Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 15
待我引大師到樓前。便舁卻梯。客司稟旨。公曰。請大師登樓。師視樓復視其人。乃曰。佛法不是此道理(法眼雲。未舁梯時一日幾度登樓)師與泉守在室中說話。有一沙彌揭簾入見。卻退步而出。師曰。那沙彌好與二十拄杖。曰恁麼即某甲罪過(同安顯別雲。祖師來也)師曰。佛法不恁麼(鏡清雲。不為打水。有僧問。不為打水意作麼生。鏡清雲。青山碾為塵敢保勿閑人。東禪齊雲。只如玄沙意作麼生。或雲。直饒恁麼去也好與拄杖。或雲。事在當機。或雲。拈破會處。此三說還會玄沙意也無)師應機接物僅三十祀。致青原石頭之𤀹流。迨今不絕。轉導來際。所演法要有大小錄行於海內。自餘語句各隨門弟子章及諸方徵舉出焉。梁開平二年戊辰十一月二十七日示疾而終。壽七十有四。臘四十有四。閩帥為之樹塔。
(The prince continued:) 'When I have led the great master before the tower, carry away the ladder.' The steward received the order. The prince said: 'Please ascend the tower, great master.' The master looked at the tower, then looked at the man, and said: 'The Buddha Dharma is not this principle.' (Fayan said: 'Before the ladder is removed, how many times a day does one climb the tower?') The master was talking with the governor of Quanzhou in a room when a novice lifted the curtain, came in to look, then stepped back and went out. The master said: 'That novice deserves a good twenty strokes of the staff.' Someone said: 'In that case it is my fault.' (Tong'an Xian said in his place: 'A patriarch has arrived.') The master said: 'The Buddha Dharma is not like this.' (Jingqing said: 'It is not for fetching water.' A monk asked: 'What is the meaning of "not for fetching water"?' Jingqing said: 'The green mountains ground to dust—I warrant there is no idle person.' Dongchan Qi said: 'What then was Xuansha's meaning? One says: even granting you go on so, you still deserve the staff. One says: the matter lies in meeting the moment. One says: break open the place of meeting. Do these three sayings understand Xuansha's meaning or not?') The master responded to capacities and received beings for nearly thirty years. He carried the last streams of Qingyuan and Shitou forward unbroken to this day, handing the teaching on to those yet to come. The essentials of the Dharma he expounded circulate within the realm in a great and a small record; the rest of his sayings appear in the sections devoted to his disciples and where they are cited in all quarters. On the twenty-seventh day of the eleventh month of the wuchen year, the second year of Kaiping of the Liang, he showed illness and passed away. He was seventy-four years old, with forty-four summers as a monk. The ruler of Min raised a pagoda for him.
福州長慶慧稜禪師杭州鹽官人也。姓孫氏。幼歲稟性淳澹。年十三於蘇州通玄寺出家登戒。歷參禪肆。唐乾符五年入閩中謁西院訪靈雲。尚有凝滯。後之雪峰疑情氷釋。因問。從上諸聖傳受一路請垂指示。雪峰默然。師設禮而退。雪峰莞爾而笑。異日雪峰謂師曰。我尋常向師僧道。南山有一條鼈鼻蛇。汝諸人好看取。對曰。今日堂中大有人喪身失命。雪峰然之。師入方丈參。雪峰曰。是什麼。師曰。今日天晴好普請。自此醻問未嘗爽於玄旨。乃述悟解。頌曰。
Chan Master Huileng of Changqing in Fuzhou was a man of Yanguan in Hangzhou, surnamed Sun. From boyhood his nature was pure and quiet. At thirteen he left home at Tongxuan Temple in Suzhou and took the precepts. He called on the Chan houses in turn. In the fifth year of Qianfu of the Tang he entered Min, visited Xiyuan, and called on Lingyun, but there was still some sticking. Later he went to Xuefeng, and his doubt melted like ice. So he asked: 'The single road the sages have handed down from above—please deign to point it out.' Xuefeng was silent. The master bowed and withdrew. Xuefeng smiled faintly. Another day Xuefeng said to the master: 'I always tell the monks: on South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake. You people had better look sharp.' The master answered: 'In this hall today there are plenty who will lose body and life.' Xuefeng approved. The master entered the abbot's room to study. Xuefeng said: 'What is it?' The master said: 'Today the sky is clear—good day for a communal call.' From then on his answers never missed the profound purport. Then he set down his awakening in a verse:
萬象之中獨露身唯人自肯乃方親
Alone baring its body amid the myriad images; only when a person consents for himself is he intimate with it.
昔時謬向途中覓今日看如火裡氷
Of old I wrongly sought it along the road; today I look on it as ice in fire.
師在西院問詵上座曰。遮裡有象骨山汝曾到麼。曰不曾到。師曰。為什不到。曰自有本分事。師曰。作麼生是上座本分事。詵乃提起衲衣角。師曰。為當只遮箇別更有。曰上座見什麼。師曰。何得龍頭蛇尾。師在宣州保福。後辭歸雪峰。保福問師曰。山頭和尚或問上座信作麼生秖對。師曰。不避腥羶亦有少許。曰信道什麼。師曰。教我分付阿誰。曰從展雖有此語。未必有恁麼事。師曰。若然者前程全自闍梨。師與保福遊山。保福問。古人道妙峰山頂。莫即遮箇便是也無。師曰。是即是可惜許(僧問鼓山。只如稜和尚恁麼道。意作麼生。鼓山雲。孫公若無此語。可謂髑髏遍野。白骨連山)師來往雪峰二十九載。至天祐三年受泉州刺史王延彬請。住招慶初開堂。日公朝服趨隅曰。請師說法。師曰。還聞麼。公設拜。師曰。雖然如此慮恐有人不肯。於是敷揚祖意隨機與奪。故毳容憧憧日資道化。後閩帥請去長樂府之西院。奏額曰長慶。號超覺大師。上堂良久謂眾曰。還有人相悉麼。若不相悉欺謾兄弟去。只今有什麼事。莫有窒塞也無。復是誰家屋裡事。不肯當荷更待何時。若是利根參學不到遮裡來。還會麼。如今有一般行腳人。耳裡總滿也。假饒收拾得底。還當諸人行腳事麼。時有僧問。行腳事如何學。師曰。但知就人索取。又問。如何是獨脫一路。師曰。何煩更問。又問。名言妙義教有所詮。不涉三科請師直道。師曰。珍重。師乃謂眾曰。明明歌詠汝尚不會。忽被暗來底事汝作麼生。又僧問。如何是暗來底事。師曰。吃茶去。中塔雲。便請和尚相伴。問如何是不隔毫端底事。師曰。當不當。問如何得不疑不惑去。師乃展兩手。僧不進語。師曰。汝更問我與汝道。僧再問之師露膊而坐。僧禮拜。師曰。汝作麼生會。僧曰。今日風起。師曰。恁麼道未定人見解。汝於古今中有什麼節要齊得長慶。若舉得許汝作話主。
When the master was at Xiyuan he asked Senior Shen: 'There is Mount Xianggu here—have you been?' He said: 'I have not.' The master said: 'Why not?' He said: 'I have my own original matter.' The master said: 'What is the senior's original matter?' Shen raised a corner of his robe. The master said: 'Is it just this, or is there something more?' He said: 'What does the senior see?' The master said: 'How can you have a dragon's head and a snake's tail?' The master stayed at Baofu in Xuanzhou, and later took leave to return to Xuefeng. Baofu asked him: 'If the mountain-top monk asks the senior for news, how will you answer?' The master said: 'Not shrinking from the stench of fish and mutton, there is a little of it.' Baofu said: 'What do you say the news is?' The master said: 'To whom shall I entrust it?' Baofu said: 'Congzhan may have these words, but there is not necessarily any such thing.' The master said: 'If so, the road ahead rests entirely with the acarya.' The master roamed the mountain with Baofu. Baofu asked: 'The ancients spoke of the summit of Wondrous Peak—might this very thing be it?' The master said: 'It is, but what a pity.' (A monk asked Gushan: 'When the venerable Leng spoke like that, what was his meaning?' Gushan said: 'If Lord Sun had not spoken these words, skulls would cover the fields and white bones would line the mountains.') The master went back and forth to Xuefeng for twenty-nine years. In the third year of Tianyou he accepted the invitation of Wang Yanbin, prefect of Quanzhou, to reside at Zhaoqing. On the first day he opened the hall, the prefect hurried to a corner in court dress and said: 'Please preach the Dharma, master.' The master said: 'Do you hear it?' The prefect bowed. The master said: 'Even so, I fear someone will not consent.' Thereupon he set forth the patriarchs' meaning, giving and taking according to the occasion; so the furry figures came in throngs and were daily nourished by the Way's transforming work. Later the ruler of Min invited him to the Western Cloister of Changle Prefecture; the plaque bestowed read Changqing, and he was given the title Great Master Chaojue. Once, after long on the hall, he told the assembly: 'Is there anyone who can meet me? If no one can, you are going to deceive your brothers. What matter is there right now? Is there any blockage? And whose household matter is it? If you will not shoulder it, what are you waiting for? Those of sharp faculties would not come this far in their studies. Do you understand? Nowadays there is a kind of pilgrim whose ears are stuffed full—supposing they have gathered it all up, does that still count as their pilgrim's business?' Then a monk asked: 'How does one learn the pilgrim's business?' The master said: 'You only need know how to go demand it of people.' He also asked: 'What is the road of lone release?' The master said: 'Why trouble to ask again?' He also asked: 'Words and subtle meanings all have their explanations in the teachings; without touching the three categories, please speak directly, master.' The master said: 'Take care.' Then the master told the assembly: 'Bright songs and verses you still do not understand—what will you do when a darkened thing suddenly comes?' Another monk asked: 'What is the darkened thing that comes?' The master said: 'Go have tea.' Zhongta said: 'Please accompany the venerable, then.' A monk asked: 'What is the matter that is not a hair's breadth apart?' The master said: 'Right or not right?' A monk asked: 'How can one get free of doubt and delusion?' The master spread both hands. The monk did not speak further. The master said: 'Ask me again and I will tell you.' The monk asked again. The master sat with bared arm. The monk bowed. The master said: 'How do you understand it?' The monk said: 'Today the wind has risen.' The master said: 'To say that is not yet to settle a person's views. What essential point have you, among ancient and present, that can stand equal with Changqing? If you can raise one, I grant you are master of the saying.
