---
title: "無門慧開禪師語錄 · 告香普說"
description: "無門慧開禪師語錄是南宋臨濟宗高僧無門慧開的語錄集，由弟子普敬、普通等人記錄編纂。該書成書於十三世紀，反映了宋代禪宗的發展面貌，內容包括慧開禪師的開示、機鋒語句、公案評唱及詩偈等，以直指人心、見性成佛為核心。其中無門關一書尤為著名，收錄四十八則公案並附評頌，是禪宗重要經典。此語錄在佛教史上地位崇高，對後世禪修影響深遠，是研究宋元禪宗思想與實踐的關鍵文獻。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmcwhc3fy0cu9l104hi918i35"
---

## 無門開和尚語錄卷下

> Record of Zen Master Wumen Kai's Sayings, Part 2

### 告香普說

> The Buddha Speaks

靈山密付。黃葉止啼。少室親傳。望梅止渴。乃至德山棒。臨濟喝。雪峰輥毬。道吾舞笏。祕魔擎叉。禾山打鼓。清原垂足。天龍豎指。盡是弄猢猻底閑家具。到者裏總用不著。雖然如是。事無一向。不免隨例開箇皂角生姜鋪子。兄弟上門要買人參附子甘艸大黃決定是無。砒霜巴豆燈心發燭隨宜應副。更有一爐熱鐵丸。恐有心麤膽大底。與他一丸。教他通身腐爛。求生不得求死不得。諸方與人解粘去縛抽釘拔楔。開上座只為人添釘著楔。用箇筏篰盛却送你在大洋海裏。教你自討條活路。出得身方堪為種艸。這裏不與人過公案教壞人家男女。若是平常相見。四海皆兄弟。若來入室。便把你輩作刺客冤家防備。我若不先下手脚。便被汝害却我性命。只如僧問趙州狗子還有佛性也無。州云無。諸方拈者甚多。提撕者不少。這一箇無子單提獨弄。參這一箇無字。成佛底如雨點。信不及者虗度時光。參禪別無華巧。祇是通身要起箇疑團。晝三夜三切莫間斷。久久純熟。自然內外打成一片。便與虗空打成一片。便與山河大地打成一片。便與四維上下打成一片。豈不見道盡大地是學人自己。盡大地是箇解脫門。盡大地是沙門一隻眼。盡大地撮來如粟米粒。心包太虗量周沙界。空生大覺中。如海一漚發。東弗于逮。西瞿耶尼。南瞻部洲。北󳬂單越。上至非非想天。下至風輪水際。不消一箇咳嗽。周匝有餘。若向箇裏見得。無三界可出。無涅槃可證。情與無情同成正覺。地獄天堂皆為淨土。智慧愚癡通為般若。諸戒定慧及淫怒癡俱是梵行。靜閙閑忙頭頭合轍。從來喫飯未曾咬著一粒米。從來著衣不曾掛著一縷絲。從來說話不曾開口。終日行未甞擡脚。而今兄弟不要効近代長老。看他百丈黃檗臨濟德山自是英氣逼人。豈不見臨濟和尚在黃檗會下。前堂首座陳尊宿勉他請益方丈。三問佛法的的大意三遭痛棒。遂辭黃檗。因緣不在此間望和尚指見什麼人。檗遂指去見大愚。愚纔見便問甚處來。濟云黃檗來。愚云黃檗有何言語。濟遂舉前話。不知某甲過在甚處。愚云黃檗老婆心切。為汝得徹困。濟云元來黃檗佛法無多子。愚扭住云。這尿牀鬼子。適來問有過無過。如今却道無多子。畢竟有多少。濟便於大愚肋下築三拳。愚云。汝師黃檗。非干我事。濟便回黃檗。檗云。來來去去。有甚了期。濟云只為老婆心切。檗云大愚饒舌。待他來後與他一頓。濟云即今不可放過。遂打檗一拳。檗云。這風顛漢。敢來這裏捋虎鬚。檗吟吟而咲。喚侍者引這風顛漢參堂去。大眾。黃檗因何只教他去見大愚。何也。葢緣大愚在歸宗會下多年。一日辭歸宗。宗云汝何處去。愚云諸方學五味禪去。宗云我這裏祇有一味禪。愚云如何是和尚一味禪。宗便打。愚擬開口。宗又打。愚於此有省。後來黃檗云。馬祖會下出八十四員善知識。問著箇箇屙漉漉地。獨有歸宗較些子。大眾。黃檗指臨濟見大愚。意旨如何。不見道要知山下路。須問去來人。緣大愚在歸宗棒下打發。而今兄弟家多作是非會。我臨濟兒孫以棒喝為佛事。以無明三毒當慈悲。把你兄弟到空中如生冤家相似。不問是佛是祖是凡是聖。須與你捩轉面皮換却你眼睛。寧可以熱鐵纏身烊銅灌口。終不以佛法當人情。豈不見古人道。任從滄海變。終不為君通。巖頭云。却物為上。逐物為下。箇中無肯路。豈可妄許人。昔荼陵郁山主常參百尺竿頭如何進步話。一日騎驢過橋。正舉話間驢子失脚。郁遂有省作頌曰。我有明珠一顆。久被塵勞關鎻。今朝塵盡光生。照破山河朵朵。遂遣徒弟端和尚你可去參楊岐會和尚果是有禪否。果是有悟門否。端遂往見楊岐。人事畢。會問何處來。荼陵來。令師阿誰。云郁山主。楊岐云。我聞你師有悟道頌是否。端便舉前頌。岐大咲歸方丈。端莫曉其意。次日又去請問。昨日蒙和尚問某甲師長入道因緣。是有悟由無悟由。望和尚慈悲說破。某實疑之。岐云。你曾見作百戲底麼。端應云見。岐云。他只要人咲。你怕人咲。端於此大悟。你看他尊宿有殺有活手段。一咲可以起他疑情。一句可以破他疑情。若無箇般殺活手段。執拂柄將何為人。見人在高高山頂立。便與推向萬丈懸崖下去。見人在萬丈懸崖中。可與他提向高高山頂上。方有為人處。只如開善謙和尚同竹原菴主在大慧和尚會下。只參箇無字。四十日打發。大慧請為藏主。他看話頭時被雨濯在欄干邊他亦不知。人向他道原兄原兄雨打濕了身上。拖他過來他亦不管。兄弟家須是恁麼做將去。無有不應者。謙和尚隨大慧十四五年全無入處。一日賷香請益藏主。某甲全無入頭處。望藏主慈悲指示做處。藏主云書記書記你來探水作麼。真心參禪。謙云某甲實為生死事大豈可戲論。主云書記若要做工夫。可把從前著述文字如喫了巴豆相似盡底瀉出。教肚裏空索索地。且來相伴坐禪。待你業識暫歇。却與你說話。遂同坐半月有餘。心地安樂。忽一日大慧令請書記賷書去見張丞相。謙甚煩惱。方有些子好處。又被差使。主云。你但承受。我伴你去。途中事我都替你。只有五件事替你不得。記云那五件事。主云待同去路中說。路間書記復問。藏主說五件事替不得。望開示。云。著衣。喫飯。屙屎。送尿。記云四件那。更有一件是何事。主云。你馳箇死屍路上走。我替你不得。謙書記從此打發。主云你如今自去下書。藏主遂回。謙書記見丞相便相投。相云。書記你這回相見說話與舊時不同。復歸大慧一見便云。且喜書記大事了畢。未審大慧具何眼目便言大事了畢。謙書記悟處還諦當也未。得底人一見便見。瞞他不得。豈不見道。識得自己能驗他人。無用和尚未為僧時。請益大慧和尚。令看起滅處。未經兩月。於行廊下聽奴子喝云看火燭。忽然有省。可謂築著南邊動北邊也。山僧昔日在先師會中只看一箇無字。六年下語不得。自發志剋責。我若不明此話。更去睡眠時爛却我身。纔困時。或廊下行道。將頭去露柱上磕。一日在法座邊立。忽聞齋鼓聲。便理會得這話。次日入室欲通所得處。先師一見便言。見神見鬼了也。先師震威一喝。山僧亦喝。先師又喝。山僧又喝。自此機鋒不讓。先師圓寂後。陳提刑諱貴謙作喪主。臨時令為先師掛真。不容辭避。山僧捧起真云。老賊一喝虗空迸裂。儂家當下如桶底脫。連伸三拜。納盡敗缺。這些怨恨怎生消滅。而今高掛祖堂。千古號令不絕。這些子豈在記持學解。如擊石火閃電光。擬議不來。白雲萬里。而今箇裏一堂兄弟。盡是江湖四海飽參龍象。諸方呼喚不回頭。牢籠不肯住底。其間有一箇半箇。如燒未過底炭頭相似。被些子無明烟焰惱人。古有賣油糍婆子見三箇秀才赴試遂買點心。一人恬靜。二人爭文章。婆云。先輩向甚處去。二人應云赴科舉去。婆云。這二人秀才試未過。那一人定試過。二人遂罵詈而去。及赴試回。果應婆語。此二人再來扣問婆子。你當時因何得知我二人試不過。那一人過得。有甚相法。婆云。我不會相法。只因煎油糍便會驗得人。才云何故。婆云。我煎得透底沈靜無聲。煎未透者只管作聲。大眾。村婆子尚乃會驗人。況我衲僧家既識得自己分曉。人來一見便見。謂之目擊道存。你諸人若真箇要理會此事。山僧不免更舉一段因緣。昔日有僧問雲門。光明寂照遍河沙。語聲未絕。門却奪云。豈不是張拙秀才語。僧道是。門云話墮也。且道那裏是者僧話墮處。遇掛牌時却來吐露。

