Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 15

南嶽玄泰上坐不知何許人也。沈靜寡言未嘗衣帛。眾謂之泰布衲。始見德山鑒禪師。升於堂矣。後謁石霜普會禪師。遂入室焉。所居蘭若在衡山之東。號七寶臺。誓不立門徒。四方後進依附。皆用交友之禮。嘗以。衡山多被山民斬木燒畬。為害滋甚。乃作畬山謠。遠邇傳播達於九重。有詔禁止。故嶽中蘭若無復延燎師之力也(畬山謠○畬山兒無所知。年年斫斷青山嵋。就中最好衡嶽色。杉松利斧摧貞枝。靈禽野鶴無因依。白雲迴避青煙飛。猿猱路絕巖崕出。芝朮失根茅草肥。年年斫罷仍栽鋤。千秋終是難□初。又道今年種不多。來年更斫當陽坡。國家壽嶽尚如此。不知此理如之何)。將示滅並無僧至。乃自出門召一僧入。付囑令備薪蒸。又留偈曰。

Elder Xuantai of Nanyue—no one knows where he was from. Calm and sparing of words, he never wore silk; the community called him Tai the cloth-patch monk. He first called on Chan Master Jian of Deshan and ascended his hall; later he visited Chan Master Puhui of Shishuang and then entered his room. The aranya where he lived lay east of Mount Heng and was called the Terrace of Seven Jewels. He vowed not to establish disciples; when juniors from all quarters attached themselves to him, he treated them all with the courtesy of friends. Because Mount Heng suffered much from hill folk felling trees and burning field-clearings, the damage growing ever worse, he composed the Song of the Burned Fields, which spread far and near until it reached the ninefold palace; an edict then forbade the burning. That the aranyas within the sacred peak were never again scorched was the master's doing. (The Song of the Burned Fields: “The burn-field lads know nothing; year after year they hack through the ridges of the green hills. Fairest of all is the color of the Heng peak—yet fir and pine meet sharp axes, their steadfast branches cut down. Numinous fowl and wild cranes are left with nothing to rest on; white clouds shrink away while blue smoke flies. The gibbons' paths are cut off and the cliffs stand bare; the sacred herbs lose their roots while coarse grass grows fat. Year after year they burn, then plant and hoe again; for a thousand autumns it can never return to its beginning” —one character is missing here in the base text— “And still they say, ‘This year the planting was scant; next year we will burn the sun-facing slope.’ When even the nation's Longevity Peak is treated like this, what is one to make of such reasoning?”) When he was about to pass away, no monk had come, so he went out the gate himself and called one monk in, charging him to prepare the firewood. He also left a verse, saying:

今年六十五四大將離主

This year, sixty-five; the four elements are leaving their master.

其道自玄玄箇中無佛祖

The Way is mysterious of itself; within it there is no Buddha, no patriarch.

不用剃頭不須澡浴一堆猛火

No need to shave the head, no need to bathe; a heap of fierce flames—

千足萬足

a thousandfold, ten-thousandfold sufficiency.

偈終端坐垂一足而逝。闍維收舍利。於堅固禪師塔左營小浮圖置之。壽六十有五。

When the verse ended, he sat upright, let one foot hang down, and died. After the cremation they collected the relics and built a small stupa to the left of Chan Master Jiangu's pagoda to enshrine them. He was sixty-five years old.

前澧州夾山善會禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of the late Chan Master Shanhui of Jiashan in Lizhou

澧州樂普山元安禪師鳳翔麟遊人也。姓淡氏。丱年出家。依本郡懷恩寺祐律師披削具戒通經論。首問道於翠微臨濟。臨濟常對眾美之曰。臨濟門下一隻箭誰敢當鋒。師蒙許可。自謂已足。尋之夾山卓庵。後得夾山書發而覽之。不覺竦然乃棄庵。至夾山禮拜端身而立。夾山曰。雞棲鳳巢非其同類出去。師問曰。自遠趨風請師一接。夾山曰。目前無闍梨夾山無老僧。師曰。錯也夾山曰。住住闍梨且莫草草怱怱。雲月是同雞山各異。闍梨坐卻天下人舌頭即不無。爭教無舌人解語。師茫然無對。夾山遂打。師因茲服膺數載(興化代雲。但知作佛莫愁眾生)師一日問夾山。佛魔不到處如何體會。夾山曰。燭明千里像。闇室老僧迷。又問。朝陽已昇夜月不現時如何。夾山曰。龍銜海珠遊魚不顧。夾山將示滅。垂語於眾曰。石頭一枝看看即滅矣。師對曰。不然。夾山曰。何也。曰。自有青山在。夾山曰。苟如是即吾道不墜矣。暨夾山順世。師抵於涔陽遇故人。因話武陵事。故人問曰。倏忽數年何處逃難。師曰。只在闤闠中曰何不無人處去。師曰。無人處有何難。曰闤闠中如何逃避。師曰。雖在闤闠中人且不識。故人罔測。又問曰。承西天有二十八祖。至於此土人傳一人。且如彼此不垂曲者如何。師曰。野老門前不話朝堂之事。曰合譚何事。師曰。未逢別者終不開拳。曰。有不從朝堂來相逢還話否。師曰。量外之機徒勞目擊。僧無對。師尋之澧陽樂普山卜於宴處。後遷止朗州蘇谿。四方玄侶憧憧奔湊。師示眾曰。末後一句始到牢關。鎖斷要津不通凡聖。欲知上流之士。不將祖佛見解貼在額頭如靈龜負圖。自取喪身之本。又曰。指南一路智者知疏。問瞥然便見時如何。師曰。曉星分曙色爭似太陽輝。問恁麼來不立恁麼去不泯時如何。師曰。鬻薪樵子貴衣錦道人輕。問經云。飯百千諸佛不如飯一無修無證者。

