舉雲葢。問石霜。萬戶俱開。即不問。萬戶俱閉時如何。(開也)霜云。堂中事作麼生。(外方不敢論量。已是天機漏泄)葢無語。(劉晨阮肇。悞入桃源)經半年方乃云。無人接得渠。(腦後見腮)霜云。道即大煞道。祇道得八成。(更有靈蹤在上方)葢云。和尚作麼。(理長即就)霜云。無人識得渠。(是何面目)天童拈云。穩密田地。忌墮功勳。(坐着即不堪)貼體衣裳。會須脫却。(不掛寸絲。赤骨立在)宗中辨的。(紅心心裏射紅心)量外轉機。(退位位中仍退位)須仔細始得。(祖師眼睛。斗量不盡)同中之異。酌然尚帶依俙。(易分雪裏粉)異中之異。直是難臻妙極(所以重洗面)還到石霜父子轉側處麼。(狹路相逢。卒難回避)獨曉玉人初破夢。(有覺非為覺)夜寒青女未登機(無功已墮功)。

Cloud lifted his cover and asked Shishuang, "I won't ask about the ten thousand gates all open—what about when the ten thousand gates are all closed?"(Open)

Shishuang said, "What is going on in the hall?"(Outsiders dare not judge; the heavenly mechanism has already leaked out)

Cloud was silent.(Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao, mistakenly entered the Peach Blossom Spring) After half a year, he finally said, "No one can receive him."(Showing cheek after the head)

Shishuang said, "You've spoken, but only about eighty percent."(Even more miraculous traces remain above)

Cloud asked, "What about you, Master?"(Seek to follow where the reasoning runs deep)

Shishuang replied, "No one recognizes him."(What face is that?)

Tiantong comments: In the stable and secret ground, one should avoid falling into achievement.(If you settle there, it's no good) The clothes that cling to the body must be taken off.(Not wearing even a thread, standing with bare bones) Discern clearly within the tradition(At the red heart, shoot the red heart) and shift the pivot beyond measure.(Within stepping back, step back again) You must be meticulous.(The eyes of the Patriarchs cannot be measured with a dipper) Distinguishing the differences within sameness still carries a trace of haziness.(It's easy to tell the powder in the snow) The differences within what is different are truly difficult to reach the supreme subtlety—(So one must wash again) Has one reached the turning point of the Shishuang father and son?(Meeting on a narrow path, hard to avoid instantly)

Only the jade person knows when the dream begins to break.(Having awareness is not yet awareness) In the night's cold, the Green Lady has not yet mounted the loom.(Effortless has already fallen into effort)

