---
title: "雲溪俍亭挺禪師語錄 · 普說"
description: "雲溪俍亭挺禪師語錄是清代臨濟宗高僧淨挺禪師的語錄彙編由弟子智淙等人編纂成書。該書誕生於清初佛教復興背景下記錄了淨挺禪師的開示法語機鋒對答及偈頌等內容充分展現其禪學思想與實踐方法。作為臨濟宗的重要文獻此語錄不僅傳承了禪宗心法也反映了清初禪林的風貌對研究清代佛教史和禪宗思想具有重要價值是了解當時禪師修行與教化的一手資料。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmgn0b1fk18hhl404qwulkp1e"
---

## 雲溪俍亭挺禪師語錄卷之四

> Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Yunxi Langting Ting, Volume Four

侍者智巽橒編

> Attendant Zhi Xunyuan Compiled

普說。「古人道：『說得一丈，不如行得一尺。』又道：『說取行不得底，行取說不得底。』須知他古人說到行到，此事不耑在舌頭上。一千五百人善知識，向一句語言上辨出他是何等樣眼目，不屬有言、不屬無語，句中意、意中句，全不是識情湊泊得底。語不離窠臼，焉能出蓋纏？曹山設三種滲漏，情存向背，見處偏枯，機不離位，墮在毒海，貪妙失宗，機昧終始。一肚子泥牛木馬，白雪烏雞，奇言妙句，衝口而來，若于轉處留情，到底言成滲漏，豈況觸犯，所失尤多。參禪學道，要斷他腳根紅線，纔有一毫頭，便有一毫頭。古人頌云：『學道之人不識真，只為從前認識神。』又云：『喜識盡時消息盡，當人那辨濁中清？』要辨他清中濁即易，要辨他濁中清即難。門裏出身易，身裏出門難。木人興歌，石女起舞，血脈不斷，全不是識情湊泊底。知是般事便休，卻又弄些口頭三昧。古人原不在舌頭上作活計，鐘不撞不響，鼓不打不鳴，沒奈何少他不得。洞山云：『恁麼道即易，相續也大難。但能相續，名主中主。』他得的人，綿綿密密，不住這邊，不住那邊，水上按葫蘆，把捉他頭腳不著，玉線金針，絲絲相續。這個相續，還是句中相續，還是意中相續？古人道：『念念不間斷，心心無處所。』意相續故句相續，句相續故意相續。所以說：『言語不要多，多則無用處。』無舌人解語，無手人行拳，一句話頭，直得超生脫死。為他得的人，出言吐句，蓋不尋常，言中有響，句裏明機，這裏不當容易。臨濟一句中具三玄，雲門一句中具三句，舉不互落顧，佇擬思量何劫悟？一喝分賓主，照用一時行，離色離聲，絕情絕謂。若向言前薦得，猶然滯殼迷封；直饒句下承當，未免觸途狂見。擬心即失，用意即乖。溈仰下宗風，兩口一無舌，還容你擬議得麼？汾陽立十八問，個中仔細，同道方知，也是畫蛇添足，後來獵犬，全靠枯樁。尋常分辯道：『這個是呈見解問，這個是驗主問。』更向他荅語上一一搜尋，認定個接初機句、辯衲僧句、正令行句、定乾坤句，穿鑿穿鑿，捏死蛇頭，將古人活句子都弄做死句子。且問你：古人一喝，有時金剛王寶劍，有時踞地獅子，有時探竿影草，有時一喝不作一喝用。他這一喝，還能定乾坤也無？還能行正令也無？還能接初機也無？還能辯衲僧也無？這裏若不知差別，未免顢頇；這裏若只管支離，全成露布。學道不至忘情處，饒你搖唇播舌、簇錦簇花，將他古人一落索貼在額角頭，逢人施設一番，總敵不得生死。古人以悟為則，語言三昧從不思議中流出。福建人打鄉譚，隨口說來，自然合拍。鎮州蘿蔔、青州布衫，可是有什麼格則把捉得定底麼？初參上士勸你一味老實頭，且去咬嚼他一個顛撲不破的現成句子。咬嚼來、咬嚼去，到那燈籠緣壁、碓嘴開花，一切老和尚舌頭自然欺汝不得了也。切莫穿鑿，饒你穿鑿，將來且沒用處。坐曲盝床，為人也須識些利害。這裏什麼所在？可是記誦詩章、解說方語，當得佛法的麼？向自己胸中吐出一言半句，真實可以殺人、可以活人。見不透、語不徹，隔靴抓痒、畫餅充饑，有甚交涉？他悟的人如珠走盤、如盤走珠，刀鎗隊裏、荊棘林中，獨往獨來、轉身無礙，眼裏著得須彌山、口裏著得四大海，是說到行到的。如今學語之流，急須識些愧恥始得。」

> A general teaching: "The ancients said: 'Speaking ten feet is not as good as walking one foot.' They also said: 'Speak of what cannot be practiced; practice what cannot be spoken.' You must understand that the ancients both spoke and acted; this matter does not lie solely on the tongue. The 1,500 great masters discerned what kind of eye they had from a single phrase—it does not belong to having words, nor to having no words. The meaning within the phrase, the phrase within the meaning—it is not something that ordinary consciousness can grasp. If speech does not break free from its habitual patterns, how can it escape entanglement? Master Caoshan established three types of leakage: clinging to preferences, partial and withered understanding, and the mind's function not leaving its fixed position—falling into a sea of poison, greed for the marvelous while losing the essence, the function obscured from beginning to end. A belly full of clay oxen and wooden horses, white snow and black chickens, wondrous phrases and clever sayings, rushing out of the mouth—if you linger at the turning point, in the end words become leakage, let alone violating it, where the loss is even greater. In practicing Chan and studying the Way, you must sever the red thread at his heel. If there is even a hair's breadth, then there is a hair's breadth. An ancient verse says: 'Those who study the Way do not recognize the true, only because from the start they have known the conscious spirit.' It also says: 'When the conscious spirit is exhausted, the news is exhausted; how can the person distinguish the clear within the muddy?' To distinguish the muddy within the clear is easy; to distinguish the clear within the muddy is difficult. To go out from within the door is easy; to bring the door out from within the body is difficult. A wooden man sings, a stone maiden dances—the lifeblood unbroken, it is not something ordinary consciousness can grasp. Knowing such matters, then rest, yet you still play with some verbal samadhi. The ancients originally did not make a living on the tongue. A bell does not ring unless struck, a drum does not sound unless beaten—helplessly, we cannot do without it. Master Dongshan said: 'To speak thus is easy; to continue it is very difficult. But if you can continue, it is called the host within the host.' Those who have attained it, continuous and seamless, not abiding here, not abiding there—like pressing a gourd in water, you cannot grasp its head or feet; like a golden needle with jade thread, thread after thread continues. This continuation—is it continuation within the phrase, or continuation within the meaning? The ancients said: 'Thought after thought without interruption, mind after mind without a fixed place.' Because the meaning continues, the phrase continues; because the phrase continues, the meaning continues. Therefore it is said: 'Words should not be many; if many, they are of no use.' A tongueless person understands speech; a handless person performs fist techniques. A single huatou can truly transcend life and death. For those who have attained, their spoken words and uttered phrases are certainly not ordinary—within words there is resonance, within phrases there is clarity of function. This is not to be taken lightly. In Linji's school, a single phrase contains three mysteries; in Yunmen's school, a single phrase contains three phrases. If you raise them without mutual falling, gazing and pondering—in what kalpa will you awaken? One shout distinguishes guest and host; illumination and function are carried out simultaneously, apart from form and sound, beyond emotion and description. If you realize it before words, you are still stuck in the shell, confused and confined; even if you undertake it beneath the phrase, you still cannot avoid encountering wild views along the way. To intend is to lose; to apply thought is to err. The ancestral style of the Guiyang school—two mouths, one without a tongue—can you still deliberate about it? Fenyang established eighteen questions; within them, carefully, only fellow practitioners know. This too is drawing legs on a snake; later hunting dogs rely entirely on a dry stump. Ordinarily, people distinguish and say: 'This is a question presenting understanding, this is a question testing the host.' Then they search one by one in the answers, identifying phrases that receive beginners, phrases that discern monks, phrases that execute the true command, phrases that settle heaven and earth—prying and forcing, pinching the head of a dead snake, turning the ancients' living phrases into dead phrases. I ask you: The ancients' one shout—sometimes it is the diamond king's precious sword, sometimes the crouching lion, sometimes the probing pole and shadow grass, sometimes one shout not functioning as one shout. Can this one shout still settle heaven and earth? Can it still execute the true command? Can it still receive beginners? Can it still discern monks? If you do not know the distinctions here, you will inevitably be muddled; if you only engage in fragmentation here, it all becomes exposed. If in studying the Way you do not reach the point of forgetting emotion, even if you wag your tongue, weave brocades and flowers, and paste the ancients' entire collection on your forehead, displaying it to others, it still cannot withstand life and death. The ancients took awakening as the standard; the samadhi of language flows from the inconceivable. Like a person from Fujian speaking local dialect, it comes naturally from the mouth, fitting the rhythm. Zhenzhou radishes, Qingzhou robes—do they have some fixed rule to grasp? I advise beginning superior practitioners to simply be utterly honest, and go chew on one ready-made phrase that cannot be toppled. Chew it, chew it, until the lantern climbs the wall, the pestle's mouth blossoms—then all the old masters' tongues naturally cannot deceive you anymore. Do not pry or force; even if you pry, in the future it will be of no use. Sitting on the meditation chair, as a teacher you must also recognize some stakes. What kind of place is this? Can memorizing verses and explaining phrases equate to the Buddha Dharma? From within your own chest, utter half a phrase—truly it can kill people, it can bring people to life. If you do not see through, if your words do not penetrate, it is like scratching an itch through a boot, drawing a cake to satisfy hunger—what connection does it have? Those who are awakened are like a pearl rolling in a tray, like a tray rolling a pearl. In the midst of spears and swords, in forests of thorns, they come and go alone, turning their bodies without hindrance. In their eyes, Mount Sumeru can be placed; in their mouths, the four great oceans can be contained—this is both spoken and acted. Those nowadays who are mere imitators of speech must urgently recognize some shame."