> At the sacred Vulture Peak, the teaching was secretly transmitted—like using yellow leaves to stop a child's cry. At Shaolin, it was personally passed down—like quenching thirst by thinking of sour plums. And then there are Deshan's staff, Linji's shout, Xuefeng's rolling ball, Daowu's dancing tablet, Mimo's raised fork, Heshan's drumming, Qingyuan's dangling foot, and Tianlong's single finger—all these are just tools for playing with monkeys. At this point, none of them are of any use. Even so, things aren't always the same. I can't help but follow the convention and open a shop selling soap and ginger. When brothers come to the door wanting to buy ginseng, aconite, licorice, or rhubarb—I definitely don't have any. Arsenic, croton seeds, lamp wicks, candles—I'll accommodate whatever's needed. There's also a stove full of red-hot iron balls. For those who might be careless or bold, I'll give them one. It'll make their whole body rot, so they can't live and can't die. Various teachers help people untie knots and pull out nails and pegs. But I, Senior Kāi, only add nails and pegs for people. I'll wrap you in a basket and toss you into the great ocean, making you find your own way to survive. Only after you've escaped with your life are you fit to be a seed for the field. Here, I don't hand out old kōans to people, ruining good young men and women. If it's an ordinary meeting, all within the four seas are brothers. But if someone comes to my room for private instruction, I'll treat you as an assassin or adversary to be guarded against. If I don't make the first move, you'll take my life. For instance, when a monk asked Zhaozhou, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?" Zhaozhou said, "No." Many have picked up this "No," and many have wrestled with it. This single "No"—raised alone, played with alone—has helped countless people become Buddhas, raining down like droplets. Those who can't muster faith simply waste their time. Zen meditation has no fancy tricks. You just need to raise a mass of doubt throughout your whole body. Day and night, three periods each, never let it stop. After a long time, it becomes naturally ripe, and inside and outside merge into one piece. Then you merge with empty space. Then you merge with mountains, rivers, and the great earth. Then you merge with the four directions and above and below. Don't you see it said: "The entire great earth is the practitioner's own self. The entire great earth is a gate of liberation. The entire great earth is one eye of a renunciant." The entire great earth can be gathered up like a grain of millet. The mind encompasses vast space, its measure extends throughout the cosmos. "Emptiness arises within great awakening, like a bubble emerging in the sea." From East Pūrvavideha, West Aparagodānīya, South Jambudvīpa, North Uttarakuru—above to the heaven of neither thought nor no-thought, below to the wind wheel and the edge of water—all of it doesn't take more than a single cough to cover, with plenty to spare. If you can see it right here, there's no triple world to escape, no nirvana to attain. Sentient and insentient beings alike accomplish perfect awakening. Hell and heaven are both pure lands. Wisdom and ignorance are both prajñā. All precepts, concentration, wisdom, and also lust, anger, and delusion—all are pure conduct. Quiet or noisy, idle or busy—every head fits the track. From the very beginning, when eating, you've