舉洞山到北巖。(道曠無涯。逢人不盡)巖問什麼處來。(老老大大。來處也不知)山云。湖南來。(公驗分明)巖云。觀察使姓什麼。(和尚萆宗)山云。不得姓。(未聞家譜)巖云。名什麼。(切忌當頭)山云。不得名。(已是觸諱)巖云。還理事也無。(未見出廳)山云。自有廊幕在。(𢍉不動尊)巖云。還出入不。(某甲特來參見)山云。不出入。(脚下烟生)巖云。豈不出入。(誣人之罪。以罪加之)山拂袖出去。(話不投機一句多)巖來日侵早入堂。召洞山云。昨日問上座話。不稱老僧意。一夜不安。(駟不及舌)今請上座別下一轉語。若愜老僧意。便開粥相伴過夏。(禮下於人。必有所告)山云。却請和尚問。(當仁不讓)巖云。不出入事如何。(不恥下問)山云。太尊貴生。(仰望不及。讚歎有分)巖乃開粥同過夏。(特為過茶。未為分外)天童拈云。主張門戶。自有傍來。(袖手仰成)拱默威嚴。誰敢正視。(覷着則瞎)借功施設。(採汲不虛施)轉位提持。(却又恁麼來)全成左右分權。(孤輪匪運。隻翼難沖)不犯尊貴一路。(識法者懼)還知尊貴處麼。(密室不通風)寶殿無人不侍立。(退假免參)不種梧桐免鳳來(萬般祥瑞不如無)。

Dongshan arrived at Beiyan.

Beiyan asked, "Where have you come from?"

Dongshan said, "From Hunan."

Beiyan asked, "What is the surname of the surveillance commissioner?"

Dongshan said, "It cannot be named."

Beiyan asked, "What is his given name?"

Dongshan said, "It cannot be spoken."

Beiyan asked, "Is there still the principle of affairs?"

Dongshan said, "There is still the corridor and the curtain."

Beiyan asked, "Does he still come and go?"

Dongshan said, "He does not come or go."

Beiyan said, "How can he not come or go?"

Dongshan flicked his sleeve and left.

The next day, Beiyan entered the hall early in the morning and called to Dongshan, saying, "Yesterday, your answers to my questions did not satisfy this old monk. I was unsettled all night. Now I ask you to give a different turning phrase. If it satisfies this old monk, we will open the porridge and spend the summer together."

Dongshan said, "Then please ask, Venerable Sir."

Beiyan asked, "What about the matter of not coming and going?"

Dongshan said, "It is too exalted and noble."

Beiyan then opened the porridge and spent the summer with him.

Tiantong comments: To uphold the gate and door, one naturally relies on others. With dignified silence and majestic authority, who dares to look directly? Borrowing the function to set up arrangements, shifting positions to guide and uphold—all this fully accomplishes the division of authority to the left and right. Without treading the path of exalted nobility, do you know the place of exalted nobility? In the jeweled hall, there is no one who does not stand in attendance. If you do not plant the parasol tree, you avoid the phoenix's coming.