Chan Master Yuan'an of Mount Lepu in Lizhou was a native of Linyou in Fengxiang, surnamed Dan. He entered monastic life as a child, received the full precepts at Huai'en Monastery in his home prefecture, and mastered the sutras and treatises. He first sought the Way from Cuiwei and Linji. Linji often praised him before the assembly: ‘A single arrow from Linji’s gate—who dares face its point?’ The master received Linji’s approval and thought himself complete. He soon built a hermitage at Jianshan. Later, he received a letter from Jianshan and, after reading it, shivered; he abandoned his hermitage, went to pay respects, and stood upright. Jianshan said, ‘A chicken roosts in a phoenix’s nest, but they are not of the same kind. Leave!’ He said, ‘I came from afar seeking your teaching; please receive me.’ Jianshan said, ‘There is no reverend before me, and Jianshan has no old monk.’ He said, ‘Wrong.’ ‘Wait, wait. Do not be so hasty. The clouds and moon are the same, but streams and mountains differ. You can silence everyone under heaven, but how will you make the tongueless speak?’ The master was bewildered and could not answer. Jianshan struck him. The master submitted to him for several years. (Xinghua said in his place, ‘Just know how to become a Buddha; do not worry about sentient beings.’) One day he asked Jianshan, ‘How does one embody the place untouched by Buddha or demon?’ Jianshan said, ‘A bright lamp reveals forms for a thousand miles; in a dark room the old monk is lost.’ He asked, ‘When the morning sun has risen and the night moon is gone, what then?’ ‘A dragon carries a pearl from the sea; the swimming fish pay it no heed.’ As Jianshan neared death, he told the assembly, ‘The branch of Shitou’s teaching is about to die out.’ The master said, ‘No.’ ‘Why?’ ‘There are still green mountains.’ Jianshan said, ‘If so, my Way will not perish.’ After Jianshan passed away, the master met an old friend at Cenyang. Speaking of events at Wuling, the friend asked, ‘Where have you hidden from trouble all these years?’ ‘Right in the marketplace.’ ‘Why not go somewhere empty?’ ‘What difficulty is there in an empty place?’ ‘How do you hide in a marketplace?’ ‘Though I am in the marketplace, no one recognizes me.’ The friend could not fathom it. He asked, ‘I hear there were twenty-eight Indian patriarchs, and one was transmitted here. What of those who teach neither here nor there?’ The master said, ‘A country elder does not discuss court affairs at his gate.’ ‘What should we discuss?’ ‘Until one meets another, one does not open one’s fist.’ ‘If someone did not come from court, would you talk with him?’ ‘A capacity beyond measure is wasted on a face-to-face meeting.’ The monk had no answer. The master settled at Mount Lepu in Liyang, then moved to Suxi in Langzhou. Practitioners gathered from all directions. He told the assembly, ‘The final phrase is what reaches the firm barrier. It locks the vital pass and admits neither ordinary nor sage. A person of the highest order does not paste the views of patriarchs and Buddhas on the forehead. Like a spirit tortoise carrying a diagram, he takes the source of his own ruin.’ He also said, ‘The wise know the southern path is far away.’ Asked, ‘What if one sees it in a flash?’ he said, ‘The dawn star divides the morning light; how can it compare with the sun?’ Asked, ‘What if coming does not establish and going does not perish?’ he said, ‘The firewood seller is prized; the silk-robed man is slighted.’ A monk cited, ‘The sutra says, “Feeding a hundred thousand Buddhas is not as good as feeding one who neither practices nor realizes.”’