普說。「入此門來，勝心客氣一點也用不著。古人遇貴即賤，逢強即弱，千變萬化，出沒縱橫，沒處摸他頭腦。你若作是非得失商量，一總錯了也。巖頭道：『德山未會末後句。』太原道：『老凍膿猶有鄉情。』可容你作是非得失會麼？雪峰道：『老僧住持事繁。』又道：『趙州古佛從此不荅話。』可容你作是非得失會麼？雲居道個不必，興化道個何必。欽山在張四郎處，從巖頭說細大法門，又定上座無位真人與非無位真人，可容你作是非得失會麼？法眼捲簾，趙州勘二庵主，可容你作是非得失會麼？興化擯克賓，保壽開堂，可容你作是非得失會麼？如今人大似矮子觀場，也不知他古人落處，一味爭門戶，逐高低，如鄉裏小兒相樸，多呶得一張嘴，多打得一手拳，自以為勝。還知占便宜處失便宜麼？老子云：『知雄守雌，知白守黑。』青原下諸尊宿，如德山、雪峰、欽山、雲居，盡能解放解收，自由自在，獅子踞地，不露爪牙，古人謂之陷虎之機，又謂之紅綿軟套，不知兵法，不辯來鋒，只顧貪前，不顧失後。趙州與文遠鬥劣，把將胡餅來，大好一場笑具。黃蘗打百丈，臨濟打黃蘗，當仁不讓，也不為強；芙蓉楷提鞋挈杖，轉側相隨，也不為弱。一個吹毛在手，未容眨上眉稍；一個寶鏡當前，不免轉身退步。用處不同，激揚向上，其歸一也。有般漢不知好惡，謂臨濟下兔起鶻落，不容擬議思維，人境俱奪，照用同時，快便難逢，十分好手；曹洞下機思遲鈍，直得面青面黃，正偏回互，背觸俱非，轉盻之間，白雲萬里。似則似，是則未是，三玄五位，何異何同？紅旗閃鑠，五逆聞雷，馳書到家，何彼何此？昔人以正中偏為奪人，以偏中正為奪境，以正中來為俱奪，以兼中至為俱不奪，雖不必盡為扭合，亦何至大體差殊？青山白雲父，白雲青山兒，長年不出戶，清風拂白月。四賓主語是同是別？洛浦本在臨濟，會得個賓主句，濟稱之謂赤稍鯉魚，到夾山一喝，也未為錯。及乎被他夾山說甚雲月是同，溪山是異，截斷天下人舌頭即不無，爭教無舌人解語，卻便去不得？未免向他藥山船子屈首一回，可中容你優劣得麼？風穴鏡清一唱一和，言詞磊落，文采縱橫，這也難為高下。雒浦臨終謂彥從上座言：『先師道：「目前無法，意在目前。不是目前法，非耳目之所到。」那句是賓？那句是主？』當時雒浦兩彩一賽，既露他船子鋒鋩，復攙他瞎驢行市。彥從道：『不會實不會。』且道他皮裏還有血麼？如今人遂謂：『苦哉！苦哉！一傳而絕。』殊不知雒浦嗣法十有一人，首座彥從一總不容埋沒。疏山食後抉之使吐，謂應他倒屙三十年，一等是個用處。矮師叔用得奇特，今人不知，都說是非，又說受他老古錐懸記，可曾夢見疏山也無？疏山、欽山、龍牙、雲居，一時洞宗高弟。良禪客見欽山、雲門見疏山、羅山荅疏山語，至今咬嚼不破。且道當時是甚麼樣人？他把將世間是非情見、得失根苗，絕毫絕釐都不放在眼孔裏，憑他說我會也得，說我不會也得，說我這裏有佛法也得，說我這裏沒有佛法也得。達磨面壁，隻履空歸，何不向他癡人前與他一頓痛棒？咬人大蟲，慣不露齒。你若一味爭先，淮陰少年勝他韓王孫有分。」

> A general discourse. "Once you enter this gate, there is no room for pride or arrogance. The ancients would humble themselves before the noble and yield before the strong. They were ever-changing, appearing and disappearing freely, impossible to grasp. If you try to analyze them in terms of right and wrong, gain and loss, you are completely mistaken. Yantou said, 'Deshan did not understand the final phrase.' Taiyuan said, 'The old frozen lump still has hometown feelings.' Can you understand these in terms of right and wrong, gain and loss? Xuefeng said, 'This old monk has many duties as abbot.' He also said, 'Zhaozhou, the ancient Buddha, will not answer from now on.' Can you understand these in terms of right and wrong, gain and loss? Yunju said 'no need,' Xinghua said 'why bother.' When Qinshan was at Zhang Silang's place, he spoke of the Dharma gate of the subtle and the great from Yantou. And what about Ding Shangzuo's 'person of no rank' and 'not the person of no rank'? Can you understand these in terms of right and wrong, gain and loss? Fayan rolling up the blind; Zhaozhou testing the two abbots. Can you understand these in terms of right and wrong, gain and loss? Xinghua expelling Kebin; Baoshou opening the hall. Can you understand these in terms of right and wrong, gain and loss? People nowadays are like short people watching a show. They don't know where the ancients are coming from. They just fight over status and chase after high and low positions. They are like village children wrestling, thinking they've won if they get in one more shout or one more punch. Do they know that where they think they've gained an advantage, they've actually lost it? Laozi said, 'Know the masculine, but keep to the feminine. Know the white, but keep to the black.' The venerable masters under Qingyuan, like Deshan, Xuefeng, Qinshan, and Yunju, were all able to release and gather freely, at ease and unhindered. Like a lion crouching, not revealing its claws and teeth. The ancients called this 'the trap for a tiger,' also called 'a soft red silk snare.' Not knowing the art of war, not discerning the opponent's thrust, they only rush forward, not caring about losing ground behind. Zhaozhou and Wenyuan competed in being inferior, bringing out a flatbread—what a great joke! Huangbo struck Baizhang; Linji struck Huangbo. When it comes to benevolence, they did not yield—yet this was not considered forceful. Furong Kai carrying shoes and staff, turning and following—this was not considered weak. One holds a sharp sword, not allowing a moment's hesitation; one faces a precious mirror, inevitably turning to retreat. Their methods differ, but in stirring up and uplifting, their aim is one. There are some fellows who don't know good from bad. They say the Linji school is like a rabbit leaping up and a falcon swooping down, allowing no time for deliberation or thought—both person and situation are taken away, illumination and function simultaneous, a rare and swift convenience, truly skillful. They say the Caodong school's methods are slow and dull, making one's face turn green and yellow, with proper and partial interchanging, both contact and opposition negated—in the blink of an eye, white clouds stretch for ten thousand miles. It seems similar, but it is not truly so. The Three Mysteries and Five Ranks—how are they different? How are they the same? The red flag flashes; the parricide hears thunder; the letter arrives home—what is that? What is this? In the past, some took 'proper within partial' as taking away the person, 'partial within proper' as taking away the situation, 'proper coming forth' as taking away both, and 'arriving within both' as taking away neither. Although this need not be forced into a perfect fit, how could the main point be so greatly mistaken? Green mountain is father to white clouds; white clouds are children to the green mountain. Year after year, not leaving the gate; a clear breeze brushes the white moon. Are the phrases of the Four Guest-Hosts the same or different? Luopu was originally in the Linji school. He understood the guest-host phrases. Linji praised him, calling him a red-finned carp. When he went to Jiashan and gave a shout, that wasn't wrong either. But when Jiashan said something about clouds and moon being the same, streams and mountains being different—'cutting off the tongues of everyone under heaven is not impossible, but how to make a tongueless person understand speech?'—then he couldn't proceed. He inevitably had to bow his head once to Yaoshan and Chuanzi. Can you really judge superiority and inferiority here? Fengxue and Jingqing sang in harmony, their words bold and clear, their literary talent sweeping. It's hard to rank them high or low. On his deathbed, Luopu said to Monk Yancong: 'My late teacher said: "Before the eyes there is no Dharma; the meaning is before the eyes. It is not the Dharma before the eyes; it is not what ears and eyes can reach." Which phrase is guest? Which phrase is host?' At that time, Luopu showed two colors in one contest. He revealed Chuanzi's sharp edge, and also mixed in the blind donkey's market. Yancong said, 'I don't understand, I truly don't understand.' Tell me, did he still have blood under his skin? Nowadays people then say, 'How bitter! How bitter! It was cut off after one transmission.' They don't realize that Luopu had eleven Dharma heirs. The head monk, Yancong, cannot be entirely buried and forgotten. Shoushan, after eating, forced him to vomit, saying he should vomit for thirty years. It's all the same kind of function. Short Teacher used it in a remarkable way. People today don't understand; they all talk about right and wrong. They also say he received the prediction from that old ancient awl. Have they ever even dreamed of Shoushan? Shoushan, Qinshan, Longya, Yunju—they were all outstanding disciples of the Caodong school at that time. The exchanges between Good Zen Visitor and Qinshan, Yunmen and Shoushan, Luoshan's reply to Shoushan—people still can't chew through them to this day. Tell me, what kind of people were they back then? They utterly refused to place the worldly views of right and wrong, the roots of gain and loss, even a hair's breadth or a speck of dust, in their eyes. Let them say I understand—fine. Let them say I don't understand—fine. Let them say there is Buddha-Dharma here—fine. Let them say there is no Buddha-Dharma here—fine. Bodhidharma faced the wall; he returned empty-handed with one sandal. Why not give a good hard beating in front of those fools? A man-eating tiger is accustomed to not showing its teeth. If you just keep fighting to be first, the young man from Huaiyin might have a chance to beat that Han Prince Sun."

普說。「祖意教意，不同不別。佛說四十九年，橫說豎說、長說短說，盡情露布了也。最後拈花，別行一路，將謂有多少奇特。今人動口說如來禪、祖師禪，將這些義學禪和一齊抹殺，惹他惡發，也要螗臂當車，摭拾些叢林話端，逢人呶呶，好笑好笑。當時阿難結集，迦葉傳衣，本是一門，從無彼此。南能北秀，同出黃梅，四七二三，大家許可。如今禪自分門，教自立戶。宗天台者，謂賢首為眼目未開；祖臨濟者，謂雲門為師承不確。佛沒二千年，比丘少慚愧，信有之乎？永明壽禪師著《宗鏡錄》，禪淨教律，靡不兼該，無同異中，何苦強分同異？諸人或參一句話頭，或念一句佛，或看一部教，或持戒修行，日中一食，樹下一宿，也只是尋常事，在自己分中惟恐彀不及，有甚工夫檢點別人？你只將檢點別人的精神用在自己身上，待做得到家時，看他禪淨教律是同是別，如今且在門外亂叫喚作麼？韶國師本嗣法眼，憂天台之失傳，疏請新羅傳寫文義，在他古人多少公心。杜順和尚、清涼國師未必全無鼻孔，華嚴、法華總只佛說，管窺蠡測，尊己卑人，如夜郎王不知漢大。又念佛法門也是先佛垂訓，廬山遠公在達磨前幾十年，若人個個念佛，個個往生，連他老臊胡也省東土來走一遭，免得許多狼籍。抑不得已，一條匾擔兩頭抬，說淨說禪，大家救取。好笑這些欠頭腦漢，念佛到沒意味處，便要參禪；參禪到沒把捉時，又要念佛。這也罷了，卻又分青分黃，論長論短，誑惑人家男女。我且問你：你曾認得西方麼？若認得時，西方無許多般，不容你說頓說漸，說淨說穢，將許多道理配合得的，豈況許多揀擇，許多憎嫌？即今先自不清淨了，臨終安得清淨？古人道得好：『有禪有淨土，猶如戴角虎。』且莫放倒一邊。古人千經萬論，塞壑填溝，祖師西來，不立文字，豈是教你呆椿椿地，一竅不通？單只播弄嘴唇，獨逞伎倆，杜撰長老，如麻似粟，不看經論，不習威儀，自謂徑省，三家村裏兩箇筭沙漢，記將幾句現成本頭，卻也角立門風，自說自道。既稱比丘持戒是本分事，忽略繩趨，放蕩規矩，取玷法門，自招罪過。有等俗士，不識大人境界，不知隨順因緣，耑事繁文，或崇枯簡，將使西天外道不食麻麥及投灰等，反踞如來之上，有是理乎？語言棒喝，都是祖師用的，臨濟賓主、曹洞君臣，何分勝劣？自熙寧小人呂惠卿、張商英輩逃入佛法，純以意見用事，中間衲子或被曹洞放還，或被雲門捉敗，蠱惑多端，搖唇美齒，如盲摸象，取笑作家，直至如今此風不息，為可嘆悼。莫管他臨濟、曹洞是正傳不是正傳，但只了得生死、斷得命根，自解作活計，語言也得、棒喝也得。當時青原、南嶽同受師承，法眼、雲門何彼何我？若論洞山閫奧，十個有五雙不知。即如三玄三要，臨濟綱宗，古塔主特地區分，洪覺範無端證據，致使宗徒割裂，長老顢頇，肋下三拳，遭人擬議，不知汾陽意旨極是分明。且問你諸人，嘉州大象、陝府鐵牛、西河獅子，是一個是三個？一句三玄，一玄三要，明明舉似。擬將大象說即是鐵牛，鐵牛說即是獅子也不得；擬將獅子說不是鐵牛，鐵牛說不是大象也不得；謂法界廣無邊，為函蓋乾坤句；釋尊問阿難，為隨波逐浪句；直出古皇前，為截斷眾流句即得；謂雲門一字不具三句即不得。一句明明該萬象，重陽九月菊花新，昧者不知，猶然逐塊，何況功勳王子種種差殊？字經三寫，烏焉成馬，不足怪矣。如人父子相離久遠不識，滴血入骨，安有差違？今者去祖殷遙，不知真偽，但將綱宗辨驗於人，果能歷歷分明，累黍不失，豈得不是他家嫡骨兒孫？問他家裏話，一些也不知，平白地走向人前，說我是他不是。且問你面皮厚多少？如上所說，盡是近今流弊，汝等初學切須辨取。」

