Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle Twelve

汝未跨船舷時便好與三十拄杖(法眼雲。大小德山語作兩橛。玄覺雲。叢林中喚作隔下語且從。只如德山道問話者三十拄杖意作麼生)有僧到參。師問維那。今日幾人新到。對曰。八人。師曰。將來一時生案著。龍牙問。學人仗鏌鎁劍擬取師頭時如何。師引頸(法眼別雲。汝向什麼處下手)龍牙曰。頭落也。師微笑。龍牙後到洞山舉前語。洞山曰。德山道什麼。雲德山無語。洞山曰。莫道無語。且將德山落底頭呈似老僧。龍牙省過懺謝。有人舉似師。師曰。洞山老人。不識好惡。遮箇漢死來多少時。救得有什麼用處。僧問。如何是菩薩。師打曰。出去莫向遮裡屙。僧問。如何是佛。師曰。佛即是西天老比丘。雪峰問。從上宗風以何法示人。師曰。我宗無語句。實無一法與人。巖頭聞之曰。德山老人一條脊梁骨硬似鐵拗不折。然雖如此於唱教門中猶較些子(保福拈問招慶。只如巖頭出世有何言教過。於德山便恁麼道。慶雲。汝不見巖頭道。如人學射久久方中。福雲。中時如何。慶雲。展闍黎莫不識痛癢。福雲。和尚今日非唯舉話。慶雲。展闍黎是什麼心行。明昭雲。大小招慶錯下名言)師尋常遇僧到參。多以拄杖打。臨濟聞之遣侍者來參。教令德山若打汝但接取拄杖當胸一拄。侍者到方禮拜。師乃打。侍者接得拄杖與一拄。師歸方丈。侍者迴舉似臨濟。濟雲。後來疑遮箇漢(巖頭雲。德山老人尋常只據目前一箇杖子。佛來亦打祖來亦打。爭奈較些子。東禪齊雲。只如臨濟道我從前疑遮漢。是肯底語不肯語。為當別有道理。試斷看)師上堂曰。問即有過不問又乖。有僧出禮拜。師便打。僧曰。某甲始禮拜。為什麼便打。師曰。待汝開口堪作什麼。師令侍者喚義存(即雪峰也)存上來。師曰。我自喚義存。汝又來作什麼。存無對。師見僧來乃閉門。其僧敲門。師曰。阿誰。曰師子兒。師乃開門。僧禮拜。

(The master continued:) "Before you even stepped over the side of the boat, you deserved thirty blows." (Fayan said: "Great Deshan, his words are cut into two pieces." Xuanjue said: "In the monasteries this is called a remark that is cut off, so let it be. But as for Deshan saying that anyone who asks gets thirty blows, what does he mean?") A monk came to visit. The master asked the rector: "How many are newly arrived today?" He answered: "Eight." The master said: "Bring them all together and set them on the table." Longya asked: "What if the student, relying on the Moye sword, were to take the master's head?" The master stretched out his neck. (Fayan added: "Where would you lay a hand?") Longya said: "The head has fallen." The master smiled slightly. Later Longya went to Dongshan and related this. Dongshan said: "What did Deshan say?" He said: "Deshan said nothing." Dongshan said: "Don't say he said nothing. Bring the head that Deshan dropped and show it to this old monk." Longya realized his fault and repented. Someone told this to the master. The master said: "The old man Dongshan cannot tell good from bad. This fellow has been dead for how long; what use is saving him?" A monk asked: "What is a Bodhisattva?" The master struck him and said: "Get out; do not defecate here." A monk asked: "What is the Buddha?" The master said: "The Buddha is an old bhiksu of the Western Heaven." Xuefeng asked: "What Dharma does the school from above use to show people?" The master said: "My school has no phrases; truly there is not a single dharma to give people." Yantou heard this and said: "Old man Deshan's spine is as hard as iron and cannot be bent or broken. Even so, in the gate of preaching the teaching he is still a bit lacking." (Baofu raised it with Zhaoqing: "When Yantou appeared in the world, what teaching did he give that he speaks like this of Deshan?" Qing said: "Haven't you heard Yantou say: It is like learning archery; only after a long time do you hit the mark." Fu said: "What about when you hit it?" Qing said: "Teacher Zhan, do you not know pain and itch?" Fu said: "The master is not only raising a case today." Qing said: "What kind of mind and conduct does Teacher Zhan have?" Mingzhao said: "Great Zhaoqing, you have misplaced the words.") When the master usually met monks who came to visit, he mostly struck them with his staff. Linji heard of this and sent an attendant to visit, instructing him: "If Deshan hits you, just take the staff and thrust it into his chest." When the attendant arrived and had just bowed, the master struck him. The attendant took the staff and thrust it into him. The master returned to the abbot's room. The attendant came back and told Linji. Linji said: "Later I doubted this fellow." (Yantou said: "Old man Deshan usually relies on just the staff before him; he strikes when the Buddha comes and strikes when the Patriarch comes. But he is still a bit lacking." Dongchan Qi said: "When Linji says 'I doubted this fellow before,' is it words of approval or disapproval? Or is there another principle? Try to judge.") The master said in the hall: "If you ask, there is fault; if you do not ask, it is wrong." A monk came out and bowed. The master struck him. The monk said: "I have only just bowed; why do you strike?" The master said: "Waiting for you to open your mouth, what use would it be." The master had an attendant call Yicun (that is Xuefeng). Cun came up. The master said: "I called Yicun myself; why have you come?" Cun had no answer. The master saw a monk coming and shut the door. The monk knocked at the door. The master said: "Who is it?" He said: "A lion cub." The master opened the door. The monk bowed.

師便騎項曰。遮畜生什麼處去來。雪峰問。古人斬貓兒意如何。師乃打趁。卻喚師。會麼。峰曰。不會。師曰。我恁麼老婆也不會。僧問。凡聖相去多少。師便喝。師因疾有僧問。還有不病者無。師曰有。曰如何是不病者。師曰。阿邪阿邪。師復告諸徒曰。捫空追響。勞汝心神。夢覺覺非竟有何事。言訖安坐而化。即唐咸通六年乙酉十二月三日也。壽八十六。臘六十五。勅諡見性大師。

The master mounted his neck and said: "Where has this beast been?" Xuefeng asked: "What was the meaning of the ancient cutting the cat in two?" The master struck and chased him, then called: "Do you understand?" Feng said: "I do not." The master said: "Old woman that I am, I don't understand either." A monk asked: "How far apart are ordinary and sage?" The master shouted. When the master was ill, a monk asked: "Is there one who is not ill?" The master said: "There is." He said: "What is the one who is not ill?" The master said: "Ah, ah." The master again told his disciples: "Groping at emptiness and chasing echoes only wears out your mind and spirit. Waking from a dream, you find waking is also wrong; in the end what is there to do?" When he finished speaking, he sat peacefully and died. That was the third day of the twelfth month of the yiyou year, the sixth year of Xiantong in the Tang. He was eighty-six years old, with sixty-five years as a monk. By imperial order he received the posthumous title Great Master Jianxing.

洪州泐潭寶峰和尚。有僧新到。師謂曰。其中事即易道。不落其中事始終難道。僧曰。某甲在途時便知有此一問。師曰。更與二十年行腳也不較多。曰莫不契和尚意麼。師曰。苦瓜那堪待客。師問僧。古人有一路接後進初心。汝還知否。曰請師指出古人一路。師曰。恁麼即闍梨知了也。曰頭上更安頭。師曰。寶峰不合問仁者。曰問又何妨。師曰。遮裡不曾有人亂說道理出去。

Monk Baofeng of Letan in Hongzhou. A monk newly arrived. The master said to him: "The matter within is easy to say. The matter that does not fall within is hard to say from beginning to end." The monk said: "On the road I already knew I would be asked this." The master said: "Twenty more years of traveling would not be too many." He said: "Did it not accord with the master's intent?" The master said: "A bitter melon is hardly fit for entertaining guests." The master asked a monk: "The ancients had a path for receiving later beginners. Do you know it?" He said: "Please, master, point out the ancient's path." The master said: "In that case you already know it." He said: "Putting a head on top of a head." The master said: "Baofeng should not have asked the benevolent one." He said: "What harm is there in asking?" The master said: "Here no one has ever talked reasoning wildly. Get out."

前吉州性空禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Xingkong of Jizhou

歙州茂源和尚。平田來參。師欲起身。平田乃把住曰。開口即失閉口即喪。去卻恁麼時請師道。師以手掩耳而已。平田放手曰。一步易兩步難。師曰。有什麼死急。平田曰。若非此箇師不免諸方點檢。

Monk Maoyuan of Shezhou. Pingtian came to visit. The master was about to get up. Pingtian seized him and said: "If you open your mouth you lose; if you close your mouth you perish. Setting aside this moment, please, master, speak." The master simply covered his ears with his hands. Pingtian let go and said: "One step is easy; two steps are hard." The master said: "Why this deadly hurry?" Pingtian said: "Without this, the master could not escape being examined everywhere."

棗山光仁禪師上堂次大眾集。師從方丈出未至禪床。謂眾曰。不負平生行腳眼目。致箇問訊將來還有麼。方乃升堂坐時。有僧出禮拜。師曰。不負我且從大眾何也。便歸方丈。翌日有別僧請辨前語意旨如何。師曰。齋時有飯與汝吃。夜後有床與汝眠。一向煎迫我作什麼。僧禮拜。師曰。苦苦。僧曰。請師直指。師乃垂足曰。舒縮一任老僧。

Chan Master Guangren of Zaoshan was about to ascend the hall, and the assembly gathered. The master came out of the abbot's room, and before reaching the Chan seat said to the assembly: "Not betraying the eyes of a lifetime of travel, I have brought a greeting; is there anyone?" Only then did he ascend the hall and sit. A monk came out and bowed. The master said: "I do not betray you, so I let it pass; what about the assembly?" and went back to the abbot's room. The next day another monk asked for an explanation of the meaning of the previous words. The master said: "At mealtime there is food for you to eat; at night there is a bed for you to sleep on. Why press me so constantly?" The monk bowed. The master said: "Bitter, bitter." The monk said: "Please, master, point directly." The master let down his feet and said: "Stretch or contract, as the old monk pleases."