未審百千諸佛有何過。無修無證者有何德。師曰。一片白雲橫谷口。幾多歸鳥夜迷巢。問日未出時如何。師曰。水竭滄溟龍自隱。雲騰碧漢鳳猶飛。問如何是本來事。師曰。一粒在荒田不耘苗自秀。曰若一向不耘莫草裡埋沒卻也無。師曰。肌骨異芻蕘。稊稗終難映。問不傷物命者如何。師曰。眼華山影轉迷者謾彷徨問不譚今古時如何。師曰。靈龜無掛兆空殼不勞鑽。問不掛明暗時如何。師曰。玄中易舉意外難提。問不生如來家不坐華王座時如何。師曰。汝道火鑪重多少。問祖意與教意是一是二。師曰。師子窟中無異獸。象王行處絕狐蹤。問行到不思議處如何。師曰。青山常舉足白日不移輪。問枯盡荒田獨立事如何。師曰。鷺倚雪巢猶可辨。烏投漆立事難分。問如何是賓主雙舉。師曰。枯樹無橫枝鳥來難措足。問終日朦朧時如何。師曰。擲寶混沙中識者天然異。曰恁麼即展手不逢師也。師曰。莫將鶴唳誤作鸎啼。問圓伊三點人皆重。樂普家風事若何。師曰。雷霆一震布鼓聲銷。問停午時如何。師曰。停午猶虧半烏沈始得圓。問如何是西來意。師曰。颯颯當軒竹經霜不自寒。僧擬再問。師曰。只聞風擊響不知幾千竿。師上堂謂眾曰。孫賓收鋪去也有卜者出來。時有僧出曰。請和尚一掛。師曰。汝家爺死。僧無語(法眼代拊掌三下)問如何是西來意。師敲禪床曰。會麼。曰不會。師曰。天上忽雷驚宇宙。井底蝦蟇不舉頭。問佛魔不到處如何辨得。師曰。演若頭非失鏡中認取乖。問如何是救離生死。師曰。執水苟延生不聞天樂妙。問四大如何而有。師曰。湛水無波漚因風擊。曰漚滅歸水時如何。師曰。不渾不濁魚龍任躍。問生死事如何。師曰。一念忘機太虛無點。問如何是道。師曰。存機猶滯跡去兀卻通途。問如何是一藏收不得者。師曰。雨滋三草秀片玉本來輝。問一毫吞盡巨海於中更復何言。師曰。

(The monk continued:) ‘What fault do a hundred thousand Buddhas have, and what virtue does one who neither practices nor realizes possess?’ The master said, ‘A white cloud crosses the valley mouth; many returning birds lose their nests at night.’ Asked, ‘Before sunrise?’ he said, ‘When the sea dries, the dragon hides; when clouds rise in the blue heavens, the phoenix still flies.’ ‘What is the original matter?’ ‘One seed in a barren field; without weeding, the shoot grows strong.’ ‘If one never weeds, will it not be buried in grass?’ ‘Its roots and bones differ from weeds; darnel and barnyard grass cannot obscure it.’ ‘What of one who does not harm living beings?’ ‘The mountain shadows shift before blurred eyes; the deluded wander in vain.’ ‘What if one speaks of neither past nor present?’ ‘The spirit tortoise leaves no omen to grasp; there is no need to drill its empty shell.’ ‘What if one is attached to neither light nor dark?’ ‘The profound is easy to raise; what is beyond thought is hard to bring up.’ ‘What if one is not born in the Tathagata’s house and does not sit on the lotus throne?’ ‘Tell me how much the furnace weighs.’ ‘Are the patriarch’s meaning and the scriptural meaning one or two?’ ‘In the lion’s den there are no other beasts; where the elephant king walks, fox tracks vanish.’ ‘What if one reaches the inconceivable?’ ‘The green mountain always lifts its foot; the sun does not move its wheel.’ ‘What is standing alone after the barren field is exhausted?’ ‘A heron beside a snowy nest can still be distinguished; a crow in black lacquer is hard to discern.’ ‘How are guest and host both raised?’ ‘A dead tree has no cross branches; a bird cannot find a place to land.’ ‘What if one is drowsy all day?’ ‘Cast a jewel into sand; one who recognizes it naturally knows its worth.’ ‘Then one can reach out and never meet a teacher.’ ‘Do not mistake a crane’s cry for an oriole’s song.’ ‘Everyone esteems the three dots of the rounded “i”; what is Lepu’s family style?’ ‘A thunderclap; the cloth drum falls silent.’ ‘At high noon?’ ‘At noon it is still half in shadow; only when the crow sinks is it full.’ ‘What is the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West?’ ‘The bamboo before the window rustles; frost does not make it cold.’ The monk was about to ask again. The master said, ‘You hear the wind strike; you do not know how many thousand stalks there are.’ The master addressed the assembly: ‘Sun Bin has closed his shop. Let a fortune-teller come forward.’ A monk said, ‘Please cast a lot for me.’ The master said, ‘Your father has died.’ The monk was speechless. (Fayan clapped three times for him.) Asked the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West, the master knocked on the meditation seat and asked, ‘Understand?’ ‘No.’ ‘A sudden thunder in the sky startles the universe; the frog at the bottom of the well does not raise its head.’ Asked how to discern the place untouched by Buddhas and demons, he said, ‘演若’s head was never lost; recognize the error in the mirror.’ Asked how to be saved from birth and death, he said, ‘Cling to water to prolong life, and you will not hear the wonder of heavenly music.’ ‘How do the four elements arise?’ ‘Still water has no waves; bubbles arise when wind strikes.’ ‘When the bubbles disappear into water?’ ‘Neither turbid nor muddied; fish and dragons leap as they please.’ ‘What of birth and death?’ ‘Forget all contrivance in a single thought; the vast void has no speck.’ ‘What is the Way?’ ‘Keeping contrivance, you remain trapped in tracks; remove rigidity, and the road opens.’ ‘What cannot be contained in one whole collection?’ ‘Rain nourishes the three kinds of grass; a piece of jade shines by nature.’ ‘When a hair swallows the great sea, what more can be said?’ The master said:

家有白𤢟之圖必無如是妖怪(保福別雲。家無白𤢟之圖亦無如是之怪)問凝然時如何。師曰。時雷應節震嶽驚蟄。曰千般運動不異箇凝然時如何。師曰。靈鶴翥空外鈍鳥不離巢。曰如何。師曰。白首拜少年舉世人難信。問諸聖恁麼來將何供養。師曰。土宿雖持錫不是婆羅門。問祖意與教意是同是別。師曰。日月並輪空誰家別有路。曰恁麼即顯晦殊途事非一概也。師曰。但自不亡羊。何須泣岐路。問學人擬歸鄉時如何。師曰。家破人亡子歸何處。曰恁麼即不歸去也。師曰。庭前殘雪日輪消。室中遊塵遣誰掃。問動是法王苗。寂是法王根。根苗即不問。如何是法王。師舉拂子。僧曰。此猶是法王苗。師曰。龍不出洞誰人奈何。師二山開法語播諸方。唐光化元年戊午秋八月誡主事曰。出家之法長物不留。播種之時切宜減省。締構之務悉從廢停。流光迅速大道深玄。苟或因循曷由體悟。雖激勵懇切。眾以為常略不相儆。至冬師示有微疾。亦不倦參請。十二月一日告眾曰。吾非明即後也。今有一事問。汝等若道遮箇是。即頭上安頭。若道遮箇不是。即斬頭求活。時第一坐對曰。青山不舉足。曰下不挑燈。師曰。遮裡是什麼時節。作遮箇語話。時有彥從上坐。別對曰。離此二途請和尚不問。師曰。未在更道。曰彥從道不盡。師曰。我不管汝盡不盡。曰彥從無侍者祇對和尚。師乃下堂。至夜令侍者喚彥從入方丈。曰闍梨今日祇對老僧甚有道理。據汝合體先師意旨。先師道。目前無法意在目前。不是目前法非耳目之所到。且道那句是主句。若擇得出分付缽袋子。曰彥從不會。師曰。汝合會但道。曰彥從實不知。師喝出乃曰。苦苦(玄覺雲。且道從上坐實不會。是怕見缽袋子粘著伊)二日午時別僧舉前語問師。師自代曰。慈舟不棹清波上。劍峽徒勞放木鵝。便告寂壽六十有五。臘四十六。塔於寺西北隅。

(The master continued:) ‘A household with a diagram of Baize has no such demons or monsters.’ (Baofu said instead, ‘A household without a diagram of Baize has no such monsters either.’) Asked, ‘What of stillness?’ he said, ‘Thunder answers the season; it shakes mountains and awakens hibernating creatures.’ ‘What of countless movements that are no different from stillness?’ ‘The numinous crane soars beyond the sky; the dull bird never leaves its nest.’ ‘How so?’ ‘The white-haired bow to the young; the whole world finds it hard to believe.’ ‘How should we make offerings when the sages arrive?’ ‘Though the earth spirit carries a staff, he is no Brahmin.’ ‘Are patriarchal and scriptural meanings the same or different?’ ‘Sun and moon roll together through the sky; whose house has another road?’ ‘Then illumination and obscurity take different paths; matters are not all alike.’ ‘If you do not lose the sheep, why weep at a fork in the road?’ ‘What if a student intends to return home?’ ‘House ruined, family gone—where can the son return?’ ‘Then he will not return.’ ‘The sun melts the remnant snow in the courtyard; who will sweep the floating dust in the room?’ A monk asked, ‘Movement is the Dharma King’s seedling; stillness is the Dharma King’s root. I will not ask about root or shoot; what is the Dharma King?’ He raised his whisk. ‘That is still the Dharma King’s shoot.’ ‘If the dragon does not leave its cave, who can do anything?’ The master taught at two mountains, and his words spread throughout the regions. In the autumn of the wuwu year, the first year of Guanghua, he warned the officers: ‘The monastic way leaves no surplus possessions. At planting time, reduce expenses. All construction should be stopped. Time flies; the Great Way is profound. If you delay, how will you realize it?’ His earnest warning was taken as routine, and no one was alarmed. In winter he showed signs of slight illness but did not tire of receiving visitors. On the first day of the twelfth month he told the assembly, ‘I may leave today or tomorrow. I ask you one thing: if you say this is it, you add a head on top of a head; if you say this is not it, you cut off your head to seek life.’ The first seat replied, ‘The green mountain does not lift its foot; beneath the sun, no lamp is lit.’ (The base text has “beneath the said,” a mistake for “beneath the sun.”) The master said, ‘What time is this, to speak like that?’ Yancong offered another answer: ‘Leave these two paths; please do not ask me, Master.’ ‘Not yet; say more.’ ‘Yancong cannot finish.’ ‘I do not care whether you finish.’ ‘Yancong has no attendant to answer the master.’ The master went down from the hall. That night he had the attendant call Yancong to his quarters and said, ‘Your answer today was quite reasonable. You should have understood our late master’s meaning. He said, “There is no Dharma before the eyes; the meaning is right before the eyes. It is not the Dharma before the eyes; it is beyond the reach of eyes and ears.” Which is the principal phrase? If you can distinguish it, I will entrust you with my robe and bowl.’ Yancong said, ‘I do not understand.’ ‘You should understand; just say it.’ ‘I truly do not know.’ The master shouted him out, then said, ‘Alas, alas!’ (Xuansha said, ‘Did Yancong truly not understand, or was he afraid of being stuck with the robe and bowl?’) At noon the next day, another monk repeated the earlier question. The master answered for himself: ‘The compassionate boat does not row upon clear waves; at Sword Gorge it is futile to release a wooden goose.’ He then passed away, aged sixty-five, with forty-six years in the precepts. His stupa was built in the monastery’s northwest corner.