師云。漳州石霜山慶諸禪師。置枯木堂。故有座元烟斷脫去之話。時齊己。貫休。泰布衲等。以詩筆為佛事。唯泰布衲悟心。入祖師圖。佛印垂誡云。教門衰弱要人扶。好慕禪宗莫學儒。祇見悟心成佛道。未聞行脚讀詩書。若教孔子超生死。爭表瞿曇是丈夫。齊己貫休聲動地。誰將排上祖師圖。張拙秀才。偶與三僧道話曰。三師中何不選一人為長老。意少石霜。不善詩筆。泰曰。先輩失言也。堂頭和尚肉身菩薩。會下一千五百人。如我輩者七百餘人。如九峯。雲葢。大光。覆船。湧泉等。諸大宗師。皆在參學位中。勝我輩者七百餘人。張拙愧服。同上拜見。霜問先輩何姓。對曰。拙姓張。霜曰。覓巧了不可得。拙自何來。拙有省。乃獻詩曰。光明寂照遍河沙。凡聖含靈共我家。一念不生全體現。六根纔動被雲遮。斷除煩惱重增病。趣向真如亦是邪。隨順眾緣無罣礙。涅槃生死是空華。裴相國一日訪霜。因取笏而問曰。在官人手中為笏。在老僧手中。喚作什麼。裴無對。乃為留下。永鎮山門。潭州雲葢第一代志元禪師。初參雲居問。志元不奈何時如何。雲居云。祗為功不到。師不禮拜。直造石霜。纔到。便問志元不奈何時如何。霜云。非但闍黎。老僧亦不奈何。葢云。和尚為什麼亦不奈何。霜云。老僧若何奈。拈過你不奈何。葢乃拜入室。正宗集。石霜上堂。僧問萬戶俱開即不問。萬戶俱閉時如何。有本便作雲葢問。開即明不越戶。閉即穴不棲巢。故石霜道。堂中事作麼生。不知者往往喚作倒問。僧問報劬。如何是第一義。劬曰。如何是第一義。僧曰。學人請益。師何以倒問。劬曰汝適來請益什麼。僧曰。第一義。劬曰。汝喚倒問耶。莫道這僧。雲葢被此一問。拈取下韻不來。經半年。葢下得一轉語云。無人接得渠。如有人遍身紅爛。臥在荊棘林中。沒你近傍處。湧泉四十年走作。永嘉一宿曹溪。一念古今。半年未曉。石霜目機銖兩道。祗道得八成。這裏便是計利害處。前百丈不落因果。墮五百世野狐。後百丈不昧因果。脫野狐身。一字之功。有如此者。葢問。和尚又如何。還我十成處來。霜云。無人識得渠。我且問你。石霜還識渠麼。若也識得。半面之交。若也不識。全身獨露。天童拈道。穩密田地。忌墮功勳。釋迦老子道。選擇眾善業。涅槃最安樂。萬松道。長安雖樂。不是久居。有位則必賞成功。是故功成而不處。直須卸下天王甲。拈却寶華冠。宗中辨的。臣退位以朝君。量外轉機。子全身而合父。永嘉道。決擇之次。如履輕冰。得旨宗師。尚道怎敢喚他作臣。怎敢喚他作君。外紹王種姓。內紹王種名。麤中之細。人牛不見處。正是月明時。細中之細。今年錐也無。豈見錐頭利。且道石霜父子轉側處。與子全身合父。是有交涉沒交涉。要識玉人愁病酒。青女懶拈梭處麼。天童終日拈提。不道十成一句。

The Master said: Master Qingzhu of Shizhuang Temple in Zhangzhou set up a "Hall of Withered Trees." This gave rise to the story of the Head Monk who "broke his incense and left." At that time, Qiji, Guanxiu, and the Monk Tai of Pu, among others, used poetry and calligraphy as their Buddhist practice. Only Monk Tai of Pu awakened his mind and entered the lineage of the Patriarchs.

The Buddha Seal gave this admonition: "The Dharma gate is weakening and needs support. Admire the Chan School and don't study Confucianism. I have only seen awakening the mind achieve Buddhahood; I have never heard of traveling monks reading poetry and books. If Confucius could transcend birth and death, how could he compare to Gautama as a true man? Qiji and Guanxiu's fame shakes the earth, but who would rank them in the Patriarchs' lineage?"

Scholar Zhang Zhuo once happened to converse with these three monks and said, "Why not choose one of you three to be the abbot?" He meant to slight Shizhuang for not being skilled in poetry and calligraphy. Monk Tai replied, "Sir, you have spoken wrongly. The abbot is a living Bodhisattva. Under him are fifteen hundred people, and over seven hundred of them are like us. Great masters like Jiufeng, Yungai, Daguang, Fuchuan, and Yongquan are all among his students in training—over seven hundred who surpass us." Zhang Zhuo, feeling ashamed and convinced, went with them to pay respects.