前京兆翠微無學禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Wuxue of Cuiwei in Jingzhao

鄂州清平山令遵禪師東平人也。姓王氏。少依本州北菩提寺。唐咸通六年落髮。後詣滑州開元寺受具攻律學。一旦謂同流曰。夫沙門應決徹死生玄通佛理。若乃孜孜卷軸役役拘文。悉數海沙徒勞片心。遂罷所業遠參禪會。至江陵白馬寺。堂中遇一老宿名曰慧勤。師親近詢請勤曰。吾久侍丹霞。今既垂老倦於提誘。汝可往謁翠微。彼即吾同參也。師禮辭而去。造於翠微之堂。問如何是西來的的意。翠微曰。待無人即向汝說。師良久曰。無人也請師說。翠微下禪床引師入竹園。師又曰。無人也請和尚說。翠微指竹曰。遮竿得恁麼長。那竿得恁麼短。師雖領其微言猶未徹其玄旨。文德元年抵上蔡。會州將重法創大通禪苑。請闡宗要。師自舉初見翠微語句。謂眾曰。先師入泥入水為我。自是我不識好惡。師自此化導將十稔。至光化中領徒百餘遊鄂州。從節度使杜洪請居清平山安樂院。上堂曰。諸上坐。夫出家人須會佛意始得。若會佛意不在僧俗男女貴賤。但隨家豐儉安樂便得。諸上坐。盡是久處叢林遍參尊宿。且作麼生會佛意。試出來大家商量。莫空氣高。至後一事無成一生空度。若未會佛意。直饒頭上出水足下出火燒身鍊臂。聰慧多辯聚徒一千二千。說法如雲如雨。講得天華亂墜。只成箇邪說爭競是非。去佛法大遠在。諸人幸值色身安健不值諸難。何妨近前。著些工夫體取佛意好。時有僧問。如何是大乘。師曰。麻索曰如何是小乘。師曰。錢貫。問如何是清平家風。師曰。一斗麫作三箇蒸餅。問如何是禪。師曰。胡孫上樹尾連顛。問如何是有漏。師曰。笊籬。曰如何是無漏。師曰。木杓。問覿面相呈時如何。師曰。分付與典坐。自餘逗機方便靡徇時情。逆順卷舒語超格量。天祐十六年正月二十五日午時歸寂。壽七十有五。周顯德六年勅諡法喜禪師。塔曰善應。

Chan Master Lingzun of Mount Qingping in Ezhou was a native of Dongping, with the surname Wang. In youth he relied on North Bodhi Monastery in his home prefecture. In the sixth year of Xiantong in the Tang he had his head shaved. Later he went to Kaiyuan Monastery in Huazhou to receive full precepts and studied the vinaya. One day he said to his fellows: "A sramana should resolutely penetrate birth and death and profoundly comprehend the Buddhist principle. To toil over scrolls and be bound by texts, counting the sands of the sea, is a futile labor of the mind." So he gave up his work and went far to join Chan assemblies. At White Horse Monastery in Jiangling, he met an old master in the hall named Huiqin. The master drew close and asked for instruction. Qin said: "I served Danxia for a long time. Now I am old and weary of leading and guiding. You should go call on Cuiwei. He is my fellow student." The master bowed and took leave and went to Cuiwei's hall. He asked: "What is the clear intent of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" Cuiwei said: "When no one is around I will tell you." The master was silent for a long time, then said: "No one is here; please speak, master." Cuiwei came down from his Chan seat and led the master into the bamboo garden. The master said again: "No one is here; please speak, master." Cuiwei pointed at the bamboo and said: "This stalk is so long, that stalk is so short." Although the master grasped the subtle words, he still did not penetrate the profound intent. In the first year of Wende he reached Shangcai. The prefect valued the Dharma and founded the Datong Chan Monastery, inviting him to expound the essentials of the school. The master himself cited the words of his first meeting with Cuiwei and said to the assembly: "My late teacher entered mud and water for me. It was I who did not know good from bad." From then the master taught for nearly ten years. In the Guanghua era he led more than a hundred disciples to Ezhou, and at the invitation of the military governor Du Hong lived at Anle Monastery on Mount Qingping. He said in the hall: "All of you, one who has left home must understand the Buddha's intent to be right. If one understands the Buddha's intent, it does not depend on being monk or layman, man or woman, noble or humble; one only follows the household's abundance or frugality and is at ease and happy. All of you have long stayed in monasteries and visited venerable teachers everywhere; so how do you understand the Buddha's intent? Come out and let us discuss it together. Do not be empty and haughty. In the end you will accomplish nothing and spend a lifetime in vain. If you do not understand the Buddha's intent, then even if water came out of your head and fire out of your feet, even if you burned your body and refined your arms, were clever and eloquent, gathered a thousand or two thousand disciples, preached the Dharma like clouds and rain and made heavenly flowers fall in profusion, you would only make a false teaching, contending over right and wrong, and be very far from the Buddha-dharma. You are fortunate that your bodies are healthy and you have not met various difficulties. What harm is there in coming forward and putting some effort into embodying the Buddha's intent?" At that time a monk asked: "What is the Great Vehicle?" The master said: "A hemp rope." He said: "What is the Small Vehicle?" The master said: "A string of coins." He asked: "What is the household style of Qingping?" The master said: "A peck of flour makes three steamed cakes." He asked: "What is Chan?" The master said: "A monkey climbing a tree, tails following upside down." He asked: "What is with outflows?" The master said: "A bamboo colander." He said: "What is without outflows?" The master said: "A wooden ladle." He asked: "What about when we meet face to face?" The master said: "Hand it over to the cook." His other expedient means for meeting occasions did not follow popular feeling; in opposition or accord, rolling up or spreading out, his words surpassed rule and measure. On the twenty-fifth day of the first month in the sixteenth year of Tianyou, at noon, he entered stillness. He was seventy-five years old. In the sixth year of Xiande in the Zhou, he received the posthumous title Chan Master Faxi by imperial order, and his stupa was named Shanying.

舒州投子山大同禪師本州懷寧人也。姓劉氏。幼歲依洛下保唐滿禪師出家。初習安般觀。次閱華嚴教發明性海。復謁翠微山法席頓悟宗旨(語見翠微章)由是放任周遊歸旋故土。隱投子山結茆而居。一日趙州諗和尚至桐城縣。師亦出山途中相遇未相識。趙州潛問俗士知是投子。乃逆而問曰。莫是投子山主麼。師曰。茶鹽錢乞一箇。趙州即先到庵中坐。師後攜一缾油歸庵。趙州曰。久嚮投子。到來只見箇賣油翁。師曰。汝只見賣油翁且不識投子。曰如何是投子。師曰。油油。趙州問。死中得活時如何。師曰。不許夜行投明須到。趙州曰。我早侯白伊更侯黑(同諗二師互相問醻廣如本集。其辭句簡健意趣玄險。諸方謂趙州投子得逸群之用)自爾師道聞天下。雲水之侶競奔湊焉。師謂眾曰。汝諸人來遮裡。擬覓新鮮語句。攢華四六。口裡貴有可道。我老人氣力稍劣唇舌遲鈍。汝若問我。我便隨汝答。對也無玄妙可及於汝。亦不教汝垛根。終不說向上向下。有佛有法有凡有聖亦不存。坐繫縛汝諸人。變現千般。總是汝生解自擔帶將來自作自受。遮裡無可與汝。不敢誑嚇汝。無表無裡可得說似。汝諸人還知麼。時有僧問。表裡不收時如何。師曰。汝擬向遮裡垛根。僧問。大藏教中還有奇特事也無。師曰。演出大藏教。問如何是眼未開時事。師曰目淨脩廣如青蓮。問一切諸佛及諸佛法皆從此經出。如何是此經。師曰。以是名字汝當奉持。問枯木中還有龍吟也無。師曰。我道髑髏裡有師子吼。問一法普潤一切群生。如何是一法。師曰。雨下也。問一塵含法界時如何。師曰。早是數塵也。問金鎖未開時如何。師曰。開也。問學人慾修行時如何。師曰。虛空不曾爛壞。雪峰侍立。師指庵前一塊石曰。三世諸佛總在裡許。雪峰曰。須知有不在裡許者。師乃歸庵中坐。一日雪峰隨師訪龍眠庵主。雪峰問。龍眠路向什麼處去。

Chan Master Datong of Mount Touzi in Shuzhou was a native of Huaining in that prefecture, surnamed Liu. In his youth he left home under Chan Master Man of Baotang in the Luo region. He first practiced anapana contemplation, then studied the teaching of the Avatamsaka Sutra, and awakened to the sea of the nature. Next he visited the Dharma seat on Mount Cuiwei and suddenly awakened to its essential purport. (The exchange is recorded in the Cuiwei chapter.) Thereafter he roamed freely, then turned back to his homeland and hid on Mount Touzi, where he built a thatched hut to live in. One day Reverend Congshen of Zhaozhou came to Tongcheng county. The master had also come down from the mountain, and they met on the road without knowing each other. Zhaozhou quietly asked a layman and learned it was Touzi, so he went to meet him and asked: “Are you not the master of Mount Touzi?” The master said: “Spare a coin for tea and salt.” Zhaozhou at once went ahead to the hermitage and sat down. Later the master returned carrying a bottle of oil. Zhaozhou said: “Long I have looked toward Touzi, and on arriving I see only an old oil seller.” The master said: “You see only the old oil seller; you do not know Touzi.” “What is Touzi?” — “Oil, oil.” Zhaozhou asked: “What about when one wins life in the midst of death?” — “No traveling by night; you must arrive by first light.” Zhaozhou said: “I was ready to wait for the light; he goes and waits for the dark.” (The two masters Tong and Shen exchanged questions and answers at length, as told in their own records; their phrasing was spare and forceful, their bent mysterious and sheer, and all quarters held that Zhaozhou and Touzi had attained a use surpassing the crowd.) From then on the master's way was heard of under heaven and companions of cloud and water raced to gather round him. The master addressed the assembly: “You people come here meaning to hunt fresh phrases, to pile up flowery parallelisms, prizing something quotable in the mouth. This old man's vigor is somewhat spent, his lips and tongue are dull. If you ask me, I answer you as it comes; in answering there is nothing mysterious or sublime I can hand you, nor do I teach you to set down roots. In the end I do not speak of above or below; that there is Buddha and Dharma, the ordinary and the holy — I do not keep to these either, nor do I sit and bind you people. However a thousand transformations appear, they are always your own interpretations; you carry them along yourself and yourself receive what you do. Here there is nothing I can give you; I dare not cheat or frighten you. With neither surface nor interior, there is nothing I can compare it to for you. Do you people still know?” Then a monk asked: “What about when neither surface nor interior is taken in?” — “You are bent on setting down roots right here.” A monk asked: “Is there still anything wondrous in the whole store of the teachings?” — “It unfolds the whole store of the teachings.” “What about the affair before the eye has opened?” — “The pure eyes, long and broad as blue lotuses.” “All buddhas and the Dharma of all buddhas issue from this scripture — what is this scripture?” — “By this very name you shall receive and keep it.” “Is there still a dragon's chant in the withered tree?” — “I say there is a lion's roar inside a skull.” “One Dharma moistens all living beings — what is the one Dharma?” — “It is raining.” “What about when one mote of dust contains the whole Dharma realm?” — “That is already several motes.” “What about when the golden lock is not yet open?” — “Open.” “What about when a student wishes to cultivate practice?” — “Empty space has never rotted away.” Xuefeng stood in attendance. The master pointed to a stone in front of the hermitage and said: “All the buddhas of the three periods are in it.” Xuefeng said: “You should know there is one not in it.” The master went back into the hermitage and sat. One day Xuefeng accompanied the master to visit the hermit of Longmian. Xuefeng asked: “Which way does the road to Longmian go?”

