示月禪人
"Moon Pointing Meditation Practitioner"
人人盡有這箇月，幾回圓兮幾回缺。明時暗相在其中，暗時明相何曾滅。看他蟾桂影婆娑，直透碧潭光皎潔。正好供養與修行，不出如今底時節。濠州滿月上人，信有我宗見性成佛之旨，春間到茅庵請益，參箇話頭，決要今生悟得自己分上灼然有這一段了生達死底大事因緣。老僧向他道：「我底說話恰如一箇指頭子相似，為你要見天上月，所以指箇水中月影子，示汝頭上自有箇真月也。」釋迦老子也與麼道：「我說修多羅教，如標月指。當觀月輪，莫觀吾指。」你如今若只愛我言語，便是看我底指頭，要且不知月在甚麼處。你要識真月麼？只你問我話底是，只你舉話頭底是，只你未舉話頭時來問我底是。但與麼回光返照去，忽然與所參話頭無二無別，方信通身是一輪清淨寶月，圓滿無缺，晝夜放八萬四千圓滿淨光，照天照地。盤山云：「心月孤圓，光吞萬象。光非照境，境亦非存。光境雙忘，復是何物？」洞山云：「光境未忘，復是何物？」老僧云：「光境不忘，復是何物？」你且道三箇老漢那箇堪為汝師？須具眼始得。
Everyone possesses this moon—how many times has it waxed, how many times waned? In its brightness, darkness lingers within; in its darkness, brightness never truly fades. Watch the cinnamon and toad shadows sway—passing straight through the blue pond, light shines pure and clear. This is the perfect time for offering and practice—nothing lies beyond this very moment.
The venerable Manyue of Haozhou, who sincerely believed in our school's teaching that seeing one's nature leads to Buddhahood, came to my humble hut this spring to seek guidance. He took up a meditation topic, determined to realize in this lifetime that he truly possessed this great matter of birth and death. I told him: "My words are like a single finger. Because you want to see the moon in the sky, I point at the moon's reflection in the water, showing you that above your head there is a real moon."
The Buddha himself spoke this way: "I teach the scriptures like a finger pointing at the moon. You should observe the moon itself, not my finger."
If you only cherish my words, you are looking at my finger—and still don't know where the moon is. Do you want to know the true moon? It is the one asking me this question. It is the one raising this meditation topic. It is the one who came to ask me before any topic was raised. Just turn your light inward like this, and suddenly you become one with your meditation topic—then you will truly believe that your whole body is a single clear jewel-moon, complete and without flaw, radiating eighty-four thousand pure lights day and night, illuminating heaven and earth.
Panshan said: "The mind-moon stands alone and round; its light swallows all phenomena. Light does not illuminate objects; objects do not exist. When light and objects are both forgotten—what remains?"
Dongshan said: "When light and objects are not yet forgotten—what remains?"
I say: "When light and objects are not forgotten—what remains?"
You tell me—which of these three old masters is worthy to be your teacher? Only with clear eyes can you see.