never bitten a single grain of rice. From the very beginning, when wearing clothes, you've never hung a single thread. From the very beginning, when speaking, you've never opened your mouth. Walking all day, you've never lifted a foot. Now, brothers, don't imitate the elder masters of recent times. Look at Baizhang, Huangbo, Linji, Deshan—they were naturally fierce and awe-inspiring. Don't you see how Linji, while in Huangbo's assembly, was encouraged by the head monk Chen Zunsu to question the abbot? Three times he asked about the great meaning of the Buddha-dharma, and three times he received a beating. So he decided to leave Huangbo. "Since conditions don't lie here," he said, "please point me to someone else to see." Huangbo directed him to see Dayu. When Dayu saw him, he asked, "Where are you from?" Linji said, "From Huangbo." Dayu said, "What did Huangbo say?" Linji recounted the previous conversation. "I don't know where my fault lies." Dayu said, "Huangbo's grandmotherly kindness was extreme. He wore you out completely." Linji said, "Ah, so Huangbo's Buddhism has nothing much to it after all!" Dayu grabbed him and said, "You bed-wetting ghost! Just now you asked whether you had a fault or not. Now you say there's nothing much to it. In the end, how much is it?" Linji then punched Dayu three times in the ribs. Dayu said, "Your teacher is Huangbo. It's none of my business." Linji returned to Huangbo. Huangbo said, "Coming and going—when will it ever end?" Linji said, "It's only because of your grandmotherly kindness." Huangbo said, "Dayu talked too much. When he comes, I'll give him a beating." Linji said, "Why wait until then? Don't let him off now!" And he punched Huangbo. Huangbo said, "This crazed fellow! He dares to come here and stroke the tiger's whiskers!" Huangbo laughed softly and told the attendant, "Take this crazed fellow to the meditation hall." Great assembly—why did Huangbo only tell him to go see Dayu? Why? Because Dayu had spent many years in Guizong's assembly. One day he took leave of Guizong. Guizong said, "Where are you going?" Dayu said, "I'll go study the five-flavored Chan with various teachers." Guizong said, "Here I only have one-flavored Chan." Dayu said, "What is your one-flavored Chan?" Guizong hit him. Dayu tried to speak, and Guizong hit him again. At this, Dayu had an awakening. Later Huangbo said, "From Mazu's assembly came eighty-four good teachers. Ask them anything, and each one is full of shit. Only Guizong is a bit better." Great assembly—when Huangbo directed Linji to see Dayu, what was the meaning? Don't you know: "To know the road down the mountain, you must ask those who come and go." Because Dayu had been awakened under Guizong's staff. Now brothers, many of you interpret this in terms of right and wrong. We, Linji's descendants, use the staff and shout as Buddhist practice. We treat ignorance, craving, and anger as compassion. We deal with you brothers in the air, as if you were sworn enemies. Whether you're Buddha or patriarch, ordinary or sage, we must twist your face around and exchange your eyes for you. Better to have hot iron wrapped around the body and molten copper poured down the throat than to use the Buddha-dharma as a social favor. Don't you see the ancients said: "Let the deep blue sea change