Preface to The Blue Cliff Record 《碧岩录》序
Verses on Ancient Cases by Chan Master Xuedou Chongxian, with Commentary by Chan Master Yuanwu Keqin | 2019-04-01 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 序一 |
Preface One |
| 至圣命脉。列祖大机。换骨灵方。颐神妙术。其惟雪窦禅师。具超宗越格正眼。提掇正令。不露风规。秉烹佛煅祖钳锤。颂出衲僧向上巴鼻。银山铁壁。孰敢钻研。蚊咬铁牛。难为下口。不逢大匠。焉悉玄微。粤有佛果老人。 |
The life-vein of the supreme sages; the great function of the successive patriarchs; a wondrous formula for transforming one’s very bones; a marvelous art for nourishing the spirit—these are found in Chan Master Xuedou alone. Endowed with the true eye that transcends schools and conventions, he raised aloft the proper command without revealing any trace of his method. Wielding the hammer and tongs that cook the Buddhas and forge the patriarchs, he set forth in verse the essential handle by which patch-robed monks may rise upward. Before silver mountains and iron walls, who would dare investigate? Like a mosquito biting an iron ox, one cannot find a place to begin. Without encountering a great master, how could one fathom such profundity and subtlety? There was the venerable Foguո. |
| 住碧岩日。学者迷而请益。老人愍以垂慈。剔抉渊源。剖析底理。当阳直指。岂立见知。百则公案。从头一串穿来。一队老汉。次第总将按过。须知赵璧本无瑕颣[ lèi]。相如谩诳秦王。至道实乎无言。宗师垂慈救弊。 |
While residing at Blue Cliff, students, bewildered, came to seek instruction. The venerable master, compassionately extending his kindness, sifted out the sources and origins and analyzed the underlying principles. He pointed directly before them—how could he establish knowledge and views? He threaded the hundred kōans together from beginning to end, examining this whole band of old fellows one by one. You should know that the jade disc of Zhao was originally without flaw; Xiangru merely deceived the King of Qin. The ultimate Way is truly wordless, yet lineage masters compassionately offer teachings to remedy abuses. |
| 傥如是见。方知彻底老婆。其或泥句沈言。未免灭佛种族。(普照)幸亲师席。得闻未闻。道友集成简编。鄙拙叙其本末。 |
If one sees in this way, one will know his thoroughgoing grandmotherly concern. But if one clings to phrases and sinks into words, one cannot avoid extinguishing the Buddha-seed. (Puzhao) was fortunate to attend the Master and hear what had not been heard. Fellow practitioners compiled these notes into a volume; I, in my ineptitude, recount its beginning and course. |
| 时建炎戊申。暮春晦日。参学嗣祖比丘(普照)谨序。 |
Respectfully prefaced by the bhikṣu Puzhao, a student of the patriarchal lineage, on the last day of late spring in the wushen year of the Jianyan era. |
| 序二 |
Preface Two |
| 自四十二章经入中国。始知有佛。自达磨至六祖传衣。始有言句。曰本来无一物为南宗。曰时时勤拂拭为北宗。于是有禅宗颂古行世。其徒有翻案法。呵佛骂祖。无所不为。间有深得吾诗家活法者。然所谓第一义。焉用言句。雪窦圜悟。老婆心切。大慧已一炬丙之矣。嵎中张炜明远。燃死灰复板行。亦所谓老婆心切者欤。 |
Only after the Forty-two-Section Sūtra entered China did people first know of the Buddha. Only after Bodhidharma transmitted the robe to the Sixth Patriarch did sayings and phrases first arise. “Originally there is not a single thing” became the Southern school; “Constantly polish and wipe it” became the Northern school. Thus Chan-school verses on ancient cases came into circulation. Its followers developed methods of overturning verdicts, berating Buddhas and reviling patriarchs, stopping at nothing. Among them were some who deeply grasped the living method of our poets. Yet for what is called the highest truth, what use are words and phrases? Xuedou and Yuanwu were earnest in their grandmotherly concern. Dahui had already consigned it to the flames. Zhang Wei, styled Mingyuan, of Yuzhong, rekindled the dead ashes and had it printed anew. Was he too one whose grandmotherly concern was earnest? |
| 大德四年庚子。四月初八日癸丑。紫阳山方回万里序。 |
Prefaced by Fang Hui, styled Wanli, of Ziyang Mountain, on the eighth day of the fourth month, the guichou day, in the gengzi year of the Dade era. |
| 序三 |
Preface Three |
| 碧岩集者。圜悟大师之所述也。其大弟子大慧禅师。乃焚弃其书。世间种种法皆忌执着。释子所归敬莫如佛。犹有时而骂之。盖有我而无彼。由我而不由彼也。舍己徇物。必至于失己。夫心与道一。道与万物一。充满太虚。 |
The Blue Cliff Record was expounded by Great Master Yuanwu. His foremost disciple, Chan Master Dahui, burned and discarded the book. Among all worldly dharmas, attachment is to be avoided. Nothing is more revered by disciples of the Buddha than the Buddha, yet at times they even revile him. This is because there is self but no other; it proceeds from oneself, not from another. If one abandons oneself to pursue external things, one will inevitably lose oneself. Mind and the Way are one; the Way and the myriad things are one, filling all of empty space. |