其僧但立而已。師卻問。汝是什麼處人。曰向北人。師曰。南北三千里外學妄語作麼。僧無對。師上堂良久曰。莫道今夜較些子。便下坐。問如何是合聖之言。師曰大小長慶被汝一問口似匾擔。僧曰。何故如此。師曰。適來問什麼。師謂眾曰。我若純舉唱宗乘。須閉卻法堂門。所以盡法無民。時有僧曰。不怕無民請師盡法。師曰。還委落處麼。問如何是西來意。師曰。香嚴道底一時坐卻。師有時示眾曰。總似今夜老胡有望。保福聞之乃曰。總似今夜老胡絕望(玄覺雲。恁麼道。是相見語不是相見語。東禪齊雲。此二尊宿語一般各有道理。眾中道總似如此嫌什麼。又道總似今夜堪作什麼。若如此會欠悟在)安國瑫和尚新得師號。師去賀。瑫出接。師問曰。師號來耶。曰來也。師曰。是什麼號。曰明真。師乃展手。瑫曰。什麼處去來。師曰。幾不問過。師問僧。什麼處來。曰鼓山來。師曰。鼓山有不跨石門底句。有人借問汝作麼生道。曰昨夜報慈宿。師曰。拍脊棒汝又作麼生。曰和尚若行此棒不虛受人天供養。師曰。幾放過。問古人有言。相逢不擎出舉意便知有時如何。師曰。知有也未(僧將前語問保福。福雲。此是誰語。僧雲丹霞語。福雲。去莫妨我打睡)師入僧堂舉起疏頭曰。見即不見還見麼。眾無對(法眼代雲。縱受得到別處亦不敢呈人)師到羅山見新製龕子。師以杖敲之。曰。大殺豫備。羅山曰。拙佈置。師曰。還肯入也無。羅山曰吽。師上堂大眾集定。師乃拽出一僧曰。大眾禮拜此僧。又曰。此僧有什麼長處。便教大眾禮拜。眾無對。問如何是文彩未生時事。師曰。汝先舉我後舉。其僧但立而已(法眼別雲。請和尚舉)師曰。汝作麼生舉。僧曰。某甲截舌有分。保福遷化。人問師。保福拋卻殼漏子向什麼處去也。師曰。且道保福在那箇殼漏子裡(法眼別雲。
(The master continued—the monk merely stood there.) The master then asked: 'Where are you from?' He said: 'From the north.' The master said: 'Three thousand miles from south to north—what did you learn to lie for?' The monk had no reply. The master ascended the hall, and after a long while said: 'Do not say tonight was a bit better,' then stepped down from the seat. A monk asked: 'What is a word that tallies with the sage?' The master said: 'Great Changqing, questioned by you, has a mouth like a flattened carrying-pole.' The monk said: 'Why is that so?' The master said: 'What did you ask just now?' The master told the assembly: 'If I were to hold up the school-vehicle in its purity, I would have to close the door of the Dharma hall. That is why, when the law is fully enforced, there are no people left.' Then a monk said: 'I am not afraid there will be no people—please enforce the law fully, master.' The master said: 'Can you still tell where it lands?' A monk asked: 'What is the meaning of the coming from the west?' The master said: 'What Xiangyan said—sit it all down at once.' Sometimes the master told the assembly: 'If it is all like tonight, the old barbarian has hope.' When Baofu heard this he said: 'If it is all like tonight, the old barbarian is without hope.' (Xuanjue said: 'Speaking like that, is it a saying of meeting or not a saying of meeting?' Dongchan Qi said: 'These two venerables' sayings are the same, and each has its reason. Some in the assembly say: if it is all like this, what is there to dislike? Others say: if it is all like tonight, what can it accomplish? If you understand it like this, you lack awakening.') Venerable Tao of Anguo had newly received a master's title, and the master went to congratulate him. Tao came out to receive him. The master asked: 'Has the master's title arrived?' He said: 'It has.' The master said: 'What title is it?' He said: 'Mingzhen.' The master spread his hands. Tao said: 'Where have you been?' The master said: 'I nearly did not get past the question.' The master asked a monk: 'Where do you come from?' He said: 'From Gushan.' The master said: 'Gushan has a saying that does not step through the stone gate. If someone asked you, how would you speak it?' He said: 'Last night I lodged at Baoci.' The master said: 'And if I slap your spine with the stick, what then?' He said: 'If the venerable wields this stick, you do not receive the offerings of devas and humans in vain.' The master said: 'I nearly let you off.' A monk asked: 'The ancients had a saying: meeting, do not hold it out; the moment thought stirs, you know it—what of that time?' The master said: 'Do you yet know it?' (A monk took the earlier words and asked Baofu. Baofu said: 'Whose saying is this?' The monk said: 'Danxia's saying.' Baofu said: 'Away—do not hinder my nap.') The master entered the monks' hall, raised a subscription scroll, and said: 'See it and do not see it—do you see?' The assembly had no reply. (Fayan answered in their place: 'Even if one received it and went elsewhere, one would not dare present it to anyone.') The master went to Luoshan and saw a newly made funerary niche; he knocked it with his staff and said: 'Readied to the utmost.' Luoshan said: 'A clumsy arrangement.' The master said: 'Are you willing to get in or not?' Luoshan said: 'Hum.' The master ascended the hall, and when the great assembly had gathered he pulled out a monk and said: 'Let the assembly bow to this monk.' Then he said: 'What good points does this monk have, that the assembly should bow to him?' The assembly had no reply. A monk asked: 'What is the time before patterns and colors arise?' The master said: 'You raise it first; I raise it after.' The monk merely stood there. (Fayan said in his place: 'Please raise it, venerable.') The master said: 'How would you raise it?' The monk said: 'I have earned a share of severed tongues.' Baofu passed away. Someone asked the master: 'Baofu cast off his leaky shell—where has he gone?' The master said: 'Tell me: in which leaky shell is Baofu?' (Fayan said in his place:
那箇是保福殼漏子)閩帥夫人崔氏(奉道自稱練師)遣使送衣物至。雲練師令就大師請取迴信。師曰。傳語練師領取迴信。須臾使卻來師前唱喏便迴。師明日入府。練師曰。昨日謝大師迴信。師曰。卻請昨日迴信看。練師展兩手。閩帥問師曰。練師適來呈信還愜大師意否。師曰。猶較些子(法眼別雲。遮一轉語大王自道取)曰未審大師意旨如何師良久。帥曰。不可思議大師佛法深遠。僧舉。高麗有僧造一觀音像。於明州上船眾力舁不起。因請入開元寺供養。問師。無剎不現身為什麼不肯去高麗。師曰。現身雖普覩相生偏(法眼別雲。汝識得觀音未)有人問僧。點什麼燈。曰長明燈。曰什麼時點曰去年點。曰長明何在。僧無語。師代曰。若不如此爭知公不受人謾(法眼別雲利動君子)師兩處開法。徒眾一千五百。化行閩越二十七載。後唐長興三年壬辰五月十七日歸寂。壽七十有九。臘六十。王氏建塔。
(Fayan continued:) 'Which one is Baofu's leaky shell?') Lady Cui, wife of the ruler of Min—who honored the Way and called herself a 'refined master'—sent an envoy with clothing and gifts, saying the refined master asked to call on the great master and begged a return sign. The master said: 'Take word to the refined master to come fetch the return sign.' A moment later the envoy came before the master, saluted, and went back. The next day the master entered the palace. The refined master said: 'Yesterday I thank the great master for the return sign.' The master said: 'Then show me yesterday's return sign.' The refined master spread both hands. The ruler of Min asked the master: 'The sign the refined master presented just now—did it accord with the great master's meaning?' The master said: 'It came a bit closer.' (Fayan said in his place: 'This turning word—let the great prince speak it for himself.') The ruler said: 'I do not yet grasp the great master's meaning.' The master was long silent. The ruler said: 'Inconceivable—the great master's Buddha Dharma is deep and far.' A monk recounted: in Goryeo a monk made an image of Guanyin. When it was loaded onto a ship at Mingzhou, all their strength together could not lift it, so it was invited into Kaiyuan Temple for veneration. He asked the master: 'She manifests a body in every land—why would she not go to Goryeo?' The master said: 'Though her manifested bodies are universal, seeing the marks gives rise to bias.' (Fayan said in his place: 'Do you recognize Guanyin yet?') Someone asked a monk: 'What lamp do you light?' He said: 'The ever-burning lamp.' He asked: 'When was it lit?' He said: 'Last year.' He said: 'Where is the ever-burning light then?' The monk was speechless. The master answered in his place: 'If it were not so, how would one know the gentleman is not deceived by people?' (Fayan said in his place: 'The profit moves a gentleman.') The master opened the Dharma in two places. His disciples numbered one thousand five hundred, and his transforming work ran in Minyue for twenty-seven years. On the seventeenth day of the fifth month of the renchen year, the third year of Changxing of the Later Tang, he returned to stillness. He was seventy-nine years old, with sixty summers as a monk. The Wang family built a pagoda.