> A general discourse: "The intent of the patriarchs and the intent of the teachings are neither different nor separate. Throughout the forty-nine years of the Buddha's teaching, whether speaking broadly or deeply, at length or briefly, he fully revealed it all. Finally, when he held up the flower, he pointed to a separate path, making it seem as if there were something extraordinary. Nowadays, people readily speak of 'Tathagata Chan' and 'Patriarch Chan,' dismissing all doctrinal Chan and inciting fierce reactions, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. They gather bits of monastic gossip and chatter incessantly to anyone they meet—how laughable! When Ananda compiled the scriptures and Mahakasyapa transmitted the robe, it was all one path, without any distinction between 'this' and 'that.' The Sixth Patriarch in the south and Shenxiu in the north both came from Huangmei; the twenty-eight Indian patriarchs and the six Chinese patriarchs were all acknowledged by the community. Yet now, Chan factions divide themselves, and teachings establish their own schools. Those who follow the Tiantai lineage say the Huayan lineage has not yet opened its eyes; those who trace their lineage to Linji claim the Yunmen lineage's transmission is uncertain. Two thousand years after the Buddha's passing, it is indeed true that few monks feel shame. Master Yongming Shou compiled the \*Zongjing Lu\*, encompassing Chan, Pure Land, teachings, and discipline. Within non-difference, why insist on forcefully creating differences? Whether you are investigating a huatou, reciting the Buddha's name, studying a sutra, upholding precepts and practicing, eating one meal a day, or sleeping under a tree—these are all ordinary matters. Within your own duty, you should fear not being diligent enough; what time do you have to scrutinize others? If you used the energy spent judging others on your own practice, and when you finally achieved mastery, then you could see whether Chan, Pure Land, teachings, and discipline are the same or different. But now, standing outside the gate, what's the use of all this noisy shouting? Master Shao originally inherited the Fayan lineage, yet he worried about the loss of the Tiantai teachings and petitioned to have texts copied from Silla. See how much public-mindedness the ancients had! Venerable Dushun and National Teacher Qingliang were certainly not without insight. The \*Avatamsaka Sutra\* and the \*Lotus Sutra\* are both the Buddha's words. To peer through a tube or measure with a ladle, exalting oneself and belittling others, is like the King of Yelang who did not know the vastness of the Han empire. Moreover, the Dharma Gate of Buddha-recitation is also a teaching bequeathed by the Buddhas of the past. Master Huiyuan of Mount Lu lived several decades before Bodhidharma. If every person recited the Buddha's name and every person attained rebirth, then even that old bearded fellow would have been spared the trouble of coming east, avoiding much trouble. Yet, perhaps out of necessity, we carry a burden on both ends, speaking of Pure Land and Chan, trying to save everyone. It's laughable how these confused individuals, when Buddha-recitation feels dull, want to practice Chan; and when Chan feels uncertain, they want to recite the Buddha's name. That's one thing, but then they start making distinctions, arguing about superiority, misleading men and women. I ask you: Have you truly recognized the Western Land? If you have, the Western Land has no such multiplicity. It does not allow you to speak of sudden or gradual, pure or impure. How much less can you apply all these theories and discriminations, all these preferences and aversions? If you are not pure right now, how can you be pure at the moment of death? The ancients put it well: 'Having Chan and having Pure Land is like a tiger with horns.' Do not neglect either side. The ancients' myriad sutras and treatises fill valleys and ditches. When the Patriarch came from the west, he established no words—but was this to make you stupidly blockheaded and utterly clueless? Merely moving your lips, showing off your skills, fabricating teachings as an elder—such people are as numerous as hemp and millet. They don't read the sutras and treatises, don't practice dignified conduct, and call it direct and simple. Like two sand-counters in a village, they memorize a few ready-made phrases and then stand proudly, establishing their own school, talking to themselves. Since you call yourselves bhikkhus, upholding precepts is your fundamental duty. To neglect rules, be unrestrained and break the regulations brings disgrace upon the Dharma and invites your own downfall. There are some laypeople who do not recognize the realm of great beings and do not know how to accord with conditions. They either specialize in elaborate formalities or exclusively revere extreme asceticism, as if making the non-Buddhist practices of the Western regions—like not eating sesame or wheat, or smearing ashes—superior to the Tathagata's way. Is this reasonable? Words and shouts, blows of the staff—these were all used by the patriarchs. Linji's host and guest, Caodong's ruler and minister—how can one be superior or inferior? Ever since petty men like Lü Huiqing and Zhang Shangying of the Xining era fled into the Buddha-Dharma, acting purely on their own opinions, many monks have been either sent back by the Caodong school or defeated by the Yunmen school. They confuse in many ways, wagging their tongues with pretty words, like blind men groping an elephant, becoming a laughingstock to true masters. To this day, this trend has not ceased—truly lamentable. Don't concern yourself with whether Linji or Caodong is the true transmission. Just focus on resolving birth and death, severing the root of life, and learning to manage your own affairs. Then, words are fine, and blows and shouts are fine. At that time, Qingyuan and Nanyue both received the master's transmission; Fayan and Yunmen—who was 'that' and who was 'this'? If we speak of the profound essence of Dongshan, out of ten people, five pairs don't know it. Even regarding the Three Mysteries and Three Essentials, the guiding principles of Linji, Master Guta specifically distinguished them, and Hong Juefan provided unfounded evidence, causing the lineages to split and elders to become muddled. Three punches under the ribs invite others' speculation, not knowing that Fenyang's intent was extremely clear. Now I ask you all: Is the great elephant of Jiazhou, the iron ox of Shanfu, and the lion of Xihe one thing or three? One phrase contains the Three Mysteries; one Mystery contains the Three Essentials—this is clearly pointed out. To say the great elephant is the iron ox, or the iron ox is the lion, is not permissible. To say the lion is not the iron ox, or the iron ox is not the great elephant, is also not permissible. To say 'the Dharma realm is vast and boundless' is the phrase 'encompassing heaven and earth.' To say 'the Buddha asked Ananda' is the phrase 'following the waves.' To say 'directly appearing before the ancient buddhas' is the phrase 'cutting off the myriad streams'—this is acceptable. But to say that Yunmen's single word does not contain the three phrases is not acceptable. 'One phrase clearly contains the ten thousand phenomena; on the Double Ninth festival, the chrysanthemums are new.' Those who are deluded do not know this and still chase after clods. How much more so with the distinctions of the meritorious prince? After being copied three times, 'crow' and 'horse' become confused—this is not strange. If father and son are separated for a long time and do not recognize each other, a drop of blood entering the bone will show no discrepancy. Now we are far removed from the patriarchs and do not know what is true or false. But if we use the guiding principles to examine others, and they can be clearly and precisely discerned without the slightest error, how could they not be the true descendants of that family? If you know nothing of that family's affairs, yet boldly step before others saying, 'I am right, he is wrong,' I ask you: How thick is your face? All that has been said above concerns the prevalent faults of recent times. You beginners must carefully discern this."

寒食普說。「只許州官兒放火，不許小百姓點燈。我便得，你便不得。自古清明寒食，待新火也。莊生有云：『火不傳而薪傳，傳也不知其盡也。』說得何等圓妙！《歲時記》以為弔介子推，生生的不許人家舉火。宮中傳蠟，五侯奉鯖，官不容針，私通車馬。禪和子家，食生不化，見人說語貴回互，莫犯當頭，便乃閉眉合眼，上前不得。又見人說啐啄同時，當機不讓，便乃一味亂做，爭先處強。那知佛法不是這個道理。四時改火，榆柳生春。向道莫將來，將來用不著，野鴨子飛過去也。昨日痛，今日又不痛也。法身無相，法眼無瑕。祗道個法身無相，法眼無瑕便不是；不道個法身無相，法眼無瑕又不是也。趙州庭前柏樹子，光孝覺云：『先師無此語。』洞山展手，鳥道玄路。又說是莫行鳥道，切忌玄路。有時教伊揚眉瞬目，有時不教伊揚眉瞬目。我這裏揚眉瞬目卻得，你那裏揚眉瞬目卻不得也。從來轉轆轆地，清明前一日用的。清明時便用不著了，這裏如何話會？屈屈屈，大小是一個人家。民間寒食，禁苑飛煙，也十分不公道。不見他西楚霸王火燒咸陽，三月不滅，那時秦皇帝的號令也還拘管得著麼？倚勢欺人，未免太殺了也。清明時節雨紛紛，路上行人欲斷魂。借問酒家何處有？牧童遙指杏花村。」以拂子向前指云：「老僧共曹山顛酒去也。杏花村只在面前，大家拚取一醉好。」

> A Discourse on the Cold Food Festival. "Officials may set fires, but common folk are forbidden to light a lamp. I can, but you cannot. Since ancient times, during the Qingming and Cold Food festivals, people have awaited the new fire. Zhuangzi once said: 'The fire is not passed on, yet the firewood is passed on; when passed on, one does not know its end.' How perfectly profound his words are! The 'Records of Seasonal Observances' claims it is to commemorate Jie Zitui, rigidly forbidding people to light fires. In the palace, candles are passed; among the nobles, delicacies are offered. Officials forbid even a needle, yet privately, carriages and horses pass freely. Among meditators, some ingest teachings without digesting them. Hearing others speak of the importance of indirect expression, avoiding direct confrontation, they simply close their eyes and knit their brows, unable to step forward. Others, hearing of acting in perfect timing, seizing the moment without hesitation, then proceed to act recklessly, striving to be first and strong. Little do they know, the Dharma is not this way. With the changing of fire in the four seasons, elms and willows herald spring. I say, do not bring it up; if you bring it up, it is of no use—the wild duck has already flown past. Yesterday there was pain, today there is none. The Dharma body is without form; the Dharma eye is without flaw. Yet to say 'the Dharma body is without form; the Dharma eye is without flaw' is already mistaken; not to say it is also mistaken. Zhaozhou's 'cypress tree in the courtyard,' Guangxiao Jue said: 'My late teacher never spoke these words.' Dongshan extended his hand, the bird's path, the mysterious way. Yet it is also said: do not tread the bird's path, beware of the mysterious way. Sometimes you are told to raise your eyebrows and blink; sometimes you are not told to raise your eyebrows and blink. Here, I may raise my eyebrows and blink, but there, you may not. It has always been turning like a wheel, used the day before Qingming. By Qingming itself, it is of no use—how can this be expressed? Bending, bending, bending—all are part of one household. Among the people during the Cold Food Festival, in the forbidden gardens, smoke rises—truly most unjust. Have you not heard of Xiang Yu, the Conqueror of Western Chu, who set fire to Xianyang, and the flames burned for three months without extinguishing? At that time, could the decrees of the Qin emperor still restrain it? Relying on power to bully others—this is indeed excessive. 'During the Qingming season, rain falls incessantly; travelers on the road are heartbroken. I ask where a tavern may be found; a shepherd boy points to Apricot Blossom Village in the distance.'" Raising his whisk and pointing forward, he said: "This old monk will go with Caoshan to drink to our hearts' content. Apricot Blossom Village lies right before us—let us all strive to get thoroughly drunk."

