序
Preface
達磨大士航海而來，未嘗建立語言文字，直指人心，見性成佛。至於一華開後，五葉芬芳，各擅家聲，或升堂入室，顯微闡幽，皆藉言以顯妙道，慣白拈而成至文，令千載之下打破疑團，頓入不思議境界，將莖艸作金身，轉金身為莖艸，卷舒自在，殺活全彰，逼生蛇而化龍者，唯臨濟宗為痛快耳。雲腹禪師，蜀人也，為破山之裔，象崖之子，振曹源之宗，豎滹沱之幟，數十年來為法門龍象，雖不以文字新天下之耳目，亦不以無言祕大法之真傳，故其開法川黔，一皆以惡辣鉗錘、本分艸料，不帶枝葉而超無上者也。迨後，乘槎泛楚，緇素遮道，如失怙恃，其德法相深以入人者如此。庚申夏，有法嗣我淨聞公，從潭州齎師語錄來檇李授梓，將入楞嚴附藏流通，問序於余。余雖未親炙面顏，但與吾里古新庵清白老師交深，蓋清師與雲腹禪師皆蜀人也。常道其真操實履，及讀其語錄行狀，機趣觸法，直赴橫奔。于開口不得處說法，從下手不得處施為。天風木葉，流水行雲，總屬全提；舉大法於一喝之中，揭宗旨於辣棒之下，誠令緇白咸臻祖域矣。爰筆而為之序。
Great Master Bodhidharma came across the sea without establishing words or letters, directly pointing to the mind, enabling people to see their true nature and attain Buddhahood. After a single flower bloomed, five petals spread their fragrance, each establishing its own school. Some entered the hall and ascended the seat, revealing the subtle and illuminating the profound—all using words to manifest the wondrous path, weaving plain cloth into perfect literature. This allows people a thousand years later to shatter their doubts and abruptly enter inconceivable realms. They can turn a blade of grass into a golden body, or transform a golden body into a blade of grass, freely unrolling and rolling up, fully revealing the power to kill or give life, compelling a snake to become a dragon—none is as exhilarating as the Linji school.
Master Yunfu, a native of Sichuan, is a descendant of Poshan and a disciple of Xiangya, reviving the source of the Caodong lineage and raising the banner of the Hutu River. For decades, he was a dragon and elephant of the Dharma. Though he did not use words to dazzle the world's eyes and ears, he also did not rely on silence to conceal the true transmission of the great Dharma. Thus, when he taught in Sichuan and Guizhou, he used harsh tongs and hammers and simple materials—free from extraneous branches—to lead beings to the unsurpassable. Later, he sailed a raft across Lake Chu, and monastics and laypeople lined the path as if they had lost their parents. Such was the profound impact of his virtue and Dharma.
In the summer of 1680, his Dharma heir, Ven. Wozheng, brought the master's recorded sayings from Tanzhou to Zui Li for printing, to be included in the Shurangama collection for circulation, and asked me for a preface. Although I have never personally met the master, I have close ties with my fellow townsman, Venerable Qingbai of Gu Xin Temple. Venerable Qingbai and Master Yunfu are both Sichuanese. He often spoke of the master's genuine character and practice. When I read his recorded sayings and biography, I found the teachings naturally flowing with penetrating insight, striking from the front and charging from the side. He taught where speech fails and acted where action falters. The wind in the sky and the falling leaves, flowing clouds and drifting water—all these are expressions of the ultimate teaching. Raising the great Dharma in a single shout and revealing the essence under a fierce staff, he truly brought both monastics and laity to the ancestral realm. Thus, I have written this preface.
康熙庚申佛生日，賜進士出身、中議大夫、整飭陽和道、山西按察司副使加二級、前廣東布政司左布政、戶部右侍郎、都察院左副都御史、通政司左通政、翰林院提督四驛館、太常寺少卿、太僕寺少卿、河南道監察御史、提督順天等處學政，禾郡曹溶拜撰。
During the Kangxi reign, on the Buddha's Birthday, this text was respectfully composed by Cao Rong of He Commandery, who held the titles of Presented Scholar, Grand Master of Central Consultation, Commissioner of the Yanghe Circuit, Vice Surveillance Commissioner of Shanxi Province (twice promoted), former Left Administration Commissioner of Guangdong Province, Vice Minister of the Right at the Ministry of Revenue, Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Left Communication Commissioner of the Office of Transmission, Senior Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainment for the Directorate of Education, Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Chief Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, Investigating Censor of the Henan Circuit, and Provincial Education Commissioner for Shuntian and surrounding areas.
雲腹智禪師語錄卷第一
Volume One of Master Yunfu Zhi's Recorded Sayings
侍者 獄賢 聯昇 紀錄
Attendant: Yu Xian, Lian Sheng (Recorders)