師以拄杖指前面。雪峰曰。東邊去西邊去。師曰。漆桶。雪峰異日又問。一槌便成時如何。師曰。不是性𭝱(蘇到切)漢。雪峰曰。不假一槌時如何。師曰。漆桶。師一日庵中坐。雪峰問。和尚此間還有人參否。師於床下拈钁頭拋向面前。雪峰曰。恁麼即當處掘去也。師曰。漆桶不快。雪峰辭去。師出門送驀召曰。道者。雪峰迴首應諾。師曰。途中善為僧。問故歲已去新歲到來。還有不涉此二途者無。師曰有。僧曰。如何是不涉者。師曰。元正啟祚萬物惟新。問依俙似半月仿象。若三星乾坤收不得。師向何處明。師曰。道什麼。僧曰。想師。只有湛水之波。且無滔天之浪。師曰。閑言語。問類中來時如何。師曰。人類中來馬類中來。問佛佛授手祖祖相傳。傳箇什麼法。師曰。老僧不解謾語。問如何是出門不見佛。師曰。無所覩。曰如何是入室別爺孃。師曰無所生。問如何是火焰裡藏身。師曰。有什麼掩處。曰如何是炭堆裡藏身。師曰。我道汝黑似漆問的的不明時如何。師曰。明也。問如何是末後一句。師曰。最初明不得。問從苗辨地因語識人。未審將何辨識。師曰。引不著。問院裡三百人。還有不在數者無。師曰。一百年前五十年後看取。師問僧。久嚮疎山薑頭莫便是否。無對(法眼代雲。嚮重和尚日久)僧問。抱璞投師請師雕琢。師曰。不為棟梁材。曰恁麼即卞和無出身處也。師曰。擔帶即伶俜辛苦。曰。不擔帶時如何。師曰。不教汝抱璞投師更請雕琢。問那吒太子析骨還父析肉還母。如何是那吒本來身。師放下手中杖子。問佛法二字如何辨得清濁。師曰。佛法清濁。曰學人不會。師曰。汝適來問什麼。問一等是水為什海鹹河淡。師曰。天上星地下木(法眼別雲。大似相違)問如何是祖師意。師曰。彌勒覓箇受記處不得。問和尚住此來有何境界。師曰。丱角女子白頭絲。問如何是無情說法。師曰惡。

The master pointed ahead with his staff. Xuefeng said: “Go east, go west.” The master said: “Lacquer bucket.” Another day Xuefeng asked: “What about when it is done with a single hammer stroke?” — “Not a hot-tempered man.” (The base text has the character 𭝱, with the fanqie gloss “su-dao”, i.e. 燥.) Xuefeng said: “What about without relying on that one stroke?” — “Lacquer bucket.” One day the master was sitting in the hermitage. Xuefeng asked: “Reverend, is there still anyone who comes to study here?” The master took a hoe from beneath the seat and tossed it in front of him. Xuefeng said: “Then one digs right on the spot.” — “A lacquer bucket is dull.” Xuefeng took his leave. The master saw him out the door and suddenly called: “Wayfarer!” Xuefeng turned his head in answer. The master said: “Take good care on the road.” A monk asked: “The old year has gone, the new year has come; is there anyone who does not enter these two roads?” — “There is.” — “What is the one who does not enter them?” — “The first day opens the course, and all things are new.” “Dimly like a half moon, faint like three stars; heaven and earth cannot hold it — where, master, will you make it clear?” — “What are you saying?” The monk said: “I suppose the master has only ripples on still water, and no sky-flooding waves.” — “Idle talk.” “What about when it comes among the kinds?” — “It comes among the human kind, it comes among the horse kind.” “Buddha hands it to buddha, patriarch transmits it to patriarch — what Dharma is it that is handed on?” — “This old monk does not understand mad talk.” “What is going out the door and not seeing Buddha?” — “Nothing seen.” “What is entering the room and parting from father and mother?” — “Nothing born.” “What is hiding the body inside a flame of fire?” — “What place is there to cover you?” “What is hiding the body inside a heap of charcoal?” — “I say you are black as lacquer.” “What about when the evident is not yet clear?” — “Clear.” “What is the last word?” — “The first cannot be made plain.” “From the seedling one discerns the ground, from speech one knows the man — with what shall one discern and know?” — “It cannot be drawn in.” “Among the three hundred in the compound, is there one not in the count?” — “Look a hundred years back and fifty years hence.” The master asked a monk: “Long have I looked toward Jiangtou of Shushan — is that it?” No answer. (Fayan answered for him: “I have looked up to the reverend for many days.”) A monk asked: “I bring an uncut jade to the master; please cut and polish it.” — “Not ridge-beam material.” — “Then Bian He has no way out of himself.” — “Carrying it along is lonely hardship.” — “And when it is not carried along?” — “I would not have you bring the rough jade to a master and beg for carving.” “Prince Nezha gave his bones back to his father and his flesh back to his mother — what is Nezha's original body?” The master put down the staff in his hand. “How can the clear and the turbid be told apart in the two words Buddha and Dharma?” — “Buddha Dharma, clear and turbid.” — “I do not understand.” — “What were you just asking?” “It is all alike water; why is the sea salty and the river fresh?” — “Stars in the sky, wood on the ground.” (Fayan gave another answer: “Rather contradictory.”) “What is the Patriarch's meaning?” — “Maitreya cannot find a place to receive his prediction.” “What sphere have you found, reverend, since dwelling here?” — “A girl in horned tufts with threads of white silk.” “What is the insentient preaching the Dharma?” — “Evil.”

問如何是毘盧。師曰。已有名字。曰如何是毘盧師。師曰。未有毘盧時會取。問歷落一句請師道。師曰好。問四山相逼時如何。師曰。五蘊皆空。問一念未生時如何。師曰。真箇謾語。問凡聖相去幾何。師下禪床立。問學人一問即和尚答。忽若千問萬問時如何。師曰。如雞抱卵。問天上天下唯我獨尊。如何是我。師曰推倒遮老胡有什麼過。問如何是和尚師。師曰。迎之不見其首。隨之不見其形。問塑像未成未審身在什麼處。師曰。莫亂造作。僧曰。爭奈現不現何。師曰。隱在什麼處。問無目底人如何進步。師曰。遍十方。僧曰。無目為什麼遍十方。師曰。著得目也無。問如何是西來意。師曰。不諱。問月未圓時如何。師曰。吞卻兩三箇。僧曰。圓後如何。師曰。吐卻七八箇。問日月未明。佛與眾生在什麼處。師曰。見老僧瞋便道瞋。見老僧喜便道喜。師問僧。什麼處來。曰東西山禮祖師來。師曰。祖師不在東西山。僧無語(法眼代雲。和尚識祖師)問如何是玄中的。師曰。不到汝口裡道。問牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。與人為師。又問。見後如何。師曰。不與人為師。問諸佛出世唯以一大事因緣。如何是一大事因緣。師曰。尹司空為老僧開堂。問如何是佛。師曰。幻不可求問千里尋師乞師一接。師曰。今日老僧腰痛。菜頭入方丈請益。師曰。且去待無人時來為闍梨說。菜頭明日伺得無人又來請和尚說。師曰。近前來。菜頭近前。師曰。輒不得舉似於人。問併卻咽喉唇吻請師道。師曰。汝只要我道不得。問達磨未來時如何。師曰。遍天遍地。曰來後如何。師曰。蓋覆不得。問和尚未見先師時如何。師曰。通身不奈何。曰見先師後如何。師曰。通身撲不碎。曰還從師得也無。師曰。終不相孤負。曰恁麼即從師得也。師曰。自著眼趁取。曰恁麼即孤負先師也。師曰。非但孤負先師。亦乃孤負老僧。

“What is Vairocana?” — “Already it has a name.” “What is the teacher of Vairocana?” — “Get it before there ever was a Vairocana.” “Please speak one outstanding word.” — “Good.” “What about when the four mountains press in upon one?” — “The five skandhas are all empty.” “What about before a single thought has arisen?” — “Truly mad talk.” “How far apart are the ordinary and the holy?” The master got down from the meditation seat and stood. “When a student asks once, the reverend answers; what if suddenly a thousand, ten thousand questions came?” — “Like a hen brooding on eggs.” “Above heaven and below heaven I alone am honored — what is this I?” — “What fault is there in pushing over this old barbarian?” “What is the reverend's teacher?” — “Meet it and you see no head; follow it and you see no form.” “While the clay image is not yet finished, where is the body?” — “Do not make random fabrications.” The monk said: “Yet what of appearing or not appearing?” — “Where is it hidden?” “How does an eyeless person advance a step?” — “Pervading the ten directions.” — “Why does the eyeless pervade the ten directions?” — “Can eyes even be attached?” “What is the meaning of the coming from the West?” — “No taboo.” “What about when the moon is not yet full?” — “Swallow two or three.” — “And after it is full?” — “Spit out seven or eight.” “Before sun and moon are bright, where are Buddha and sentient beings?” — “Seeing this old monk angry, say angry; seeing him glad, say glad.” The master asked a monk: “Where do you come from?” — “From paying reverence to the patriarchs on the eastern and western mountains.” — “The patriarchs are not on the eastern or western mountains.” The monk had no reply. (Fayan answered for him: “The reverend knows the patriarchs.”) “What is the mysterious center?” — “It will not come to be spoken in your mouth.” “What about Niutou before he met the Fourth Patriarch?” — “He served as a teacher of men.” “And after he met him?” — “He no longer served as a teacher of men.” “The buddhas appear in the world only for the one great cause — what is the one great cause?” — “Minister Yin opened this hall for me.” “What is Buddha?” — “An illusion that cannot be sought.” “I have sought the master for a thousand li; please receive me once.” — “Today this old monk's back aches.” The vegetable steward entered the abbot's quarters seeking instruction. The master said: “Go for now; come when no one is about and I will tell you, acarya.” The next day the steward, finding a moment with no one around, again asked the reverend to speak. The master said: “Come closer.” The steward came closer. The master said: “You must never recount it to anyone.” “With throat and lips both sealed away, please speak.” — “You only want to make me unable to speak.” “What about before Bodhidharma came?” — “Filling heaven, filling earth.” — “And after he came?” — “It cannot be covered over.” “What about the reverend before he saw his late teacher?” — “His whole body could do nothing.” — “And after he saw the late teacher?” — “His whole body could not be dashed to pieces.” — “Did you still get it from the teacher?” — “In the end I will not betray him.” — “Then it was gotten from the teacher.” — “Set your own eyes on it and take it.” — “Then that betrays the late teacher.” — “Not only does it betray my late teacher, it also betrays this old monk.”