普說。「參禪須是鐵漢，著手胸頭便判。如何若何扯長葛藤，早是不唧溜了也。今世一種咬文嚼字之流，逐字逐句要求解會，將他《碧巖集》、《請益錄》從頭讀了，還有許多故事解說不出的，見了善知識要求講解。如此參禪，如此學道，總只謂之是雜用心參禪。要敵生死的，多知多解，生死分中濟得甚事？饒你一言一句歷歷分明，剎那三昧中總不得個實落受用。佛法無靈驗，不干他祖師事，是你自家障礙了。泉眼不通，是沙障礙；道眼不通，是知解障礙。我如今勸你休息罷、放下罷、百不知百不會罷，你肯麼？然又不是硬著肚腸不求解會，說一切語言都無實義的，往往見幾個顢頇漢子杜撰禪和，硬作主宰，遇著古人淆訛公案，他也不辨來由，卻辦得個架格摭攔，走到人前，大模大樣，胡喝亂喝，一味要討便宜，承當悟道。啐！啐！啐！悟與不悟，是你自家本分事，于他別人怎麼？你若真實是個悟的，一了百了也不見有許多般，為何這裏卻穿鑿得去？那裏卻穿鑿不去？穿鑿得去處，便枝枝葉葉扯上許多葛藤；穿鑿不去處，便沒解會，硬差排糊塗到底。古人設立綱宗，辨魔揀異，耑為你一流人，如軍中密號令相似，不是你拍茫茫上門討死喫的。軍中有縱有奪，有正有奇，有暗裏拖刀，有紅綿套索，你若一味莽撞，硬頭顱向前，早是落他圈繢了也。我如今不惜口業，告報分明，以後切忌切忌。還有一種下流之輩，不思生死事，大耑一要鼓是非，炒叢林，爭執事短長，論人情厚薄，一總貢高我慢，多開口，強出頭，拼命要撐個架子。且問你剃除鬚髮，所為何事？背腰包檠囊缽，千里百里，所為何事？閻羅老子面前，這一肚子勝心客氣，是用得著的麼？幾曾為你在叢林會下，專僭便宜，那些牛頭獄卒，銅柱銕床，也讓你不成？猛可的思想一回，真是無謂。參禪是自家本分事，只應個名，倒在沒緊要一邊，爭長論短，豈不狂悖？這等沒志向的人，也不必論起。還有一種假癡假呆，推聾粧啞，說我是初參，我不會妄語，其實一肚子偷心，專要在耳朵上，舌頭邊，探取一言半言，以為奇特，道聽塗說，有什麼相干？還有一種承虛接響，囫圇承當，也不審話端，也不識語脈，偶可裏聽得些零碎佛法，放在肚皮裏，說臨濟曹洞，原來是恁般恁般的。春雨如膏，夏禹如饅頭，周文王似餬餅，遠之遠矣。你還曾夢見他門頭戶腦分毫許光影麼？又有一種朝秦暮楚之輩，趕熱鬧，趁時光，一言不合，拂袖便行，到老無成，以為是衲僧氣概，這也罷了。又有一種神頭鬼面，假意親依，金玉其外，敗絮其中，實落不堪雕琢，恐他善知識看破，遮遮掩掩，張打聽，李打聽，記了些無頭學問，自謂可以欺人，要走向三家村裏去粧大老，或者抄襲拈頌，念習詩章，將這邊的販到那邊，將那邊的販到這邊，無非要騙一個拂子。是這等欺心漢，瞞了別人，可瞞得自己麼？將來是沒受用的，何苦！何苦！又有一種凡劣之人，受不得逼拶，喫不得鉗錐，好意翻為惡意，語言棒喝，一切作是非得失商量，畏門庭如網罟，視知識為仇讎，斷送一生，可惜！可惜！又有一種村學究家風，蠻禪和惡習，謂公案是解說得的，問著要解說一上，若不與他說，便道瞞他，深生嗔恨，只怨他家枯井深，不道自己麻繩短。古人道：『當時若為我說破，安有今日？』又道：『我不重先師佛法，只重他不為我說破。』佛法可是講說得的麼？呸！錯了也。許多毛病，不知起自何人，習以成風，往往不覺。世間仁義道德，還有些師資之誼、朋友之情，惟這一夥人最沒來由，今日出門，明日便不相認。古人三登九上，一人處也要到，半人處也要到，出一叢林，進一叢林，這也不為奇特。但這些沒情沒義，專要盜竊佛法的，于叢林無益，于法門有損，大踏步走向人前，不知慚愧，為可嘆惜耳！夜永話長，珍重！珍重！」

> A general discourse: To practice Chan meditation, one must be a person of iron resolve. Upon taking it up, one must decisively sever attachments within the mind. What's the use of endlessly entangling oneself in intellectual complexities? That's already a sign of being unskillful. Nowadays, there's a type who fixates on words and phrases, seeking to understand every single character and sentence. They read collections like the \*Biyan Ji\* or \*Qingyi Lu\* from beginning to end, yet there are still many stories and explanations they cannot grasp. They then seek out teachers, demanding explanations. To practice Chan and study the Way in this manner is nothing but "meditation with a scattered mind." If you want to confront life and death, what use is all this extensive knowledge and understanding? Even if you can explain every word and phrase clearly and distinctly, in the crucial moment of samadhi, it will not provide you with any genuine, substantial benefit. If the Dharma seems ineffective, it's not the fault of the Patriarchs. It's your own obstructions. If a spring's flow is blocked, it's because of sand. If the eye of the Way is blocked, it's because of intellectual understanding. I now advise you: Cease! Let go! Become one who knows nothing and can do nothing! Are you willing? However, this doesn't mean stubbornly refusing to seek understanding, claiming all language is meaningless. I've often seen a few muddle-headed fellows who pretend to be Chan practitioners, forcefully asserting their views. When encountering the perplexing public cases of the ancients, without discerning their origin, they just put on a facade, swaggering about, shouting and bellowing wildly, always trying to gain an advantage, claiming to have realized the Way. Pah! Pah! Pah! Whether you are enlightened or not is your own fundamental matter. What does it have to do with others? If you are genuinely enlightened, everything is resolved at once. You won't see all these complexities. Why can you force an interpretation here but not there? Where you can force it, you drag in all sorts of tangled vines. Where you cannot, you have no understanding and just stubbornly muddle through to the end. The ancients established guiding principles and distinguished demons from the genuine, specifically for people like you. It's like a secret military command. It's not for you to blindly march in and beg for death. In the military, there are tactics of yielding and seizing, orthodox and unorthodox strategies, hidden blades, and crimson silk snares. If you just charge ahead recklessly with a hard head, you've already fallen into their trap. I now, not sparing my speech karma, tell you clearly: henceforth, be extremely careful! Be extremely careful! There is another type of lowly individual who doesn't contemplate the great matter of life and death. Their main purpose is to stir up right and wrong, create turmoil in the monastic community, argue over the length of duties, and debate the depth of human feelings. They are entirely filled with arrogance and conceit, speaking too much, forcing themselves to the forefront, desperately trying to prop up a facade. Let me ask you: For what purpose did you shave your head and beard? For what purpose did you carry your bag and bowl over a thousand miles? Before King Yama, will this bellyful of competitive mind and superficial airs be of any use? When have the ox-headed jailers and the copper pillars and iron beds ever made allowances for you? If you think about it sharply for a moment, it's truly meaningless. Practicing Chan is your own fundamental duty. To get hung up on mere names and titles, and then to engage in arguments over superiority and inferiority—isn't that sheer madness? Such people without aspiration aren't even worth discussing. There's another type who feigns ignorance and stupidity, pretending to be deaf and dumb, saying, "I'm a beginner, I don't know how to speak recklessly." In reality, their belly is full of thieving intentions, focused entirely on using their ears and tongue to snatch a word or half a sentence, considering it something extraordinary. What relevance does hearsay and rumor have? There's another type who catches echoes and accepts things wholesale. They don't examine the source of the teaching, nor do they understand the flow of the discourse. They happen to hear some fragmentary bits of Dharma, store them in their belly, and then say, "The Linji and Caodong schools are originally like this and like that." It's like saying spring rain is like ointment, Emperor Yu is like a steamed bun, and King Wen of Zhou is like a flatbread—utterly far-fetched! Have you ever even glimpsed the slightest shadow of their gateways and doorways in your dreams? There's another type, fickle and opportunistic, chasing after trends and seizing the moment. At the slightest disagreement, they turn their sleeves and leave. They achieve nothing by old age, yet consider this the demeanor of a true monk. Well, let that be. There's another type, with a divine face but a ghostly heart, pretending to be close and devoted. Their exterior is like gold and jade, but inside it's rotten cotton—utterly unworthy of polishing. Afraid that a true teacher will see through them, they cover up and hide, asking Zhang and asking Li, memorizing some headless learning, thinking they can deceive others, wanting to go to some remote village to play the great elder. Or they plagiarize verses and gathas, recite and practice poems, peddling things from here to there and there to here—all just to cheat their way into getting a fly-whisk. Such deceitful people may fool others, but can they fool themselves? In the future, they will have no benefit. Why bother! Why bother! There's another type, ordinary and inferior, who cannot endure pressure, cannot bear the tongs and hammer. Good intentions are turned into ill will. They analyze every word, shout, and blow in terms of right and wrong, gain and loss. They fear the monastery gates like a net, view teachers as enemies. They ruin their entire lives. Pitiful! Pitiful! There's another type, with the style of a village schoolmaster or the bad habits of a coarse meditator, who think public cases can be explained. When asked, they want to give an explanation. If you don't tell them, they say you're hiding it from them, generating deep resentment. They only complain that the other's well is too deep, never realizing their own rope is too short. The ancients said, "If it had been explained to me back then, how could I have today?" They also said, "I don't value my late teacher's Dharma; I only value that he didn't explain it to me." Can the Dharma be explained through mere talk? Pah! Wrong. These many faults, I don't know from whom they originated. They have become a habit, a trend, and often go unnoticed. In the worldly sphere of benevolence, righteousness, morality, and virtue, there is still some sense of teacher-student duty and friendship. But this bunch of people are the most unreasonable. They leave today, and by tomorrow they don't recognize you. The ancients climbed mountains three times, sought teachers nine times. They would go to places with even one person of worth, or half a person. Leaving one monastery, entering another—this wasn't considered strange. But these people, devoid of feeling and principle, solely intent on stealing the Dharma, are of no benefit to the monastic community and are harmful to the Dharma gate. They stride boldly before others, feeling no shame. It is truly lamentable! The night is long, and my words are many. Take care! Take care!

