--- title: "景德傳燈錄 · 鄧州丹霞天然禪師" description: "景德传灯录由宋代高僧道原编纂，成书于景德年间（1004-1007年），是中国佛教禅宗重要史传类典籍。全书共三十卷，收录自释迦牟尼至五代末年的禅宗祖师1701人，以法脉传承为脉络，记录历代禅师的机缘语录、公案典故。作为现存最早的传灯体著作，该书系统记载了禅宗五家七宗的传承体系，保存了大量珍贵史料，对研究中国禅宗发展史具有不可替代的价值。景德传灯录与五灯会元并称为禅宗两大灯录，被后世奉为禅门经典，不仅影响了宋明理学的发展，更成为东亚禅佛教传播的重要文献依据。" url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmaarby9e00zfjy04jnnnhhcu" --- 鄧州丹霞天然禪師不知何許人也。初習儒學將入長安應舉。方宿於逆旅。忽夢白光滿室。占者曰。解空之祥也。偶一禪客問曰。仁者何往。曰選官去。禪客曰。選官何如選佛。曰選佛當往何所。禪客曰。今江西馬大師出世。是選佛之場。仁者可往。遂直造江西。才見馬大師以手托幞頭額。馬顧視良久曰。南嶽石頭是汝師也。遽抵南嶽還以前意投之。石頭曰。著槽厰去。師禮謝入行者房。隨次執爨役凡三年。忽一日石頭告眾曰。來日剗佛殿前草。至來日大眾諸童行各備鍬钁剗草。獨師以盆盛水淨頭。於和尚前胡跪。石頭見而笑之便與剃髮。又為說戒法。師乃掩耳而出。便往江西再謁馬師。未參禮便入僧堂內。騎聖僧頸而坐。時大眾驚愕遽報馬師。馬躬入堂視之曰。我子天然師即下地禮拜曰。謝師賜法號。因名天然。馬師問。從什麼處來。師云。石頭。馬云。石頭路滑還躂倒汝麼。師曰。若躂倒即不來。乃杖錫觀方。居天台華頂峯三年。往餘杭徑山禮國一禪師。唐元和中至洛京龍門香山。與伏牛和尚為莫逆之友。後於慧林寺遇天大寒。師取木佛焚之。人或譏之。師曰。吾燒取舍利。人曰。木頭何有。師曰。若爾者何責我乎。師一日謁忠國師。先問侍者。國師在否。曰在即在不見客。師曰。太深遠生。曰佛眼亦覷不見。師曰。龍生龍子鳳生鳳兒。國師睡起侍者以告。國師乃鞭侍者二十棒遣出。後丹霞聞之乃云。不謬為南陽國師。至明日却往禮拜。見國師便展坐具。國師云。不用不用。師退步。國師云。如是如是。師却進前。國師云。不是不是。師繞國師一匝便出。國師云。去聖時遙人多懈怠。三十年後覓此漢也還難得。師訪龐居士。見女子取菜次。師云。居士在否。女子放下籃子斂手而立。師又云。居士在否。女子便提籃子去。元和三年師於天津橋橫臥。會留守鄭公出呵之不起。吏問其故。師徐曰。無事僧。留守異之。奉束素及衣兩襲日給米麫。洛下翕然歸信。至十五年春告門人言。吾思林泉終老之所。時門人令齊靜方卜南陽丹霞山。結庵以奉事。三年間玄學者至盈三百。眾構成大院。師上堂曰。阿爾渾家切須保護一靈之物。不是爾造作名貌得。更說什麼薦與不薦。吾往日見石頭和尚。亦只教切須自保護。此事不是爾譚話得。阿爾渾家各有一坐具地。更疑什麼。禪可是爾解底物。豈有佛可成。佛之一字永不喜聞。阿爾自看。善巧方便慈悲喜捨。不從外得。不著方寸。善巧是文殊方便是普賢。爾更擬趁逐什麼物。不用經不落空去。今時學者紛紛擾擾。皆是參禪問道。吾此間無道可修。無法可證。一飲一啄各自有分不用疑慮。在在處處有恁麼底。若識得釋迦即者凡夫是。阿爾須自看取。莫一盲引眾盲相將入火坑。夜裏暗雙陸賽彩。若為生無事珍重。有僧到參。於山下見師乃問。丹霞山向什麼處去。師指山曰。青黯黯地。僧曰。莫只遮箇便是麼。師曰。真師子兒一撥便轉。師問僧。什麼處宿。云山下宿。師曰。什麼處喫飯。曰山下喫飯。師曰。將飯與闍梨喫底人。還具眼也無。僧無對長慶舉問保福。將飯與人喫。感恩有分。為什麼不具眼。保福云。施者受者二俱瞎漢。長慶云。盡其機來又作麼生。保福云。道某甲瞎得麼。玄覺徵云。且道。長慶明丹霞意。為復自用家財師以長慶四年六月二十三日。告門人曰。備湯沐吾欲行矣。乃戴笠策杖受履。垂一足未及地而化。壽八十六。門人斲石為塔。勅諡智通禪師。塔號妙覺。 > Dengzhou Danxia Natural Zen Master—no one knows his origins. Initially he studied Confucianism and was preparing to travel to Chang'an for the imperial examinations. One night while staying at an inn, he suddenly dreamed that white light filled the room. A diviner said, "This is an auspicious sign of understanding Emptiness." By chance, a Zen practitioner asked him, "Venerable one, where are you headed?" He replied, "I'm going to take the official examinations." The practitioner asked, "Why not take the examination for Buddhahood instead of an official position?" "Where does one go for that examination?" he asked. The practitioner replied, "Right now, Great Master Ma of Jiangxi is teaching. That is the place for the examination for Buddhahood. You should go there." So he went directly to Jiangxi. As soon as he saw Great Master Ma, he adjusted his headcloth with his hand. Ma looked at him for a long time and said, "Nanyue Shitou is your teacher." He then hurried to Nanyue and presented the same question. Shitou said, "Go work in the stable." The master bowed in thanks and entered the novice quarters, where he took his turn at cooking duties for three years. One day, Shitou announced to the assembly, "Tomorrow we will clear the grass in front of the Buddha hall." The next day, all the monks and novices came with spades and hoes to clear grass. Only the master filled a basin with water, washed his head, and knelt before the abbot. Shitou saw this, smiled, and shaved his