問七佛是文殊弟子。文殊還有師也無。師曰。適來恁麼道也。大似屈己推人。問金雞未鳴時如何。師曰。無遮箇音響。曰鳴後如何。師曰。各自知時。問師子是獸中之王。為什麼被六塵吞。師曰。不作大無人我。師居投子山三十餘載。往來激發請益者。常盈於室師縱之。以無畏辯隨問遽答。啐啄同時微言頗多。今略錄少分而已。唐中和年巢寇暴起天下喪亂。有狂徒持刃上山。問師曰此何為。師乃隨宜說法。魁渠聞而拜伏。脫身服施之而去。師乾化四年甲戌四月六日示有微疾。大眾請醫。師謂眾曰。四大動作聚散常程。汝等勿慮。吾自保矣。言訖跏趺坐亡。壽九十有六。詔諡慈濟大師。塔曰真寂。

“The seven buddhas were disciples of Manjusri — did Manjusri also have a teacher?” — “To speak as you just did is much like humbling oneself to elevate another.” “What about when the golden cock has not yet crowed?” — “There is no such sound.” — “And after it has crowed?” — “Each knows the time.” “The lion is king of beasts; why is it swallowed by the six dusts?” — “It does not act great; it has no self or other.” The master lived on Mount Touzi for over thirty years. Those who came and went to be stirred and to seek instruction constantly filled his room. He gave free rein to fearless eloquence, answering as soon as he was asked; chick and beak struck at once, and his subtle sayings were many — only a small portion is recorded here. In the Zhonghe years of the Tang, Chao's rebels rose violently and the land was thrown into chaos. A wild bandit came up the mountain with a blade and demanded of the master: “What are you doing here?” The master expounded the Dharma as was fitting; the ringleader, hearing him, bowed down in submission, stripped off his own clothes, offered them, and departed. On the sixth day of the fourth month of the jiaxu year of Qianhua the master showed a slight illness. The assembly called for a physician. He told them: “The stirrings of the four elements, gathering and scattering, are the constant course. Do not worry; I have myself in hand.” With these words he sat in full lotus and passed away, aged ninety-six. By decree he was granted the posthumous title Great Master Ciji (Compassionate Aid), and his stupa was named Zhenji (True Silence).

湖州道場山如訥禪師。僧問。如何是教意。師曰。汝自看。僧禮拜。師曰。明月鋪霄漢山川勢自分。問如何得聞性不隨緣去。師曰。汝聽看。僧禮拜。師曰。聾人也唱胡笳調。好惡高低自不聞。僧曰。恁麼即聞性宛然也。師曰。石從空裡立。火向水中焚。問虛空還有邊際否。師曰。汝也太多知。僧禮拜。師曰。三尺杖頭挑日月。一塵飛起任遮天。問如何是道人。師曰。行運無蹤跡。起坐絕人知。僧曰。如何即是。師曰。三爐力盡無煙焰。萬頃平由水不流。問一念不生時如何。師曰。堪作什麼。僧無語。師又曰。透出龍門雲雨合。山川大地入無蹤。師目有重瞳。垂手過膝。自翠微受訣。乃止於道場山薙草卓庵。學徒四至遂成禪苑。廣闡法化。所遺壞衲三事及開山拄杖木屐。今在影堂中(按塔銘雲。師姓許氏。吳興人。七歲去氏。於烏墩光福寺。八年如京師受具戒。抵豫章得心印。於翠微後結廬於道場山。猛摯之獸馴戢如奉教)。

Chan Master Rune of Mount Daochang in Huzhou. A monk asked: “What is the meaning of the teaching?” — “See for yourself.” The monk bowed. The master said: “The bright moon spreads over the Milky Way; the forms of mountains and rivers part of themselves.” “How can the nature of hearing be kept from following conditions away?” — “Try listening.” The monk bowed. The master said: “Even a deaf man sings the tune of the Tartar reed; whether it is good or bad, high or low, he does not hear himself.” The monk said: “Then the nature of hearing is plainly there.” — “Stone stands in the midst of empty space; fire burns upon the water.” “Does empty space still have bounds?” — “You know far too much.” The monk bowed. The master said: “On the tip of a three-foot staff the sun and moon are carried; one mote of dust flies up and is free to cover the sky.” “What is a person of the Way?” — “He moves leaving no trace of a track; sitting and rising, no one knows.” — “How is it so?” — “Three braziers with their strength spent, no smoke or flame; over ten thousand acres of level fields the water does not flow.” (The base text has 平由; it should be 平田, “level fields.”) “What about when not a single thought arises?” — “What is it good for?” The monk was silent. The master also said: “Bursting through the Dragon Gate, cloud and rain join; mountains, rivers, and the great earth enter leaving no trace.” The master had double pupils, and his hands hung past his knees. Having received the instruction from Cuiwei, he settled on Mount Daochang, cleared the weeds, and set up a hut. Students came from the four quarters, and it became a Chan grove that broadly spread the Dharma teaching. The three worn patched robes he left, and the staff and wooden clogs from his founding days, are now kept in the portrait hall. (According to the stupa inscription: the master was surnamed Xu, a man of Wuxing. At seven he left his family at Guangfu Monastery in Wudun; at eight he went to the capital and received the full precepts; reaching Yuzhang he obtained the seal of mind. After Cuiwei he built a hut on Mount Daochang, and even fierce and savage beasts grew tame as if keeping his teaching.)

建州白雲約禪師(曾住江州東禪院)僧問。不坐偏空堂。不居無學位。此人合向什麼處安置。師曰。青天無電影。天台韶和尚參。師問。什麼處來。韶曰。江北來。師曰。船來陸來。曰船來。師曰。還逢見魚鼈麼。曰往往遇之。師曰。遇時作麼生。韶曰。咄縮頭去。師大笑。

Chan Master Baiyunyue of Jianzhou (he had once dwelt at Dongchan Monastery in Jiangzhou). A monk asked: “One who does not sit in the hall of partial emptiness and does not dwell at the rank of no-learning — where should such a person be placed?” — “In the blue sky there is no shadow of lightning.” Reverend Shao of Tiantai came to study. The master asked: “Where do you come from?” Shao said: “From north of the river.” — “Did you come by boat or by land?” — “By boat.” — “Did you meet any fish or turtles?” — “I met them now and then.” — “What did you do when you met them?” Shao said: “Ha! Pull your head back in.” The master laughed loudly.

潭州前道吾山圓智禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the late Chan Master Yuanzhi of Mount Daowu, Tanzhou

潭州石霜山慶諸禪師廬陵新淦人也。姓陳氏。年十三依洪井西山紹鑾禪師落髮。二十三嵩嶽受具。就洛下學毘尼之教。雖知聽制終為漸宗。迴抵大溈山法會為米頭。一日師在米寮內篩米。溈山雲。施主物莫拋撒。師曰。不拋撒。溈山於地上拾得一粒雲。汝道不拋撒。遮箇什麼處得來。師無對。溈山又云。莫欺遮一粒子。百千粒從遮一粒生。師曰。百千粒從遮一粒生。未審遮一粒從什麼處生。溈山呵呵笑歸方丈。晚後上堂雲。大眾米裡有蟲。師後參道吾問。如何是觸目菩提。道吾喚沙彌。沙彌應諾。吾曰。添淨缾水著。吾卻問師。汝適來問什麼。師乃舉前問道吾便起去。師從此惺覺。道吾曰。我疾作將欲去世。心中有物久而為患。誰可除之。師曰。心物俱非除之益患。道吾曰。賢哉賢哉。於時始為二夏之僧。因避世混俗於長沙瀏陽陶家坊。朝遊夕處人莫能識。後因洞山價和尚遣僧訪尋囊錐始露。乃舉之住石霜山。他日道吾將捨眾順世。以師為嫡嗣。躬至石霜而就之。師日勤執侍全於師禮。暨道吾歸寂。學侶雲集盈五百眾(廣語出別卷)一日謂眾曰。一代時教整理時人腳手。凡有其由皆落在今時。直至法身非身此是教家極則。我輩沙門全無肯路。若分即差。不分即坐著泥水。但由心意妄說見聞。僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。空中一片石。僧禮拜。師曰。會麼。曰不會。師曰。賴汝不會。若會即打破爾頭。問如何是和尚本分事。師曰。石頭還汗出麼。問到遮裡為什麼卻道不得。師曰。腳底著口。問真身還出世也無。師曰。不出世。曰爭奈真身何。師曰。瑠璃缾子口。師居方丈。有僧在明窓外問。咫尺之間為什麼不覩師顏。師曰。我道遍界不曾藏。僧舉問雪峰。遍界不曾藏意旨如何。雪峰曰。什麼處不是石霜。僧迴舉雪峰之語呈師。師曰。老大漢有什麼死急(東禪齊雲。只如雪峰是會石霜意不會石霜意。