普說。「此事須實有頭腦，須親見一回，須明明了了。如人說家裏事，不是倚墻傍壁，影響糢糊，瞌睡當得死的。古人設立綱宗，是他家裏人，不勞問得。如今人根器淺薄，見地差遲，一味探頭探腦，書本上，舌頭邊，拾得封皮當信，使見古人說理說事，說暗說明，說君說臣，說黑說白，說主說賓，說權說實，說照說用，說玄說要，說總說別，說成說壞，說異說同，說顧說鑒，說一句說三句，說向上說向下，說有相說無相，說左匝說右匝，一總作道理商量，便理會道：我曉得了，我曉得了。據某善知識當初指點，也只是這個意思；據某人偈頌細細剖露，也只是這個道理。我如今如此如此，恁般恁般，不怕甕中走卻鱉了。呸！呸！呸！你可曾夢見他祖師意麼？眼睛上，額角邊，蓋覆將來，懵懂癡呆，一些兒也不辨得，私下數得一擔芝麻，當官數不得一擔東瓜，有什麼用處？佛法不是這個道理，不是你心意識領略得的，不容你心意識湊泊得的。一等刻舟求劍漢，步步擬議、句句刻畫，將佛法當作個死規模，趙錢孫李、周吳鄭王，逐句逐字，從頭解去、從頭認去，越發不是了也，直教彌勒下生，有甚麼限？又有一等專執意見，慣逞聰明，或在法師會下，學得幾句真如佛性，般若多羅；或在禪堂裏面，曲盝床邊，聽得說道棘栗蓬，金剛圈，一切語言，都無實義。初間還略有些信心，依經傍註，認定個耳聞目見、手持足行的當做自己，已是喚奴作郎，不可藥救。到後來肆無忌憚，一總不疑語言，將古人真語、實語都猜做權語、藥語，天不怕、地不怕、閻羅王也不怕，橫來也一喝、豎來也一喝，謂我能荅得話、應得機、抵敵得善知識，可憐！可憐！將古人血淋淋地一片苦心埋沒了他卻也罷了，他時異日你卻要墮在阿鼻地獄，不得番身。他儒書裏面曾說個無忌憚的小人，正指此等。須知佛法不是亂統的，個裏一絲一線井井分明，你粗心浮氣一些兒也用不著的；佛法不是死煞的，就中轉轆轆地虎跳龍興，纔恁麼便不恁麼。千七百則公案是個現成句子，言言見諦、著著歸宗，如老吏斷獄，引經合律，一毫頭也出入不得，所以喚作公案。這個是臨濟下事，這個是曹洞下事，這個是溈仰下事，這個是雲門下事，這個是法眼下事。綱宗未立以前，他江西、湖南鼻孔撩天，也不似《黃檗心要》、《六祖壇經》一味的說有意路語。及乎五家分立，施設非常，木有本、水有源，圓中規、方中矩，從苗辯地、因語識人，一句合頭語，萬劫係驢橛。你胸中出出入入、糢糢糊糊，不是他李靖三郎，那曉得五花八陣、主賓相見？譬如兩刃交鋒，一往一來、左衝右突，直得百萬軍中自有個出身之路，方不受他當面活埋、塵勞羈鎖，如吹毛劍、如牟尼珠，入得佛、入得魔，了無一物當前，二六時中恰恰有恁般受用。所以，當陽施設，八面玲瓏，恁麼卻不恁麼、不恁麼卻恁麼，如淮陰用兵，暗與古會，不是骷髏樣子，捏定死蛇頭。說主賓、說玄要、說正偏、說明暗的，古人道：『只貴子見地，不貴子行履。』不是不重行履，蓋見地、行履沒有兩般，見得到、行得到、行得到、說得到。他活卓卓地原是個八角磨盤，終日喫飯不曾嚼著一粒米；終日著衣不曾掛著一縷絲；終日鼓兩片皮，牙齒不關風、舌頭不在口裏。無語中有語、有語中無語，問在荅處、荅在問邊，絲絲毫毫不差累黍，古人謂之血脈不斷。血脈不斷，猶目機銖兩也。然目機銖兩，函蓋乾坤，不涉眾緣，總在一句，不是語帶廉纖，謂之血脈不斷也。懸崖撒手，他是何等家風？如萬仞峰頭恰更垂綸千丈，應機接物不得不然，個中須有個恰好處。夾山遇船子、雲門見雪峰，正其人也。不知偏正、不識倒斜，為人則禍生，儱侗顢頇總沒交涉。巴人下里處處稱尊，雪曲陽春知音絕少，個中關捩子，料得少人知，啼得血流無用處，不如緘口過殘春。」乃噓一噓，擊拂子，下座。

> A general discourse. This matter requires true insight. You must personally experience it once, and see it clearly and distinctly. It's like someone talking about household affairs—it's not about leaning against walls, vague and shadowy, or nodding off as if dead. The ancients established the essential teachings; they were insiders, so there's no need to question them. Nowadays, people have shallow capacities and mistaken views. They just poke their heads around, picking up book covers and words from the tip of the tongue, mistaking them for truth. When they see the ancients speaking of principle and phenomena, darkness and light, ruler and minister, black and white, host and guest, provisional and ultimate, illumination and function, mystery and essence, general and specific, completion and destruction, difference and sameness, contemplation and reflection, one phrase or three phrases, upward or downward, with form or without form, left or right—they take it all as philosophical discussion and rationalize it, thinking: "I understand, I understand." They say, "According to such-and-such teacher's initial instruction, it's just this meaning; according to so-and-so's verse, carefully analyzed, it's just this principle. I am now like this, like that—I'm not afraid the turtle will escape from the jar." Pah! Pah! Pah! Have you ever even dreamed of the Patriarch's meaning? Covered over your eyes and forehead, confused and dull-witted, you don't distinguish anything at all. You can count a load of sesame seeds in private, but can't count a load of winter melons in public—what use is that? The Dharma is not this kind of principle. It is not something your intellectual consciousness can grasp; it does not allow your intellectual consciousness to approach it. There's one type who carves the boat to seek the sword, step by step deliberating, phrase by phrase analyzing, treating the Dharma as a dead formula. They go through it word by word, from beginning to end, explaining and recognizing—the more they do, the further off they are. Even if Maitreya were to descend, what good would it do? Then there's another type who stubbornly clings to their own opinions, habitually flaunting their cleverness. Either from studying under Dharma teachers, they learn a few phrases like "true suchness, Buddha-nature, Prajnaparamita"; or from sitting in the meditation hall, beside the curved bench, they hear talk of "thorny chestnut burrs" and "diamond circles," that all language has no real meaning. At first, they still have a bit of faith, relying on scriptures and commentaries, fixating on what is heard, seen, held, or walked as the self—already calling the slave the master, beyond cure. Later, they become utterly reckless, doubting all language, guessing that the ancients' true words and real words are all provisional words or medicinal words. They fear neither heaven nor earth, nor even King Yama. They shout whether coming or going, thinking, "I can answer questions, respond to opportunities, contend with good teachers." Pitiful! Pitiful! Not only do they bury the ancients' bloody, heartfelt earnestness, but in time, they will fall into the Avici Hell, unable to turn back. The Confucian texts speak of the "reckless petty person"—precisely pointing to this kind. You must know: the Dharma is not to be handled recklessly. Within it, every thread is clear and distinct; your coarse mind and floating energy are of no use whatsoever. The Dharma is not rigidly fixed; within it, it turns and rolls, tigers leap and dragons soar. Just as it is so, it is not so. The seventeen hundred koans are ready-made phrases. Every word reveals the truth; every step returns to the source. Like an old judge deciding a case, citing scriptures and matching the law, not a hair's breadth of deviation is allowed—that's why they are called "public cases." This is the matter of Linji's lineage; this is the matter of Caodong's lineage; this is the matter of Guiyang's lineage; this is the matter of Yunmen's lineage; this is the matter of Fayan's lineage. Before the essential teachings were established, those in Jiangxi and Hunan had their nostrils turned to the sky. It wasn't like \*The Essential Teachings of Huangbo\* or \*The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch\*, which consistently spoke with intentional meaning. But when the five houses divided and established their teachings, their methods were extraordinary. Trees have roots; water has a source. Round fits the compass; square fits the square. From the sprout, you discern the land; from the words, you recognize the person. One phrase that hits the mark becomes a tethering stake for ten thousand eons. If your mind is coming and going, vague and blurry, and you're not that Li Jing or Third Prince, how would you know the five-flower eight-array formation, the meeting of host and guest? It's like two blades crossing: advancing and retreating, charging left and right. Only when you find a way out within a million troops will you avoid being buried alive on the spot, bound by worldly dust. Like a hair-splitting sword, like a mani pearl, you can enter Buddha, you can enter Mara, with not a single thing before you. Throughout the twelve periods of the day, you naturally have such enjoyment. Therefore, when directly applied, it is perfectly clear from all sides. So, yet not so; not so, yet so. Like Han Xin employing troops, secretly matching the ancients—not a skeleton model, not clutching a dead snake's head. Those who speak of host and guest, mystery and essence, right and deviation, light and darkness—the ancients said: "What is valued is your insight, not your conduct." It's not that conduct isn't important; it's just that insight and conduct are not two separate things. If you see it, you can practice it; if you practice it, you can speak it. It is vividly an eight-cornered millstone. All day eating, yet never chewing a single grain of rice; all day wearing clothes, yet never hanging a single thread; all day moving two lips, yet teeth don't block the wind, and the tongue isn't in the mouth. Within silence, there is speech; within speech, there is silence. The question is in the answer; the answer is by the question. Every thread and hair is perfectly precise, not a grain's weight off. The ancients called this "the bloodline never broken." The bloodline never broken is like the eye's mechanism weighing the tiniest measure. Yet the eye's mechanism weighing the tiniest measure encompasses heaven and earth, untouched by conditions, all within a single phrase. It's not about speech being entangled and intricate—that is called "the bloodline never broken." Letting go at the cliff's edge—what kind of style is that? Like being atop a ten-thousand-foot peak, yet still casting a fishing line a thousand fathoms down. Responding to opportunities and engaging with phenomena, it cannot be otherwise. Within this, there must be a just-right place. Jiashan meeting Chuandzi, Yunmen meeting Xuefeng—these are precisely such people. If you don't know deviation and correctness, don't recognize upside-down and slanted, then guiding others will bring disaster. Vague and muddled, it has nothing to do with it. In the villages and lowlands, everyone claims authority; but for the snow song and spring melody, true knowers are extremely few. The crucial point within—I reckon few know it. Crying till the blood flows is useless; better to seal your lips and pass the remaining spring. He then let out a sigh, struck the whisk, and descended from the seat.

