百丈野狐
Baizhang's Wild Fox
百丈和尚。凡參次有一老人。常隨眾聽法。眾人退老人亦退。忽一日不退。師遂問。面前立者復是何人。老人云。諾某甲非人也。於過去迦葉佛時。曾住此山。因學人問。大修行底人還落因果。也無。某甲對云。不落因果。五百生墮野狐身。今請和尚。代一轉語貴。脫野狐遂問。大修行底人還落因果。也無。師云。不昧因果。老人於言下大悟。作禮云。某甲已脫野狐身。住在山後。敢告和尚。乞依亡僧事例。師令維那白槌告眾。食後送亡僧。大眾言議。一眾皆安涅槃堂。又無人病。何故如是。食後只見師領眾。至山後巖下。以杖挑出一死野狐。乃依火葬。師至晚上堂。舉前因緣。黃蘗便問。古人錯祇對一轉語。墮五百生野狐身。轉轉不錯。合作箇甚麼。師云。近前來與伊道。黃蘗遂近前。與師一掌。師拍手笑云。將謂。胡鬚赤更有赤鬚胡。
Baizhang, the great master, used to teach the dharma to an assembly. Among them was an old man who always listened with the group. When the others left after the teaching, he would also leave. But one day, the old man remained. The master asked him, "Who is the one standing before me?" The old man replied, "I am not a human being. In the time of the past Buddha Kashyapa, I once lived on this mountain. A student asked me, 'Does a great cultivator fall into cause and effect or not?' I answered, 'He does not fall into cause and effect.' As a result, I was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. I beg you, Master, to say a turning word for me, so that I may be freed from this fox body." Then the old man asked, "Does a great cultivator fall into cause and effect or not?" The master replied, "He is not blind to cause and effect." At these words, the old man was greatly enlightened. He bowed and said, "I am now freed from the wild fox body. I dwell behind the mountain. I dare to ask you to give me the funeral rites of a deceased monk." The master instructed the rector to announce to the assembly, "After the meal, we will see off a deceased monk." The monks discussed this, saying, "Everyone is in the Nirvana Hall, and no one is ill—why is this?" After the meal, the master led the monks to a cliff behind the mountain. With his staff, he poked out the corpse of a dead wild fox and performed a cremation ceremony. That evening, the master returned to the hall and recounted this story. Huangbo then asked, "The ancient one gave one wrong turning word and was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. If his turning word were never wrong, what would he become?" The master said, "Come closer, and I'll tell you." Huangbo approached and gave the master a slap. The master clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "I thought the barbarian's beard was red, but there's another red-bearded barbarian!"
無門曰。不落因果。為甚墮野狐。不昧因果。為甚脫野狐。若向者裏著得一隻眼。便知得。前百丈贏得。風流五百生。
Wumen said: "If one does not fall under the law of cause and effect, why does he become a wild fox? If one fully sees into the law of cause and effect, why does he escape the wild fox? If you can open one eye in this matter, you will then understand. Then the old Baizhang would have won five hundred lifetimes of freedom and grace."
頌曰。
The verse says:
不落不昧 兩采一賽 不昧不落 千錯萬錯
Not falling, not deluded—two sides of the same bet. Not deluded, not falling—one and the same contest. A thousand mistakes, ten thousand errors.