as it will—in the end, I won't speak for you." Yantou said, "Turning away from things is superior; chasing after things is inferior. Within this, there's no path of approbation—how could one casually approve others?" In the past, Master Yu of Chaling often contemplated the kōan, "On top of a hundred-foot pole, how do you advance?" One day, riding his donkey across a bridge while just raising this question, the donkey lost its footing. Yu then had an awakening and composed a verse: "I have a single bright pearl, long imprisoned by defilement's whirl. This morning dust clears and light shines forth, illumining mountain after mountain of flowers." He subsequently sent his disciple, Master Duan, saying, "You should go study with Master Yangqi Hui. See if he truly has Zen. See if he truly has a gate of awakening." Duan went to see Yangqi. After the formalities, Yangqi asked, "Where are you from?" "From Chaling." "Who is your teacher?" "Master Yu of the mountain." Yangqi said, "I hear your teacher had a verse on awakening—is that so?" Duan recited the verse. Yangqi laughed loudly and returned to his quarters. Duan didn't understand the meaning. The next day, he went again to ask: "Yesterday you asked me about my teacher's path of entry. Did he have awakening or not? I hope you'll compassionately explain it to me. I'm truly doubtful about this." Yangqi said, "Have you ever seen acrobatic performers?" Duan said, "Yes." Yangqi said, "They just want people to laugh. You're afraid people will laugh." At this, Duan had a great awakening. See how these venerable masters have both killing and reviving skills. A single laugh can rouse one's doubt. A single phrase can break through one's doubt. Without such skills of killing and reviving, holding the whisk handle—what could you possibly give people? If you see someone standing on a high mountain peak, push them off into the ten-thousand-foot悬崖. If you see someone in the ten-thousand-foot chasm, lift them up to the high mountain peak. Only then do you have something to offer people. Take the case of Senior Qian of Kāishàn, who together with Abbot Zhuyuan practiced under Master Dahui. They only worked on the word "No." After forty days, Qian was enlightened and Dahui appointed him as library director. When he was working on the kōan, rain soaked him by the railing and he didn't even notice. Someone told him, "Brother Yuan, Brother Yuan, the rain has soaked your clothes!" And dragged him away—he still paid no attention. Brothers, you must work like this. There's no one who won't respond. Senior Qian followed Dahui for fourteen or fifteen years without any entrance. One day, carrying incense, he asked the library director: "I have no entry point at all. Please, in your compassion, show me how to practice." The director said, "Secretary, Secretary—why are you testing the waters? If you truly want to practice Zen..." Qian said, "I truly regard the matter of birth and death as great. How could I be joking?" The director said, "Secretary, if you want to do the work, you should take all your previous writings and compositions and, as if you'd eaten croton seeds, purge them completely out. Make your belly completely empty. Then come sit in meditation with me. When your karmic consciousness briefly rests, then I'll talk with you." So