普說。「寒來徹骨，已知歲盡年窮；春到人間，須信星回斗轉。做工夫的人，須把生死二字貼在額頭，過卻一日，差了十二個時辰；過卻一年，少了十二個月分。趁年力壯盛，單刀直入千七百則公案，隨手掀翻，一悟永悟，一徹盡徹，不是郎郎當當，如水浸鵝卵石相似。今日如此，明日也只如此；今年怎的，明年卻更怎的。平常間且圖好看，逢人見鬼，說麻三斤、乾矢橛、南泉斬貓、德山托缽、女子出定，我也拈得，我也頌得。及乎問他二六時中安身立命處，依舊業識茫茫，一些也受用不著。似這等沒頭腦人，臘月三十日到來，端的是落湯螃蟹，管取手忙腳亂。你諸公隨我也有三年五載的，也有一年半歲的，平日裏說宗說教，口巴巴地，卻似一班作家，直待同你仔細盤桓，將古人差別去處較勘將來，未免面青面黃，舌頭打肐𦞂。總因你蒲團上未曾坐得十年二十年，不過在門頭戶腦，依通解會，穿鑿穿鑿，鹵莽承當。謂我于此事已看到十八九了，驢鞍橋作阿爺下頷，轉認轉遠。今日恰好除夕，一歲已周，請諸人各各打筭一回，不得自瞞瞞人，取性亂道。果于五家宗旨差別路頭一一透得，直至不疑之地否？果于三乘十二分教了了分明，如觀掌中菴摩羅果否？果于十二時中把捉得住，應用隨緣，直下不走作否？果于腳根下事說到行到，橫來豎去，不犯絲毫，開眼合眼，盡在這裏否？須具有恁般見地，纔有恁般作略。不是你麤心大膽，強作主宰，逢人打三十棒，筭得佛法的；不是你鼠竊狗偷，弄聰明，鬥智巧，算得佛法的；不是你糢糊影響，書本上看來，一切相似語，算得佛法的。人生好光景不多，轉眼二三十年，便成衰老。道人聚會，共學無為，選佛場開，心空及第。八十公公入場屋，此事不當兒戲，大家相聚喫莖虀，也要知他滋味。」

> A General Discourse. "When the cold pierces to the bone, we know the year is ending and its time is spent. When spring arrives in the world, we must believe the stars turn and the dipper revolves. Those who work on their practice must paste the two words 'life and death' upon their foreheads. Each day that passes is a deviation of twelve double-hours; each year that passes is a loss of twelve months. Seize the time while your strength is vigorous, take up the single sword and charge straight into the seventeen hundred koans, overturning them with a casual hand. Awaken once and awaken forever; penetrate thoroughly and penetrate completely. Do not be sloppy and careless, like a goose egg soaking in water—today it's like this, tomorrow it will still be like this; this year it's like that, next year it will be even more so. In ordinary times, you just try to look good. Meeting people, seeing ghosts, you talk of 'three pounds of flax,' 'a dried shit-stick,' 'Nanquan cuts the cat,' 'Deshan carries his bowl,' 'the woman emerges from samadhi'—you can cite them, you can praise them. But when asked about the place where you settle your body and establish your life throughout the twelve double-hours of the day, you are still lost in the vastness of karmic consciousness, gaining not the slightest bit of use from it. Such people, lacking in head and brain, when the thirtieth day of the twelfth month arrives, will truly be like crabs dropped into boiling soup—you can be sure they'll be flustered and frantic. All of you have followed me for some years—some three or five, some a year or half. In ordinary days, you talk of the school and the teachings, your mouths chattering away, seeming like a group of adepts. But when I truly examine you carefully, comparing and investigating the subtle differences of the ancients, inevitably your faces turn green and yellow, your tongues tied in knots. All because you have not sat on your meditation cushions for ten or twenty years. You merely linger at the doorway and threshold, relying on intellectual understanding and interpretations, drilling and chiseling recklessly, presumptuously assuming. You think, 'In this matter, I have already seen eighty or ninety percent,' taking a donkey's saddle-bow for your grandfather's chin—the more you think you know, the farther you stray. Today happens to be New Year's Eve, the year's cycle complete. I ask each of you to take stock for yourselves once. Do not deceive yourselves and deceive others, indulging in careless talk. Have you truly penetrated each and every one of the different paths of the Five Houses' essential teachings, reaching the ground of no-doubt? Have you truly understood the Three Vehicles and the twelve divisions of the teachings clearly and distinctly, as if viewing an amala fruit in your palm? Have you truly grasped and held firm throughout the twelve double-hours, applying it as circumstances arise, without the slightest deviation in the immediate moment? Have you truly spoken of and practiced the matter at the very root of your feet, coming and going freely, not violating the slightest bit, whether eyes open or closed, always being right here? Only with such insight can there be such action. It is not by being coarse-minded and bold, forcing yourself to be the master, hitting everyone thirty blows, that you can count as understanding the Dharma. It is not by petty thievery and cunning, playing with cleverness and contending with wit, that you can count as understanding the Dharma. It is not by vague impressions, things read in books, all sorts of similar-sounding phrases, that you can count as understanding the Dharma. The good days of a human life are not many. In the blink of an eye, twenty or thirty years pass, and one becomes old and frail. Practitioners gather, studying the unconditioned together. The selection ground for Buddhas is open; empty the mind and pass the examination. An eighty-year-old man entering the examination hall—this matter is not child's play. When we all gather to eat a stalk of pickled vegetables, we should also know its flavor."

