示雙林居士
Instructions for Layman Shuanglin
一椎打透底人，猶落雲門病處。直須寒灰發焰，枯木萼開，轉折周旋，件件不在別裡。所謂大休大歇，安樂法門也。此事如鬧市街頭交易濃處戥秤一般，絲毫也瞞他不得。雖瞞不得，卻無可指示處。雖無指示處，銖兩自明，一度拈來一度新。南嶽謂馬祖曰：「汝學心地法門，如下種子。我說法要，譬彼天澤。汝緣合故，當見其道。」蓋心地法門，非口傳心授而可得者。得一步，便得一步受用，何妨在熱鬧處。鬧處得力，便是靜處省力也。古人淳誠，且三二十年，方得成辦。非若世人讀文誦字，一目便了。臨濟云：「離相離名人不稟，吹毛用了急須磨。」事務冗遏時，不須排遣。拈起一物云：「是什麼？」復拈一物云：「畢竟是什麼？」不可坐在淨潔處，便作受用，連者一段，亦須打脫。打脫了，再看僧問雲門：「弒父弒母，佛前懺悔。弒佛弒祖，向什麼處懺悔？」門云：「露。」山僧恁麼告報，全身坐在荒艸裡也。問話了，荅話了，拈卻棒，去卻喝，無二無二分，無別無斷故。夜來風起，吹上壁角，須看此外大用。如何是此外大用？
One blow that pierces to the bottom—yet such a person still falls into Yunmen's fault. One must truly reach the point where cold ashes burst into flame and a withered tree blossoms. Turning, twisting, adapting in every direction—none of it lies anywhere else. This is what is called the great rest, the great repose, the gateway of peace and joy. This matter is like scales at a busy street market at the height of trade—not the slightest bit can be hidden. Though it cannot be hidden, there is yet no place to point it out. Though there is no place to point it out, the exact weight is clear on its own—each time you pick it up, it is new again.
Nanyue said to Mazu: "When you study the Dharma-gate of the mind-ground, it is like planting seeds. My expounding of the essential teaching is like the rain from heaven. When your conditions come together, you will see the Path." The Dharma-gate of the mind-ground is not something that can be obtained through oral transmission or mind-to-mind instruction. Gain one step, and you gain the benefit of one step—what harm is there in being in the midst of busy activity? Gaining strength in the busy place is itself the saving of effort in the quiet place.
The people of old were sincere and earnest, and it still took them twenty or thirty years to accomplish it. It is not like people today who read texts and recite words and think they understand in a single glance. Linji said: "One who does not receive the teaching, free of marks and names—having used a hair-splitting blade, one must sharpen it at once." When affairs are pressing and obstructive, there is no need to push them away. Pick up one thing and say: "What is this?" Then pick up another thing and say: "Ultimately, what is this?" You must not sit in a clean, pure place and take that as your benefit. Even this whole stretch must be broken through. Once broken through, look again at the monk who asked Yunmen: "If one has killed one's father and mother, one confesses before the Buddha. If one has killed a Buddha or a Patriarch, where does one confess?" Yunmen said: "Exposed."
When I, the mountain monk, report things in this way, my whole body is sitting in the weeds. The questioning is finished, the answering is finished—put down the stick, withdraw the shout. There is no two, no second part; there is no separation, no severance. Last night the wind rose and blew up into the corner of the wall—you must look at the great function beyond this. What is the great function beyond this?