福州大普山玄通禪師福州福唐人也。受業於兜率山。師事雪峰經數稔。受心法止於大普焉。僧問。驪龍頷下珠如何取得。師乃拊掌瞬視。問方便以前事如何。師托出其僧。問如何是祖師西來意。師曰。咬骨頭漢出去。問撥塵見佛時如何。師曰。脫枷來商量。問急急相投請師接。師曰。鈍漢。
Chan Master Xuantong of Mount Dapu in Fuzhou was a man of Futang in Fuzhou. He received his training on Mount Tushita and served Xuefeng as teacher for several years; having received the mind-Dharma he settled at Dapu. A monk asked: 'How does one get the pearl under the black dragon's jaw?' The master clapped his hands and looked sharply. A monk asked: 'What of the matter before expedient means?' The master pushed the monk out. A monk asked: 'What is the patriarch's meaning in coming from the west?' The master said: 'Bone-gnawing fellow, get out.' A monk asked: 'What about when one pushes aside the dust and sees the Buddha?' The master said: 'Take off the cangue, then come discuss.' A monk asked: 'I have come in urgent haste—please receive me, master.' The master said: 'Dull fellow.
杭州龍冊寺順德大師道怤。永嘉人也。姓陳氏。丱歲不食葷茹。親黨彊啖以枯魚隨即嗢(烏沒)噦(乙劣)遂求出家。於本州開元寺受具。遊方抵閩川謁雪峰。峰問。什麼處人。曰溫州人。雪峰曰。恁麼即與一宿覺是鄉人也。曰只如一宿覺是什麼處人。雪峰曰。好吃一頓棒且放過。一日師問。只如古德豈不是以心傳心。雪峰曰。兼不立文字語句。曰只如不立文字語句師如何傳。雪峰良久。師禮謝。雪峰曰。更問我一轉豈不好。曰就和尚請一轉問頭。雪峰曰。只恁麼為別有商量。曰和尚恁麼即得。雪峰曰。於汝作麼生。曰孤負殺人。雪峰有時謂眾曰。堂堂密密地。師出問曰。是什麼堂堂密密。雪峰起立曰。道什麼。師退步而立。雪峰垂語曰。此事得恁麼尊貴。得恁麼綿密。對曰。道怤自到來數年不聞和尚恁麼示誨。雪峰曰。我向前雖無如今已有莫有所妨麼。曰不敢此是和尚不已而已。雪峰曰。致使我如此。師從此信入而且隨眾。閩中謂之小怤布衲。因普請處雪峰舉溈山見色便見心語。問師。還有過也無。曰古人為什麼事。雪峰曰。雖然如此要共汝商量。曰恁麼即不如道怤鋤地去。一日雪峰問師。何處來。曰從外來。雪峰曰。什麼處逢見達磨。曰更什麼處。雪峰曰。未信汝在。曰和尚莫恁麼粘膩好。雪峰肯之。師後遍歷諸方益資權智。因訪曹山寂和尚。問什麼處來。曰昨日離明水。寂曰。什麼時到明水。曰和尚到時到。寂曰。汝道我什麼時到。曰適來猶記得。寂曰。如是如是。師罷參受請止越州鏡清禪苑。唱雪峰之旨。學者奔湊。副使皮光業者日休之子也。辭學宏贍屢擊難之。退謂人曰。怤師之高論人莫窺其極也。新到僧參。師拈起拂子。僧曰。久嚮鏡清猶有遮箇在。師曰。今日遇人又不遇人。問如何是靈源一直道。師曰。鏡湖水可殺深。師問僧。什麼處來。曰應天來。師曰。還見鰻黧魚麼。曰不見。師曰。
Master Daofu of Longce Monastery in Hangzhou was a native of Yongjia, surnamed Chen. As a child he would not eat meat. When relatives forced dried fish into his mouth, he immediately vomited, and so sought to leave home. He received the full precepts at Kaiyuan Monastery in his prefecture, traveled, and visited Xuefeng in Min. Xuefeng asked, ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Wenzhou.’ ‘Then you are a fellow townsman of the One-Night Enlightenment.’ ‘Where was the One-Night Enlightenment from?’ ‘You deserve a good beating, but I will spare you.’ One day the master asked, ‘Did the ancients not transmit mind through mind?’ Xuefeng said, ‘They also did not establish written words or phrases.’ ‘If there are no written words or phrases, how does the master transmit?’ Xuefeng was silent. The master bowed in thanks. Xuefeng said, ‘Would it not be better to ask me another question?’ ‘Then I ask the master to turn the question around.’ ‘Just so, or is there something else to discuss?’ ‘That is enough from the master.’ ‘What about you?’ ‘You have made me feel ashamed.’ Xuefeng sometimes told the assembly, ‘Majestic and intimate.’ The master asked, ‘What is majestic and intimate?’ Xuefeng stood up and asked, ‘What did you say?’ The master stepped back and stood. Xuefeng said, ‘This matter is so exalted and so subtle.’ The master said, ‘I have been here for years, but have never heard the master instruct us like this.’ ‘I did not have it before, but now I do. Does it trouble you?’ ‘I would not dare. The master could not help but speak.’ ‘That is why I am like this.’ From then on the master trusted and realized it, and stayed with the community. In Min he was called Little Patch-Robe Daofu. During communal labor Xuefeng cited Weishan’s saying, ‘Seeing form, one sees mind,’ and asked whether there was a fault. The master said, ‘Why did the ancients speak of this?’ Xuefeng said, ‘Even so, I want to discuss it with you.’ ‘Then it would be better to say, “Daofu, go hoe the ground.”’ Xuefeng asked where he had come from. ‘From outside.’ ‘Where did you meet Bodhidharma?’ ‘Where else?’ ‘I do not believe you.’ ‘Please do not be so clingy, Master.’ Xuefeng approved. The master later visited various regions and deepened his skillful wisdom. Visiting Caoshan, he was asked, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘I left Mingshui yesterday.’ ‘When did you reach Mingshui?’ ‘When the master arrived.’ ‘When did I arrive?’ ‘You still remember.’ ‘So it is.’ The master completed his study and accepted an invitation to live at Jingqing Chan Monastery in Yuezhou, where he taught Xuefeng’s message. Students gathered. Deputy Commissioner Pi Guangye, son of Pi Rixiu, was widely learned and repeatedly challenged him. Later he told people, ‘No one can fathom the full extent of Master Daofu’s lofty discourse.’ A newly arrived monk bowed. The master raised his whisk. The monk said, ‘I have long heard of Jingqing, yet you still have this.’ The master said, ‘Today I have met a person—and not met a person.’ Asked, ‘What is the straight road to the source?’ he said, ‘Mirror Lake is extraordinarily deep.’ He asked a monk, ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘Yingtian.’ ‘Have you seen the eel?’ ‘No.’ The master said:
闍梨不見鰻黧鰻黧不見闍梨。曰總不恁麼。師曰。闍梨只解慎初護末。問學人未達其原請師方便。師曰。是什麼原。僧曰。其原。師曰。若是其原爭受方便。僧禮拜。退後侍者問曰。和尚適來莫是成他問否。師曰無。曰莫是不成他問否。師曰無。曰未審畢竟意作麼生。師曰。一點水墨兩處成龍。師在帳中坐。有僧問訊。師撥帳問曰。當斷不斷返招其亂。僧曰。既是當斷為什麼不斷。師曰。我若盡法直恐無民。曰不怕無民請師盡法。師曰。維那拽出此僧著。又曰。休休我在南方識伊和尚來。因普請鋤草次。浴頭請師浴。師不顧。如是三請。師舉钁作打勢。浴頭乃走。師召曰。來來。浴頭迴首。師曰。向後遇作家分明舉似。其僧後至保福舉前語。未了。保福以手掩其僧口。僧卻迴舉似師。師曰。饒汝恁麼也未作家。師問。荷玉什麼處來。曰天台來。師曰。我豈是問汝天台曰。和尚何得龍頭蛇尾。師曰。鏡清今日失利。師看經。僧問。和尚看什麼經。師曰。我與古人鬪百草。師卻問。汝會麼。曰小年也會恁麼來。師曰。如今作麼生。僧舉拳。師曰。我輸汝也。僧到參。師問。闍梨從什麼處來。曰佛國來。師曰。佛以何為國。曰清淨莊嚴為國。師曰。國以何為佛。曰妙淨真常為佛。師曰。闍梨從妙淨來莊嚴來。曰無不答對。師曰。噓噓別處有人。問汝不可作遮箇語話。錢王欲廣府中禪會。命居天龍寺。始見師乃曰。真道人也。致禮勤厚。由是吳越盛於玄學。其後又創龍冊寺延請居焉。師上堂曰。如今事不得已向汝道。若自驗著實。箇親切到汝分上。因何特地生疎。只為拋家日久流浪年深。一向緣塵致見如此。所以喚作背覺合塵。亦名捨父逃逝。今勸兄弟。未歇歇去好。未徹徹去好。大丈夫兒得恁麼無氣概還惆悵麼。終日茫茫地。何不且覓取箇管帶路。好也無人問我管帶一路。時有僧問。如何是管帶一路。師曰。
