○四明天童密菴咸傑禪師
Zen Master Xianjie of Tiantong Temple in Siming
福州鄭氏子。母夢廬山老僧入舍而生。自幼頴悟。出家為僧不憚遊行。徧參知識。後謁應庵於衡之明果。庵孤硬難入。屢遭呵。一日庵問如何是正法眼。師遽答曰破沙盆。庵頷。之未幾辭回省親。庵送以偈曰。大徹投機句。當陽廓頂門。相從今四載。徵詰洞無痕。雖未付鉢袋。氣宇吞乾坤。却把正法眼。喚作破沙盆。此行將省覲。切忌便垛根。吾有末後句。待歸要汝遵。出世衡之烏巨。次遷祥符蔣山華藏。未幾詔住徑山靈隱。晚居太白。僧問虗空消殞時如何。師曰罪不重科。上堂。牛頭橫說竪說。不知有向上關棙子。有般漆桶輩東西不辨南北不分。便問如何是向上關棙子。何異開眼尿床。華藏有一轉語不在向上向下。千手大悲摸索不著。雨寒無處晒㫰(力黨反。明也)。今日普請布施大眾。良久曰。達磨大師無當門齒。上堂。世尊不說說。拗曲作直。迦葉不聞聞。望空啟告。馬祖即心即佛。懸羊頭賣狗肉。趙州勘庵主。貴買賤賣。分文不直。祇如文殊是七佛之師。因甚出女子定不得。河天月暈魚生子。槲葉風微鹿養茸。上堂。卓拄杖曰。迷時只迷這箇。復卓一下曰。悟時祇悟這箇。迷悟雙忘。𠬁(音糞)掃堆頭重添搕𢶍。莫有向東涌西沒全機獨脫處道得一向底麼。若道不得。華藏自道去也。擲拄杖曰。三十年後。上堂。舉金峰和尚示眾云。老僧二十年前有老婆心。二十年後無老婆心。時有僧問。如何是和尚二十年前有老婆心。峰云問凡答凡問聖答聖。曰如何是二十年後無老婆心。峰云問凡不答凡問聖不答聖。師曰。烏巨當時若見。但冷笑兩聲。這老漢忽若瞥地。自然不墮聖凡窠臼。上堂。舉婆子燒庵話。師曰。這箇公案叢林中少有拈提者。傑上座裂破面皮不免納敗一上。也要諸方檢點。乃召大眾曰。這婆子洞房深穩水泄不通。偏向枯木上糝花。寒巖中發焰。箇僧孤身逈逈慣入洪波。等閒坐斷潑天潮。到底身無涓滴水。子細撿點將來。敲枷打鎻則不無二人。若是佛法未夢見在。烏巨與麼提持畢竟意歸何處。良久曰。一把柳絲収不得。和烟搭在玉欄干。上堂。動絃別曲。葉落知秋。舉一明三。目機銖兩。如王秉劒殺活臨時。猶是無風匝匝之波。向上一路千聖把手。共行合入泥犁地獄。正當與麼時合作麼生。江南兩浙。春寒秋熱。上堂。盡乾坤大地喚作一句子。擔枷帶鎻不喚作一句子。業識茫茫兩頭俱透脫。淨裸裸赤灑灑沒可把。達磨一宗掃土而盡。所以雲門大師道。盡乾坤大地無纖毫過患猶是轉句。不見一法始是半提。更須知有全提底時節。大小雲門劒去久矣方乃刻舟。後示寂。塔于寺之中峰。
A child was born to the Zheng family in Fuzhou. His mother dreamed that an old monk from Mount Lu entered their home before his birth. From a young age, he was exceptionally bright. He became a monk, unafraid of traveling far and wide, and visited many teachers. Later, he called on Ying’an (Ying’an) at Mingguo Temple in Hengyang. Ying’an was stern and hard to please; the monk was scolded many times. One day, Ying’an asked, “What is the Eye of True Dharma?” The monk immediately answered, “A broken clay pot.” Ying’an nodded in approval. Not long after, the monk took leave to return home and visit his family. Ying’an sent him off with a verse:
“The words that point to great awakening, Open the crown of the head directly. We’ve spent four years together, Questioned deeply, leaving no trace. Though I haven’t passed on the bowl and robe, Your spirit swallows heaven and earth. Yet you call the Eye of True Dharma, A broken clay pot. On this journey to visit your kin, Be sure not to cling to any foothold. I have one final phrase; When you return, I expect you to follow it.”
