雪嶠禪師語錄序 魚一
Preface to Chan Master Xueqiao's Recorded Sayings (Fish 1)
曹溪受法弟子福徵譚貞默謹撰
Preface by Fuzheng,
大師自乙亥春為黃海岸余集生諸居士驛駱奔趨雙徑強之開堂登祖位說法王法出世大事因緣實始此前此從雲門石頭上得正句後誅茅高峰雙髻者六載從荊溪龍池叅幻和尚受具戒更名記莂後曳杖徑山千指者二十餘載活埋歲月嘯傲煙雲若非鐘樓生耳佛殿懷胎那肯容易許人出世既從徑山而金陵靜明而廬山開先而長明能仁而濟生院祗陀林而越州顯聖四明景德而荊溪南嶽而光溪天王而檇李東塔而雲間勝果頤浩而究竟末後一着於雲門悟道石之地時在丁亥遡前乙亥僅越一紀而坐東南大道塲者十有餘會結冬者四期其間龍池埽塔天童封塔許大奇特機緣在語風老人分中只當一頓家常茶飯耳若夫正令高提孤情絕照宗風流暢響振諸方曲終撒手獅絃尤勁何待語錄馳布而後塗毒發聾哉積年絡索遘此劫灰正好散歸龍藏乃有獅聲珠公復為之摭拾編次俾得遡流知源披枝見本而吾友葵石居士昆季還念疇昔皈依道誼因捐資壽剞劂與天龍神鬼及海內有眼無眼入共矜式之將無被老人常寂光中捉鼻大笑乎何笑笑眼前伶俐禪和畧得出頭吐氣便教白帋黑字充棟汗牛其為水母眼鸚鵡舌者多多許矣的的消隕虛空超越佛祖為眼裏筋舌中骨者幾人即不乏真實叅悟歷代師承如玄圃積玉鮫人泣珠其為珠玉則同而趙璧之連城隋珠之照乘若老人之殺活縱奪賔主全融擺壞鎻韁不求伴侶者幾人倘遇波斯胡定知毫釐千里也不慧隨侍盤桓歲歷四紀不曾向佛法中作一合頭語今日何能饒舌贊嘆一辭獨念老人能掃三千大千世界衣拂影子那能斷威音王以前水乳消息不牽自肯只今當問之徹崖獅聲兩公與葵石居士因繫以頌頌曰雪老鼻孔撩天公案出語為風着手便判世界小兒是非莫管祖令孤行青獅活現厥謚云何宗壇鐵漢。
In the spring of the year Yi-hai (1575), the Great Master was pressed by lay practitioners Huang Haian and Yu Jisheng to travel tirelessly between post stations. Urged to take the abbacy at Shuangjing, ascend to the ancestral seat, and preach the Dharma, he embarked on the great work of spreading the Buddha’s teachings—a decisive event that had no prior equal. Before this, he had obtained the essential phrase at Yunmen and Shitou, then lived in seclusion on Gaofeng and Shuangji for six years. Later, he studied under Master Huan at Jingxi Longchi, received full ordination, changed his name, and received a prediction of enlightenment. Afterward, he wandered to Qianshi on Jingshan for over twenty years, burying his days in silent practice.
Unless a bell tower were to grow ears, or a Buddha hall were to become pregnant, it would be hard to easily allow someone to appear in public. From Jingshan, he moved to Jinling Jingming, then to Lushan Kaixian, then to Changming Nengren, to Jisheng Monastery, to Zhituo Grove, to Yuezheng Xiansheng, to Siming Jingde, to Jingxi Nanyue, to Guangxi Tianwang, to Zuili Dongta, to Yunjian Shengguo Yihao—and finally to his ultimate resting place at the ground of Yunmen’s realization. That was in the year Ding-hai (1587). Recalling the beginning in Yi-hai, only twelve years had passed. During this time, he presided over the great Dharma assemblies of the southeast more than ten times and conducted winter retreats four times. Among these, his sweeping the pagoda at Longchi and sealing the pagoda at Tiantong were uniquely remarkable karmic connections. Yet for a master of verbal style, all this was merely a bowl of everyday tea and plain rice.
As for his high and solitary expression of the ultimate truth, his graceful and free transmission of the School’s style, his powerful resonance that stirred the four directions—and then, at the end, when the music stopped, his lion-string playing even stronger—what need is there for the widespread circulation of his recorded sayings to awaken the deaf? Accumulated entanglements over many years met with the fire of calamity, and these texts were best scattered back into the Dragon’s Treasury. Yet the Master Shisheng Zhugong collected and compiled them, allowing readers to trace the stream to its source, to see the branches and know the root. My friend Layman Kuishi and his siblings, recalling their past devotion and the path of discipleship, donated funds to carve these woodblocks for publication. Presented to celestial dragons, spirits, and all beings within and beyond the seas—whether with or without eyes—to share in respect and regard. Would the Master in his Eternal Quiet Light not grasp his nose and burst out laughing?
Why laugh? Laugh at the clever Chan practitioners nowadays who, just as soon as they manage to raise their heads and exhale, fill the world with countless volumes of black ink on white paper. How many of them are just mother-of-water and parrot’s tongues! They may truly melt into emptiness and transcend the Buddhas and patriarchs, yet those who are the “vein within the eye” and the “bone within the tongue” are few indeed. Even those who have genuine realization and inherit past teachers are like jade piled up in the garden or pearls wept by mermaids. The jade and pearls may be the same, yet the Zhao’s jade disc that unites cities, and the Marquess of Sui’s gem that illuminates chariot—these rare treasures of life-and-life, of giving-and-taking, where guest and host are fully merged, where chains are broken and companions are not sought—how few are there! Should a Persian merchant encounter them, surely he would recognize a hair’s breadth difference that separates a thousand miles.
Unwisely, I have followed the Master for forty years, yet have never been able to utter a single word that fits the Buddhist teaching. How then could I now speak superfluously with praise? Yet, thinking that the Master could sweep away the robes and shadow of the entire trichiliocosm, even if he could break the milk-and-water connection from before King Ekanipata, he could not undo his own self-acknowledgment. Today, this must be asked of the two Masters Cheya and Shisheng, as well as Layman Kuishi. So I append this verse:
The Snow-old’s nostrils pierce the sky— He rushes out with phrases like wind, And with his hand, he judges. The world’s children, yes and no, he leaves be. The Patriarch’s decree moves alone— The Green Lion appears alive. What title shall be given? The Iron Warrior of the Chan Altar.