洪州上藍令超禪師。初住筠州上藍山說夾山之禪。學侶俱會。後於洪井創禪苑居之。還以上藍為名化導益盛。僧問。如何是上藍本分事。師曰。不從千聖借豈向萬機求。曰只如不借不求時如何。師曰。不可拈放汝手裡得麼。問鋒前如何辨事。師曰。鋒前不露影莫向舌頭尋。問二龍爭珠誰是得者。師曰。其珠遍地目覩如泥。問善財見文殊卻往南方意如何。師曰。學憑入室知乃通方。曰為什麼彌勒遣見文殊。師曰。道廣無涯逢人不盡。至唐大順庚戌歲正月初。召眾僧而告曰。吾本約住此十年。今化事既畢當欲行矣。十五日齋畢聲鍾端坐長。往諡元真大師。塔曰本空。

Chan Master Lingchao of Shanglan in Hongzhou first lived on Mount Shanglan in Junzhou and taught Jianshan’s Chan. Students gathered there. Later he founded a Chan monastery at Hongjing, retaining the name Shanglan, and his teaching flourished. Asked, ‘What is Shanglan’s essential matter?’ he said, ‘I do not borrow from a thousand sages; why seek it amid ten thousand activities?’ ‘What if one neither borrows nor seeks?’ ‘Can I pick it up and put it in your hand?’ Asked how to discern the matter at the point of a blade, he said, ‘No shadow appears at the blade’s point; do not seek it on the tongue.’ ‘Two dragons fight over a pearl; who wins?’ ‘The pearl is everywhere on the ground; the eye sees it as mud.’ ‘Why did Sudhana go south after meeting Manjushri?’ ‘Study depends on entering the room; knowledge opens the way.’ ‘Why did Maitreya send him to see Manjushri?’ ‘The Way is boundless; one cannot meet everyone.’ In the first month of the gengxu year, the great Shun, he summoned the monks and said, ‘I originally agreed to stay here ten years. My work of teaching is complete; I intend to depart.’ After the meal on the fifteenth, the bell sounded and he sat upright as he passed away. His posthumous title was Master Yuanzhen; his stupa was named Benkong.

鄆州四禪和尚。僧問。古人有請不背。今請和尚入井還去也無。師曰。深深無別源。飲者消諸。患問如何是和尚家風。師曰。會得底人意。須知月色寒。

The monk Si Chan of Yunzhou. A monk asked, ‘The ancients did not refuse an invitation. If I invite you to enter a well, will you go?’ He said, ‘Deep within, there is no other source; whoever drinks is freed from every affliction.’ Asked, ‘What is the master’s family style?’ he said, ‘One who understands another’s intention must know the moonlight is cold.’

江西逍遙山懷忠禪師。僧問。不似之句還有人道得否。師曰。或即五日齋前。或即五日齋後。問劍鏡明利毫毛何惑。師曰。不空羂索。問洪鑪猛焰烹鍛何物。師曰。烹佛烹祖。曰佛祖作麼生烹。師曰。業在其中。曰喚作什麼業。師曰。佛力不如問四十九年不說一句。如何是不說底一句。師曰。隻履西行道人不顧。曰莫便是和尚消停處也無。師曰。馬是官馬不用印。問如何是。一老一不老。師曰。三從六義。曰如何是奇特一句。師曰。坐佛床斫佛樸。問祖與佛阿那箇最親。師曰。真金不肯博誰肯換泥丸。曰恁麼即有不肯也。師曰。汝貴我賤。問如何是懸劍萬年松。師曰。非言不可及。曰當為何事。師曰。只汝道話。曰言外之事如何明得。師曰。日久年多筋骨成。問不敵魔軍如何證道。師曰。海水不勞杓子舀。問不住有雲山常居無底船時如何。師曰。果熟自然。曰更請師道。師曰。門前真佛子。曰學人為什麼不見。師曰。處處王老師。

Chan Master Huaizhong of Xiaoyao Mountain in Jiangxi. A monk asked, ‘Can anyone speak the phrase that is unlike anything?’ He said, ‘Either before the fast on the fifth day or after it.’ ‘The sword and mirror are bright and sharp; why be confused by a hair?’ ‘The unfailing noose.’ ‘What does the blazing furnace refine?’ ‘Buddhas and patriarchs.’ ‘How are they refined?’ ‘Karma is within.’ ‘What karma?’ ‘The Buddha’s power is not enough.’ ‘For forty-nine years he did not speak a single phrase. What is that unspoken phrase?’ ‘The Wayfarer went west on one shoe; the monk did not look back.’ ‘Is that your stopping place?’ ‘This is an official horse; it needs no brand.’ ‘What is one old and one not old?’ ‘Three obediences and six duties.’ ‘What is the extraordinary phrase?’ ‘Sit on the Buddha-seat; chop the Buddha’s wood.’ ‘Who is closer, patriarch or Buddha?’ ‘Pure gold is not exchanged; who would trade it for a clay pellet?’ ‘Then someone refuses.’ ‘You are precious; I am base.’ ‘What is the hanging sword and ten-thousand-year pine?’ ‘Words cannot reach it.’ ‘What is it for?’ ‘You tell me.’ ‘How can one understand what is beyond words?’ ‘With time and years, the sinews and bones grow.’ ‘How can one realize the Way without resisting the demon army?’ ‘No need to draw water from the sea with a ladle.’ ‘What of cloud mountains one does not dwell in, and a bottomless boat one always inhabits?’ ‘When the fruit ripens, naturally.’ ‘Please say more.’ ‘A true son of Buddha is at the gate.’ ‘Why do I not see him?’ ‘Everywhere is Old Wang.’

