香嚴上樹
Xiangyan Climbs a Tree
香嚴和尚云。如人上樹。口啣樹枝。手不攀枝。脚不踏樹。樹下有人。問西來意。不對即違他所問。若對又喪身失命。正恁麼時。作麼生對。
Master Xiangyan said: It is like a person who has climbed a tree and is hanging from a branch by their mouth. Their hands aren’t holding any branch, their feet aren’t touching the trunk. Someone standing beneath the tree asks them, “What was the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?” If they don’t answer, they fail to respond to the person’s question. If they do answer, they will fall and lose their life. Right at this moment, what should they do?
無門曰。縱有懸河之辨。總用不著。說得一大藏教。亦用不著。若向者裏對得著。活却從前死路頭。死却從前活路頭。其或未然。直待當來。問彌勒。
Wumen says: Even if you possess eloquence like a flowing river, it is all useless. Even if you can expound the entire Buddhist canon, it is also useless. If you can answer correctly right here, you will bring life to your previously dead path, and kill your previously living path. If you cannot do so yet, just wait until the future and ask Maitreya.
頌曰。
The verse says:
香嚴真杜撰 惡毒無盡限
啞却衲僧口 通身迸鬼眼
Xiangyan is a true liar, Endless poison with no boundary. It silences the monk's mouth, Throughout the body bursts ghostly eyes.