(The master continued:) ‘You do not see the eel, and the eel does not see you.’ ‘Neither is the case.’ ‘You only know how to be careful at the beginning and protect the end.’ Asked for a convenient approach to the source, he said, ‘What source?’ ‘The source.’ ‘If it is the source, how could it need a convenient approach?’ The monk bowed. Later an attendant asked, ‘Did you help him with his question?’ ‘No.’ ‘Did you fail to help him?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then what did you mean?’ ‘One spot of ink makes two dragons.’ Sitting behind a curtain, he heard a monk announce himself. He lifted the curtain and said, ‘If you should act decisively and do not, you invite disorder.’ ‘If so, why not act?’ ‘If I applied the law fully, I fear there would be no people.’ ‘Do not fear that; apply it fully.’ He said, ‘Supervisor, drag this monk out.’ Then he added, ‘Enough, enough. I knew your master in the South.’ While hoeing weeds at communal work, the bath attendant asked him to bathe. He ignored the request. After three calls, the master raised his hoe as if to strike. The attendant ran. The master called, ‘Come back!’ When the attendant turned, he said, ‘When you meet a capable teacher later, tell him clearly what happened.’ The monk later told Baofu. Before he finished, Baofu covered his mouth with his hand. The monk reported this to the master. He said, ‘Even so, you are not yet a capable teacher.’ Asked where he had come from, Heyi said, ‘Tiantai.’ ‘I was not asking about Tiantai.’ ‘How can the master have a dragon’s head and snake’s tail?’ ‘Jingqing has lost today.’ Reading scripture, he was asked what he read. ‘I am competing with the ancients at picking flowers.’ ‘Can you do it?’ ‘I could as a child.’ ‘What about now?’ The monk raised his fist. ‘I lose to you.’ A monk came to visit. ‘Where have you come from?’ ‘The Buddha-land.’ ‘What makes a land a Buddha-land?’ ‘Purity and adornment.’ ‘What makes a Buddha?’ ‘Wondrous purity and true permanence.’ ‘Did you come from wondrous purity or adornment?’ ‘I can answer anything.’ ‘Hush. There are people elsewhere. You cannot answer every question this way.’ The King of Qian wanted to expand the Chan community in his palace and appointed the master to Tianlong Monastery. On meeting him, he said, ‘A true man of the Way!’ and treated him with great respect. Thus the study of the profound teaching flourished in Wu and Yue. Later the king founded Longce Monastery and invited the master there. He addressed the assembly: ‘I have no choice but to tell you about the present matter. If you verify it for yourself, why is it so strangely distant? It is only because you abandoned home long ago and wandered for many years, chasing conditions and objects. Thus you turn away from awakening and unite with dust, also called abandoning the father and fleeing. Brothers, if you have not stopped, stop; if you have not penetrated, penetrate. How can a great man be so lacking in spirit? Are you troubled, wandering in confusion all day? Why not find a road to take care of this? No one is asking me for that road.’ A monk asked, ‘What is that road?’ The master said:
噓噓要棒即道。曰恁麼即學人罪過也。師曰。幾被汝打破蔡州。問無源有路不歸時如何。師曰。遮箇師僧得坐便坐。問如何是心。師曰。是即二頭。曰不是如何。師曰。又不成是頭。曰是不是總不恁麼時如何。師曰。更多饒過。問十二時中以何為驗。師曰。得力即向我道。僧曰諾。師曰。十萬八千猶可近。問如何是方便門速易成就。師曰。速易成就。曰爭奈學人領覽未的。師曰代得也代卻。問如何是玄中玄。師曰。不是是什麼。曰還得當也無。師曰。木頭也解語。問如何是人無心合道。師曰。何不問道無心合人。曰如何是道無心合人。師曰。白雲乍可來青嶂。明月那教下碧天。問學人問不到處請師不答。和尚答不到處學人即不問。師乃搊住曰。是我道理是汝道理。曰和尚若打學人。學人也即卻打也。師曰。得對相耕去。僧舉。有僧辭歸宗。宗問。什麼處去。曰百丈學五味禪去。歸宗不語。師乃曰。緣歸宗單行底事。僧問。如何是歸宗單行底事。師曰。棒了趁出院。僧禮拜。師曰。作麼生會。曰學人罪過。師曰。料汝恁麼去。問承師有言。諸方若不是走作便是籠罩人。未審和尚如何。師曰。被汝致此一問。直得當門齒落。問如何是親的密密底事。師曰。常用及人。曰不知者如何。師曰。好晴好雨。師問僧。門外什麼聲。曰雨滴聲。師曰。眾生顛倒迷己逐物(法眼別雲畫出)僧問。如何是同相。師將火筯插向鑪中。僧又問。如何是別相。師又將火筯插向一邊(法眼別雲。問不當理)有僧引童子到曰。此兒子常愛問僧佛法。請和尚驗看。師乃令點茶。童子點茶來師啜訖過盞托與童子。童子近前接。師卻縮手曰。還道得麼。童子曰。問將來(法眼別雲。和尚更吃茶否)僧問。和尚此兒子見解如何。師曰。也只是一兩生持戒僧。師三處開法語要隨門人編錄。今但梗概而已。晉天福二年丁酉八月示滅。壽七十四。
(The master continued:) ‘Hush. If you want a beating, say so.’ ‘Then it is my fault.’ ‘You nearly destroyed Cai Prefecture.’ Asked what if there is a road with no source and one does not return, he said, ‘This monk sits wherever he can.’ Asked the mind, he said, ‘If it is, there are two heads.’ ‘If it is not?’ ‘Then it cannot be a head.’ ‘What if neither applies?’ ‘You are adding too much.’ ‘What is the test throughout the twelve periods?’ ‘Tell me when you find strength.’ ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘Eighteen thousand miles is still near.’ Asked how to achieve the expedient gate quickly, he said, ‘Achieve it quickly.’ ‘I have not grasped it clearly.’ ‘I can answer in your place.’ Asked the profound within the profound, he said, ‘If it is not, what is it?’ ‘Is that fitting?’ ‘Even a block of wood can speak.’ Asked how one without mind unites with the Way, he said, ‘Why not ask how the Way without mind unites with a person?’ ‘How does the Way without mind unite with a person?’ ‘White clouds may come to the green ridge, but the bright moon cannot descend from the blue sky.’ A monk said, ‘Where my question does not reach, please do not answer; where your answer does not reach, I will not ask.’ He seized him and said, ‘Is that my principle or yours?’ ‘If the master strikes me, I will strike back.’ ‘Then we can farm facing each other.’ A monk cited someone taking leave of Guizong. Guizong asked where he was going. ‘To study the five-flavor Chan from Baizhang.’ Guizong said nothing. The master commented, ‘That is Guizong’s solitary practice.’ Asked what it was, he said, ‘Beat him and drive him from the monastery.’ The monk bowed. ‘How do you understand it?’ ‘It is my fault.’ ‘I knew you would go that way.’ Asked whether the masters of other places either drove people around or caged them, he said, ‘Because of your question, my front teeth fell out.’ Asked about the intimate, close matter, he said, ‘Constantly put others first.’ ‘What about one who does not know?’ ‘Fine weather and fine rain.’ He asked a monk, ‘What is that sound outside?’ ‘Raindrops.’ ‘Sentient beings are upside down, losing themselves and chasing things.’ (Fayan said, ‘Draw it.’) Asked about sameness, he put fire tongs into the stove; asked about difference, he put them to one side. (Fayan said, ‘The question is beside the point.’) A monk brought a child who often asked monks about Buddhism and asked the master to test him. The master ordered tea. The child brought it; after drinking, he handed the cup stand back. When the child reached for it, the master withdrew his hand and asked, ‘Can you say something?’ The child said, ‘Ask me.’ (Fayan said, ‘Would you like more tea?’) Asked how the child understood things, the master said, ‘He is only a monk who kept the precepts for one or two lives.’ The master taught at three places, and his essential sayings were recorded by his disciples; only an outline remains here. He passed away in the eighth month of the dingyou year, the second year of Tianfu, aged seventy-four.
黑白哀號制服者甚眾。荼毘於大慈山獲舍利。就龍母山之陽建塔。
Many mourners wore mourning clothes. At the cremation on Mount Daci, relics were recovered, and a stupa was built on the southern slope of Mount Longmu.