師云。鄂州北巖明哲禪師。或曰栢巖。傳為栢顏。訛也。今中山府。栢巖山。塔寺俱存。在唐縣界。師嘗有頌曰。野寺絕依念。空山曾遍行。老來披衲重。病起讀經生。乞食嫌村遠。尋溪愛路平。多年栢巖住。不記栢巖名。閬仙賈島哭師詩曰。苔覆石牀新。吾師占幾春。寫留行道影。焚却坐禪身。塔院關松雪。僧堂鎖隙塵。自慚雙泪下。不是解空人。頌詩刻石具在。高僧詩。謂前篇乃清塞贈栢巖所作。此方既號栢巖。鄂州宜號北巖。師居兩處。故有二名。無盡辯誤云。栢巖有二。一定州出馬祖。一鄂州出藥山。鄂又名栢顏。與馬祖無由緣。故今除定從鄂。諸錄無此頌詩。萬松錄出。學者應知。燈錄洞山。密師伯。同訪北巖。天童略之。不害正意。巖問觀察姓名。洞山善能迴互。理事出入。不傷風化。北巖道。豈不出入。出言如箭。邪不可發。入耳無根。深不可拔。降尊就卑。請洞山代語。放此話行。不妨公器。天童得當家針線。順手鉆鎚。便道主張門戶。自有傍來。與後借功施設。左右分權。總明廊幙邊事。拱默威嚴。誰敢正視。總明尊貴邊事。王山法祖和尚云。既有尊貴之位。須明尊貴底人。須知尊貴底人。不處尊貴之位。方明尊貴。不落階級。忽若偏正互縱橫。兩頭俱坐斷。又作麼生。不見雲巖舉掃帚云。這箇是第幾月。便見一椎兩當。還知天童向上尊貴一路麼。漁歌驚起沙汀鷺。飛出蘆花不見踪。

The master said: There was Chan Master Mingzhe of Beiyan in Ezhou, also called Baiyan. Some records mistakenly write it as Baiyan. Today, in Zhongshan Prefecture, Mount Baiyan still stands, with its pagoda and temple preserved, located within Tang County's boundaries.

The master once composed a verse:

A wild temple, no place for attachment; An empty mountain, once traveled all over. Old now, the monk’s robe feels heavy; Rising from illness, reading sutras feels fresh. Begging for food, I dislike distant villages; Following streams, I love level paths. Living for years on Baiyan, I no longer remember the name Baiyan.

The poet Jia Dao, known as Langxian, wrote a lament for the master:

Moss covers the stone bed, fresh; My teacher, how many springs did you occupy? You left behind the shadow of your practice; Burned away the body that sat in meditation. The pagoda courtyard shut by pines and snow; The monks’ hall locked with dust in the cracks. Ashamed, my twin tears fall— I am not one who understands emptiness.

Both the verse and the poem are carved in stone and still exist. The collection *Poems of Eminent Monks* states that the former piece was actually composed by Qingsai for Baiyan. Since this place is called Baiyan, the one in Ezhou should be called Beiyan. The master resided in both places, hence the two names.

Wujin clarified the error: “There are two Baiyans: one in Dingzhou, associated with Mazu; one in Ezhou, associated with Yaoshan. The one in Ezhou is also called Baiyan. It has no connection with Mazu. Therefore, we now follow the Ezhou record, excluding Dingzhou.” Earlier records do not include this verse; it was brought to light by Wansong. Students should be aware of this.

In the lamp records, Dongshan and Master Mi together visited Beiyan. Tiantong omitted this detail, but it does not harm the main meaning.

Beiyan asked about the visitor’s name. Dongshan was skilled in mutual interaction, moving freely between principle and phenomena without violating decorum. Beiyan said, “How could there not be such coming and going? Words released are like arrows—evil should not be shot. What enters the ear has no root—deep and hard to uproot.” Lowering his status, he asked Dongshan to speak on his behalf. Letting this saying circulate is no hindrance to public matters.

Tiantong, with the needle and thread of a true master, hammered it out smoothly: “To uphold the school’s gate, one must rely on others. Later, borrowing skill to set up teachings, authority is divided left and right—all clarifying affairs at the edge of the curtain. With dignified silence and awe, who dares to look straight on? All clarify the affairs of the noble and honored.”

Master Wangshan Fazhu said: “Since there is a position of nobility and honor, one must understand the person of nobility and honor. One must know that the person of nobility and honor does not dwell in the position of nobility and honor. Only then is nobility and honor truly understood, without falling into ranks. But if suddenly the partial and the true intertwine freely, and both ends are cut off, then what? Haven’t you seen Yunyan raising a broom and asking, ‘Which moon is this?’ Then you see one strike hitting both sides. Do you understand Tiantong’s supreme path of nobility and honor?”

A fishing song startles the egrets on the sandy shore— They fly out among the reeds and leave no trace.