明州天童長翁如淨禪師
Zen Master Rujing Changweng of Tiantong, Mingzhou
生而岐嶷。不䫫常童。長學出世法。參足菴於雪竇。看庭前栢樹子話有省。呈頌曰。西來祖意庭前栢。鼻孔寥寥對眼睛。落地枯枝纔𨁝跳。松蘿亮鬲笑掀騰。菴頷之。出世屢遷名剎。後主淨慈。陞天童。開爐上堂。召大眾打圓相云。個是天童火爐。近前則燒殺。退後則凍殺。忽有個漢出來道。合作麼生。㘞火爐動也。上堂。霜風號肅殺。霜葉墜蕭𮨱。舉拂子曰。看。唯有玲瓏崔嵬望轉高。所謂天童滯貨今朝短販。一遭莫有酧價底麼。下座巡堂。上堂。外不放入。內不放出。痛下一槌。萬事了畢。且道如何。太白峰前令斬新。內外紀綱俱委悉。上堂。天童鉄臭老拳頭。打殺江湖水牯牛。夜深忽然生個卵。天明推出大日頭。且道如何。晒㫰諸人烝濕處。免教行步滑如油。上堂。靈雲見處桃花開。天童見處桃花落。桃花開。春風催。桃花落。春風惡。靈雲且置。莫有與天童相見底麼。春風惡桃花。躍浪生頭角。新起妙嚴慶懺上堂。推倒多生老鼠窠。掃空平地笑呵呵。從空架起生頭角。葢覆驢牛不厭多。今朝成就大緣千古。發揮大事。且道如何。斫額任他門外客。到家還我個中人。復舉文殊問無著近離甚麼處。著云南方。殊云南方佛法如何住持。著云末法比丘少奉戒律。殊云多少眾。著云或三百或五百。師云。春風勾引鷓鴣啼。著問文殊此間佛法如何住持。殊云凡聖同居龍蛇混雜。著云多少眾。殊云前三三與後三三。師曰。平地波瀾鈎鐵船。這兩轉語要與諸方眉毛撕結。更有兩轉語要與諸方點眼。或三百或五百。銅錢鐵錢省數足陌。前三三與後三三。蘿蔔芋嬭淺貯滿擔。諸方忽然眼開。決定拍手大笑。笑個甚麼。不笑巴叉便笑杜撰。雖然笑者還稀。忽有人問天童多少眾。便向他道。新起妙嚴誇第一。一齊都在𦘕圖中。師六坐道場未說稟承。眾有是請。師曰我待涅槃堂裏拈出。果臨終拈香曰。如淨行脚四十餘年。首到乳峰失脚墮於陷穽。此香今不免拈鈍置我住雪竇足菴大和尚。并書辭世頌曰。六十六年罪犯彌天。打個𨁝跳活陷黃泉。咦。從來生死不相干。擲筆而逝。塔全身于本山。
He was extraordinary from birth, unlike ordinary children. When he grew up, he studied the supramundane Dharma. He practiced under Chan Master Zuan at Xuedou and gained insight upon contemplating the saying "the cypress tree in the courtyard." He presented a verse:
The ancestral meaning from the West — the cypress tree in the courtyard. Nostrils vast and empty, facing a pair of eyes. A withered branch falls to the ground, then suddenly leaps up. Pine vines and bright lattice laugh and rock with mirth.
The master nodded in approval.
After leaving home life, he moved through many famous monasteries. Later he presided at Jingci, then ascended to Tiantong. At the opening of the practice season, he entered the hall, called the assembly together, drew a circle in the air, and said: "This is the Tiantong fire pit. Step forward and you'll be burned alive; step back and you'll freeze to death. Suddenly a fellow comes out and asks, 'What then should one do?' — whoosh! The fire pit moves!"
Entering the hall, he said:
The frost wind howls, austere and killing. Frost leaves fall, rustling and soughing.
He raised his fly whisk and said: "Look! Only the exquisite towering peaks — the further you gaze, the higher they rise. This is what's called Tiantong's stagnant goods now peddled at a discount. Is there anyone who'll pay the price?" Then he descended from the seat and walked through the hall.
Entering the hall, he said: "Outside, do not let in. Inside, do not let out. One sharp blow of the hammer — ten thousand matters are finished. Now tell me, how is it? Before Taibai Peak, the ordinances are freshly cut. Inner and outer regulations are all fully understood."
Entering the hall, he said: "Tiantong's stinking iron fist beats to death the water buffalo of the rivers and lakes. Deep in the night, suddenly it lays an egg. At dawn, it pushes out the great sun. Now tell me, how is it? Drying out everyone's damp and soggy spots, so your steps don't slip like oil."
Entering the hall, he said: "Where Lingyun saw, peach blossoms open. Where Tiantong sees, peach blossoms fall. Peach blossoms open — the spring wind urges them on. Peach blossoms fall — the spring wind is cruel. Set Lingyun aside. Is there anyone who meets with Tiantong? The spring wind is cruel to peach blossoms; leaping waves sprout horns on their heads."
At the consecration and repentance ceremony for the newly built Miaoyan, he entered the hall and said: "Knock over the rat's nest of many lifetimes. Sweep the ground clean and laugh heartily. From emptiness, horns are raised on heads. Covering oxen and donkeys, never tired of many. Today, a great cause is accomplished, a great matter spanning a thousand ages is brought forth. Now tell me, how is it? Let the outsiders outside bow their heads and scrape; those who've arrived home return to me as insiders."
He then cited: Manjushri asked Asanga, "Where have you recently come from?" Asanga said, "From the South." Manjushri said, "How does the Dharma endure in the South?" Asanga said, "In the Dharma-ending age, monks seldom observe the precepts." Manjushri said, "How many in the assembly?" Asanga said, "Some three hundred, some five hundred." The master said: "The spring wind entices the partridge to cry."
Asanga asked Manjushri, "How does the Dharma endure here?" Manjushri said, "Ordinary and noble dwell together; dragons and snakes intermingle." Asanga said, "How many in the assembly?" Manjushri said, "Three threes in front and three threes behind." The master said: "On flat ground, waves surge up; hooking an iron boat."
"These two turning words — I want to twist eyebrows with the various masters over them. There are two more turning words — I want to dot the eyes of the various masters with them. 'Some three hundred, some five hundred' — copper coins and iron coins, counting strings of full hundreds. 'Three threes in front and three threes behind' — radishes and taro, lightly stored and fully loaded. If the various masters suddenly open their eyes, they'll surely clap their hands and laugh aloud. What are they laughing at? If they don't laugh at the clumsy, they laugh at the fabricated. And yet, those who laugh are still few. If someone suddenly asks Tiantong, 'How many in the assembly?' — I'll just tell them: 'The newly built Miaoyan boasts of being first; all together they're in the painting.'"
The master sat at six practice centers but never spoke of his inheritance. The assembly requested it. The master said, "I'll bring it out in the Nirvana Hall." Indeed, as death approached, he took up incense and said: "Rujing wandered on foot for over forty years. First arriving at Rufeng, he lost his footing and fell into a pit. This incense — today I cannot avoid offering it, clumsily placing it upon my revered master, the Great Monk who dwells at Xuedou, Zuan." He also wrote a farewell verse:
Sixty-six years, crimes filling the sky. A single leap, and alive he's sunk in the Yellow Springs. Hah! Birth and death have never been connected at all.
He threw down the brush and passed away. His whole body was enshrined in a stupa on this mountain.