小參
Individual Instruction
小參，問：「不住有無時如何？」師云：「艸賊敗也。」僧便喝，師云：「不住有無時如何？」僧擬議，師云：「知你不是者腳手。」李總戎問：「生死事大，無常迅速，兵興不息，如何是好？」師云：「放下來。」戎禮拜，師乃云：「干戈叢裏鬥禪機，兵戰何如法戰奇？勝鼓三撾邊燧靜，凱旋且唱太平詞。」驀拈拄杖云：「會麼？此是佛祖戰場，與五陰魔戰勝回程。現前大眾，當此荒亂之世，激揚箇事，也須猛著精彩如戰有功，方是國家利器。且畢竟如何得戰勝成功去？」良久，云：「主將能行令，坐致太平時。」復舉：「法眼問修山主云：『毫釐有差，天地懸隔。』主云：『毫釐有差，天地懸隔。』眼云：『恁麼會又爭得？』主云：『某甲只會恁麼，未審和尚作麼生？』眼云：『毫釐有差，天地懸隔。』主便拜。」師云：「你等還知話頭落處麼？因甚一得一不得？且道淆訛在甚麼處？揀點得出，許你與法眼相見；脫或未然，毫釐有差，天地懸隔。」
**Dharma Talk**
*Question:* "What about when you neither dwell in existence nor non-existence?"
*Master:* "The sneak thief has been caught." The monk shouted. *Master:* "What about when you neither dwell in existence nor non-existence?" The monk hesitated. *Master:* "I knew you weren't the real deal."
General Li asked: "Life and death are matters of great urgency. Impermanence is swift, and war is raging without end. What can be done?"
*Master:* "Let it all go." The General bowed. *Master then said:* "In the midst of clashing weapons, we spar with Chan. How can war compare to the battle of Dharma? Three beats of the victory drum, and the border fires are stilled. Sing then a song of peace."
Abruptly raising his staff, he said: "Understand? This is the battlefield of the Buddhas and Patriarchs. They have returned victorious from defeating the five skandha demons. All of you present, in this chaotic and troubled age, as you strive to awaken to this matter, you too must muster extraordinary spirit, like warriors who triumph in battle. Only then can you be a true asset to the nation. But in the end, how can we achieve victory and success?"
Long pause.
"The commanding general can enforce the orders, and so bring about a time of peace."
Further citing a case: "Dharma Eye asked Master Xiu,
小參。「說得須是見得，見得又須說得。說得見不得，落在見解偏枯；見得說不得，落在時機毒海。山僧者裏只饒說得分明、見得徹去，腳跟下好與三十棒；說不得、見不得，亦與三十棒。何故聻？雲峰門下，賞罰分明。」
小參，舉：「馬大師翫月次，問西堂：『正恁麼時如何？』堂云：『正好修行。』問百丈：『如何？』丈云：『正好供養。』又問南泉，泉拂袖便行。馬大師云：『經歸藏，禪歸海，惟有普願獨超物外。』」師云：「見怪不怪，其怪自壞，馬駒蹋殺天下人，中峰杰出群山外。且道者三個尊宿聻？聽取一頌：臨機無巧妙，拈來不費工，可笑棲棲者，明暗怪虛空。」喝一喝，下座。
小參。「大事因緣不等閒，急須提起話頭參，有時參到無參處，覷破桃花是指南。」復舉：「玄沙到蒲田，百戲迎之。次日，問小唐長老：『昨日恁麼喧鬧，向甚麼處去了？』唐提袈裟角，沙云：『料著沒交涉。』」師云：「玄沙與小唐提起箇事，光輝祖域。山僧到宕渠，亦無百戲來迎，只見桃花滿樹。試問諸人：宕渠與蒲田所見是同？是別？」良久，云：「奇逢豈例閒相識？都是靈山有約來。」
Short Dharma Talk.
*“The great matter of birth and death is no idle affair; Urgently take up the *huatou* and investigate. When your investigation reaches the point of no investigation, Then the peach blossom in your gaze becomes your guide.”*
Then I bring up an old case:
“When Xuan Sha visited Putian, he was greeted with a hundred theatrical entertainments. The next day, he asked Elder Xiao Tang, ‘All that clamor yesterday—where has it gone?’ Xiao Tang lifted the corner of his robe. Xuan Sha said, ‘That misses the mark entirely.’”
Now I say:
“Xuan Sha and Xiao Tang raised this matter, illuminating the ancestral tradition. When I come to Dangqu, there are no hundred entertainments to greet me. I only see peach blossoms covering the trees. So let me ask you all: What do we see here in Dangqu—is it the same as what they saw in Putian, or different?”
A long pause.
“Extraordinary encounters are not like ordinary acquaintances— All of us here were invited from the Vulture Peak.”
追嚴，小參。「般若恩光週法界，菩提樹茂永青青，更悟杖頭直指意，椿萱三世悉超昇。」拈拄杖，云：「大眾會麼？如其會得，盡大地是般若光，光未發時無佛、無眾生，諸天捧華無路，千聖窺覷無門。今日事不獲已，未免向第二義頭作諸佛事。」以杖劃一畫，云：「截斷悲傷風木古，人人父母盡生天。」
"Xuanyan, a brief instruction. The grace of Prajna illuminates the entire realm, the Bodhi tree flourishes ever green. Further realize the true meaning pointed to by the staff, and across three generations—all ancestors—may they ascend. He lifts his staff and says, "Assembly, do you understand? If you do, know that the entire great earth is Prajna light. Before the light arose, there were no Buddhas, no sentient beings. The gods could find no path to offer flowers, and a thousand sages had no gate to glimpse it. Yet today, compelled by circumstance, I must resort to secondary truth and perform these Buddhist rites." He draws a line with his staff and says, "Sever the sorrow of wind and tree, let every person's parents be reborn in heaven."
小參。「一年三百六十日，日日人忙直到頭，若然會得不忙底，不風流處也風流。且道：如何是不忙底人？」院主云：「不忙人不會。」師云：「三十夜到來，莫道不忙好。」
Teaching: "Three hundred and sixty days a year, people are busy every day until the very end. But if you understand what it means to not be busy, you’ll find grace even where there’s no elegance. So tell me: what is a person who is not busy?"
The monastery director said, "The not-busy person doesn’t understand."
The master said, "When the thirtieth night comes, don’t say it’s good not to be busy."
施主請小參。「澗水潺潺談半偈，山花朵朵現全身，更欲山僧搖長舌，分明一句絕疏親。」復舉：「龐居士問石頭云：『不與萬法為侶者是甚麼人？』頭掩其口，士乃有省。又問馬祖，祖云：『待汝一口吸盡西江水，即向汝道。』士乃大悟。」師云：「且道悟箇甚麼？如其會得居士悟處，便會二祖會處；會得會處，便會得悟處。雖然，檢點將來，都盧祗具一隻眼。」
"Kind patron seeks a brief discourse. 'The mountain stream babbles, half a verse proclaimed; the mountain blossoms bloom, revealing his full form. Must I, this mountain monk, now wag my lengthy tongue? One clear phrase severs all closeness and distance.' Another case: Layman Pang asked Master Shitou, 'What kind of person is one who keeps no company with the ten thousand dharmas?' Shitou covered his mouth, and the layman had a realization. He then asked Mazu, who said, 'Wait until you've swallowed the West River in one gulp, then I'll tell you.' The layman was greatly awakened."
The master said, "Tell me, what was it that he awakened to? If you can grasp the layman's point of awakening, you will grasp Second Patriarch's point of understanding. If you grasp the point of understanding, you will grasp the point of awakening. However, when we examine it closely, it turns out he only had one eye open."