No. 1320-A四家語錄序
達摩大師西來。不立文字。直指人心。見性成佛。心心相印。以迨六祖。六祖以下。分為南嶽青原。而南嶽最盛。南嶽又分為臨濟溈仰。而臨濟最盛。正所傳四家語錄者。乃南嶽以下。馬祖百丈黃檗臨濟四尊宿。應機接人語也。多者萬言。少者亦不下數千言。果文字乎。非文字乎。西來之意。果不出此乎。嗟夫。指月示迷。迷者覩指遺月。以盤喻日。盲者自盤之鍾。種種差別。胡可勝言。諸尊宿。其能忘言邪夫。豈不欲直指人心。令其頓悟。譬之寫照。以形求形。僅肖十一。惟此妙明。非可形求。非可意度。況可言顯。即令可言。顧從門而入。恐非家珍。因言而明。不離道聽。諸尊宿。其忍直言邪。不忍直言。不容易言。又不能忘言。諸尊宿之心。其若之何。或謂。人具此心。自有鑑覺。何煩諸尊宿之喋喋。不知情欲萌生。知識竝出。前塵分別。悞謂妙明。趨妄背真。愈求愈遠。儻執定相。輒墮黑山鬼窟。聽其納草。且至犯人禾稼。參承既遠。餘緒茫茫。不有格言。胡尋正脉。一心傅公深入三昧。妙脫言詮。於諸尊宿。有深契焉。謂入道者。非此無階。謂法施者。非梓莫廣。會東安解君靜山寧。宿植靈根。深培善力。相與捐貲。竟為繕刻。心公。猶恐觀者滯于文字。屬余序其意於首。余不能深知諸尊宿之心。甞聞聖人之訓矣。曰予欲無言。然今之希聖者。舍聖言又奚識焉。要知善會者。侈然無間。總是一嘿。不善會者。離言絕句。轉隔萬塵。四尊宿之語。其為文字邪。非文字邪。直指邪。非直指邪。必有能辨之者。 毗陵唐鶴徵書
When the Great Master Bodhidharma came from the West, he did not rely on written words. He directly pointed to the human mind, so that seeing one's true nature would lead to Buddhahood. Mind transmitted to mind, this continued until the Sixth Patriarch. After the Sixth Patriarch, the lineage split into the Southern Mountain and Qingyuan branches, with the Southern Mountain branch becoming the most prominent. From the Southern Mountain branch further emerged the Linji and Guiyang schools, with the Linji school flourishing most. The recorded sayings of the four masters—Mazu, Baizhang, Huangbo, and Linji—are teachings passed down from the Southern Mountain lineage, spoken in response to the needs of students. Some are as long as ten thousand words, others no less than several thousand. Are these words or not? Is the meaning brought from the West truly not contained within them?
Alas! When a finger points to the moon for the confused, the confused see only the finger and miss the moon. When a plate is used to describe the sun, the blind mistake the plate for the sun itself. Such differences are countless. Could the venerable masters have forgotten words? Did they not wish to directly point to the mind, enabling sudden awakening? It is like painting a portrait: seeking form through form captures only a fraction. This wondrous clarity cannot be grasped through form, cannot be fathomed by thought, much less expressed in words. Even if it could be spoken, entering through the door of words may not reveal the family treasure. Understanding through words is no different from hearsay. Could the venerable masters bear to speak directly? They could not bear to speak directly, nor could they speak easily, yet they also could not forget words. What, then, was in the hearts of these venerable masters?
Some may say: people possess this mind and have their own awareness—why trouble the venerable masters with their endless chatter? They do not realize that when desires arise and knowledge emerges, distinctions based on sensory experiences are mistaken for wondrous clarity. Chasing illusions and turning away from truth, the more one seeks, the farther one strays. If one clings to fixed appearances, one falls into the dark caves of demons. If left unchecked, it may lead to trampling others' fields. When the path of practice is distant, the remaining traces become vast and obscure. Without guiding words, how can one find the true lineage?
Master Yixin, deeply immersed in samadhi, skillfully transcended verbal explanations and profoundly resonated with the venerable masters. He said that for those seeking the Way, there is no other step; for the spread of the Dharma, nothing is broader than this. Together with Master Xie Jingshan of Dong'an, who has long nurtured spiritual roots and deeply cultivated virtuous strength, they contributed resources to compile and engrave these teachings. Master Yixin, fearing that readers might become attached to the words, asked me to write a preface explaining the intention. I do not claim to deeply understand the hearts of the venerable masters, but I have heard the teachings of the sages: "I wish to speak no words." Yet those who aspire to sagehood today—how can they recognize it without the words of the sages? It is essential to know that those who understand well find no separation, and all is silence. Those who do not understand well, even when cutting off words and phrases, remain separated by countless dusts. Are the words of the four venerable masters words or not? Are they direct pointing or not? There will surely be those who can discern this.
Written by Tang Hezheng of Piling.