they sat together for over half a month, and Qian's mind became at ease. Then one day, Dahui ordered that the secretary be sent with a letter to see Chancellor Zhang. Qian was quite annoyed. "I was just getting somewhere, and now I'm being sent on an errand!" The director said, "Just accept it. I'll go with you. I'll handle everything on the road. Only five things I can't do for you." Qian asked, "What five things?" The director said, "I'll tell you on the way." On the road, Qian asked again: "You said there were five things you can't do for me. Please explain." The director said: "Wearing clothes. Eating food. Defecating. Urinating." Qian said, "That's four. What's the fifth?" The director said: "You're carrying a corpse along the road—that I can't do for you." At this, Secretary Qian was awakened. The director said, "Now go deliver the letter yourself." And the director returned. Qian met the chancellor and immediately hit it off. The chancellor said, "Secretary, this time when you speak, it's different from before." He returned to Dahui, who saw him and said, "I'm delighted that the secretary's great matter is complete." Now, what eye did Dahui have to declare the secretary's great matter complete? Was Qian's awakening genuine or not? Those who have attained it see at a single glance—they can't be fooled. Don't you know: "Know yourself, and you can verify others." Before Master Wuyong became a monk, he asked Dahui for instruction. Dahui told him to investigate where thoughts arise and cease. In less than two months, while walking in the corridor, he heard a servant boy shout, "Watch the candle fire!" and suddenly had an awakening. You could say he hit the south side and the north side moved. I myself, in my late teacher's assembly, only worked on the word "No." For six years I couldn't say a word about it. I made a vow and disciplined myself: "If I don't understand this matter, may my body rot away when I sleep!" Whenever I felt drowsy, I'd walk in the corridor or knock my head against the pillars. One day, standing by the teaching seat, I suddenly heard the meal drum and understood this kōan. The next day I entered the room to report my attainment. My late teacher saw me and immediately said, "You've been seeing ghosts and spirits!" Then he gave a mighty shout. I also shouted. He shouted again. I shouted again. From then on, my sharpness didn't yield to his. After my late teacher's passing, when Instructor Chen, whose personal name was Guiqian, served as funeral officiant, I was asked to hang the portrait \[of the late teacher\] and couldn't refuse. I held up the portrait and said: "Old thief! One shout and empty space shatters! At that moment, I was like the bottom falling out of a bucket!" Then I bowed three times, exhausting all my shortcomings. How could these grudges ever be dissolved? Now the portrait hangs high in the ancestral hall—a command that never ceases through the ages. How could this matter lie in memory, study, or intellectual understanding? It's like striking a stone to make fire—like a flash of lightning. If you hesitate for even a moment, you're a thousand miles away in the white clouds. Now in this hall, a gathering of brothers—all are awakened dragons and elephants from rivers and lakes, from the four seas. Those whom various