師云。臥輪禪師。不入祖燈。向今時生死路頭。且作箇小歇場。即不無他。本色衲子正眼覷著。祇是箇驢前馬後漢。其奈人無小使。不成君子。且少他不得。一等守默癡禪。鈍猫守窟。養得如癡似訥。把些子㤓功。貼在額上道。臥輪有伎倆。能斷百思想。近日有全真道士。懇求教言道。弟子三十餘年。打疊妄心不下。萬松道。我有四問。舉似全真輩。一問妄心。有來多少時也。二問元來有妄心不。三問妄心作麼生斷。四問妄心斷即是。不斷即是。其人拜謝去不再來。黃山趙文孺親覲圓通善國師。嘗作頌曰。妄想元來本自真。除時又起一重塵。言思動靜承誰力。子細看來無別人。公每遇先亡追薦之辰。手書佛經。篤信君子。近代無處其右者。他雖是箇俗士。一期出語。頓超臥輪三十年㤓功。所以天台智者道。加工減悟。腫不益肥。頓悟漸修。日劫相倍。圓覺經道。於諸妄心。亦不息滅。又道。末世眾生。說病為法。是故名為可憐愍者。一僧久參未徹。向萬松舉同參道。見色如空華。聞聲如谷響。自謂了事衲僧。某以為不然。內若不應。外不能為。一心不生。萬緣俱息。同參物虗。某甲神靜。二者孰愈。萬松道。徐六擔板。各見一邊。臥輪道。對境心不起。正與久參未徹者僻見一般。忠國師謂南方禪客曰。我這裏身心一如。身外無餘。菩提非根生。云何更增長。六祖聞而斥之乃曰。此偈未明心地。若依行。是加繫縛。因和之曰。慧能無伎倆。不斷百思想。慧能。是祖之法諱。且對前偈。道無伎倆。雖云稱性之談。未出斷常二見。正如北宗時時勤拂拭。莫使惹塵埃。祖和曰。本來無一物。何處惹塵埃。敵體對證。救弊之談。磁州老師。頌靈苗瑞草。野父愁耘道。為報農夫休費力。等閒鋤殺濟人禾。所以不斷百思想。永明道。妄想興而涅槃現。塵勞起而佛道成。對境心數起。一上神通。不同小小。三祖道。圓同太虗。無欠無餘。忽然撑破虗空。也是一場奇怪。且道菩提作麼生長。休得也。

The Master said: "The Chan Master Wolun did not enter the ancestral lamp. As for the path of life and death in the present moment, he merely made a small resting place. This is not without its purpose. Yet, for a true monk with the correct eye, he was merely a man following in the footsteps of others. What can one do? A person without minor duties cannot become a gentleman. Moreover, one cannot do without them. There is a type who stubbornly clings to silent, dull meditation, like a stupid cat guarding its hole, nurturing themselves until they become foolish and inarticulate. They paste a bit of their 'achievement' on their forehead and say: 'Wolun has skill, able to sever all thoughts.' Recently, a Quanzhen Daoist earnestly sought teachings, saying: 'For over thirty years, this disciple has been unable to settle the deluded mind.' Wansong said: 'I have four questions to present to the Quanzhen followers. First, how long has the deluded mind been coming? Second, did the deluded mind originally exist or not? Third, how does one sever the deluded mind? Fourth, is severing the deluded mind correct, or is not severing it correct?' That person bowed in thanks and left, never to return. Huangshan's Zhao Wenru personally visited the National Preceptor Yuantong Shan and once composed a verse: 'Deluded thoughts originally are fundamentally true; when you try to remove them, another layer of dust arises. Speech, thought, action, stillness—by whose power are they sustained? Look carefully, there is no other.' Whenever it was the anniversary for commemorating the deceased, he would personally copy Buddhist scriptures. He was a deeply faithful gentleman; in recent times, none have surpassed him. Although he was a layperson, his words in that moment instantly surpassed Wolun's thirty years of 'achievement.' Therefore, the Tiantai master Zhiyi said: 'Adding effort reduces enlightenment; a swelling does not make one fatter. Sudden enlightenment with gradual cultivation multiplies the days and kalpas.' The *Perfect Enlightenment Sutra* says: 'Regarding all deluded minds, do not extinguish them.' It also says: 'Sentient beings in the degenerate age speak of sickness as the Dharma. Therefore, they are called pitiful and worthy of compassion.' One monk had long practiced but not yet penetrated. He mentioned to Wansong a fellow practitioner who said: 'Seeing forms is like empty flowers; hearing sounds is like echoes in a valley. He considers himself a monk who has finished the work. I think otherwise. If the internal does not respond, the external cannot act. When the single mind does not arise, all conditions cease. My fellow practitioner focuses on the emptiness of things; I focus on the stillness of spirit. Which of the two is superior?' Wansong said: 'Like Xu Liu carrying a plank, each sees only one side.' Wolun said: 'Facing objects, the mind does not arise.' This is precisely the same biased view as that of the long-practicing monk who had not yet penetrated. National Preceptor Zhong said to a southern Chan visitor: 'Here, body and mind are one; there is nothing beyond the body. Bodhi is not born from roots, so how can it grow further?' The Sixth Patriarch heard this and criticized it, saying: 'This verse has not clarified the mind-ground. If one practices according to it, it adds bondage.' Therefore, he harmonized with it: 'Huineng has no skill, does not sever all thoughts.' Huineng is the Dharma name of the Patriarch. Moreover, in response to the previous verse, saying 'has no skill,' although it speaks of the nature, has not yet transcended the two views of annihilation and permanence. It is just like the Northern School's 'constantly wipe diligently, do not let it attract dust.' The Patriarch harmonized: 'Originally there is not a single thing; where could dust alight?' This is a direct, opposing response, words to remedy a flaw. The teacher from Cizhou praised the spiritual sprouts and auspicious grass, the sorrowful plowing of the rustic father, saying: 'To inform the farmer, spare your effort; carelessly hoeing kills the grain that saves people.' Therefore, 'does not sever all thoughts.' Yongming said: 'When deluded thoughts arise, nirvana appears; when worldly toils arise, the Buddha-way is accomplished.' 'Facing objects, the mind repeatedly arises'—this is a great spiritual power, not a small matter. The Third Patriarch said: 'Perfect, like the great void, neither lacking nor in excess.' Suddenly bursting through emptiness is also a strange affair. So, tell me, how does Bodhi grow? Enough of this.

Wansong's Commentary on Jue's Ancient Cases (萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚拈古請益錄)

Wansong's Commentary on Jue's Ancient Cases (萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚拈古請益錄)