No. 1393-A天童平石和尚語錄序
至正十七年。臨濟第十八代孫。天童平石禪師砥公。示般涅槃於東堂。又九年。其徒大用等。集其三會所說法。刻梓以傳。以余逮見禪師。俾為序。竊惟。臨濟乃達磨十世。以大機大用。弘教外別傳之旨。度人不可紀極。歷傳至徑山無準範公。其宗益盛。無準傳天童西巖惠公。西巖傳東巖日公。皆所謂得其道而能大其家者也。為西巖的孫東巖上足。而位望隆然以相繼者禪師焉。又能以其道大振於東南。天下學者莫不宗仰。甞觀其提唱之際。徵辯之時。擒縱與奪。雷奔電激。𢥠神駴目。莫可擬測。而使學者渙然而疑釋。超然以有得。苟非善臨濟之機用。曷能若是。所謂本固而末茂。源遠而流益清者歟。宋南渡初。禪學大弊。學者罔識臨濟機用。往往淪於默照邪禪。吾祖妙喜力排之。而後禪學以正。禪師行介而和。言簡而要。平居著述。恒以斥邪說為務。抑亦妙喜之意歟。嗚呼禪師已矣。不可復見矣。欲求其道之彷彿。捨是錄。其焉從。俄有詰予者曰。達磨不立文字。禪師乃存是錄。得無相矛盾耶。予應之曰。達磨不立者。所以祛文字之蔽。禪師存是者。所以明別傳之旨。苟祛其蔽。而得其旨。不亦善乎。淨名曰。依於義不依語。又曰。言說文字皆解脫相。有味哉。有味哉。詰者嘿然。遂書以為平石禪師語錄序。前住紹興崇報禪寺鄱陽釋至仁書。No. 1393
**Preface to the Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Pingshi**
In the seventeenth year of the Zhizheng era [1357 CE], the eighteenth-generation descendant of Linji, Chan Master Pingshi (Stone Level) of Tiantong Monastery, entered final nirvana in the Eastern Hall. Nine years later, his disciples Dayong and others compiled his dharma talks from three assemblies and carved them onto woodblocks for circulation. Because I had the fortune to know the master personally, they asked me to write this preface.
I humbly reflect: Linji was the tenth generation after Bodhidharma. With his great capacity and great function, he illuminated the essential teaching transmitted separately outside the teachings, liberating countless people. This lineage passed down through generations until it reached Chan Master Wuzhun Fan of Jingshan Monastery, whose tradition flourished even more. Wuzhun transmitted it to Chan Master Xiyan Hui of Tiantong; Xiyan passed it to Chan Master Dongyan Ri—both were true successors who greatly expanded their master's legacy. Our Chan Master Pingshi was Xiyan's dharma grandson and Dongyan's foremost disciple, and with his high status and widespread reputation, he carried on the lineage. Moreover, he was able to greatly invigorate the dharma in the southeast, earning the reverence of all students under heaven.
I have observed his style of teaching: during his dialectical encounters, his methods of gathering and releasing, bestowing and seizing, were like thunderbolts and lightning—awesome to behold, impossible to fathom—yet they caused students to awaken from their confusion and attain insight with a sense of liberation. If one had not thoroughly mastered Linji's great function, how could one achieve such results? This is truly what is meant by "when the root is firm, the branches flourish; when the source runs deep, the stream flows clearer."
During the early Southern Song period, Chan studies had fallen into great decline. Students no longer recognized Linji's method of direct function, often sinking into the heretical practice of "silent illumination." Our ancestor Miaoxi (Dahui Zonggao) vigorously refuted this, and afterward Chan studies returned to correctness. Master Pingshi was upright yet harmonious, concise yet essential in his speech. In his writings, he constantly made it his mission to refute wrong views. Could this not also be following in the spirit of Miaoxi?
Alas, the master has departed; I cannot see him again. If one wishes to grasp even a shadow of his teaching, where else would one turn but to this record? Suddenly someone challenged me, saying: "Bodhidharma transmitted no words or letters. Yet the master preserved this record. Is this not contradictory?" I replied: "Bodhidharma's 'no words' was meant to remove attachment to written words. The master's preservation of this record is meant to illuminate the essential transmitted teaching. If by removing attachment one attains the essential, is that not excellent?" As Vimalakīrti said, "Rely on the meaning, not on the words." He also said, "Words and letters are themselves marks of liberation." How profound! How profound! The questioner fell silent. Thus I wrote this preface to the Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Pingshi.
Written by Shiren, former abbot of Shaoxing Chongbao Monastery, from Poyang.
平石和尚語錄