袁州盤龍山可文禪師。僧問。亡僧遷化向什麼處去也。師曰。石牛沿江路。日裡夜明燈。問如何是佛。師曰。痴兒捨父逃。師後居上藍院。

Chan Master Kewen of Panlong Mountain in Yuanzhou. A monk asked, ‘Where has the deceased monk gone?’ He said, ‘A stone ox follows the river road; by day the lamp shines through the night.’ ‘What is the Buddha?’ ‘A foolish child abandons his father and flees.’ He later lived at Shanglan Monastery.

撫州黃山月輪禪師福州福唐人也。姓許氏。志學之歲詣本郡黃檗山寺投觀禪師。稟教及圓戒品遂遊方抵塗水。謁三峰和尚。雖問答有序而機緣靡契。尋聞夾山盛化乃往叩之。夾山問師。名什麼。師曰。名月輪。夾山作一圓相曰。何似遮箇。師曰。和尚恁麼語話諸方大有人不肯在。曰貧道即恁麼闍梨作麼生。師曰。還見月輪麼。曰闍梨恁麼道此間大有人不肯諸方。師乃服膺參訊。一日夾山抗聲問曰。子是什麼處人。師曰。閩中人。曰還識老僧否。師曰。和尚還識學人否。曰不然子且還老僧草鞋價。然後老僧還子江陵米價。師曰。恁麼即不識和尚。未委江陵米作麼價。夾山曰。子善能哮吼。乃入室受印依附七年。方辭往撫州卜龍濟山隱居。玄侶雲集。師遂演夾山奧旨。名聞諸方。後歸臨川樂棲黃山。謂諸徒曰。吾居此山頗諧素志矣。師上堂謂眾曰。祖師西來特唱此事。自是諸人不薦向外馳求。投赤水以尋珠。就荊山而覓玉。所以道。從門入者不是家珍。認影為頭豈非大錯。時有僧問。如何是祖師意。師曰。梁殿不施功魏邦絕心跡。問如何是道。師曰。石牛頻吐三春霧。木馬嘶聲滿道途。問如何得見本來面目。師曰。不勞懸石鏡天曉自雞鳴。問宗乘一句請師商量。師曰。黃峰獨脫物外秀。年來月往冷颼颼。問不辨中言如何指撥。師曰。劍去遠矣爾方刻舟。問如何是衲衣下事。師曰。石牛水上臥東西得自由。問如何是目前意。師曰。秋風有韻片月無方。問如何是學人用心處。師曰。覺戶不掩對月莫迷。問如何是青霄路。師曰。鶴棲雲外樹不倦苦風霜。問過去事如何。師曰。龍叫清潭波瀾自肅。師住黃山僅十三載。學者來。無虛往。以後唐同光三年十二月二十一日示有微恙。至二十六日午時奄然坐化。壽七十二。臘五十三。明年正月二十日塔於院西北隅。

Chan Master Yuelun of Huangshan in Fuzhou was a native of Futang, surnamed Xu. At the age of aspiration he went to Huangbo Monastery in his prefecture and studied under Chan Master Guan. After receiving the teachings and full precepts, he traveled to Tushui and visited Master Sanfeng. Their exchanges were orderly, but the conditions did not accord. Hearing that Jianshan’s teaching was flourishing, he went there. Jianshan asked, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Yuelun, “Moon Wheel.”’ Jianshan drew a circle and asked, ‘How does this compare?’ He said, ‘Many in the regions would not approve of the master speaking this way.’ ‘I speak this way; what about you?’ ‘Do you still see the moon wheel?’ ‘Many here would not approve of your speaking this way.’ He submitted and studied with him. One day Jianshan loudly asked, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Min.’ ‘Do you know this old monk?’ ‘Does the master know me?’ ‘No. First repay me for your sandals, and then I will repay you for the rice from Jiangling.’ ‘Then I do not know the master. What is the price of rice in Jiangling?’ Jianshan said, ‘You roar well.’ The master entered the room, received the seal, and remained with him for seven years. Then he took leave and lived in seclusion on Longji Mountain in Fuzhou. Practitioners gathered, and he expounded Jianshan’s profound teaching, becoming known throughout the regions. Later he returned to Linchuan and delighted in living at Huangshan. He told his students, ‘Living on this mountain accords well with my simple wish.’ He addressed the assembly: ‘The ancestral teacher came from the West to proclaim this matter. You yourselves did not recognize it, so you sought outside, searching for a pearl in the Red River and jade on Mount Jing. Thus it is said: “What enters through the gate is not family treasure.” Taking a reflection for your head—is that not a great mistake?’ Asked the ancestral teacher’s meaning, he said, ‘The Liang palace did not exert itself; in Wei, mind and trace were cut off.’ Asked the Way, he said, ‘A stone ox often exhales spring mist; a wooden horse neighs throughout the road.’ Asked how to see one’s original face, he said, ‘No need to hang a stone mirror; at dawn the rooster crows.’ Asked for a phrase of the school, he said, ‘Huang Peak stands alone beyond the world, cold through years and months.’ Asked how to point out what cannot be discerned in words, he said, ‘The sword has gone far; now you are carving the boat.’ Asked about the matter beneath the patched robe, he said, ‘A stone ox lies on the water, free to go east or west.’ Asked about the meaning before one’s eyes, he said, ‘The autumn wind has a cadence; the moon has no fixed place.’ Asked where to apply the mind, he said, ‘The gate of awakening is unclosed; do not lose your way beneath the moon.’ Asked about the road to the blue sky, he said, ‘A crane rests in a tree beyond the clouds, undaunted by bitter frost.’ Asked about the past, he said, ‘A dragon cries in the clear pool; the waves settle of themselves.’ He lived at Huangshan for thirteen years, and no student left empty-handed. In the twelfth month of the third year of Tongguang, he fell slightly ill. At noon on the twenty-sixth he sat upright and passed away, aged seventy-two, with fifty-three years in the precepts. The following month his stupa was built northwest of the monastery.