Later, he became the abbot of Wuju Temple in Hengzhou. He then moved to Xiangfu Temple, Jiangshan Temple, and Huazang Temple. Before long, he was summoned to be the abbot of Jingshan Temple and Lingyin Temple. In his later years, he lived at Taibai Temple. A monk once asked, “What about when space itself dissolves and disappears?” The master replied, “Don’t compound the offense.”
During a formal lecture, he said: “Niutou spoke from all sides, but he didn’t know the ultimate pivot point. Some stupid fellows can’t tell east from west or north from south, and then ask, ‘What is the ultimate pivot point?’ Isn’t that like opening your eyes and wetting the bed? Huazang has a single phrase that isn’t about the ultimate or the mundane. Even the Thousand-Armed Guanyin can’t grasp it. In the cold rain, there’s no place to dry your robe in the sun. Today, I’m giving it away freely to everyone in the assembly.” After a long pause, he said, “Bodhidharma had no front teeth.”
In another lecture: “The World-Honored One spoke without speaking, twisting the straight into the crooked. Mahakashyapa heard without hearing, making announcements into empty space. Mazu said, ‘The mind itself is Buddha,’ which is like hanging a sheep’s head but selling dog meat. Zhaozhou examined the hermit; he bought high and sold low, not worth a penny. As for Manjushri, the teacher of the seven Buddhas, why couldn’t he get the woman out of samadhi? The river’s sky, moon with a halo, fish spawn their young. Under oak leaves, the gentle wind, deer grow their antlers.”
In another lecture, he struck the ground with his staff and said: “When deluded, you’re only deluded about this. When awakened, you’re only awakened about this. If you forget both delusion and awakening, you’re just piling garbage on a trash heap. Is there anyone who can speak a single phrase that emerges and disappears, completely free from both extremes? If not, Huazang will speak for himself.” He threw down his staff and said, “Thirty years from now.”
In another lecture, he told the story of Venerable Jinfeng (Golden Peak), who told his assembly: “Twenty years ago, I had a grandmotherly heart. Twenty years later, I have no grandmotherly heart.” A monk asked, “What was the heart of a grandmother twenty years ago?” Jinfeng replied, “Ask about the ordinary, I answer about the ordinary. Ask about the holy, I answer about the holy.” The monk asked, “What is having no grandmotherly heart twenty years later?” Jinfeng said, “Ask about the ordinary, I do not answer about the ordinary. Ask about the holy, I do not answer about the holy.” The master commented, “If I had been there, I would have just given two cold laughs. If that old fellow had suddenly seen through, he naturally wouldn’t have fallen into the trap of ordinary or holy.”
In another lecture, he discussed the story of the old woman who burned down the hermit’s hut. He said, “This koan is rarely discussed in the monastic community. I, Senior Jie, am tearing up my own face and admitting defeat, so that all sides can judge.” He then addressed the assembly: “That old woman’s bridal chamber was secret and watertight. But she insisted on decorating a dead tree with flowers and setting fire to a cold cliff. That monk was utterly solitary, used to plunging into great waves. He could easily cut off the tides that splash the sky, yet in the end, not a drop of water clung to him. But if we examine closely, though both knew how to unlock shackles, they still hadn’t even dreamed of true Dharma. Wuju has presented it this way; in the end, where does the meaning lie?” After a long pause, he said, “A handful of willow twigs cannot be gathered; they drape with mist on the jade railing.”
In another lecture: “Pluck the strings and recognize the tune. When leaves fall, you know it’s autumn. Raise one and understand three. Weigh with a fine balance. You may wield the royal sword, killing or letting live as needed, but that’s still just wind stirring waves. As for the ultimate path, even the thousand sages hold hands and walk together, but they would fall into hell. At such a time, what should you do?” He then said, “South of the Yangtze and the two Zhejiang regions: cold in spring, hot in autumn.”
In another lecture: “Call the entire universe with all its lands a single phrase—that’s wearing a yoke and carrying a cangue. Don’t call it a single phrase—that’s the vast ocean of karmic consciousness. If you’re thoroughly free from both views, utterly naked, stripped bare, with nothing to hold onto, then the entire school of Bodhidharma is swept clean from the earth. That’s why Yunmen said, ‘There is no fault whatsoever in the entire universe, but that is still just a phrase of turning. Not seeing a single thing is only half a lifting. You must still know the time of complete lifting.’ That Yunmen was a great one. He drew his sword long ago, but now he’s carving marks on the boat.”
Afterward, he passed away. His stupa was built on the central peak of the temple.