Shizhuang asked the scholar, "Sir, what is your surname?" Zhang replied, "My surname is Zhang (meaning 'awkwardness')." Shizhuang said, "You seek cleverness but cannot find it—where does this 'awkwardness' come from?" Zhang Zhuo had an insight and presented a poem: "Bright light shines everywhere, pervading the Ganges' sands. All beings, ordinary and holy, share my home. When no thought arises, the whole substance appears; as soon as the six senses stir, clouds cover it. Cutting off afflictions only adds disease. Seeking suchness is also wrong. Following conditions without hindrance—nirvana and birth-death are just flowers in the air."

One day, Minister Pei visited Shizhuang. He took his official tablet and asked, "In an official's hand, this is a tablet. In the old monk's hand, what do you call it?" Pei had no answer. So Shizhuang kept the tablet, leaving it to guard the monastery gate forever.

Master Zhiyuan of Yungai Temple in Tanzhou first consulted Master Yunju, asking, "What should I do when I am at my wit's end?" Yunju said, "It's just that your effort hasn't reached its point." Zhiyuan didn't bow but went directly to Shizhuang. Upon arrival, he asked again, "What should I do when I am at my wit's end?" Shizhuang said, "Not only you, elder—I too am at my wit's end." Zhiyuan asked, "Why is the master also at his wit's end?" Shizhuang replied, "If I had a solution, I would take away your 'wit's end.'" Zhiyuan bowed and entered the inner chamber.

*Record of the True Lineage*

Shizhuang gave a Dharma talk. A monk asked, "I won't ask about when all doors are open. What about when all doors are closed?" (Some versions say Yungai asked this.) When open, it's clear but doesn't surpass the door; when closed, the cave doesn't harbor a nest. So Shizhuang said, "What is going on in the hall?" Those who don't understand often call this a "reverse question."

A monk asked Baoqu, "What is the ultimate truth?" Baoqu said, "What is the ultimate truth?" The monk said, "I am asking for instruction—why does the master reverse the question?" Baoqu said, "What were you just asking about?" The monk said, "The ultimate truth." Baoqu said, "You call that a reverse question? Don't say that monk..."

Having been asked this question, Yungai couldn't come up with the second line of a couplet for half a year. Finally, he produced a turning phrase: "No one can take him." Like someone whose whole body is red and festering, lying in a thorny forest—there's no place for you to approach.

Yongquan struggled for forty years. Yongjia spent one night at Caoxi. One thought spans past and present—half a year and he still didn't understand. Shizhuang could see things precisely and only spoke eighty percent of the truth. This is where gain and loss lie.

The former Baizhang, because he said "no falling into cause and effect," fell into a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. The later Baizhang, by saying "not deluded by cause and effect," escaped the wild fox body. The influence of a single word is like this.

Yungai asked, "What about you, master? Give me the full hundred percent." Shizhuang said, "No one knows him. I ask you: does Shizhuang know him or not? If he knows, it's a half-acquaintance. If he doesn't know, the whole body is exposed alone."

Tiantong commented: "In the realm of stability and secrecy, avoid falling into achievement." Shakyamuni said, "Among the choice of good actions, nirvana is most blissful." Wansong said, "Though Chang'an is joyful, it is not a place for long residence. One who has a position must reward achievement, so the successful person does not dwell there. You must lay down the heavenly king's armor and put aside the jeweled crown. Distinguish the truth within the lineage—the minister retreats to face the king. Turn the mechanism beyond measure—the son gives his whole body to merge with the father."

Yongjia said, "When making a choice, it is like walking on thin ice. Having received the essence from a master, one dares not call him 'minister' nor 'king.' Inheriting externally as a royal clan, inheriting internally as a royal name. Subtle within the coarse—where the person and ox are not seen is exactly when the moon is bright. Subtle within the subtle—this year I don't even have an awl—how could I see the awl's point?"

Now, tell me: When the father and son of Shizhuang turn aside, and the son merges his whole body with the father—is there a connection or not? Do you want to know the place where the jade-worker grieves from wine-sickness and the maiden girl is too lazy to pick up her shuttle? Tiantong raises it all day long but never speaks the ten-percent perfect phrase.