智無銖兩。師又示眾曰。諸人若未曾見知識即不可。若曾見作者來。便合體取些子意度。向巖谷間木食草衣。恁麼去方有少分相應。若馳求知解義句。即萬里望鄉關去也。珍重。

Chan Master Yizhong of Mount Sanping in Zhangzhou was a native of Fuzhou, with the surname Yang. At first he visited Shigong. Shigong always had his bow drawn and an arrow set to await students. The master went to his Dharma seat. Shigong said: "Watch the arrow." The master opened his chest and said: "This is the killing arrow. What about the life-giving arrow?" Shigong plucked the bowstring three times. The master bowed. Shigong said: "In thirty years, one bow and two arrows, and I have only gotten half a sage." He then broke the bow and arrows. The master later mentioned this to Dadian. Dadian said: "Since it is a life-giving arrow, why distinguish it on the bowstring?" The master had no answer. Dadian said: "In thirty years it will be hard even to find someone to bring this up." The master later studied with Dadian. He went to live on Mount Sanping in Zhangzhou. He addressed the assembly, saying: "People today all come out learning to run around seeking and acting up, taking it for their own eyes; what match is there in that? Do you wish to learn? Do not seek anything else. Each of you has your own fundamental matter; why not embody it? Why is the mind in turmoil and the mouth sputtering; what benefit is there? Speaking plainly: if you want the path of cultivation and the gates of transformation established by the sages, there are the texts of the great canon. But if it is a matter of the Chan school, you must on no account misapply your mind." At that time a monk came out and asked: "Is there still a path of study?" The master said: "There is a path, slippery as moss." The monk said: "Can the student tread on it?" The master said: "Do not plan with the mind; look for yourself." Someone asked: "What about when the black bean has not yet sprouted?" The master said: "Even the Buddha does not know." A lecturing monk asked: "I have no doubt about the Three Vehicles and the twelve divisions of teaching. What is the intent of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "A whisk of tortoise hair, a staff of rabbit horn. Where will you store them, Great Virtue?" The monk said: "How can tortoise hair and rabbit horn exist?" The master said: "The flesh weighs a thousand catties, and the wisdom not an ounce." The master again addressed the assembly, saying: "If you have never seen a teacher, it will not do. If you have met a real master, you ought to embody a bit of his bearing. Eat wood and wear grass among the rocks and valleys; only by going on like this will you have a little accord. If you run around seeking knowledge and phrases of meaning, you are looking at your homeland from ten thousand li away. Take care."

潭州大川和尚法嗣

Dharma heirs of Monk Dachuan of Tanzhou

僊天和尚。新羅僧到參。方展坐具擬禮拜。師捉住雲。未發本國時道取一句。其僧無語。師便推出雲。問伊一句便道兩句。又有一僧至擬禮拜。師雲。野狐鬼。見什麼了便禮拜。僧雲。老禿奴。見什麼了便恁問。師雲。苦哉苦哉。僊天今日忘前失後。僧雲。要且得時終不補失。師雲。爭不如此。僧雲誰。師雲。呵呵遠即遠矣。

Monk Xiantian. A Silla monk came to visit. As soon as he spread his sitting cloth to bow, the master seized him and said: "Say a phrase from before you left your own country." The monk was silent. The master pushed him out and said: "I asked him one phrase and he says two." Another monk came and was about to bow. The master said: "Wild fox ghost. What have you seen that you bow?" The monk said: "Old bald slave. What have you seen that you ask so?" The master said: "Alas, alas. Xiantian today forgets the front and loses the back." The monk said: "But in the end, what is gained does not make up for what is lost." The master said: "How could it not be so?" The monk said: "Who?" The master said: "Ha ha. Far is far indeed."