洛京韶山寰普禪師。有僧到參禮拜起立。師曰。大才藏拙戶。僧過一邊立。師曰。喪卻棟梁材遵布衲山下見師乃問。韶山在什麼處。師曰。青青翠竹處是。遵曰。莫只遮便是否。師曰。是即是闍梨有什麼事。曰擬申一問。未審師還答否。師雲。看君不是金牙作。爭解彎弓射尉遲。遵雲。鳳凰直入煙霄去。誰怕林間野鵲兒。師曰。當軒畫鼓從君擊。試展家風似老僧。遵曰。一句逈超今古格松蘿不與月輪齊。師曰。饒君直出威音外。猶較韶山半月程。遵曰。過在什麼處。師曰。倜儻之辭時人知有。遵曰。與麼即真玉泥中異不撥萬機塵。師曰。魯般門下徒施巧妙。遵雲。學人即恁麼。師意如何。師曰。玉女夜拋梭寄錦於西舍。遵曰。莫便是和尚家風也無。師曰。耕夫置玉漏(卿公事苑雲。當作玉耬。謂耬犁也耕人用耬所以布子種。禪錄所謂看縷打耬。正謂是也。魏略曰。皇甫陰為燉煌太守。民不曉耕種。因教民作耬犁省力過半。然耬乃陸種之具。南人多不識之。故詳出焉。音樓)。不是行家作。遵曰。此是文言和尚家風如何。師曰。橫身當宇宙誰是出頭人終諡無畏禪師。

Chan Master Huanpu of Shaoshan in Luojing. A monk visited, bowed, and stood. The master said, ‘A great talent hides in a clumsy doorway.’ The monk moved to one side. The master said, ‘You have lost a pillar of the hall.’ Zun, a patched-robed monk, met the master below the mountain and asked, ‘Where is Shaoshan?’ ‘Where the green bamboo stands.’ ‘Is that all there is?’ ‘Yes. What do you want?’ ‘I would like to ask a question; will you answer?’ ‘You do not have golden teeth; how could you bend your bow to shoot Yuchi?’ Zun said, ‘The phoenix flies straight into the clouds; who fears the wild magpies in the woods?’ The master said, ‘Beat your drum before the hall and show your family style like this old monk.’ Zun said, ‘A phrase transcending past and present; pine and vine cannot match the moon.’ The master said, ‘Even if you pass beyond the time before the first Buddha, you are still half a month’s journey behind Shaoshan.’ ‘Where is the fault?’ ‘People of the time recognize these bold words.’ ‘Then true jade differs from mud and does not avoid the dust of ten thousand affairs.’ ‘A craftsman at Lu Ban’s gate merely displays his skill.’ ‘That is my way. What is the master’s?’ ‘The jade maiden tosses her shuttle at night, sending brocade to the western house.’ ‘Is that your family style?’ ‘A farmer placing jade in a seed-drill is no expert’s work.’ (The text explains that a seed-drill is a farming implement for sowing.) Zun said, ‘That is literary speech. What is the master’s family style?’ ‘I stand across the universe; who can come forth?’ He was posthumously titled Chan Master Wuwei.

太原海湖和尚。因有人請灌頂三藏供養。敷坐訖。師乃就彼位坐。時有雲涉坐主問曰。和尚什麼年行道。師曰。坐主近前來。涉近前。師曰。只如憍陳如是什麼年行道。涉茫然。師咄曰。遮尿狀鬼。僧問。和尚院內人何太少。定水院人何太多。師曰。草深多野鹿。巖高獬豸稀。

The monk Haihu of Taiyuan. Someone invited the Tripitaka Master for an abhisheka offering. After the seat was arranged, the master sat in the guest’s place. The lecturer Yun She asked, ‘At what age did the master practice the Way?’ He said, ‘Lecturer, come closer.’ When She came near, the master asked, ‘At what age did Kaundinya practice the Way?’ She was bewildered. The master scolded him, ‘You bed-wetting ghost!’ (The base text reads ‘bed-shape ghost’; ‘shape’ is an error for ‘bed.’) A monk asked, ‘Why are there so few people in the master’s monastery and so many at the Ding Shui monastery?’ He said, ‘Deep grass has many wild deer; high cliffs have few rhinoceroses.’