head. He then gave him the precepts. The master covered his ears and ran out. He went back to Jiangxi to visit Master Ma again. Without announcing himself, he entered the monks' hall, sat on the neck of the holy monk statue, and remained there. The assembly was startled and quickly reported this to Ma. Ma personally entered the hall, looked at him, and said, "My son, Natural." The master immediately got down and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Master, for bestowing this Dharma name." And so he was called Natural. Ma asked, "Where have you come from?" The master said, "From Shitou." Ma said, "The path at Shitou is slippery—did it trip you?" The master replied, "If I had been tripped, I wouldn't have come." Then he took his staff and traveled widely. He lived on Tiantai Mountain's Huading Peak for three years, then went to Yuhang's Jingshan to pay respects to National Teacher Guo Yi. During the Yuanhe era of the Tang Dynasty, he went to Longmen Xiangshan in Luoyang and became a close friend of Venerable Funiu. Later at Huilin Temple, in extreme cold weather, the master took a wooden Buddha statue and burned it. When people criticized him, he said, "I am burning it to retrieve the relics." People said, "How can wood have relics?" He replied, "If that's so, then why are you criticizing me?" One day the master went to visit National Teacher Zhong. He first asked the attendant, "Is the National Teacher in?" The attendant said, "He is in, but he doesn't receive visitors." The master said, "That's quite profound and distant." The attendant said, "Even the Buddha eye cannot see him." The master said, "A dragon gives birth to a dragon child; a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix chick." When the National Teacher woke up, the attendant told him about this. The National Teacher beat the attendant twenty strokes and sent him away. Later, when Danxia heard about this, he said, "He truly is worthy of being called National Teacher of Nanyang." The next day he went to pay respects. When he saw the National Teacher, he began to spread his sitting mat. The National Teacher said, "No need, no need." The master stepped back. The National Teacher said, "Yes, yes." The master stepped forward again. The National Teacher said, "No, no." The master circled the National Teacher once and left. The National Teacher said, "We are far from the sages' time, and people are lazy. Thirty years from now, it will still be hard to find such a man." The master visited Layman Pang. He saw a young woman picking vegetables. The master said, "Is the Layman in?" The woman put down her basket, folded her hands, and stood still. The master said again, "Is the Layman in?" The woman picked up her basket and walked away. In the third year of the Yuanhe era, the master lay across the Tianjin Bridge. When Garrison Commander Zheng came out and shouted at him, he didn't get up. An official asked why. The master said slowly, "I am a monk with nothing to do." The Commander found this remarkable and presented him with silk, two sets of robes, and daily provisions of rice and flour. The people of Luoyang all came to have