| 何适而非道。第常人观之。能见其所见。而不见其所不见。求之于人。而人语之。如东坡日喻之说。往复推测。愈远愈失。自吾夫子体道。犹欲无言。而况佛氏为出世间法。而可文字言语而求之哉。虽然亦有不可废者。 |
Where could one go that is not the Way? Ordinary people, however, see only what they can see and do not see what they cannot see. They seek it from others, and others speak to them of it. As in Su Dongpo’s discourse on the sun, they speculate back and forth, and the farther they go, the more they lose it. Even our Master, having embodied the Way, still wished to be wordless. How much more so in the case of the Buddhists, whose teaching is supramundane—how could it be sought through written words and language? Nevertheless, there are also things that cannot be discarded. |
| 智者少而愚者多。已学者少未学者多。大藏经五千余卷。尽为未来世设。苟可以忘言。释迦老子便当闭口。何至如是叨叨。天下之理。固有不离寻常之中。而超出于寻常之表。虽若易知。而实未易知者。不求之于人。 |
The wise are few, and the foolish many. Those who have studied are few, and those who have not are many. The Buddhist Canon comprises more than five thousand volumes, all prepared for future ages. If words could indeed be dispensed with, old Śākyamuni would simply have kept silent. Why would he have gone on talking so? The principles of the world indeed lie within the ordinary, yet transcend its outward bounds. Though they may seem easy to know, they are in fact not easily known by those who do not seek them from others. |
| 则终身不可得。古者名世之人。非千人之英。则万人之杰也。太阿之剑。天下之利剑也。登山则戮虎豹。入水则剸蛟龙。人之知之。尽于是已。然古人有善用之者。乘城而战。顺风而挥之。三军为之大败。流血赭乎千里。 |
one will never attain them in a lifetime. In ancient times, those renowned throughout the world were either outstanding among a thousand or exceptional among ten thousand. The sword of Tai’e is the sharpest sword under heaven. On mountains it slays tigers and leopards; in the water it cuts down dragons and serpents. People think that is all there is to know about it. Yet the ancients knew how to use it well: mounting the city walls to do battle, they wielded it with the wind, and the three armies suffered a great rout, their blood flowing red for a thousand leagues. |
| 是岂可以一己之所能。而尽疑之哉。自吾闻有是书。求之甚至。嵎中张氏。始更刻木。来谋于予。遂赞而成之。且为题其首。 |
How could one doubt everything beyond one’s own abilities? Since first hearing of this book, I had sought it most earnestly. The Zhang family of Yuzhong then had it newly carved into woodblocks and came to consult me. I therefore commended and completed the undertaking, and also wrote this preface. |
| 大德九年岁乙巳。三月吉日。玉岑休休居士。聊城周驰。书于钱唐观桥寓舍。 |
Written by Zhou Chi of Liaocheng, the layman Xiuxiu of Yucen, at his temporary lodging by Guan Bridge in Qiantang, on an auspicious day in the third month of the yisi year, the ninth year of the Dade era. |
| 序四 |
Preface Four |
| 或问。碧岩集之成毁孰是乎。曰皆是也。齴龋来东单传心印。不立文字固也。而血脉归空诸论。果谁为之哉。古谓不在文字不离文字者。真知言。已使人人于卷帘闻板竖指触脚之际。了却大事。文字何有哉。拈花微笑以来。 |
Someone asked, “Regarding the composition and destruction of the Blue Cliff Record, which was right?” He replied, “Both were right. When Yanqu came east, he transmitted the Mind-Seal directly, without establishing written words—this is certainly so. Yet who, after all, composed the various treatises on the Bloodstream and Returning to Emptiness? The ancients said, ‘Not dependent on words, yet not apart from words.’ This is truly understanding speech. It has enabled everyone, at the moment of rolling up a blind, hearing a clapper, raising a finger, or touching a foot, to bring the great matter to completion. What need, then, is there for words? Ever since the flower was held up and the smile passed on...” |
| 门竿倒却之后。才涉言句。非文字无以传。是又不可废者也。尝谓祖教之书。谓之公案者。倡于唐而盛于宋。其来尚矣。二字乃世间法中吏牍语。其用有三。面壁功成。行脚事了。定槃之星难明。野狐之趣易堕。具眼为之勘辨。 |