普說。「千年桃核裏，覓甚舊時仁？這一絡索切忌提起，提起嘮嘮叨叨說個不歇，未免播揚家醜。昨日有人從弁山來，得攖寧法姪語錄一卷，絫絫千萬言辯剝到底，祗因他數十年前三峰藏禪師曾將我洞宗家裏事請益雲門先師翁并博山和尚，當時兩個老漢直直截截一總荅他去了，只是不曾下得一個註腳，煩他三峰禪師費心費思著了許多言語，攖寧禪師又不合上他釣鉤相罵，饒汝接嘴攖寧，攖寧總沒來由一肚皮好佛法說在空裏，他好心請益，只合好好對他說，為甚惡發起來，使諸方見了作是非得失商量，是何道理？這老宿所問一一是該問的，如今還有許多人疑著，雲溪不惜口業為你諸人解說一上，以息兩家之爭，省得後來牽牽纏纏疑個不了。寶鏡三昧是洞山親口披宣說向曹山的，雖云從雲巖先師得來，卻不曾刻定個時日云某年月日付授，若確確實實是雲巖一五一十說的，何不列在雲巖章次，卻列在洞山章次？古人師承有據，如雪峰云：『自從先德山石頭以來，傳此秘密法門，不敢沒其所自始。』洞山云：『從雲巖先師得寶鏡三昧。』蓋云此旨得自雲巖，明師承有據也。疑他洞山未悟道先付法，好笑好笑，洞山老漢今日被人捉敗了也。你平日口巴巴地，臨末梢頭還要辨個愚癡齋，胡亂一上。也大奇！也大奇！無情說法不思議。若將耳聽終難會，眼裏聞聲便得知。全是弄鬼眼睛，一總沒有來歷，卻不道果然！果然！當日洞山辭雲巖，問：『百年後誰邈師真？』巖云：『祇這是。』山良久，非雲巖良久也。《傳燈》所載甚悉。後洞山出世，僧問：『先師道：「祗這是。」意旨何如？』山云：『我當時幾錯會先師意。』僧云：『即如先師，還知有否？』山云：『若不知有，爭解恁麼道？若知有，爭肯恁麼道？』你諸人卜度卜度看。雲巖果然是不知有麼？洞山果然是錯會麼？當時洞山良久，面目宛然。祗因錯會一語，後來人以訛傳訛，都成錯會。只這良久處，你諸人曾親見洞山麼？過水逢渠，是古人末後一著。教中有根本智、後得智，宗門有差別智，大慧杲大悟、小悟，高峰枕子落地始看破主人公，雪峰鰲山始是成道。洞山蓋天蓋地，於良久處，已是覿體承當。過水逢渠，這裏別開生面。渠不是我，我正是渠，只渠我二字，打疊他正偏明暗、君臣理事，從上徹下，許多回互法門，不當容易。所以寶鏡三昧中有渠我語，洞山過水時作渠我語，曹山得法後又作渠我語。請問諸人：渠不是我，我正是渠，是一個？是兩個？你諸人終日說偏說正、說君說臣，還曾夢見他家裏事麼？洞山過水時，睹個影子，猛可的觸著他心上些些，將雲巖祗這是一線穿來，渠我根苗眼前發露，隨口說個頌子建立綱宗，非至此時纔是桶底脫也。且道渠我有多少希奇？洞山說了，曹山又說：『萬古碧潭空界月，再三撈摝始應知。』分明是差別智也。曹山說理說事不為分外，巖頭有理藏鋒、事藏鋒，法眼有理無礙、事無礙，浮山有理事兼帶，石頭亦云：『事存亟蓋，理應箭鋒。』說理說事不為分外。大慧云：『討甚好？』曹山、臨濟示人嘗曰：『佛者，心清淨是；法者，心光明是；道者，處處無礙淨光是。』說心說性討甚好？臨濟耶，有時把住、有時放行、有時密不通風、有時口喃喃說了一上。大慧一期抬捺也是偶然，可容你作實法會麼？洞宗回互當頭表顯尊貴，濟宗臨機不讓慣用吹毛。臨濟打黃蘗，好只甚好，然未免熟了手腳。古人道：『逢強即弱，遇賤即貴。』有賓主、有互換，能縱能奪、同死同生，不是一味爭先處，強占便宜到底的。我洞宗回互法門，一總鐵囫圇、總沒清頭，莫怪後人疑著。石頭云：『門門一切境，回互不回互，回而更相涉，不爾依位住。』此回互所自始也。回自回、互自互，回互卻不回互、不回互卻回互，說是兩個又是一個、說是一個又是兩個，有向有奉、有暗有明，正偏兼帶全在於此。今人不解回互為何等，動云：『語須忌諱，莫犯當頭，借黑明正，權白表偏，問正荅偏，問偏荅正。』記了許多烏雞白雪、泥牛木馬之譚，為是洞上極則，即何怪他家說從來出語不過是正中偏、偏中正？大慧又說：『四大解散時，心識已昏。如何回互耶？』諸仁者！從上祖師說明說暗、說正說偏，創建個回互法門，耑為你四大解散時這一著子，語言道斷，思維路絕，正不屬正，偏不屬偏，不落有無，誰人和得？威音王未曉，彌勒豈惺惺？眼目定動，早不是了也，可容你識心湊泊得麼？平時不用識心，臨終時安用識心？洞山云：『今時人只認得驢前馬後的，以為自己佛法平沉。』此其兆也。又延壽堂僧已脫去，洞山云：『汝只解恁麼去，不解恁麼來。』紙衣道者問曹山：『一靈真性，不假胞胎時何如？』山云：『未是玅。』者云：『如何是妙？』山云：『不借借。』者噓一聲而去，並回互也。洞宗專貴回互，然立亡坐脫，比比皆然。洞山坐脫，雲居坐脫，延壽堂僧坐脫，紙衣道者坐脫，即雪軒成禪師初入土窟，歷洪、永、仁、宣四朝，壽八十七，坐脫，闍維舍利無筭，他可知矣。然從上來不貴坐脫，九峰虔不肯首座，雲居不肯送褲道者，將知尊貴一路自別耳。問者又謂：闖入驢胎馬腹中去。若果向驢胎馬腹中走一遭，亦是不惡。溈山水牯牛，南泉水牯牛，王老師披毛帶角向異類中行，是作麼生行履？這裏著得一隻眼，曹山三墮也不消問得了。披毛帶角是類墮，不斷聲色是隨墮，不受食是尊貴墮。寂音《智證傳》忘卻披毛帶角，將不斷聲色并隨墮分而為兩，又將正命食割做兩截，又遺了不受食一語，毋惑乎問者之紛紛也。『既知類之不齊，混則知處』是寶鏡語，則曹山三墮依然回互法門，不勞頻舉。道吾荅南泉云：『切忌動著，動著則頭角生。』這邊了卻方往那邊行履，是回互？是不回互？他尊貴且不居，若說是墮尊貴，遠之遠矣。莫行心處路，不掛本來衣，何須正恁麼？切忌未生時。昔年貧不是貧，今年貧纔是貧，昔年貧尚有立錐之地，今年貧錐也無。問者不察，謂禁之外又作麼生？且道禁之外又作麼生？香嚴『枯木龍吟，髑髏眼睛』，石霜云：『猶帶喜在，猶帶識在。』曹山云：『血脈不斷乾不盡。』又云：『枯木龍吟真見道，髑髏無識眼初明，喜識盡時消息盡，當人那辨濁中清？』圓悟勤云：『一人透語滲漏，一人透情滲漏，一人透見滲漏。』當時三種滲漏是洞山所立，轉授曹山，非得之雲巖付授者也。分明說末法時，乾慧人多立此揀別，教中稱乾慧地，正指你一橛頭禪，乾巴巴地捏定死蛇頭，不得個轉身一路。莫守寒巖異草青，坐斷白雲宗不妙，機不離位，墮在毒海。取不得，舍不得，不可得中恁麼得。情存向背，見處偏枯。承言須會宗，勿自立規矩。本末須歸宗，尊卑用其語。體妙失宗，機昧終始，皆滲漏也。百丈顯大機，黃蘗得大用。始終賓，始終主。閉門造車，出門合轍。你道有兩個麼？又景欣道：『見解人多，行解人萬中無一。』若識不盡，敢道輪迴去在。問者謂：且道識的人是見解？是行解？即今日應萬事，在那裏安身立命？錯！錯！全弄精魂了也。洞山云：『闍黎顛倒。若不顛倒，為甚喚奴作郎？』清中濁即易辨，濁中清即難辨。若向曹山喜識盡時消息盡一語下見得分明，這也不消再問了。疏山倒屙，別有節目。後疏山年老成精，每食後抉之使吐，是什麼心行？當日疏山自與香嚴偶然弄個花手。若謂他洞山、曹山密付宗傳，矮師叔暗中竊聽恁般說話，豈不笑殺旁觀？去聖時遙，好事者故為邪說，兼中至一位，且改作偏中至矣，況其餘耶？大慧亦云：『曾見他洞上老宿室中密付寂音，并疑《寶鏡三昧》為藥山所作。』又云：『由待制朱世英得之白華嚴某一老僧處。其先甚秘，世莫得而知也。』當時洞宗矜慎大法，非其人不傳。雖以遠錄公之賢，親炙太陽，始知洞上宗旨。故寶鏡三昧不輕示人，有似乎密付者。錯！錯！密在汝邊，與他陳爛葛藤有甚干涉？今日《寶鏡三昧》家至戶曉，且問你人人鼻孔裏還曾觸著他雲巖一些子氣息也無？如來有密語，迦葉不覆藏，這裏又差多少？洞山設立五位，曹山別明君臣，石霜、九峰復明王子。寶鏡不云乎：『臣奉於君，子順於父，不順非孝，不奉非輔。』君臣父子本前人語，而後來一一明之也。《人天眼目》多有差訛，正中偏是君向臣，偏中正是臣奉君，正中來以下總是君臣道合。借功明位，借位明功，轉位就功，轉功就位，天童、長蘆言之頗盡。位是經，功是緯，五位五功猶五經五緯也，兼中至一位。頌曰：『人人盡欲出常流，折合還歸炭裏坐。』古人云：『切忌折合。』又云：『炭庫裏藏身。』是忌語，非藥語。《人天眼目》謂明明炭裏藏身，今人誤認坐在黑漆漆地，莫怪！莫怪！王子分內紹外紹，語本分明。朝生、末生是外紹，是臣種；誕生、化生、內生是內紹，是王種。外紹全未知有，故是臣種；內紹則天然貴胤矣。余別有說，文長不敘。問者疑其重出，抑知君臣五位，以臣奉君言也；王子五位，以子順父言也。君臣者，有貴有賤；父子者，有貴無賤也。紹，繼也，言繼體也。九峰虔云：『譬如王子能成一國之事。』又曰：『子歸就父。』又曰：『推爺向裏頭。』又曰：『誕生王有父。』又曰：『同時不識祖。』又曰：『子若吼時，祖父俱盡是法。』王子受灌頂位時，一國之事盡以相屬，所謂兒孫得力，室內不知。還鄉盡屬兒孫事，祖父從來不出門是也。寶殿無人空侍立，不種梧桐免鳳來。玉殿苔生，樞密不得旨。是一串語，不順非孝，不奉非輔，良然良然。臨濟示眾，有賓看賓，主看主，賓看主，主看賓語。若立宗旨，有賓中賓，主中主，賓中主，主中賓語。看者，是舉兩為言也。中者，是舉一為言也。詞旨各別。洞宗無四賓主語，止洞山見龍山有『青山覆白雲，清風拂白月，長江水上波，長年不出戶』語。然非四賓主也。常年不出戶，荅主中主語，張無盡誤為主中賓。萬松辨之已久，問者刻舟求劍，怎的怎的。洞山又嘗語僧曰：『賓中主尚不辯，況主中主乎。』《寶鏡三昧》云：『但能相續，名主中主。』故洞山云：『然非亦曾立有四賓主也。念念不間斷，心心無處所，謂之相續。』故曰：血脈不斷。非廉廉纖纖，謂之相續也。正偏明暗，於法無所不該。說君臣也好，說父子也好，說主賓也好。有時恁麼，有時不恁麼。異不異於同，同中還有異。若說同異，臨濟四賓主，賓看賓，主看主，賓看主，主看賓。須知不是賓中主，主中賓，主中主，賓中賓了也。何況曹洞。古人道：『賓主睦時全是妄，君臣合處正中邪。』是同是異？自曹溪一派分而為兩，左青原，右南嶽，何異何同，何彼何此？雲溪不惜眉毛，一時為諸人告報了也。從上相傳的事，且喜不曾動著。」