teachers call but who never turn back, whom cages can't hold—among them there might be one or two who are like charcoal not yet fully burned, troubled by a bit of the smoke and flame of ignorance. In ancient times, there was an old woman selling fried oil cakes. Seeing three scholars heading to the examinations, she offered them refreshments. One was calm and quiet; two were arguing about their essays. The old woman said, "Sirs, where are you headed?" The two replied, "We're going to take the imperial examinations." The old woman said, "These two scholars won't pass. That one surely will." The two cursed at her and left. When they returned from the examinations, things had turned out as she'd said. The two came back to ask her: "How did you know we two wouldn't pass and that one would? What physiognomy did you use?" The old woman said, "I don't know physiognomy. It's just that from frying oil cakes I can judge people." They asked why. She said: "When I fry them, the ones that are cooked through are still and silent. The ones not yet cooked through keep making noise." Great assembly—this village woman could still judge people. How much more we renunciants? Since we recognize ourselves clearly, when someone comes, we see them at a glance. This is called "the eye meets and the path is present." If you all truly want to understand this matter, I can't help but raise one more case. In the past, a monk asked Yunmen: "Light shines silently, illumining all the rivers and sands..." Before he'd even finished the verse, Yunmen cut him off: "Isn't that the verse of Layman Zhang Zhuo?" The monk said, "Yes." Yunmen said, "Your words have fallen!" Tell me—where exactly did the monk's words fall? When the announcement board goes up, come and speak it out.

參禪須透祖師關。妙悟要窮心路絕。祖關不透心路不絕。盡是依艸附木精靈。所以山僧尋常教兄弟將三百六十骨節八萬四千毫竅通身起箇疑團。參箇公案。葢要諸人透祖師關窮心路絕。只如僧問趙州狗子還有佛性也無。州云無。且道古人意作麼生。便好向者裏起箇疑團參箇無字。不得向舉起處承當。不得向意根下卜度。不得作有無之無。不得作無無之無。但恁麼舉。舉來舉去。如咬生鐵橛相似。但覺心頭熱悶不得放捨。求生不得。求死不得。眠不得。坐不得。咬來咬去驀然齒折鐵碎。開口不在舌頭上。便見祖關不透而自透。心路不絕而自絕。便乃與古佛同一方便。共一舌頭。如獅子奮迅。誰敢當其威。猛似太阿在握。孰敢犯其鋒鋩。我為法王於法自在。盡大地是解脫門。盡大地是自己。盡大地撮來如粟米粒。盡大地是沙門一隻眼。無三界可出。無涅槃可證。上無攀仰。下絕己躬。亦無人亦無佛。大千沙界海中漚。一切聖賢如電拂。

> To penetrate Zen meditation, you must break through the ancestral barrier. True awakening requires exhausting the pathways of the mind. If you do not break through the ancestral barrier or exhaust the mind's pathways, you remain like a spirit clinging to grass or trees. This is why I, this mountain monk, often instruct my brothers to raise a great doubt within their entire being—through all 360 bones and joints and 84,000 hair pores. Investigate a kōan. The purpose is for everyone to break through the ancestral barrier and exhaust the mind's pathways. Consider this: A monk asked Zhaozhou, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature?" Zhaozhou replied, "No." What did the ancients mean by this? Right here, you should raise this great doubt and investigate this "No." Do not grasp it as soon as it is raised. Do not speculate with your intellect. Do not interpret it as the "No" of existence or non-existence. Do not interpret it as beyond both "No" and "Yes." Just raise it like this. Raise it again and again, like biting into a solid iron stake. You may feel your chest tighten and burn—do not let go. You cannot find life. You cannot find death. You