Chan Master Qingzhu of Mount Shishuang in Tanzhou was a native of Xingan in Luling, surnamed Chen. At thirteen he took the tonsure under Chan Master Shaoluan of Mount Xi in Hongjing; at twenty-three he received the full precepts on Mount Song, then went to the Luo region to study the Vinaya teaching. Though he mastered the rules of discipline, it was in the end a gradual school. Returning, he joined the assembly on Mount Dawei as rice steward. One day the master was sifting rice in the rice room when Weishan said: “It is the donors' goods; do not spill it.” The master said: “I am not spilling.” Weishan picked up a grain from the floor and said: “You say you are not spilling — where did this come from?” The master had no reply. Weishan went on: “Do not despise this one grain; a hundred thousand grains are born from this one grain.” The master said: “A hundred thousand grains are born from this one grain — but from where is this one grain born?” Weishan laughed heartily and went back to the abbot's quarters. That evening in the hall he said: “Assembly, there are insects in the rice.” Later the master studied with Daowu and asked: “What is bodhi wherever the eye touches?” Daowu called a novice, who answered; Daowu said: “Fill the pure-water jug.” Then he asked the master: “What was it you just asked?” The master repeated his question, and Daowu at once got up and left. From this the master awakened. Daowu said: “My illness has come on; I am about to leave the world. There is a thing in my mind that has long been an affliction — who can remove it?” The master said: “Mind and thing are both not; removing it only adds to the affliction.” Daowu said: “Worthy, worthy.” At that time he had been a monk for only two summers. To flee the world he mingled with common folk at Taojia ward in Liuyang, Changsha, roaming by day and lodging by night, and no one could recognize him. Later Reverend Jia of Dongshan sent a monk in search of him; the awl in the bag at last poked through, and he was installed on Mount Shishuang. In time, when Daowu was about to leave his assembly and depart the world, he made the master his rightful heir and came in person to Shishuang to join him. The master served him daily with diligence, keeping a disciple's courtesies whole. When Daowu returned to stillness, students gathered like clouds, over five hundred strong. (His wider sayings appear in another scroll.) One day he addressed the assembly: “The teachings of the entire era are meant to set in order the hands and feet of the people of the time; whatever has its cause comes down to the present. Even to the point that the Dharma body is no body — that is the utmost rule of the schools. We sramanas have no road of assent at all: to distinguish is to err, not to distinguish is to sit stuck in muddy water — all because the mind's intent wildly speaks of what is seen and heard.” A monk asked: “What is the meaning of the coming from the West?” — “A slab of stone in midair.” The monk bowed. — “Do you understand?” — “I do not.” — “Thank goodness you do not; if you did I would smash your head.” “What is the reverend's fundamental task?” — “Does the stone still sweat?” “Having come this far, why can it not be spoken?” — “The mouth on the sole of the foot.” “Does the true body come into the world?” — “It does not come into the world.” — “Yet what of the true body?” — “The mouth of a lapis lazuli bottle.” The master was staying in the abbot's quarters. A monk outside the bright window asked: “Within a foot of you, why do I not see the master's face?” — “I say the whole realm has never concealed it.” The monk took this to Xuefeng: “What does 'the whole realm has never concealed it' mean?” Xuefeng said: “Where is it not Shishuang?” The monk returned and presented Xuefeng's words to the master, who said: “An old fellow — what mortal hurry is he in?” (Dongchan Qi said: “Now did Xuefeng understand Shishuang's meaning, or not?

若會也他為什麼道死急。若不會作麼生。雪峰豈可不會然。法且無異。奈以師承不同解之差別。他雲遍界不曾藏也。須曾學來始得會。亂說即不可)雲蓋問萬戶俱閉即不問。萬戶俱開時如何。師曰。堂中事作麼生。曰無人接得渠。師曰。道也大殺道也。只道得八九成。曰未審和尚作麼生道。師曰。無人識得渠(東禪齊雲。只如石霜意作麼生。若道一般。前來為什麼不許伊。若道別有道理。又只重說一遍。且道古人意作麼生)問佛性如虛空如何師曰。臥時即有坐時即無。問忘收一足時如何。師曰不共汝同盤。問風生浪起時如何。師曰。湖南城裡大殺鬧。有人不肯過江西。因僧舉洞山參次示眾曰。兄弟秋初夏末或東去西去。直須向萬裡無寸草處去始得。又曰。只如萬裡無寸草處。且作麼生去。師聞之乃曰。出門便是草。僧舉似洞山。洞山曰。大唐國內能有幾人(東禪齊拈雲。且道石霜會洞山意否。若道會去。只如諸上座每日折旋俯仰迎來送去。為當落路下草。為當一一合轍。若言不會洞山意。又爭解恁麼下語。還有會處麼。上座擬什麼處去。於此若明得可謂還鄉曲也。不見也會著箇語云。恁麼即不去也)師止石霜山二十年間。學眾有長坐不臥屹若株杌。天下謂之枯木眾也。唐僖宗聞師道譽遣使齎賜紫衣。師牢讓不受。光啟四年戊申二月二十日己亥示疾告寂。壽八十有二。臘五十九。三月十五日葬於院之西北隅。勅諡普會大師。塔曰見相。

(Dongchan Qi went on:) “If he understood, why did the other speak of a mortal hurry? And if he did not understand, what then? How could Xuefeng possibly not have understood? Yet the Dharma is no different; it is only because their lineages differ that their interpretations differ. He said 'the whole realm has never concealed it' — one must have studied it to be able to understand; babbling idly will not do.”) Yungai asked: “When the ten thousand doors are all shut I do not ask — what about when the ten thousand doors are all open?” — “How are things inside the hall?” — “There is no one to catch it.” — “Spoken indeed, greatly spoken — yet only eighty or ninety percent of it.” — “How would the reverend put it?” — “There is no one who knows it.” (Dongchan Qi said: “Then what was Shishuang's meaning? If it is the same, why was the former answer not approved? If it has a different sense, it merely says the same thing over again. So what was the ancient's meaning?”) “What about the Buddha nature being like empty space?” — “When you lie down it is there; when you sit up it is gone.” “What about when one forgets to draw back a foot?” — “I will not share your dish.” “What about when the wind rises and the waves surge?” — “A mighty uproar in Hunan city; there are those who refuse to cross over to Jiangxi.” A monk brought up how Dongshan, in the course of a study session, had addressed the assembly: “Brothers, at the end of autumn and the close of summer some of you will go east and some west; you must go straight to where for ten thousand li there is not an inch of grass.” He added: “But where there is not an inch of grass for ten thousand li, how do you get there?” Hearing of this, the master said: “Step out the door and there is grass.” The monk reported this to Dongshan, who said: “How many such men can there be in the whole land of the Great Tang?” (Dongchan Qi took this up: “Now did Shishuang understand Dongshan's meaning or not? If you say he understood — what of you elders who every day turn and bend, greet and see off: do you drop into the grass beside the road, or do you match the track at every turn? If you say he did not understand Dongshan's meaning, how could he answer like that? Is there still a place to understand it? Elder, where do you intend to go? If you can see clearly here, this may be called the song of returning home; otherwise, put down a phrase saying: in that case one does not go at all.”) For the twenty years the master stayed on Mount Shishuang there were students who sat long without ever lying down, towering like stumps and stakes, and all under heaven called them the Withered Tree assembly. Emperor Xizong of the Tang heard of the master's fame in the Way and sent an envoy bearing the gift of a purple robe; the master firmly declined and would not accept it. On the jihai day of the twentieth day of the second month of the wushen year of Guangqi (888) he showed illness and announced his passing. He was eighty-two years old, in his fifty-ninth summer as a monk. On the fifteenth day of the third month he was buried at the northwest corner of the monastery. By decree he was given the posthumous name Great Master Puhui (Universal Meeting), and his stupa was called Jianxiang (Seeing the Mark).

潭州漸源仲興禪師在道吾處為典座。一日隨道吾往檀越家弔喪。師以手拊棺曰。生耶死耶。道吾曰。生也不道死也不道。師曰。為什麼不道。道吾曰。不道不道。弔畢同迴途次。師曰。和尚今日須與仲興道。儻更不道即打去也。道吾曰。打即任打。生也不道死也不道。師遂打道吾數拳。道吾歸院令師且去。少間主事知了打汝。師乃禮辭往石霜。舉前語及打道吾之事。今請和尚道。石霜曰。汝不見道吾道。生也不道死也不道。師於此大悟乃設齋懺悔。師一日將鍬子於法堂上。石霜曰。作麼。師曰。覓先師靈骨來。石霜曰。洪波浩渺白浪滔天覓什麼靈骨。師曰。正好著力。石霜曰。遮裡針劄不入著什麼力(太原孚上座代雲。先師靈骨猶存)

Chan Master Zhongxing of Jianyuan in Tanzhou served as cook under Daowu. One day he accompanied Daowu to a patron’s home to mourn a death. He patted the coffin and asked, ‘Alive or dead?’ Daowu said, ‘I will not say alive, and I will not say dead.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘I will not say, I will not say.’ After the funeral, on the way back, Zhongxing said, ‘Master, you must tell me today. If you still do not, I will strike you.’ Daowu said, ‘Strike if you wish. I will not say alive, and I will not say dead.’ Zhongxing struck him several times. Daowu returned to the monastery and told him to leave for now: ‘When the officers hear of this, they will beat you.’ Zhongxing bowed farewell and went to Shishuang. He recounted the exchange and the beating, then said, ‘Now I ask you to speak.’ Shishuang said, ‘Did you not hear Daowu say, “I will not say alive, and I will not say dead”?’ Zhongxing awakened. He then arranged a meal to repent. One day he carried a hoe into the Dharma Hall. Shishuang asked, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Looking for our late master’s relics.’ ‘The waves are vast and the white breakers reach the sky. What relics are you looking for?’ ‘This is just the time to apply effort.’ ‘Here no needle can enter. What effort will you apply?’ (Fuzuo of Taiyuan answered for him: ‘Our late master’s relics are still here.’)

祿清和尚僧問。不落道吾機請師道。師雲。庭前紅莧樹生葉不生華。良久雲。會麼。僧雲。不會。師雲。正是道吾機因什麼不會。僧禮拜。師便打雲。須是老僧打爾始得。

Chan Master Luqing. A monk asked, ‘Please speak without falling into Daowu’s trap.’ He said, ‘In the courtyard, the amaranth bears leaves but no flowers.’ After a pause he asked, ‘Understand?’ ‘I do not.’ ‘That is exactly Daowu’s trap. Why do you not understand?’ The monk bowed. The master struck him and said, ‘Only the old monk can strike you properly.’