> A general teaching. "In a thousand-year-old peach pit, why search for the old kernel?" This whole tangle must not be brought up. If you bring it up, you'll chatter on and on without stopping, inevitably airing the family's dirty laundry. Yesterday, someone came from Bian Mountain with a volume of sayings by my Dharma nephew Yingning. It's piled high with thousands upon thousands of words, arguing and dissecting to the end. It's all because, decades ago, the Three Peaks' Chan Master Cang once asked my late master Yunmen and Master Boshan about our Caodong lineage's family matters. At that time, those two old fellows answered him directly and completely. They just didn't add a footnote. It troubled that Three Peaks Master, who spent much thought and effort writing many words. Then, Chan Master Yingning, for no good reason, took the bait and started arguing. Even if you retort, Yingning, Yingning, it's all pointless—a bellyful of fine Dharma talk floating in the air. He asked sincerely; you should have answered him properly. Why get angry and cause everyone to see it and start debating rights and wrongs, gains and losses? What's the principle in that? What that elder asked was entirely appropriate. Even now, many people still have doubts. Yunxi, not sparing his speech karma, will explain it once for all of you, to settle the dispute between the two sides and save future generations from endless, tangled doubts. The "Precious Mirror Samadhi" was personally expounded by Dongshan to Caoshan. Although it's said to have been received from his late master Yunyan, there was never a fixed date and time recorded, saying it was transmitted on such-and-such year, month, and day. If it was truly, exactly what Yunyan said, one by one, why isn't it listed under Yunyan's section, but under Dongshan's? The ancients' master-disciple transmissions have their basis. Like Xuefeng said: "Since the ancient virtuous ones Deshan and Shitou, this secret Dharma gate has been transmitted; I dare not obscure its origin." Dongshan said: "From my late master Yunyan, I obtained the Precious Mirror Samadhi." This means the essential point was obtained from Yunyan, clearly showing the transmission has a basis. To suspect Dongshan received the Dharma before his awakening is laughable, laughable. The old fellow Dongshan has been caught out today! You usually talk a big game, but at the last moment, you still try to distinguish a "fool's fast," just making a random show. How strange! How strange! Inanimate things preach the Dharma—unimaginable! If you try to hear it with your ears, you'll never understand. When the eye hears sound, then you know. It's all playing tricks with ghostly eyes, completely without basis. Yet, it's not said, "Indeed! Indeed!" That day, Dongshan took leave of Yunyan and asked, "After a hundred years, who will sketch your true likeness?" Yunyan said, "Just this is." Dongshan was silent for a good while—it wasn't Yunyan who was silent. The \*Transmission of the Lamp\* records this in detail. Later, when Dongshan appeared in the world, a monk asked, "Our late master said, 'Just this is.' What is the meaning?" Dongshan said, "At that time, I almost misunderstood our late master's meaning." The monk asked, "What about our late master himself? Did he know or not?" Dongshan said, "If he didn't know, how could he speak like that? If he knew, how could he be willing to speak like that?" All of you, ponder this. Did Yunyan truly not know? Did Dongshan truly misunderstand? At that time, during Dongshan's long silence, his true face was vividly clear. It was just because of that one phrase "misunderstood" that later people, transmitting error upon error, all came to misunderstand. Just in that moment of silence, have all of you personally seen Dongshan? "Crossing the water, I met my reflection"—this is the ancients' final move. In the teachings, there is fundamental wisdom and subsequent wisdom. In our school, there is discriminating wisdom. Dahui Zonggao had a great awakening and small awakenings. Gaofeng Yuanmiao saw through the master when the pillow fell to the ground. Xuefeng's awakening at Mount Ao was when he truly accomplished the Way. Dongshan, encompassing heaven and earth, in that moment of silence, had already directly undertaken it fully. "Crossing the water, I met my reflection"—here, a fresh perspective opens up. "The reflection is not me, I am precisely the reflection." Just these two words, "reflection" and "I," encompass for him the principles of upright and partial, light and dark, sovereign and minister, principle and phenomena. From top to bottom, the many Dharma gates of mutual interpenetration are not easily grasped. Therefore, in the "Precious Mirror Samadhi" there is the phrase about "reflection and I." Dongshan, when crossing the water, spoke of "reflection and I." Caoshan, after obtaining the Dharma, also spoke of "reflection and I." I ask all of you: "The reflection is not me, I am precisely the reflection"—is this one? Or two? You all talk all day about partial and upright, about sovereign and minister, but have you ever even dreamed of their family affairs? When Dongshan crossed the water and saw his shadow, it suddenly touched something in his heart. Threading together Yunyan's "Just this is," the root and sprout of "reflection and I" were revealed right before his eyes. He随口 spoke a verse, establishing the guiding principle. It's not that only at this moment did the bottom of the barrel fall out. And tell me, how marvelous is this "reflection and I"? Dongshan spoke of it, then Caoshan also said: "The moon in the ancient, empty, blue pond—only after repeatedly trying to grasp it should one know." Clearly, this is discriminating wisdom. For Caoshan to speak of principle and phenomena is not outside his scope. Yantou spoke of "principle concealing the edge" and "phenomena concealing the edge." Fayan spoke of "principle without obstruction" and "phenomena without obstruction." Fushan spoke of "principle and phenomena carried together." Shitou also said: "Phenomena exist, urgently covered; principle responds, arrow-tip sharp." To speak of principle and phenomena is not outside the scope. Dahui said, "What's so good about that?" Caoshan and Linji, when instructing people, often said: "Buddha—this is the mind's purity. Dharma—this is the mind's radiance. The Way—this is the unimpeded pure light everywhere." To speak of mind and nature—what's so good about that? Linji, sometimes seizing, sometimes releasing, sometimes airtight, sometimes mumbling on and on. Dahui's occasional praise and criticism was also incidental. Can you allow yourself to take it as a fixed doctrine? The Caodong school's mutual interpenetration directly manifests the noble and precious. The Linji school, facing the moment, yields to none, accustomed to using the sharp blade. Linji striking Huangbo—good, very good, yet it inevitably becomes a practiced routine. The ancients said: "Meeting strength, become weak; meeting lowliness, become noble." There is guest and host, there is mutual exchange. Able to let go and able to take, sharing death and sharing life. It's not just about always striving to be first, forcefully taking advantage to the end. Our Caodong school's Dharma gate of mutual interpenetration is completely solid and whole, utterly without clear distinctions—no wonder later people have doubts. Shitou said: "In every gate, all realms, interpenetrating and not interpenetrating. Interpenetrating, yet even more mutually involving. If not, abide according to your position." This is the origin of mutual interpenetration. Interpenetration is interpenetration, mutual is mutual. Interpenetration is yet not interpenetration; not interpenetration is yet interpenetration. Say it's two, yet it's one; say it's one, yet it's two. There is direction and offering, there is darkness and light. The complete carrying of upright and partial lies precisely here. People today don't understand what mutual interpenetration is. They readily say: "Speech must avoid taboos, don't confront directly. Borrow black to clarify upright, temporarily use white to express partial. Asked about upright, answer with partial; asked about partial, answer with upright." They memorize many talks about black chickens and white snow, clay oxen and wooden horses, thinking this is the ultimate principle of the Dongshan school. No wonder others say your utterances never go beyond "upright within partial" and "partial within upright"! Dahui also said: "When the four great elements disperse, the mind-consciousness is already dim. How can there be mutual interpenetration then?" All virtuous ones! The ancestral masters from of old spoke of light and dark, spoke of upright and partial, creating this Dharma gate of mutual interpenetration, specifically for this very point when your four great elements disperse. The path of language is cut off, the road of thought is exhausted. Upright does not belong to upright, partial does not belong to partial, not falling into existence or non-existence—who can harmonize with this? Before King Soundless, it was not yet dawn; could Maitreya be clear-eyed? The moment your eyes flicker, it's already not it. How can you allow your discriminating mind to grasp it? If you don't use the discriminating mind in ordinary times, why would you use it at life's end? Dongshan said: "People these days only recognize what's in front of the donkey, behind the horse, and take that as their own. The Buddha-Dharma is submerged." This is the sign. Also, the monk in the Longevity Hall had already passed away. Dongshan said: "You only understand going like that, you don't understand coming like that." The Paper Robe adept asked Caoshan: "When the one spiritual true nature does not rely on the womb, what then?" Caoshan said: "That's not yet marvelous." The adept asked: "What is marvelous?" Caoshan said: "Not borrowing, yet borrowing." The adept gave a sigh and left. This too is mutual interpenetration. The Caodong school specifically values mutual interpenetration. Yet, standing to die, sitting to pass away—such cases are numerous. Dongshan sat to pass away, Yunju sat to pass away, the monk in the Longevity Hall sat to pass away. Even Chan Master Xuexuan Cheng, who first entered an earthen cave, lived through the Hongwu, Yongle, Renzong, and Xuande reigns, lived to eighty-seven, sat to pass away, was cremated, and left countless relics—others can be known likewise. Yet, from of old, sitting to pass away has not been highly valued. Jiufeng Qian did not approve of the head monk, Yunju did not approve of sending off the trouser-wearing adept. From this, know that the noble and precious path is distinct by itself. The questioner also speaks of "plunging into the womb of a donkey or the belly of a horse." If you truly take a walk in a donkey's womb or horse's belly, it's also not bad. Guishan's water buffalo, Nanquan's water buffalo—Old Man Wang, wearing hair and horns, practices among other species. What kind of practice is this? If you can open an eye here, you won't even need to ask about Caoshan's three falls. Wearing hair and horns is the "fall into categories." Not cutting off sights and sounds is the "fall into following." Not receiving food is the "fall into nobility." Jiyin, in the \*Record of Wisdom Confirmation\*, forgot "wearing hair and horns," split "not cutting off sights and sounds" and the "fall into following" into two, also split "right livelihood food" into two parts, and furthermore omitted the phrase "not receiving food." No wonder the questioners are in such confusion! "Since you know categories are not uniform, mixing them, then you know where to dwell" is from the \*Precious Mirror\*. Thus, Caoshan's three falls are still the Dharma gate of mutual interpenetration—no need to repeatedly bring them up. Daowu answered Nanquan: "Be careful not to stir it. If you stir it, horns will grow." Having finished over here, then go practice over there—is this mutual interpenetration? Or not mutual interpenetration? He doesn't even abide in nobility; if you say this is "falling into nobility," you're far, far off. Don't walk the path of the mind's abode, don't hang the robe of original nature. Why must it be precisely so? Be careful of the time before birth. In years past, being poor was not true poverty; this year's poverty is true poverty. In years past, being poor, I still had a place to stand an awl; this year, being poor, I don't even have an awl. The questioner, not investigating, says: "Outside of prohibition, then what?" And tell me, outside of prohibition, then what? Xiangyan's "withered tree dragon's roar, skull's eyes"—Shishuang said: "Still carries joy, still carries consciousness." Caoshan said: "The bloodline not cut off is not yet exhausted." Also said: "The withered tree's dragon roar truly sees the Way; the skull without consciousness, eyes first bright. When joy and consciousness are exhausted, news is exhausted; how can the person distinguish purity within turbidity?" Yuanwu Keqin said: "One person penetrates the leakage of speech, one person penetrates the leakage of feeling, one person penetrates the leakage of view." At that time, the three kinds of leakage were established by Dongshan and transmitted to Caoshan; they were not received from Yunyan's transmission. Clearly, it's said that in the Dharma-ending age, people of dry wisdom are many, so this discrimination was established. In the teachings, it's called the "dry wisdom ground," precisely pointing to your stub of Chan, dry and stiff, clutching a dead snake's head, not obtaining a path for turning around. Don't cling to the strange green grass on the cold cliff; sitting and cutting off the white clouds, the school is not marvelous. The mechanism not leaving its position falls into the poisonous sea. Can't take it, can't let it go; within the unobtainable, thus it is obtained. Feeling remains in leaning toward or away; the place of seeing is one-sided and withered. Receiving words, you must grasp the school; don't set up your own rules. Root and tip must return to the school; noble and base use its words. Essence marvelous yet losing the school; mechanism obscure, beginning and end—all are leakage. Baizhang revealed the great mechanism; Huangbo obtained the great function. From start to finish, guest; from start to finish, host. Build the cart behind closed doors; when it goes out, its wheels fit the tracks. Do you say there are two? Also, Jingxin said: "People of intellectual understanding are many; people of experiential understanding—not one in ten thousand." If consciousness is not exhausted, I dare say you'll revolve in samsara. The questioner says: "And tell me, the person who is conscious—is that intellectual understanding? Or experiential understanding? Right now, responding to the myriad things, where do you settle your body and establish your life?" Wrong! Wrong! You're completely playing with the spirit-soul! Dongshan said: "Venerable one, you're upside down. If not upside down, why call a slave a master?" Purity within turbidity is easy to distinguish; turbidity within purity is hard to distinguish. If, under Caoshan's phrase "when joy and consciousness are exhausted, news is exhausted," you see clearly, then this also doesn't need to be asked again. Shushan vomiting—that's a separate episode. Later, Shushan, old and becoming a spirit, after each meal would force himself to vomit. What kind of mind-action is that? At that time, Shushan and Xiangyan were just casually playing a clever hand. If you say Dongshan and Caoshan secretly transmitted the lineage teaching, and the short Dharma uncle secretly eavesdropped and spoke such words, wouldn't it make bystanders die laughing? The time is far removed from the sages; those fond of meddling deliberately create heterodox theories. Even the position of "arriving within integration" has been changed to "partial within arriving"—how much more the rest? Dahui also said: "I have seen an old Caodong master secretly transmit it to Jiyin in his room, and also suspected the \*Precious Mirror Samadhi\* was composed by Yaoshan." Also said: "It was obtained by the Attendant Gentleman Zhu Shiying from an old monk at White Huayan's place. Previously it was very secret, the world could not know of it." At that time, the Caodong lineage was cautious and reverent toward the great Dharma, not transmitting it to unsuitable people. Even with someone as worthy as Duke Yuanlu, only after personally attending upon Taiyang did he begin to know the essential principles of the Dongshan school. Therefore, the \*Precious Mirror Samadhi\* was not lightly shown to people, somewhat resembling a secret transmission. Wrong! Wrong! The secret is on your side; what does it have to do with his stale, tangled vines? Today, the \*Precious Mirror Samadhi\* is known in every household. And I ask you all: In each person's nostrils, have you ever touched even a trace of Yunyan's breath? The Tathagata has secret words; Mahakasyapa does not conceal them. How much difference is here? Dongshan established the Five Ranks. Caoshan distinctly clarified sovereign and minister. Shishuang and Jiufeng further clarified the prince. Doesn't the \*Precious Mirror\* say: "The minister serves the sovereign, the son obeys the father. Not obeying is not filial; not serving is not assisting." Sovereign-minister, father-son—these are phrases from predecessors, yet later ones clarified them one by one. The \*Human and Divine Eyes\* has many errors. "Upright within partial" is the sovereign facing the minister. "Partial within upright" is the minister serving the sovereign. From "upright arriving" onward, it's all about the sovereign and minister's Way merging. Borrowing function to clarify position, borrowing position to clarify function, turning position toward function, turning function toward position—Tiantong and Changlu spoke of this quite exhaustively. Position is the warp, function is the weft. The five positions and five functions are like the five warps and five wefts. The position of "arriving within integration"—its verse says: "Everyone wants to escape the ordinary flow; judged and summed up, they return to sit in the charcoal." The ancients said: "Be careful of judging and summing up." Also said: "Hiding the body in the charcoal storehouse." This is cautionary language, not medicinal language. The \*Human and Divine Eyes\* says "clearly hiding the body in the charcoal." People today mistakenly think it means sitting in a pitch-black place. No wonder! No wonder! The prince is divided into inner succession and outer succession—the words are originally clear. "Morning-born" and "last-born" are outer succession, the minister's seed. "Birth-born," "transformation-born," and "inner-born" are inner succession, the king's seed. Outer succession completely does not yet know there is, thus is the minister's seed. Inner succession is the naturally noble heir. I have other explanations, but the text is long and I won't elaborate. The questioner suspects it's repetitive. Do you not know that the sovereign-minister five ranks speak in terms of the minister serving the sovereign? The prince five ranks speak in terms of the son obeying the father. Sovereign-minister: there is noble, there is base. Father-son: there is noble, there is no base. "Succeed" means to inherit, speaking of inheriting the substance. Jiufeng Qian said: "It's like a prince being able

## 雲溪俍亭挺禪師語錄卷之四終

> Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Yunxi Liangting Ting, Volume Four