cannot sleep. You cannot sit. Bite into it again and again until, suddenly, your teeth shatter and the iron breaks. Then your mouth opens, but the tongue is not involved. You will see that the ancestral barrier, though not broken through, breaks through on its own. The mind's pathways, though not exhausted, exhaust themselves on their own. Then you will share the same skillful means as the ancient Buddhas and speak with the same tongue. Like a lion rousing itself—who dares to face its might? Like a sharp sword in hand—who dares to challenge its edge? I am a king of the Dharma, free within the Dharma. The entire earth is the gate of liberation. The entire earth is oneself. The entire earth, gathered up, is like a grain of rice. The entire earth is the single eye of a renunciant. There is no triple world to escape. There is no Nirvana to attain. Above, nothing to reach for. Below, no self to cling to. There is no person, no Buddha. The great thousand worlds are but bubbles in the sea. All saints and sages pass like lightning flashes.

參禪一著。要敵生死。不是說了便休。參禪一著。單明大道。朝聞夕死可矣。參禪一著。推門落臼。切忌向外馳求。參禪一著。要起疑情。大疑必有大悟。參禪一著。英靈衲子舉起便知落處。參禪一著。本來面目。經文語錄難載。參禪一著。直指人心貴要自肯承當。參禪一著。如敵萬人。怯戰喪身失命。參禪一著。如猫捕鼠。不許移睛動眼。參禪一著。大丈夫事。非將相所能為。慧劒單提日用中。天然元不犯磨礱。神號鬼哭喪魔膽。遍野橫屍不露鋒。直下領略得去。平欺釋迦。下視彌勒。德山臨濟倒退三千。歷代祖師寒毛卓豎。發一言出一令。如崖崩石裂。傍人祇得眨眼。我為法王於法自在。殺活自由。乾坤獨步。獅王哮吼出窟來。百獸千邪皆恐怖。

> Zen meditation, this one endeavor, must confront birth and death. It's not something you just talk about and then leave behind. Zen meditation, this one endeavor, solely illuminates the Path to Cessation. "Hearing the Dharma in the morning, one may die content in the evening." Zen meditation, this one endeavor, is like pushing a door open so the bolt falls into place. Never rush outward seeking. Zen meditation, this one endeavor, requires raising doubt. Great doubt must bring great awakening. Zen meditation, this one endeavor: a spirited monastic raises it up and immediately knows where it lands. Zen meditation, this one endeavor: this is the original face, which sutras and recorded sayings cannot fully capture. Zen meditation, this one endeavor: it points directly to the mind, and what matters is that you willingly accept and own it yourself. Zen meditation, this one endeavor is like facing ten thousand enemies. If you shy from battle, you lose your life. Zen meditation, this one endeavor is like a cat stalking a mouse, not allowing the eyes to shift or blink. Zen meditation, this one endeavor is the work of a true hero. It is beyond what generals or ministers can accomplish. Wielding the sword of Wisdom in everyday life, Naturally it needs no sharpening or polishing. Spirits wail and demons cry, their courage crushed, Corpses litter the field, yet the blade shows no edge. If you can grasp it right now, directly, you look down on Shakyamuni and glance past Maitreya. Deshan and Linji would retreat three thousand steps; the ancestral masters throughout history would feel their hairs stand on end. Utter one word, issue one command, and it's like a cliff crumbling or a boulder splitting. By-standers can only blink their eyes. "I am the King of the Dharma, free within the Dharma." I can kill or give life at will. I stride alone across heaven and earth. When the Lion King roars and comes out of his den, all beasts and every evil tremble in terror.