潭州前雲巖曇晟禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the former Yunyan Tansheng of Tanzhou

筠州洞山良价禪師會稽人也。姓俞氏。幼歲從師因念般若心經。以無根塵義問其師。其師駭異曰。吾非汝師。即指往五洩山禮默禪師披剃。年二十一嵩山具戒。遊方首謁南泉。值馬祖諱晨修齋次。南泉垂問眾僧曰。來日設馬師齋。未審馬師還來否。眾皆無對。師乃出對曰。待有是伴即來。南泉聞已讚曰。此子雖後生甚堪雕琢。師曰。和尚莫壓良為賤。次參溈山問曰。頃聞忠國師有無情說法。良价未究其微。溈山曰。我遮裡亦有。只是難得其人。曰便請師道。溈山曰。父母所生口終不敢道。曰還有與師同時慕道者否。溈山曰。此去石室相連有雲巖道人。若能撥草瞻風。必為子之所重。既到雲巖問。無情說法什麼人得聞。雲巖曰。無情說法無情得聞。師曰。和尚聞否。雲巖曰。我若聞汝即不得聞吾說法也。曰若恁麼即良价不聞和尚說法也。雲巖曰。我說法汝尚不聞。何況無情說法也。師乃述偈呈雲巖曰。

Chan Master Liangjie of Dongshan in Junzhou was a native of Kuaiji, surnamed Yu. As a child he studied under a teacher. While reciting the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, he asked about the meaning of ‘no sense bases and no objects.’ His teacher was astonished and said, ‘I am not your teacher,’ then sent him to pay respects to Chan Master Mo at Mount Wuxie and shave his head. At twenty-one he received the full precepts at Mount Song. Traveling through the regions, he first visited Nanquan. It was the memorial day for Mazu, and Nanquan asked the assembly, ‘Tomorrow we will prepare a meal for Master Ma. Will he come?’ No one answered. The master replied, ‘He will come when he has a companion.’ Nanquan praised him: ‘Though young, this man is worth shaping.’ The master said, ‘Do not call the worthy base.’ He next visited Weishan and asked about the National Teacher Zhong’s teaching that insentient things expound the Dharma. Weishan said, ‘I have it here too, but it is hard to find someone who can receive it.’ ‘Please explain it.’ ‘The mouth born of my parents dare not speak it.’ ‘Are there others here who seek the Way with you?’ Weishan said, ‘Nearby at Shishi is the Daoist Yunyan. If you can clear the weeds and follow the wind, he will be important to you.’ When he reached Yunyan, he asked, ‘Who can hear insentient things expounding the Dharma?’ Yunyan said, ‘Insentient things expound it; insentient things hear it.’ ‘Does the master hear it?’ ‘If I heard it, you could not hear me expound the Dharma.’ ‘Then I, Liangjie, do not hear the master expound it.’ ‘You do not even hear me expound it; how much less could you hear insentient things.’ The master presented this verse:

也大奇也大奇無情解說不思議

How wondrous, how wondrous! Insentient things explain the inconceivable;

若將耳聽聲不現眼處聞聲方可知

If heard by the ear, their sound does not appear; only at the eye can sound be heard.

遂辭雲巖。雲巖曰。什麼處去。師曰。雖離和尚未卜所止。曰莫湖南去。師曰無。曰莫歸鄉去。師曰無。曰早晚卻來。師曰。待和尚有住處即來。曰自此一去難得相見。師曰。難得不相見。又問雲巖。和尚百年後忽有人問還貌得師真不。如何祇對。雲巖曰。但向伊道即遮箇是。師良久。雲巖曰。承當遮箇事大須審細。師猶涉疑。後因過水覩影大悟前旨。因有一偈曰。

He then took leave. Yunyan asked, ‘Where are you going?’ ‘Though I leave you, I do not know where I will stay.’ ‘Are you going south to Hunan?’ ‘No.’ ‘Going home?’ ‘No.’ ‘When will you return?’ ‘When you have a place to stay.’ ‘After this, it will be hard for us to meet.’ ‘It is hard for us not to meet.’ He asked Yunyan, ‘After your hundred years, if someone asks whether I have portrayed your likeness, what should I say?’ Yunyan said, ‘Just tell him, “This is it.”’ The master was silent for a long time. Yunyan said, ‘To take responsibility for this matter, you must be exceedingly careful.’ The master still had doubts. Later, while crossing a stream, he saw his reflection and awakened to Yunyan’s meaning. He composed a verse:

切忌從他覓迢迢與我疎

Never seek it from another, lest it grow distant from you;

我今獨自往處處得逢渠

Now I go alone, yet everywhere I meet it;

渠今正是我我今不是渠

It is now precisely me, yet I am not it;

應須恁麼會方得契如如

Understand it in this way, and you accord with suchness.

他日因供養雲巖真。有僧問曰。先師道只遮是莫便是否。師曰是。僧曰。意旨如何。師曰。當時幾錯會先師語。曰未審先師還知有也無。師曰。若不知有爭解恁麼道。若知有爭肯恁麼道(長慶稜雲。既知有為什麼恁麼道。又云。養子方知父慈)師在泐潭見初上座示眾雲。也大奇也大奇佛界道界不思議。師曰。佛界道界即不問。且如說佛界道界。是什麼人。只請一言。初良久無對。師曰。何不急道。初曰。爭即不得。師曰。道也未曾道。說什麼爭即不得。初無對。師曰。佛之與道只是名字。何不引教。初曰。教道什麼。師曰。得意忘言。初曰。猶將教意向心頭作病在。師曰。說佛界道界病大小。初因此遷化。師至唐大中末。於新豐山接誘學徒。厥後盛化豫章高安之洞山(今筠州也)因為雲巖諱日營齋。有僧問。和尚於先師處得何指示。師曰。雖在彼中不蒙他指示。僧曰。既不蒙指示。又用設齋作什麼。師曰。然雖如此焉敢違背於他。僧問。和尚初見南泉發跡。為什麼與雲巖設齋。師曰。我不重先師道德。亦不為佛法。只重不為我說破。又因設忌齋。僧問。和尚為先師設齋還肯先師也無。師曰。半肯半不肯。曰為什麼不全肯。師曰。若全肯即孤負先師也。僧問。欲見和尚本來師如何得見。曰年涯相似即無阻矣僧再舉所疑。師曰。不躡前蹤更請一問。僧無對。雲居代雲。恁麼即某甲不見和尚本來師也(後皎上坐拈問長慶。如何是年涯相似者。長慶雲古人。恁麼道皎。闍梨又向這裡覓箇什麼)師又曰。還有不報四恩三有者無。若不體此意。何超始終之患。直須心心不觸物步步無處所。常不間斷稍得相應。師問僧。什麼處來。曰遊山來。師曰。還到頂否。曰到。師曰。頂上還有人否。曰無人。師曰。恁麼即闍梨不到頂也。曰若不到頂爭知無人。師曰。闍梨何不且住。曰某甲不辭住。西天有人不肯。師問太長老曰。

Another day, while making an offering on Yunyan’s memorial day, a monk asked, ‘When the late master said, “This is it,” did he mean exactly this?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘What did he mean?’ ‘At the time I nearly misunderstood his words.’ ‘Did the late master know this or not?’ ‘If he did not know, how could he say it? If he knew, how could he say it?’ (Changqing said, ‘If he knew, why say it? And: “Only after raising a child does one know a father’s kindness.”) At Lutan, the master heard First Seat Chu address the assembly: ‘How wondrous! The Buddha-realm and Way-realm are inconceivable.’ The master said, ‘I will not ask about those realms. Who is speaking of them? Please say one word.’ Chu was silent. ‘Why not answer quickly?’ ‘I cannot answer carelessly.’ ‘You have not even spoken; what do you mean you cannot answer carelessly?’ Chu was silent. The master said, ‘Buddha and Way are only names. Why not cite a teaching?’ Chu said, ‘Grasp the meaning and forget the words.’ The master said, ‘You are still making the teaching into an illness in your mind.’ ‘How serious is the illness of speaking of Buddha and Way?’ ‘Because of this, Chu moved away and died.’ By the end of the Dazhong era, the master was teaching at Xinfeng Mountain; later his teaching flourished at Dongshan in Gao’an, Yuzhang (now Junzhou). On Yunyan’s memorial day, a monk asked, ‘What instruction did you receive from the late master?’ ‘Though I was there, he gave me no instruction.’ ‘Then why hold a memorial meal?’ ‘Even so, how could I dare go against him?’ Asked why he made offerings for Yunyan though he first met Nanquan, he said, ‘I do not honor my late master for his virtue, nor for the Buddha-Dharma; I honor him because he did not explain it away for me.’ At another memorial, a monk asked whether he fully approved of his late master. He said, ‘Half yes, half no.’ ‘Why not fully?’ ‘If I fully approved, I would let him down.’ Asked how to meet the master’s original teacher, he said, ‘If your years are similar, there is no obstacle.’ The monk repeated his doubt. ‘Do not follow the old tracks; ask another question.’ Yunju answered for him, ‘Then I have not met the master’s original teacher.’ Later Jiao asked Changqing, ‘What does it mean for years to be similar?’ Changqing said, ‘The ancients spoke this way. What are you seeking here?’ The master said, ‘Is there anyone who does not repay the four debts of gratitude and the three realms of existence? If you do not embody this, how will you transcend the troubles of beginning and end? Let each thought touch no thing and each step find no place; if this is unbroken, you will gradually accord.’ He asked a monk, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘I have been traveling in the mountains.’ ‘Did you reach the summit?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Was anyone at the summit?’ ‘No one.’ ‘Then you did not reach the summit.’ ‘If I had not reached it, how would I know no one was there?’ ‘Why not stay here?’ ‘I have no objection, but someone in India would not approve.’ The master asked Elder Tai:

有一物上拄天下拄地黑如漆常在動用中過在什麼處。太曰。過在動用(同安顯別雲。不知)師乃咄雲。出去。問如何是西來意。師曰。大似駭雞犀。師問雪峰。從什麼處來。雪峰曰。天台來。師曰。見智者否。曰義存吃鐵棒有分。僧問。蛇吞蝦蟇救即是不救即是。師曰。救即雙目不覩。不救即形影不彰。因夜間不點燈。有僧出問。話退後。師令侍者點燈。乃召適來問話僧出來。其僧近前。師曰。將取三兩粉來與遮箇上坐。其僧拂袖而退。自此惺發玄旨。遂罄捨衣資設齋。得三年後辭師。師曰。善為。時雪峰侍立次。問曰。只如遮僧辭去幾時卻來。師曰。他只知一去不解再來。其僧歸堂就衣缽下坐化。雪峰上報師。師曰。雖然如此猶較老僧三生在。雪峰上問訊。師曰。入門來須得語。不得道早箇入了也。雪峰曰。義存無口。師曰。無口且從還我眼來。雪峰無語(雲居膺別前語云。待某甲有口即道。長慶稜別雲。恁麼即某甲謹退)師問僧。什麼處來。曰三祖塔頭來。師曰。既從祖師處來。又要見老僧作什麼。曰祖師即別學人與和尚不別。師曰。老僧欲見闍梨本來師還得否。曰亦須待和尚自出頭來始得。師曰。老僧適來暫時不在雲居。問如何是祖師西來意。師曰。闍梨向後有把茅蓋頭。或有人問闍梨且作麼生。向伊道官人。問有人修行否。師曰。待公作男子即修行。僧問。承古有言。相逢不擎出。舉意便知有時如何。師乃合掌頂戴。師問德山。侍者從何方來。曰德山來。師曰。來作什麼。曰孝順和尚來。師曰。世間什麼物最孝順。侍者無對。師有時雲。體得佛向上事。方有些子語話分。僧便問。如何是語話。師曰。語話時闍梨不聞。曰和尚還聞否。師曰。待我不語話時即聞。僧問。如何是正問正答。師曰。不從口裡道。曰若有人問。師還答否。師曰。也未問。問如何是從門入者非寶。師曰。便休便休。

(The master continued:) ‘There is something that props up the sky above and the earth below, black as lacquer, always active. Where is its fault?’ Tai said, ‘Its fault is in being active.’ (Tong’an Xian said, ‘I do not know.’) The master scolded him: ‘Get out!’ Asked, ‘What is the meaning of the ancestral teacher’s coming from the West?’ he said, ‘It resembles a rhinoceros horn that startles chickens.’ He asked Xuefeng, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘Mount Tiantai.’ ‘Did you see Master Zhizhe?’ ‘Yicun deserves a beating with an iron rod.’ A monk asked, ‘A snake swallows a frog. Is it right to save it or not to save it?’ He said, ‘Save it, and both eyes are blind; do not save it, and neither form nor shadow appears.’ One night a monk asked a question in the dark, then withdrew. The master told an attendant to light a lamp and call him back. When the monk came forward, he said, ‘Bring three or two ounces of powder for this senior.’ The monk swept out with his sleeve. From then he awakened to the profound meaning and gave up his clothing and money to hold a meal. Three years later he took leave. The master said, ‘Take care.’ Xuefeng, standing nearby, asked, ‘When will this monk return?’ The master said, ‘He knows how to leave, but not how to return.’ The monk sat beneath his robe and bowl and passed away. Xuefeng reported it. The master said, ‘Even so, he is still three lives behind me.’ Xuefeng paid his respects. The master said, ‘When you enter the gate, you must speak; do not say you have already entered.’ Xuefeng said, ‘Yicun has no mouth.’ ‘No mouth, then; give me back my eyes.’ Xuefeng was silent. (Yunju Ying said, ‘When I have a mouth, I will speak.’ Changqing said, ‘Then I respectfully withdraw.’) A monk said he came from the Third Patriarch’s stupa. The master asked, ‘Since you came from the patriarch, why see me?’ ‘The patriarch is different, but I and the master are not.’ ‘I want to meet your original teacher. Can you arrange it?’ ‘The master must come out himself.’ ‘I was briefly absent just now.’ Yunju asked the meaning of the ancestral teacher’s coming from the West. He said, ‘Later you will have a thatched hut. If someone asks you, what will you tell them?’ An official asked, ‘Does anyone practice?’ He said, ‘When you become a man, then practice.’ A monk cited, ‘The ancients said, “When we meet, do not bring it forth; at the thought of it, one knows.” What about now?’ He joined his palms and bowed. He asked Deshan’s attendant, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘Deshan.’ ‘Why come?’ ‘To be filial to the master.’ ‘What is the most filial thing in the world?’ The attendant had no answer. The master sometimes said, ‘Only after realizing the matter above Buddha does one have a little share in speaking.’ A monk asked, ‘What is speaking?’ ‘When you speak, you do not hear.’ ‘Does the master hear?’ ‘Wait until I am not speaking, then you will hear.’ Asked, ‘What is a proper question and answer?’ he said, ‘It is not spoken from the mouth.’ ‘If someone asks, will the master answer?’ ‘He has not asked yet.’ Asked, ‘What comes through the gate is not a treasure—what is it?’ he said, ‘Stop, stop.’

師問講維摩經僧曰。不可以智知。不可以識識。喚作什麼語。對曰。讚法身語。師曰。法身是讚何用更讚。師有時垂語曰。直道本來無一物。猶未消得他缽袋子。僧便問。什麼人合得。師曰。不入門者。僧曰。只如不入門者還得也無。師曰。雖然如此不得不與他。師又曰。直道本來無一物。猶未消得他衣缽。遮裡合下得一轉語。且道下得什麼語。有一上坐下語九十六轉不愜師意。末後一轉始可師意。師曰。闍梨何不早恁麼道。有一僧聞請舉。如是三年執侍巾瓶終不為舉。上坐因有疾。其僧曰。某甲三年請舉前話不蒙慈悲。善取不得惡取。遂持刀向之曰。若不為某甲舉。即便殺上坐也。上坐悚然曰。闍梨且待。我為汝舉。乃曰。直饒將來亦無處著。其僧禮謝。僧問。師尋常教學人行鳥道。未審如何是鳥道。師曰。不逢一人。曰如何行。師曰。直須足下無絲去。曰只如行鳥道莫便是本來面目否。師曰。闍梨因什麼顛倒。曰什麼處是學人顛倒。師曰。若不顛倒因什麼認奴作郎。曰如何是本來面目。師曰。不行鳥道。師謂眾曰。知有佛向上人方有語話分。時有僧問。如何是佛向上人。師曰。非常。(保福別雲。佛非。法眼別雲。方便呼為佛)師問僧。去什麼處來。僧曰。製鞋來。師曰。自解依他。僧曰。依他。師曰。他還指教闍梨也無。僧曰。允即不違。僧來舉。問茱萸如何是沙門行。茱萸曰。行即不無人覺即乖。師令彼僧去。進語曰。未審是什麼行。茱萸曰。佛行佛行。僧迴舉似師。師曰。幽州猶似可。最苦是新羅(東禪齊拈雲。此語還有疑訛也無。若有且道什麼處不得。若無他又道最苦是新羅。還點檢得出麼。他道行即不無人覺即乖。師令再問是什麼行。又道佛行。那僧是會了問不會而問。請斷看)僧卻問師。如何是沙門行。師曰。頭長三尺頸長二寸(有僧舉問歸宗權和尚。只如洞山意作麼生。權雲。

The master asked a monk who lectured on the Vimalakirti Sutra, ‘“It cannot be known by wisdom or recognized by consciousness.” What kind of phrase is this?’ The monk said, ‘A phrase praising the Dharma-body.’ The master said, ‘If it is the Dharma-body, why praise it?’ He sometimes said, ‘Even saying “Originally there is not one thing” cannot rid you of that bowl-and-bag.’ A monk asked, ‘Who deserves it?’ ‘One who does not enter the gate.’ ‘Can one who does not enter receive it?’ ‘Even so, one cannot help but give it to him.’ He also said, ‘Even saying “Originally there is not one thing” cannot rid you of his robes and bowl. Here one must offer a turning phrase. What phrase?’ A senior monk offered ninety-six, none satisfying him. The last one pleased him. He said, ‘Why did you not say that earlier?’ A monk heard of it and asked him to repeat it. For three years he attended the master with towel and water vessel, but the master never repeated it. When the senior monk became ill, the monk said, ‘For three years I have asked you to repeat it and you have shown no kindness. If I cannot get it by good means, I will take it by force.’ He held a knife and said, ‘If you do not tell me, I will kill you.’ The senior monk was startled: ‘Wait; I will tell you.’ He said, ‘Even if you bring it here, there is nowhere to put it.’ The monk bowed in thanks. A monk asked, ‘You often teach us to walk the bird path. What is the bird path?’ ‘You meet no one.’ ‘How does one walk it?’ ‘Let there not be a thread beneath your feet.’ ‘Is walking the bird path one’s original face?’ ‘Why are you confused?’ ‘Where am I confused?’ ‘If you were not confused, why mistake a servant for his master?’ ‘What is the original face?’ ‘Not walking the bird path.’ The master told the assembly, ‘Only one who knows the person above Buddha can speak.’ A monk asked, ‘Who is that person?’ ‘Unusual.’ (Baofu said, ‘Not Buddha.’ Fayan said, ‘Provisionally called Buddha.’) Asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ the monk said, ‘I was making shoes.’ ‘You know how to depend on another.’ ‘I depend on another.’ ‘Did the other instruct you?’ ‘I comply and do not oppose.’ A monk asked Zhuyu, ‘What is the conduct of a renunciant?’ Zhuyu said, ‘It is not that there is no conduct; when noticed, it goes astray.’ The master sent the monk back to ask, ‘What conduct is that?’ Zhuyu said, ‘Buddha conduct, Buddha conduct.’ The monk reported it. The master said, ‘Youzhou is still tolerable; Silla is the worst.’ (Dongchan Qi questioned whether these words were reliable and asked whether the monk had understood Zhuyu or not.) The monk asked the master, ‘What is the conduct of a renunciant?’ He said, ‘A head three feet long and a neck two inches long.’ (A monk later asked Guizong Quan what Dongshan meant. Quan said:)