福州長生山皎然禪師本郡人。入雪峰室密受心印。執侍經十載。因與僧斫樹。雪峰曰。斫到心且住。師曰。斫卻著。雪峰曰古人以心傳心。汝為什麼道斫卻。師擲下斧子曰傳。雪峰打一拄杖而去。僧問雪峰。如何是第一句。雪峰良久。僧退舉似於師。師曰。此是第二句。雪峰再令其僧來。問如何是第一句。師曰蒼天蒼天。雪峰普請般柴。問師曰。古人道。誰知席帽下元是昔愁人。古人意作麼生。師側戴笠子曰。遮箇是什麼人語。雪峰問師。持經者能荷擔如來。作麼生是荷擔如來。師乃捧。雪峰向禪床上著。雪峰普請歸。自將一束藤路逢一僧。放下藤叉手立。其僧近前拈雪峰即蹋其僧歸院。後舉示於師曰。我今日蹋那僧得恁麼快。師對曰。和尚卻替那僧入涅槃堂(法眼住崇壽寺時有二僧各說道理請師斷。法眼雲。汝兩僧一時入涅槃堂。玄覺雲。什麼處是替那僧入涅槃堂處。崇壽稠雲。此一轉語卻還老兄。東禪齊雲。只如長生意作麼生)師嘗訪一庵主欵話。庵主曰。近有一僧問某甲西來意。遂舉拂子示之。不知還得也無。師曰。爭敢道得與不得。有人問庵主。此事有人保任如虎頭帶角。有人嫌棄則不直一文錢。此事為什麼毀譽不同。請試揀出看。曰適來出自偶然。爭揀得出。師曰。若恁麼此後不得為人(玄覺雲。一等是恁麼事。為什麼有得有失。上座若無智眼難辨得失)雪峰問師。光境俱亡復是何物。師曰。放皎然過敢有商量。雪峰曰。許汝過作麼生商量。曰皎然亦放和尚過。雪峰深許之。尋受記止於長生山分化焉。僧問。從上宗乘如何舉唱。師曰。不可為闍梨荒卻長生山也。問古人有言。無明即佛性煩惱不須除。如何是無明即佛性。師忿然作色舉拳呵曰。今日打遮師僧去也。僧曰。如何是煩惱不須除。師以手㧝頭曰。遮師僧得恁麼發人業。問路逢達道人不將語默對。未審將什麼對。師曰。上紙墨堪作什麼。
Chan Master Jiaoran of Mount Changsheng in Fuzhou was a native of that prefecture. He entered Xuefeng’s room and secretly received the mind seal, serving him for ten years. Once, while cutting down a tree with a monk, Xuefeng said, ‘When you reach the heartwood, stop.’ The master said, ‘Cut it down.’ Xuefeng asked, ‘The ancients transmitted mind through mind. Why say to cut it down?’ He dropped his axe and said, ‘Transmit.’ Xuefeng struck him with his staff and left. A monk asked Xuefeng, ‘What is the first phrase?’ Xuefeng was silent. The monk reported this to the master, who said, ‘That is the second phrase.’ Xuefeng sent the monk back to ask again. The master said, ‘Heavens! Heavens!’ When Xuefeng called for firewood, he asked, ‘The ancients said, “Who knew that beneath the bamboo hat was a man once beset by grief?” What did they mean?’ The master tilted his hat to one side and asked, ‘Whose words are these?’ Xuefeng asked how a scripture-holder could bear the Tathagata. The master lifted him. Xuefeng placed him on the meditation seat. Returning from communal work, Xuefeng carried a bundle of vines and met a monk. He set them down and stood with hands folded. As the monk approached to pick them up, Xuefeng stepped on him and returned to the monastery. He later told the master, ‘Today I stepped on that monk so quickly.’ The master said, ‘The master instead took that monk into the Nirvana Hall.’ (Fayan, Xuansha, Chongshou Chou, and Dongchan Qi each commented on this phrase.) The master once visited a hermit and chatted. The hermit said, ‘Recently a monk asked me the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West. I raised my whisk to show him. Did he get it?’ The master said, ‘How dare I say whether he got it? Someone asks the hermit: “Some protect this matter like a tiger with horns; others reject it as worth not a penny. Why do people praise and blame it so differently? Please distinguish.”’ The hermit said, ‘I did that spontaneously; how can I distinguish?’ The master said, ‘Then from now on you cannot teach others.’ (Xuansha asked why some get it and some lose it, and whether the monk could discern.) Xuefeng asked, ‘When both light and realm are gone, what remains?’ The master said, ‘Let Jiaoran pass; dare you discuss it?’ ‘I let you pass; how will you discuss it?’ ‘Jiaoran also lets the master pass.’ Xuefeng greatly approved. The master soon accepted an invitation and taught at Mount Changsheng. Asked how the school should be proclaimed, he said, ‘Do not let the reverend neglect Mount Changsheng.’ Asked, ‘Ignorance is Buddha-nature; afflictions need not be removed. What is ignorance as Buddha-nature?’ He angrily raised his fist and shouted, ‘Today I will beat this monk!’ ‘What of afflictions that need not be removed?’ He seized the monk by the head: ‘Why does this monk stir up trouble?’ Asked, ‘When meeting a person of the Way, do not answer with speech or silence. What should one answer with?’ he said, ‘Paper and ink are useful for what?’
閩帥署禪主大師。莫知所終。
The marshal of Min appointed him Chan Master. No one knows where he died.
信州鵝湖智孚禪師福州人也。始依講肆肄業於長安。因思玄極之理。乃造雪峰師事數年。既領心訣隨緣而止鵝湖大張法席。僧問。萬法歸一一歸何所。師曰。非但闍梨一人忙。問虛空講經以何為宗。師曰。闍梨不是聽眾出去。問五逆之子還受父約也無。師曰。雖有自裁未免傷己。問如何是佛向上人。師曰。情知闍梨不奈何。曰為什麼不奈何。師曰。未必小兒得見君子。有人報雲。徑山和尚遷化也。僧問。徑山遷化向什麼處去。師曰。大有靈利底過於闍梨。問在先一句請師道。師曰。腳跟下探取什麼。曰即今見問。師曰。看闍梨變身不得。問雪峰拋下拄杖意作麼生。師以香匙拋下地。僧曰。未審此意如何。師曰。不是好種出去。問如何是鵝湖第一句。師曰。道什麼。曰如何即是。師曰。妨我打睡。問不問不答時如何。師曰。問人焉知。問迷子未歸家時如何。師曰。不在途。曰歸後如何。師曰。正迷。問如何是源頭事。師曰。途中覓什麼。問如何是一句。師曰。會麼。曰恁麼莫便是否。師曰。蒼天蒼天。鏡清問。如何是即今底。師曰。何更即今。清曰。幾就支荷。師曰。語逆言順。
Chan Master Zhifu of Ehu in Xinzhou was from Fuzhou. He first studied in the lecture halls in Chang’an. Reflecting on the ultimate principle, he went to Xuefeng and served him for several years. Having received the mind instruction, he settled at Ehu and greatly expanded the Dharma seat. A monk asked, ‘All things return to one; where does the one return?’ He said, ‘You are not the only one who is busy.’ Asked what the void teaches as its central principle, he said, ‘You are not a listener; leave.’ Asked whether a child of the five heinous crimes accepts the father’s command, he said, ‘Though he may take his own life, he cannot avoid harming himself.’ Asked who is above Buddha, he said, ‘I know you cannot manage it.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘A child may not necessarily meet a gentleman.’ Someone reported that the abbot of Jingshan had passed away. Asked where he had gone, the master said, ‘Many are more alert than you.’ Asked for the prior phrase, he said, ‘What are you seeking beneath your heels?’ ‘I am asking now.’ ‘Look at you, unable to change your body.’ Asked the meaning of Xuefeng dropping his staff, he threw an incense spoon on the ground. ‘What did that mean?’ ‘You are not of good stock; get out.’ Asked the first phrase of Ehu, he said, ‘What did you say?’ ‘What is it then?’ ‘You are keeping me from my nap.’ Asked what when there is neither question nor answer, he said, ‘How would you know without asking?’ Asked about a lost son not yet home, he said, ‘He is not on the road.’ ‘After he returns?’ ‘Still lost.’ Asked about the source, he said, ‘What are you looking for on the road?’ Asked what one phrase is, he said, ‘Understand?’ ‘Is that it?’ ‘Heavens! Heavens!’ Jingqing asked what is present now. He said, ‘Why speak of what is present?’ Jingqing said, ‘I almost managed to bear it.’ The master said, ‘Words run backward; meaning goes forward.’
漳州報恩院懷嶽禪師泉州人也。少依本州聖壽院受業。罷參雪峰止龍溪玄侶奔湊。僧問。十二時中如何行履。師曰。動即死。曰不動時如何。師曰。猶是守古冢鬼。問如何是學人出身處。師曰。有什麼物纏縛闍梨。曰爭奈出身不得何。師曰。過在阿誰。問如何是報恩一靈物。師曰。吃如許多酒糟作麼。曰還露腳手也無。師曰。遮裡是什麼處所。僧問。牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。萬裡一片雲。曰見後如何。師曰廓落地。僧問。如何是佛法大意。師曰。昨夜三更失卻火。問黑雲鬥暗誰當雨者。師曰。峻處先傾。問宗乘不卻如何舉唱。師曰。山不自稱水無間斷。問佛未出世時如何。師曰。汝爭得知。問撥塵見佛時如何。師曰。什麼年中得見來。問師子在窟時如何。師曰。師子是什麼傢俱。又問。師子出窟時如何。師曰。師子在什麼處。問如何是目前佛。師曰。快禮拜。師臨遷化上堂示眾曰。山僧十二年來舉提宗教。諸人怪我什麼處。若要聽三經五論。此去開元寺咫尺。言訖告寂。
Chan Master Huaiyue of Bao’en Monastery in Zhangzhou was from Quanzhou. As a youth he studied at Shengshou Monastery and, after completing his studies, deeply admired Chan. He sought the Dharma from Xuefeng and served for several years before awakening through conditions. While attending Xuefeng on a walk, he saw taro leaves move. Xuefeng pointed at them. The master said, ‘Shaoqing is very frightened.’ ‘They are things in your own house; what frightens you?’ He suddenly awakened and ceased traveling. He soon accepted an invitation to live at Longxi. A monk asked how to conduct oneself through the twelve periods. He said, ‘Move, and you die.’ ‘If you do not move?’ ‘You are still a ghost guarding an old grave.’ Asked where a student can emerge from, he said, ‘What thing binds you?’ ‘What if I cannot emerge?’ ‘Whose fault is that?’ Asked the numinous thing of Bao’en, he said, ‘Why eat so much dregs of wine?’ ‘Will it reveal its feet and hands?’ ‘What place is this?’ Asked what before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch, he said, ‘A single cloud across ten thousand miles.’ ‘And afterward?’ ‘Open and vast.’ Asked the great meaning of Buddha-Dharma, he said, ‘At the third watch last night, the fire went out.’ Asked who should bear the rain when dark clouds suddenly gather, he said, ‘The steep place falls first.’ Asked how to proclaim the school, he said, ‘The mountain does not praise itself; the water never ceases.’ Asked what before Buddha was born, he said, ‘How could you know?’ Asked what when dust is brushed aside and Buddha is seen, he said, ‘In what year did you see him?’ Asked about the lion in its cave, he said, ‘What furniture does a lion have?’ Asked about the lion outside its cave, he said, ‘Where is the lion?’ Asked about the Buddha before one’s eyes, he said, ‘Quickly bow.’ Before passing away, he addressed the assembly: ‘For twelve years I have raised the teachings of the school. What do you blame me for? If you wish to hear the three scriptures and five treatises, Kaiyuan Monastery is only a short distance from here.’ With these words he passed away.