faith in him. In the spring of the fifteenth year, he told his disciples, "I wish to find a place in the forests and springs where I can end my days." His disciples asked Qi Jing to select a site on Nanyang's Danxia Mountain, where they built a hermitage to serve him. Within three years, over three hundred students of Zen gathered, and the assembly built a great monastery. The master addressed the assembly: "All of you must carefully protect this spiritual essence. It is not something you can create through names or forms. What need is there to speak of understanding or not understanding? When I met Venerable Shitou in the past, he only taught me to carefully protect it myself. This matter cannot be grasped through words and talk. Each of you has your own piece of sitting-mat ground—what more do you doubt? Can Zen be something you understand? How could there be a Buddha to attain? I never like to hear the word 'Buddha.' Look for yourselves. Skillful means, compassion, joy, and equanimity do not come from outside. They are not confined to the mind. Skillful means is Manjushri; convenience is Samantabhadra. What more are you chasing after? No need for scriptures, no need to fall into emptiness. "Students today are all in confusion, all practicing Zen and seeking the Way. Here, there is no Way to cultivate, no Dharma to realize. Each drink and each bite has its own portion—have no doubt. Everywhere, everywhere, there is this. If you recognize Shakyamuni, this ordinary person is he. You must look for yourselves. Don't let one blind person lead many blind people into a fire pit. At night, in the dark, playing dice and gambling—how do you win? If you have nothing to do, take care." A monk came to pay respects. He met the master at the foot of the mountain and asked, "Which way to Danxia Mountain?" The master pointed to the mountain and said, "Dark and deep blue." The monk said, "Is this it?" The master said, "A true lion's cub turns as soon as it's poked." The master asked a monk, "Where did you stay?" The monk said, "At the foot of the mountain." The master said, "Where did you eat?" The monk said, "I ate at the foot of the mountain." The master said, "The person who gave you food—does he have eyes or not?" The monk had no replyChangqing later raised this question to Baofu: "The person who gives food to others—shouldn't there be gratitude? Why does he not have eyes?" Baofu said, "Both the giver and the receiver are blind men." Changqing said, "When one exhausts the whole mechanism, what then?" Baofu said, "Can you say I am blind?" Xuanjue then asked, "Tell me—did Changqing understand Danxia's meaning, or was he using his own family's wealth?" On the twenty-third day of the sixth month in the fourth year of the Changqing era, the master told his disciples, "Prepare hot water for a bath—I am about to depart." He put on his hat, took up his staff, and put on his shoes. One foot had not yet touched the ground when he passed away. He was eighty-six years old. His disciples carved a stone pagoda for him. He was posthumously given the name Zen Master Zhitong, and his pagoda was called Miaojue (Wonderful Enlightenment).