嘉州白水寺和尚。僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。四溟無窟宅一滴潤乾坤。問曹溪一路合譚何事。師曰。㵎松千載鶴來聚。月中香桂鳳皇歸。

The monk of Baishui Monastery in Jiazhou. Asked the meaning of the ancestral teacher’s coming from the West, he said, ‘The four seas have no cave or home; one drop moistens heaven and earth.’ Asked what should be discussed along the single road from Caoxi, he said, ‘Pines by the stream gather cranes for a thousand years; fragrant cassia in the moon draws phoenixes home.’

鳳翔天蓋山幽禪師。僧問。如何是天蓋水。師曰。四海滂池不犯涓滴。問學人擬看經時如何。師曰。既是大商何求小利。

Chan Master You of Mount Tiangai in Fengxiang. A monk asked: "What is the water of Tiangai?" The master said: "The four seas brim over, yet not a single drop is offended." He asked: "When this student wishes to read the sutras, how is it?" The master said: "Since you are a great merchant, why seek petty profit?"

洪州建昌鳳棲山同安和尚(第一世住)僧問。如何是和尚家風。師曰。金雞抱子歸霄漢。玉兔懷胎入紫微。僧曰。忽遇客來將何祇待。師曰。金果早朝猿摘去。玉華晚後鳳銜來。問終日在潭為什麼釣不得。師曰。玄源不隱無生寶。莫謾垂鉤向碧潭。問澄機一句曉露不逢時如何。師曰。太陽門下無星月。天子殿前無貧兒。問如何是同安轉身處。師曰。曠劫不曾沈玉露。目前豈滯太陽機。問險惡道中如何進步。師曰。玄身透過千差路。碧海無波往即難。問如何是衲衣下事。師曰。一片玉輪今古在。豈同漁父夜沈鉤。問如何是大勿慚愧底人。師曰。空王不坐無生殿。迦葉堂前不點燈。

The monk Tong'an of Mount Fengqi, Jianchang, Hongzhou (the first abbot there). A monk asked: "What is the Reverend's house style?" The master said: "The golden rooster, bearing its chick, returns to the empyrean; the jade hare, carrying its young, enters the Purple Palace." The monk said: "If a guest suddenly arrives, what will you serve him?" The master said: "The golden fruits were plucked by monkeys in the early morning; the jade flowers were brought back by phoenixes after dusk." He asked: "Fishing in the pool all day, why do I catch nothing?" The master said: "The mysterious source does not hide the birthless treasure; do not dangle your hook in vain into the green pool." He asked: "When the clear impulse of the one phrase meets no dawn dew, how is it?" The master said: "Beneath the gate of the great sun there are no stars or moon; before the hall of the Son of Heaven there are no poor sons." He asked: "What is Tong'an's turning point?" The master said: "For endless kalpas the jade dew has never sunk; before your eyes, how could the great sun's working be detained?" He asked: "On a steep and dangerous road, how does one advance?" The master said: "The mysterious body passes through a thousand diverging roads; on a green sea without waves, to go is itself hard." He asked: "What is the matter beneath the patch robe?" The master said: "A single jade wheel abides through past and present; how could it be like the fisherman sinking his hook at night?" He asked: "What is a person wholly without shame?" The master said: "The King of Emptiness does not sit in the hall of no-birth; before Kasyapa's hall no lamp is lit."

吉州青原山行思禪師法嗣

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xingsi of Mount Qingyuan in Jizhou

袁州洞山良价禪師法嗣二十六人

Twenty-six Dharma heirs of Chan Master Liangjie of Mount Dong in Yuanzhou

洪州雲居山道膺禪師

Chan Master Daoying of Mount Yunju in Hongzhou

撫州曹山本寂禪師

Chan Master Benji of Mount Cao in Fuzhou

洞山第二世道全禪師

Chan Master Daoquan, the second abbot of Dongshan

湖南龍牙山居遁禪師

Chan Master Judun of Mount Longya in Hunan

京兆華嚴寺休靜禪師

Chan Master Xiujing of Huayan Temple in Jingzhao

京兆蜆子和尚

The monk Xianzi of Jingzhao

筠州九峰普滿大師

Great Master Puman of Mount Jiufeng in Yunzhou

台州幽棲道幽禪師

Chan Master Daoyou of Youqi in Taizhou

洞山第三世師虔禪師

Chan Master Shiqian, the third abbot of Dongshan

洛京白馬遁儒禪師

Chan Master Dunru of Baima in Luojing

越州乾峰和尚

The monk Qianfeng of Yuezhou

吉州禾山和尚

The monk Heshan of Jizhou

明州天童山鹹啟禪師(十一卷有目無傳)

Chan Master Xianqi of Mount Tiantong in Mingzhou (in fascicle eleven there is an entry but no biography)