杭州西興化度悟真大師。師鬱泉州人也。自得雪峰心印。化緣盛於杭越之間。後居西興鎮之化度院。法席大興。僧問。如何是西來意。師舉拂子。僧曰。學人不會。師曰。吃茶去。問如何是無縫塔。師曰。五尺六尺。問如何是一塵。師曰。九世剎那分。曰如何含得法界。師曰。法界在什麼處。問谿谷各異師何明一。師曰。汝喘作麼。問學人初機。乞和尚指示入路。師曰。汝怪化度什麼處。問如何是隨色摩尼珠。師曰。青黃赤白。曰如何是不隨色摩尼珠。師曰。青黃赤白。問如何是西來意。師曰。是東來西來。問牛頭未見四祖時如何。師曰。鳥獸俱迷。曰見後如何。師曰。山深水冷。問維摩與文殊對談何事。師曰。唯有門前鏡湖水。清風不改舊時波。師自是聲聞於遐邇。錢王欽其道德。奏紫衣師號。
Master Wuzhen, whose Dharma name was Shiyu, of Huadu Monastery in Xixing, Hangzhou, was from Quanzhou. He received Xuefeng’s mind seal, and his teaching flourished between Hangzhou and Yue. Later he lived at Huadu Monastery in Xixing, where the community grew. Asked the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West, he raised his whisk. ‘I do not understand.’ ‘Go drink tea.’ Asked what a seamless stupa is, he said, ‘Five or six feet.’ Asked what a single dust mote is, he said, ‘A moment across nine ages.’ ‘How can it contain the Dharma-realm?’ ‘Where is the Dharma-realm?’ Asked how valleys differ and yet the master understands them as one, he said, ‘Why are you panting?’ Asked for the beginner’s path, he said, ‘Why blame Huadu?’ Asked the wish-fulfilling jewel that follows color, he said, ‘Blue, yellow, red, and white.’ Asked the one that does not follow color, he gave the same answer. Asked the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West, he said, ‘Does it come from the east or the west?’ Asked what before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch, he said, ‘Birds and beasts were all lost.’ ‘And afterward?’ ‘The mountains are deep and the water cold.’ Asked what Vimalakirti and Manjushri discussed, he said, ‘Only the water of Mirror Lake before the gate; the clear wind does not change its old waves.’ His reputation spread far and wide. The King of Qian admired his virtue and petitioned for a purple robe and title.
福州鼓山興聖國師。神晏大梁人也。姓李氏。幼惡葷羶樂聞鍾梵。年十二時有白氣數道騰於所居屋壁。師即揮毫書其壁曰。白道從茲速改張。休來顯現作妖祥。定祛邪行歸真見。必得超凡入聖鄉。題罷氣即隨滅。年甫志學遘疾甚丞。夢神人與藥覺而頓愈。明年又夢梵僧告雲。出家時至矣。遂依衛州白鹿山道規禪師披削。嵩嶽受具。謂同學曰。古德雲。白四羯磨後全體戒定慧。豈準繩而可拘也。於是杖錫遍叩禪關。而但記語言存乎知解。及造雪嶺朗然符契。一日參雪峰。雪峰知其緣熟。忽起搊住曰。是什麼。師釋然了悟亦忘其了心。唯舉手搖曳而已。雪峰曰。子作道理耶。師曰。何道理之有。雪峰審其懸解撫而印之。暨雪峰歸寂。閩帥於府城之左二十里。開鼓山創禪宮請揚宗致。師上堂眾集。良久曰。南泉在日亦有人舉要。且不識南泉。即今還有識南泉者麼。試出來對眾驗看。時有僧出禮拜才起。師曰。作麼生。僧近前曰。諮和尚。師曰。不才請退。又曰。經有經師論有論師律有律師。有函有號有部有帙。各有人傳持。且佛法是建立教。禪道乃止啼之說。他諸聖興來。蓋為人心不等。巧開方便遂有多門。受疾不同處方還異。在有破有。居空叱空。二患既除中道須遣。鼓山所以道。句不當機言非展事。承言者喪。滯句者迷。不唱言前寧譚句後。直至釋迦掩室淨名杜口。大士梁時童子當日一問二問三問盡有人了也。諸仁者作麼生。時有僧禮拜。師曰。高聲問。僧曰。學人諮和尚。師乃喝出。問己事未明以何為驗。師抗音似未聞。其僧再問。師曰。一點隨流食鹹不重。問如何是包盡乾坤底句。師曰。近前。僧近前。師曰。鈍置殺人。問如何紹得。師曰。犴(寒岸二音)𤞞(音欲)無風徒勞展掌。曰如何即是。師曰錯。問學人便承當時如何。師曰。汝作麼生承當(法燈別雲莫費力)問如何是學人正立處。師曰。
National Teacher Shenyan of Xingsheng Monastery on Mount Gushan in Fuzhou was a native of Daliang, surnamed Li. As a child he disliked meat and delighted in hearing bells and chants. At twelve, several streams of white vapor rose along the walls of his home. He wrote on the wall: ‘White paths, quickly change your course; do not appear again as ominous marvels. Surely abandon evil and return to true insight; then you will transcend the ordinary and enter the realm of sages.’ When he finished, the vapor vanished. At fifteen he fell gravely ill (the base text has a mistaken character). He dreamed a divine person gave him medicine, and awoke completely cured. The next year a monk in his dream told him, ‘It is time to leave home.’ He became a monk under Chan Master Daogui at White Deer Mountain in Weizhou and received the full precepts at Mount Song. He told fellow students, ‘The ancient worthies say that after the four-part ordination, precepts, concentration, and wisdom are complete. How could one be confined by a measuring line?’ He traveled to many Chan gates, but only retained words and remained in intellectual understanding. When he reached Snow Ridge, everything suddenly accorded. One day he visited Xuefeng. Knowing his conditions were ripe, Xuefeng suddenly rose, seized him, and asked, ‘What is this?’ The master was released into awakening and even forgot the mind that awakened; he only raised his hand and swayed it. Xuefeng asked, ‘Are you constructing a theory?’ ‘What theory could there be?’ Xuefeng examined his direct understanding, touched him, and confirmed it. After Xuefeng passed away, the marshal of Min opened Mount Gushan twenty li west of the prefectural city, built a Chan monastery, and invited the master to proclaim the school. When the assembly had gathered, he remained silent for a long time, then said, ‘When Nanquan was alive, someone raised an essential point. Yet he did not know Nanquan. Is there anyone now who knows Nanquan? Come forward and let us test it.’ A monk came out, bowed, and rose. ‘What is it?’ The monk approached and said, ‘I address the master.’ ‘I am incompetent; please withdraw.’ He also said, ‘There are sutra masters, treatise masters, and vinaya masters. The texts have cases and titles, divisions and fascicles, and each has someone to transmit and uphold it. The Buddha-Dharma establishes teachings; Chan is a word to stop a crying child. The sages arose because people’s minds differ, and skillful means opened many gates. Different illnesses require different prescriptions: when there is attachment to existence, break existence; when dwelling in emptiness, reject emptiness. Once both illnesses are cured, the Middle Way too must be relinquished. Gushan says: a phrase that does not meet the moment does not unfold the matter; those who follow words are lost, and those stuck on phrases are confused. Do not sing before the words, much less discuss what comes after them. Even Shakyamuni shut his room and Vimalakirti sealed his lips; the great bodhisattva in Liang and the child of that time each received one, two, three questions. Gentlemen, what will you do?’ A monk bowed. ‘Ask loudly.’ ‘I address the master.’ He shouted him out. Asked how to verify whether one’s own matter was clear, he spoke in a high voice as if he had not heard. When the monk repeated the question, he said, ‘A single drop goes with the stream; once salted, it is not salty again.’ Asked for a phrase that encompasses heaven and earth, he said, ‘Come closer.’ When the monk did, he said, ‘You are utterly dull.’ Asked how to inherit the teaching, he said, ‘Without wind, the prison tiger needlessly opens its paw.’ ‘What is correct?’ ‘Wrong.’ ‘What if I accept it right now?’ ‘How do you accept it?’ (Fadeng said, ‘Do not waste your effort.’) Asked where a student should stand, he said:
不從諸聖行(法燈別雲汝擬亂走)問千山萬山阿那箇是正山。師曰。用正山作麼(法燈雲。千山萬山)師與招慶相遇。招慶曰。家常。師曰。無厭生。招慶曰。且款款。師卻雲。家常。招慶曰。今日未有火。師曰。太鄙吝生。招慶曰。穩便將取去(東禪齊拈雲。此二尊宿語還有得失也無。若有阿那箇得阿那箇失。若無得失。諸人未具行腳眼在)問如何免得輪迴生死。師曰。把將生死來。問如何是宗門中事。師側掌曰。吽吽。問如何是向上一關棙子。師乃打之。問如何是鼓山正主。師曰。瞎作麼。師問保福。古人道。非不非是不是。意作麼生。保福拈起茶盞。師曰。莫是非好。問如何是真實人體。師曰。即今是什麼體。曰究竟如何。師曰。爭得到恁麼地。問如何是佛法大意。師曰。金烏一點萬裡無雲。師問僧。鼓山有不跨石門句。汝作麼生道。僧曰請。師乃打之。問如何是古人省心力處。師曰。汝何費力。問言滿天下無口過。如何是無口過。師曰。有什麼過。問如何是省要處。師曰。還自恥麼。師與閩帥瞻仰佛像。閩帥問。是什麼佛。曰請大王鑒。曰鑒即不是佛。曰是什麼。無對(長慶代雲。久承大師在眾何得造次)問從上宗乘如何舉唱。師以拂子驀口打。問如何是教外別傳底事。師曰。吃茶去。又曰。今為諸仁者。刺頭入他諸聖化門裡抖擻不出。所以向仁者道。教排不到。祖不西來。三世諸佛不能唱。十二分教載不起。凡聖攝不得。古今傳不得。忽爾是箇漢未通箇消息向他恁麼道被他驀口摑。還怪得他麼。雖然如此也不得亂摑。鼓山尋常道。更有一人不跨石門。須有不跨石門句。作麼生是不跨石門句。鼓山自住三十餘年。五湖四海來者。向高山頂上看山翫水。未見一人快利通得。如今還有人通得也不昧兄弟珍重。乃有偈示眾曰。