封皮厚二寸)師見幽上坐來。遽起向禪床後立。幽曰。和尚為什麼迴避學人。師曰。將謂闍梨覓老僧。問如何是玄中又玄。師曰。如死人舌。師洗缽次見兩烏爭蝦蟇。有僧便問曰。遮箇因什麼到恁麼地。師曰。只為闍梨。僧問。如何是毘盧師法身主。師曰。禾莖粟[榦-木+禾]。問三身之中阿那身不墮眾數。師曰。吾常於此切(僧問曹山。先師道。吾常於此切。意作麼生。曹山雲。要頭即斫將去。又問雪峰。雪峰以拄杖擬之雲。我亦曾到洞山來)師因看稻田次。朗上坐牽牛。師曰。遮箇牛須好看恐吃稻去。朗曰。若是好牛應不吃稻。師問僧。世間何物最苦。僧曰。地獄最苦。師曰。不然。曰師意如何。師曰。在此衣線下不明大事。是名最苦。師問僧。名什麼。僧曰。某甲。師曰。阿那箇是闍梨主人公。僧曰。見祇對次。師曰。苦哉苦哉。今時人例皆如此。只是認得驢前馬後將為自己。佛法平沈此之是也。客中辨主尚未分。如何辨得主中主。僧便問。如何是主中主。師曰。闍梨自道取。僧曰。某甲道得即是客中主。如何是主中主。師曰。恁麼道即易相續也大難(雲居別雲。某甲道得。不是客中主)師示疾令沙彌去雲居傳語。又曰。他忽問汝和尚有何言句。但道雲巖路欲絕也。汝下此語須遠立。恐他打汝去。沙彌領旨去。語未終早被雲居打一棒。沙彌無語(同安顯代雲。恁麼即雲巖一枝不墜也。後雲居錫雲。上座且道。雲巖路絕不絕。崇壽稠雲。古人打此一棒意作麼生)師將圓寂謂眾曰。吾有閑名在世誰為吾除得。眾皆無對。時沙彌出曰。請和尚法號。師曰。吾閑名已謝(石霜雲。無人得他肯。雲居雲。若有閑名非吾先師。曹山雲。從古至今無人辨得。疎山雲。龍有出水之機。無人辨得)問。和尚遺和還有不病者也無。師曰。有。僧曰。不病者還看和尚否。師曰。老僧看他有分。曰和尚爭得看他。師曰。

(Quan continued:) ‘An envelope two inches thick.’ Seeing You arrive, the master quickly stood behind the meditation seat. You said, ‘Why are you avoiding me?’ ‘I thought you were looking for me.’ Asked, ‘What is the profound within the profound?’ he said, ‘Like a dead man’s tongue.’ While washing his bowl, he saw two crows fighting over a frog. A monk asked, ‘Why has this happened?’ He said, ‘Because of you.’ Asked, ‘Who is the master of Vairocana’s Dharma-body?’ he said, ‘A stalk of grain, a stem of millet.’ Asked which of the three bodies does not fall among the many, he said, ‘I am always right here.’ (Caoshan said, ‘If you want my head, cut it off.’ Xuefeng pointed his staff at the questioner and said, ‘I too once came to Dongshan.’) While looking at the rice fields, Lang pulled an ox. The master said, ‘Keep a close eye on this ox; it may eat the rice.’ Lang said, ‘A good ox would not eat rice.’ The master asked, ‘What is the most bitter thing in the world?’ ‘Hell is most bitter.’ ‘No. To wear these robes and fail to understand the great matter is most bitter.’ He asked a monk, ‘What is your name?’ ‘So-and-so.’ ‘Which one is your original master?’ ‘The one answering you.’ ‘Pitiful! People today are all like this. They mistake the one who leads the donkey and horse for themselves. The Buddha-Dharma is sinking. They cannot distinguish guest from host; how can they discern the host within the host?’ ‘What is the host within the host?’ ‘You tell me.’ ‘If I say it, I am the guest within the host. What is the host within the host?’ ‘It is easy to say that; it is very hard to continue.’ (Yunju said, ‘If I could say it, it would not be the guest within the host.’) When the master was ill, he sent a novice to Yunju with a message: ‘If he asks what words your master left, tell him, “Yunyan’s road is about to end.” Stand far away when you say it, or he may hit you.’ The novice went and was struck by Yunju before he finished. He was speechless. (Tong’an Xian said for him, ‘Then Yunyan’s one branch has not fallen.’ Yunju Xi later asked, ‘Is Yunyan’s road ended or not?’ Chongshou Chou asked what the old master meant by striking him.) As he was about to pass away, the master said, ‘I have an idle name in the world. Who can remove it?’ No one answered. A novice said, ‘May I ask your Dharma name?’ He said, ‘My idle name has already disappeared.’ (Shishuang said, ‘No one could get his approval.’ Yunju said, ‘If there were an idle name, it would not be our late master.’ Caoshan said, ‘From ancient times to now no one has discerned it.’ Shushan said, ‘A dragon has the power to emerge from water, yet none can discern it.’) Asked whether there was anyone who did not fall ill, he said, ‘There is.’ ‘Does that one look after you?’ ‘I have a share in looking after him.’ ‘How can you look after him?’ He said:

老僧看時即不見有病。師又曰。離此殼漏子向什麼處與吾相見。眾無對。唐咸通十年三月命剃髮披衣令擊鍾儼然坐化。時大眾號慟移晷。師忽開目而起曰。夫出家之人心不附物。是真修行。勞生息死於悲何有。乃召主事僧令辦愚痴齊一中。蓋責其戀情也。眾猶戀慕不已延至七日。食具方備。師亦隨齋畢曰。僧家勿事大率臨行之際喧動如斯。至八日浴訖端坐長往。壽六十有三。臘四十二。勅諡悟本大師。塔曰慧覺(師昔在泐潭尋譯大藏。纂出大乘經要一卷並激勵道俗偈頌誡等。流佈諸方)。

(The master continued:) ‘When I look, I do not see illness.’ He also said, ‘When you leave this leaky shell, where will you meet me?’ No one answered. In the third month of the tenth year of Xiantong, he had his head shaved, put on his robes, and sat upright as the bell was struck. The assembly wept bitterly for a long time. He suddenly opened his eyes, rose, and said, ‘A monastic’s mind does not cling to things; this is true practice. Why labor over life and death? What place is there for grief?’ He told the officers to prepare a meal of foolishness, reproaching them for their attachment. They remained unable to let go, and delayed the meal until the seventh day. After eating with them, he said, ‘Monastics should not make such a commotion when someone is about to depart.’ On the eighth day, after bathing, he sat upright and passed away. He was sixty-three, with forty-two years in the precepts. By imperial decree he was titled Master Wuben, and his stupa named Huijue. (While at Lutan, he searched for and compiled a volume of essentials from the Mahayana scriptures, along with admonitory verses for monastics and laypeople; these circulated throughout the regions.)

涿州杏山鑒洪禪師。臨濟問。如何是露地白牛。師曰吽。濟曰。啞卻杏山口。師曰。老兄作麼生。濟曰。遮畜生。師乃休(與石室問答。如彼章出之)師五詠十秀皆暢玄風。滅後茶毘收五色舍利。

Chan Master Jianhong of Xingshan in Zhuozhou. Linji asked, ‘What is the white ox in the open field?’ He said, ‘Moo.’ Linji said, ‘You have made Xingshan mute.’ He asked, ‘What would you do, elder brother?’ Linji said, ‘You beast!’ The master stopped. (His exchanges with Shishi are recorded in that chapter.) His five hymns and ten verses all expressed the profound teaching. After his death, five-colored relics were collected at cremation.

潭州神山僧密禪師。師在南泉打羅次。南泉問。作什麼。師曰。打羅。曰汝以手打腳打。師曰。卻請和尚道。南泉曰。分明記取。向後遇明眼作家但恁麼舉似(雲巖代雲。無手腳者始解打)師與洞山渡水。洞山曰。莫錯下腳。師曰。錯即過不得也。洞山曰。不錯底事作麼生。師曰。共長老過水。一日與洞山鋤茶園。洞山擲下钁頭曰。我今日困一點氣力也無。師曰。若無氣力爭解恁麼道得。洞山曰。汝將謂有氣力底是也。裴大夫問僧。供養佛還吃否。僧曰。如大夫祭家神。大夫舉似雲巖。雲巖代曰。有幾般飯食。但一時下來。雲巖卻問師。一時下來後作麼生。師曰。合後缽盂。巖肯之。僧問。如何是無所聞者乃曰聽經。師曰。惡會麼。僧曰。要會。師曰。未解聽經在。問一地不見二地如何。師曰。汝莫錯否汝是何地。有行者問。生死事乞師一言。師曰。汝何時生死去來。曰某甲不會請師說。師曰。不會須死一場去。

Chan Master Sengmi of Shenshan in Tanzhou. The master was at Nanquan beating the gong. Nanquan asked: "What are you doing?" The master said: "Beating the gong." Nanquan said: "Do you beat it with your hand or with your foot?" The master said: "Then I ask the Reverend to say it." Nanquan said: "Remember this clearly. Later, when you meet a clear-eyed adept, just present it like this." (Yunyan answered for him: "Only one with neither hands nor feet can beat it.") The master was crossing the water with Dongshan. Dongshan said: "Do not step wrong." The master said: "If I step wrong, I cannot get across." Dongshan said: "What about the matter of not stepping wrong?" The master said: "Crossing the water together with the elder." One day he was hoeing the tea garden with Dongshan. Dongshan threw down his hoe and said: "Today I am exhausted; I have not a bit of strength left." The master said: "If you had no strength, how could you say such a thing?" Dongshan said: "You suppose that having strength is right." Grandee Pei asked a monk: "When offerings are made to the Buddha, does he eat or not?" The monk said: "It is like your excellency sacrificing to the household gods." The grandee related this to Yunyan. Yunyan answered for the monk: "There are several kinds of food; they are all served at once." Yunyan then asked the master: "After they have all been served at once, what then?" The master said: "Then close the alms bowl." Yunyan approved of it. A monk asked: "What does it mean that one who has heard nothing at all is called a hearer of the sutra?" The master said: "Evil. Do you understand?" The monk said: "I want to understand." The master said: "You still cannot hear the sutra." A monk asked: "If on the first ground one does not see the second ground, what then?" The master said: "Are you not mistaken? What ground are you on?" A practitioner asked: "On the matter of birth and death, I beg one word from you, Master." The master said: "When have you ever come or gone in birth and death?" He said: "I do not understand; please explain, Master." The master said: "If you do not understand, you must die once for yourself."

幽谿和尚僧問。大用現前不存軌則時如何。師起繞禪床一匝而坐。僧欲進語。師與一蹋。僧歸位而立。師曰。汝恁麼我不恁麼。汝不恁麼我卻恁麼。僧再擬進語。師又與一蹋曰。三十年後吾道大行。

Monk Youxi. A monk asked: "When the great function is manifest before you and no rules are kept, what then?" The master rose, walked once around the meditation seat, and sat down. The monk was about to speak further. The master gave him a kick. The monk returned to his place and stood. The master said: "You are thus; I am not thus. You are not thus; yet I am thus." The monk was again about to speak. The master gave him another kick and said: "In thirty years my way will flourish greatly."