(The master continued:) ‘Do not follow the conduct of the sages.’ (Fadeng said, ‘You are about to run around wildly.’) Asked which among a thousand mountains was the true mountain, he said, ‘What use is a true mountain?’ (Fadeng said, ‘A thousand mountains, ten thousand mountains.’) The master met Zhaoqing. Zhaoqing said, ‘The usual.’ The master said, ‘Never tired of it.’ Zhaoqing said, ‘Take your time.’ The master replied, ‘The usual.’ ‘There is no fire today.’ ‘You are stingy!’ ‘Take it steadily and carry it away.’ (Dongchan Qi asked whether either elder was right or wrong.) Asked how to escape the cycle of birth and death, he said, ‘Bring birth and death here.’ Asked the matter of the school, he tilted his palm and said, ‘Hng, hng.’ Asked for the key to the gate above, he struck the monk. Asked who is the true master of Gushan, he said, ‘Why are you blind?’ He asked Baofu, ‘The ancients said, “Not not; yes yes.” What does it mean?’ Baofu raised a teacup. The master said, ‘Perhaps it is better not to say yes or no.’ Asked about the true body of a person, he said, ‘What body do you have right now?’ ‘Ultimately?’ ‘How did you get here?’ Asked the great meaning of Buddha-Dharma, he said, ‘One point of the golden crow; ten thousand miles without clouds.’ He asked a monk, ‘Gushan has a phrase that does not cross the stone gate. How would you say it?’ ‘Please.’ He struck him. Asked where the ancients spared their effort, he said, ‘Why do you exert yourself?’ ‘Words fill the world, yet there is no fault of speech. What is no fault of speech?’ ‘What fault is there?’ Asked what is essential and concise, he said, ‘Are you ashamed of yourself?’ The master viewed a Buddha image with the marshal of Min. The marshal asked, ‘Which Buddha is this?’ He said, ‘Please examine it, Your Highness.’ ‘If examined, it is not Buddha.’ ‘What is it?’ He had no answer. (Changqing answered for him, ‘I have long heard the master among the assembly. How can you be so hasty?’) Asked how the school should be proclaimed, he struck the monk across the mouth with his whisk. Asked about the special transmission outside the teachings, he said, ‘Go drink tea.’ He also said, ‘You stick your heads into the gates of the sages’ teaching and cannot shake free. That is why I tell you: the teachings cannot reach it, the patriarch did not come from the West, the Buddhas of the three times cannot proclaim it, the twelve divisions of scripture cannot contain it, ordinary and sage cannot grasp it, and past and present cannot transmit it. Suddenly, if there is a real man who has not received a message, he will be slapped across the mouth when spoken to this way. Can you blame him? Even so, one must not strike wildly. Gushan has always said: there is another person who does not cross the stone gate; there must be a phrase that does not cross the stone gate. What is it? For more than thirty years I have lived at Gushan. People from the five lakes and four seas have come to look at the mountains and waters from the summit, but I have not seen one keen person who could pass through it. Is there anyone now who can? Do not be careless, brothers. Take care.’ He then gave the assembly this verse:
直下猶難會尋言轉更賒
It is still hard to understand right here; chasing words makes it more distant.
若論佛與祖特地隔天涯
As for Buddhas and patriarchs, they are specially separated by the horizon.
閩帥禮重常詢法要焉。
The marshal of Min honored him and often asked about the essentials of the Dharma.
漳州隆壽興法大師紹卿。泉州人也。姓陳氏。幼於靈巖寺習經論。講業既就而深慕禪那。乃問法於雪峰之室。服勤數載從緣開悟。因侍經行見芋葉動。雪峰指動葉視之。師對曰。紹卿甚生怕怖。雪峰曰。是汝屋裡底怕怖什麼。師於是恍然惺悟頓息他遊。尋受請居龍谿焉。僧問。古人道摩尼殿有四角一角常露。如何是常露底角。師舉拂子。問糧不畜一粒如何濟得萬人饑。師曰。俠客面前如奪劍。看君不是黠兒郎。問。大拍盲底人來。師還接否。師曰。前後大應得此便也。曰莫便是接否。師曰。遮漢來遮裡插嘴。問耳目不到處如何。師曰。汝無此作。曰恁麼即聞也。師曰。真箇聾。漢漳守王公欽尚祖風。為奏紫衣師名。
Master Shaoqing of Longshou Xingfa Monastery in Zhangzhou was from Quanzhou, surnamed Chen. As a child he studied sutras and treatises at Lingyan Monastery. After completing his lectures, he deeply admired Chan and sought the Dharma from Xuefeng. He served diligently for several years and awakened through conditions. Once, while attending Xuefeng on a walk, he saw a taro leaf move. Xuefeng pointed it out. The master said, ‘Shaoqing is very frightened.’ Xuefeng said, ‘It is something in your own house; what frightens you?’ Shaoqing suddenly awakened and ceased traveling. He soon accepted an invitation to live at Longxi. A monk asked, ‘The jeweled hall has four corners, and one is always exposed. Which corner is that?’ He raised his whisk. Asked how one grain could relieve the hunger of ten thousand, he said, ‘In front of a knight, it is like snatching away his sword. You are no clever young man.’ Asked whether he would receive a profoundly blind person, he said, ‘You have already had this opportunity many times.’ ‘Is that receiving him?’ ‘This fellow comes here and butts in.’ Asked what is beyond eyes and ears, he said, ‘You have no such capacity.’ ‘Then I have heard it.’ ‘A truly deaf man!’ The governor of Zhangzhou, Wang, admired the ancestral teaching and petitioned for a purple robe and title.
福州僊宗院仁慧大師行瑫。泉州人也。姓王氏。本州開元寺受業。預雪峰禪會聲聞四遠。閩帥請轉法輪玄徒奔至。上堂曰。我與釋迦同參。汝道參什麼人。時一僧出禮拜擬伸問。師曰錯。問如何是西來意。師曰。熊耳不曾藏。問直下事乞師方便。師曰。不因汝問我亦不道。問如何是西來意。師曰。白日無閑人。
Master Xingtao of Xianzong Monastery in Fuzhou was from Quanzhou, surnamed Wang. He studied at Kaiyuan Monastery in his prefecture and joined Xuefeng’s Chan assembly, becoming known far and wide. The marshal of Min invited him to turn the Dharma wheel, and practitioners gathered. He addressed the assembly: ‘I studied together with Shakyamuni. Tell me, with whom did I study?’ A monk came out, bowed, and was about to ask. The master said, ‘Wrong.’ Asked the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West, he said, ‘The Bear’s Ear never concealed it.’ Asked for a direct instruction, he said, ‘Even without your question, I would not speak.’ Asked again the meaning of the West, he said, ‘There is no idle person in broad daylight.’
福州蓮華山永福院超證大師從弇(先住漳州報恩院)僧問。儒門以五常為極則。未審宗門以何為極則。師良久。僧曰。恁麼即學人造次也。師曰。好與拄杖。問教雲。唯有一乘法。如何是一乘法。師曰。汝道我在遮裡作什麼。曰恁麼即不知教意也。師曰。雖然如此卻不孤負汝。問不向問處領。猶是學人問處。和尚如何。師曰。吃茶去。長慶常雲。盡法無民。師曰。永福即不然。若不盡法又爭得民。時有僧曰。請師盡法。師曰。我不要汝納稅。問諸餘即不問。聊徑處乞師垂慈。師曰。不快禮三拜。師上堂曰。咄咄看箭便歸方丈。問請師盡令。師曰。莫埋沒。問大眾雲集請師說法。師曰。聞麼。曰若更佇思應難得及。師曰。實即得。問摩尼殿有四角一角常露。如何是常露底角。師曰。不可更點。師上堂於座邊立謂眾曰。二尊不並化。便歸方丈。
Master Congyan of Yongfu Monastery on Lotus Mountain in Fuzhou (formerly abbot of Bao’en Monastery in Zhangzhou). A monk asked, ‘The Confucian school takes the five constant virtues as its highest principle. What does the Chan school take as its highest?’ He was silent for a long time. The monk said, ‘Then I was hasty.’ He said, ‘You deserve a staff.’ Asked about the one-vehicle Dharma, he said, ‘What do you think I am doing here?’ ‘Then I do not know the teaching’s meaning.’ ‘Even so, I have not let you down.’ Asked what if one does not understand at the point of questioning, he said, ‘Go drink tea.’ Changqing often said, ‘Apply the law fully and there will be no people.’ Congyan said, ‘Yongfu is different. If the law is not fully applied, how can there be people?’ A monk said, ‘Please apply the law fully.’ He said, ‘I do not want you to pay taxes.’ Asked for direct guidance, he said, ‘Why not bow three times quickly?’ He addressed the assembly, ‘Alas! Look out for the arrow!’ and returned to his quarters. Asked to issue a full command, he said, ‘Do not bury it.’ Asked to expound the Dharma to the gathered assembly, he said, ‘Do you hear?’ ‘If one waits and thinks, one cannot catch up.’ ‘Indeed, you can.’ Asked about the jeweled hall’s always-exposed corner, he said, ‘Do not add another mark.’ He stood beside his seat and told the assembly, ‘Two honored ones cannot teach at once,’ then returned to his quarters.
杭州龍華寺真覺大師靈照。高麗人也。萍遊閩越升雪峰之堂冥符玄旨。居唯一衲服勤眾務。閩中謂之照布衲。一夕指半月問溥上座。那一片什麼處去也。溥曰。莫妄想。師曰。失卻一片也。眾雖歎美而恬澹自持。初止婺州齊雲山。上堂良久。忽舒手視其眾曰。乞取些子乞取些子。又曰。一人傳虛萬人傳實。僧問。草童能歌舞。未審今時還有無。師下座作舞曰。沙彌會麼。僧曰。不會。師曰。山僧蹋曲子也不會。問靈山會上法法相傳。未審齊雲將何付囑。師曰。不可為汝一人荒卻齊雲也。曰莫便是親付囑也無。師曰。莫令大眾笑。問還丹一粒點鐵成金。至理一言點凡成聖。請師一點。師曰。還知齊雲點金成鐵麼。曰點金成鐵未之前聞。至理一言敢希垂示。師曰。句下不薦後悔難追。師次居越州鏡清院海眾悅隨。一日謂眾曰。盡令去也。僧曰。請師盡令。師曰。吽吽。問如何是學人本分事。師曰。鏡清不惜口。問請師雕琢。師曰。八成。曰為什麼不十成。師曰。還知鏡清生修理麼。師問僧。什麼處來。曰五峰來。師曰。來作什麼。曰禮拜和尚。師曰。何不自禮。曰禮了也。師曰。鏡湖水淺。問如何是第一句。師曰。莫錯下名言。曰師豈無方便。師曰。烏頭養雀兒。問向上一路千聖不傳。未審什麼人傳得。師曰。千聖也疑我。曰莫便是傳也無。師曰。晉帝斬嵆康。問釋迦掩室於摩竭。淨名杜口於毘耶。此意如何。師曰。東廊下兩兩三三。師謂眾曰。諸方以毘盧法身為極則。鏡清遮裡即不然。須知毘盧有師法身有主。問如何是毘盧師法身主。師曰。二公爭敢論。問古人道。見色便見心此即是色阿那箇是心。師曰。恁麼問莫欺山僧麼。問未剖以前請師斷。師曰。落在什麼處。曰恁麼即失口也。師曰。寒山送溈山。又曰。住住闍梨失口山僧失口。曰惡虎不食子。師曰。驢頭出馬頭迴。師驀問一僧。記得麼。曰記得。
Master Lingzhao, titled Zhenjue, of Longhua Monastery in Hangzhou was from Goryeo. He wandered through Min and Yue, entered Xuefeng’s hall, and secretly accorded with the profound teaching. He owned only one robe and diligently served the community; in Min he was called Patch-Robe Zhao. One evening he pointed to the half moon and asked Senior Pu, ‘Where has that piece gone?’ Pu said, ‘Do not imagine things.’ The master said, ‘You have lost a piece.’ Though the assembly praised him, he remained calm and self-contained. He first settled on Qiyun Mountain in Wuzhou. After a long silence in the hall, he suddenly stretched out his hand, looked at the assembly, and said, ‘Give me a little; give me a little.’ He also said, ‘One person spreads a falsehood; ten thousand repeat it as truth.’ A monk asked, ‘The grass boy can sing and dance. Is there one today?’ The master stepped down and danced: ‘Novice, can you?’ ‘No.’ ‘This mountain monk cannot dance the tune either.’ Asked what Qiyun would transmit after the Dharma was handed on at Vulture Peak, he said, ‘I cannot neglect Qiyun for your sake alone.’ ‘Is that the intimate transmission?’ ‘Do not make the assembly laugh.’ Asked for a word of ultimate principle that turns an ordinary person into a sage, he said, ‘Do you know that Qiyun turns gold into iron?’ ‘I have never heard of turning gold into iron; please show us the ultimate principle.’ ‘If you do not understand at the phrase, regret will be too late.’ He later lived at Jingqing Monastery in Yuezhou, where the community followed him with joy. One day he told the assembly, ‘Issue the full command!’ A monk said, ‘Please issue it.’ ‘Hng, hng.’ Asked the student’s essential matter, he said, ‘Jingqing does not spare words.’ Asked him to refine the student, he said, ‘Eight-tenths.’ ‘Why not ten-tenths?’ ‘Do you know Jingqing is still under repair?’ He asked a monk where he had come from. ‘Wufeng.’ ‘Why come?’ ‘To bow to the master.’ ‘Why not bow to yourself?’ ‘I have already bowed.’ ‘The water of Mirror Lake is shallow.’ Asked the first phrase, he said, ‘Do not wrongly attach names.’ ‘Does the master have no expedient?’ ‘A crow’s head raises a sparrow.’ Asked who can transmit the road above, which a thousand sages do not transmit, he said, ‘Even a thousand sages doubt me.’ ‘Is that transmission?’ ‘Emperor Hui of Jin executed Ji Kang.’ Asked why Shakyamuni shut his room at Magadha and Vimalakirti kept silence at Vaishali, he said, ‘Two or three are gathered in the east corridor.’ He told the assembly, ‘Other places take Vairocana’s Dharma-body as the ultimate. Here at Jingqing it is different: know that Vairocana has a teacher and the Dharma-body has a master.’ Asked who, he said, ‘How would those two dare discuss it?’ A monk cited, ‘Seeing form is seeing mind. This is form; which is mind?’ He said, ‘Are you trying to deceive this mountain monk with that question?’ Asked what before it is split, he said, ‘Where did it fall?’ ‘Then I misspoke.’ ‘Hanshan is sending Weishan.’ He added, ‘Wait, wait. The reverend misspoke; this mountain monk misspoke.’ The monk said, ‘A fierce tiger does not eat its cubs.’ He said, ‘A donkey’s head appears, a horse’s head turns back.’ He suddenly asked a monk, ‘Do you remember?’ ‘I remember.’
師曰。道什麼。曰道什麼。師曰。淮南小兒入寺。問是什麼即俊鷹俊鷂趁不及。師曰。闍梨別問山僧別答。問請師別答。師曰。十里行人較一程。問金屑雖貴眼裡著不得時如何。師曰。著不得還著得麼。僧禮拜。師曰。深沙神。問菩提樹下度眾生。如何是菩提樹。師曰。大似苦練樹。曰為什麼似苦練樹。師曰。素非良馬何勞鞭影。後湖守錢公卜杭之西關創報慈院。延請開法。禪眾翕然依附。尋而錢王建龍華寺。迎金華傅大士靈骨道具寘焉。命師住持。晉天福十二年丁未閏七月二十六日終於本寺。壽七十八。塔於大慈山。
The master asked, ‘What did you say?’ ‘What did you say?’ He said, ‘A child from Huainan enters the monastery.’ Asked what a swift falcon could not catch, he said, ‘You ask a different question; this mountain monk gives a different answer.’ ‘Please answer differently.’ ‘A traveler who walks ten li has gained one stage.’ Asked what when gold dust, though precious, cannot be put in the eye, he said, ‘If it cannot be put in, can it be put in?’ The monk bowed. He said, ‘The deep-sand spirit.’ Asked what the bodhi tree is, he said, ‘Much like a bitter neem tree.’ ‘Why?’ ‘If it is no fine horse, why labor over the shadow of a whip?’ Later the governor of Hu invited him to found Baoci Monastery west of Hangzhou. The Chan community flocked to him. Soon King Qian built Longhua Monastery and enshrined there the relics and implements of Fu Dashi of Jinhua, appointing the master abbot. He passed away at his monastery on the twenty-sixth day of the intercalary seventh month in the dingwei year, the twelfth year of Tianfu. He was seventy-eight. His stupa was built on Mount Daci.
明州翠巖永明大師令參。湖州人也。自雪峰受記止於翠巖大張法席。問不借三寸請師道。師曰。茶堂裡貶剝去。問國師三喚侍者意旨如何。師曰。抑逼人作麼。問諸餘即不問。師默之。僧曰。如何舉似於人。師喚侍者點茶來。師上堂曰。今夏與諸兄弟語論。看翠巖眉毛還在麼(長慶聞舉雲。生也)問凡有言句盡是點汙。如何是向上事。師曰。凡有言句盡是點汙。問如何是者要處。師曰。大眾笑汝。問坦然不滯鋒鋩時如何。師雲。大有人作此見解。曰畢竟如何。師曰。坦然不滯鋒鋩。問古人拈槌竪拂意旨如何。師曰。邪法難扶。問僧繇為什麼寫誌公真不得。師曰。作麼生合殺。問險惡道中以何為津梁。師曰。藥山再三叮囑。問不帶凡聖當機何示。師曰。莫向人道翠巖靈利。問妙機言句盡皆不當宗乘中事如何。師曰。禮拜著。曰學人不會。師曰。出家行腳禮拜也不會。錢王嚮師道風請居龍冊寺終焉。
Master Lingcan of Cuiyan, titled Yongming, in Mingzhou was from Huzhou. Having received Xuefeng’s approval, he settled at Cuiyan and greatly expanded the Dharma seat. Asked to speak without borrowing three inches, he said, ‘Go to the tea hall and criticize it.’ Asked the meaning of the National Teacher calling his attendant three times, he said, ‘Why force people?’ ‘I will not ask about anything else.’ He was silent. The monk said, ‘How can I tell others?’ He called, ‘Attendant, bring tea.’ He told the assembly, ‘This summer I have discussed the Way with you brothers. Are Cuiyan’s eyebrows still there?’ (Changqing heard this and said, ‘They have grown.’) Asked what is above, since every phrase stains it, he said, ‘Every phrase stains it.’ Asked what is essential, he said, ‘The assembly is laughing at you.’ Asked what if one is open and does not cling to the blade’s edge, he said, ‘Many people hold that view.’ ‘Ultimately?’ ‘Open and not clinging to the blade’s edge.’ Asked why the ancients raised a mallet or stood up a whisk, he said, ‘Evil teachings are hard to support.’ Asked why the painter Sengyou could not paint Zhi Gong’s portrait, he said, ‘How would you finish it?’ Asked what serves as a bridge in the dangerous road, he said, ‘Yaoshan repeated his instructions.’ Asked what to show one who is neither ordinary nor sage, he said, ‘Do not tell people Cuiyan is clever.’ Asked about the school’s matter when every subtle phrase misses it, he said, ‘Bow.’ ‘I do not understand.’ ‘You left home and traveled, yet do not know how to bow.’ The King of Qian admired his teaching and invited him to live at Longce Monastery, where he passed away.