and after the gatepost had fallen, once one enters into words and phrases, there can be no transmission without written words. Thus they too cannot be discarded. I have often said that the books of the patriarchal teaching came to be called “public cases”: this began in the Tang and flourished in the Song, and has a long history. The two characters were originally terms from official documents in worldly affairs. Their use has three aspects. When wall-gazing has been accomplished and traveling on foot is complete, the stars of the fixed basin are difficult to discern and the tendency toward the wild fox is easy to fall into. Those endowed with the eye examine and distinguish them. |
| 一呵一喝。要见实诣。如老吏据狱谳罪。底里悉见。情款不遗一也。其次则岭南初来。西江未吸。亡羊之岐易泣。指海之针必南。悲心为之接引。一棒一痕要令证悟。如廷尉执法平反。出人于死二也。又其次则犯稼忧深。 |
With a single shout or a single cry, one must see genuine attainment. It is like an old magistrate trying a case and judging guilt: he sees thoroughly into its depths, leaving no circumstance undisclosed. This is the first. Next are those newly come from Lingnan, who have not yet drunk the waters of the Western River. At the branching paths where sheep are lost, one readily weeps; the needle that points to the sea must point south. With compassionate hearts, they are guided onward. One blow leaves one mark, so that they may be made to realize and awaken. It is like a judicial official applying the law to reverse an unjust conviction and save people from death. This is the second. Next are those deeply concerned when crops are harmed. |
| 系驴事重。学弈之志须专。染丝之色易悲。大善知识为之付嘱。俾之心死蒲团。一动一参。如官府颁示条令。令人读律知法。恶念才生。旋即寝灭三也。具方册。作案底。陈机境。为格令。与世间所谓金科玉条清明对越诸书。 |
and tethering the donkey is important. The resolve of one learning chess must be focused; the colors of dyed silk readily evoke sorrow. Great good-knowing advisors entrust disciples with the task, causing their minds to die upon the meditation cushion; with every movement, there is investigation. It is like government offices issuing statutes and regulations, enabling people to read the laws and know the rules. The moment an evil thought arises, it is immediately extinguished. This is the third. They provide books and registers, establish case files, lay out situations and conditions, and make standards and regulations. How is this different, at first, from the golden rules, jade statutes, and clear legal codes of the world? |
| 初何以异。祖师所以立为公案。留示丛林者。意或取此。柰何末法以来。求妙心于疮纸。付正法于口谈。点尽鬼神。犹不离簿。傍人门户。任唤作郎。剑去矣而舟犹刻。兔逸矣而株不移。满肚葛藤。能问千转。其于生死大事。 |
How was this different at the outset? Perhaps this was why the patriarchs established such cases and left them to the monastic community. Yet since the age of declining Dharma, people have sought the wondrous mind in blighted paper and entrusted the true Dharma to verbal talk. Though they may enumerate every ghost and spirit, they still do not leave the register. They lean on another’s doorway and let themselves be called gentlemen. The sword is gone, yet they still mark the boat; the rabbit has fled, yet the stump is not moved. Their bellies are full of tangled vines, and they can pose a thousand winding questions. What does this have to do with the great matter of birth and death? |
| 初无干涉。钟鸣漏尽。将焉用之。乌乎。羚羊挂角。未可以形迹求。而善学下慧者。岂步亦步。趋亦趋哉。知此则二老之心皆是矣。圜悟顾子念孙之心多。故重拈雪窦颂。大慧救焚拯溺之心多。故立毁碧岩集。释氏说一大藏经。 |
yet in the end said that he had not spoken a single word. How could he deceive us? Yuanwu’s intention was the Buddha’s intention in expounding the sūtras; Dahui’s intention was the Buddha’s intention in withholding speech. Yu, Ji, and Master Yan would all have done the same had they exchanged places. Whether pushing or pulling, the sole aim is to keep the cart moving. More than two hundred years have now passed, and Zhang Mingyuan of Yuzhong has again carved it into printing blocks to perpetuate its transmission. Is this a renewal of spring for the patriarchal teaching, or is it simply that worldly circumstances have their appointed course? |
| 末后乃谓。不曾说一字。岂欺我哉圜悟之心。释氏说经之心也。大慧之心。释氏讳说之心也。禹稷颜子易地皆然。推之挽之。主于车行而已。尔来二百余年。嵎中张明远。复镂梓。以寿其传。岂祖教回春乎。抑世故有数乎。 |
Yet the circulation of this book is of great consequence. If people see water and immediately take it for the sea, or mistake a pointing finger for the moon, then not only would Dahui be troubled, but Yuanwu too would have to free them from their adhesions and untie their bonds. An ancient poem on a portrait says: “Clearly there is Master Zhang upon the paper; though one calls out with all one’s strength, he will not answer.” Before wishing to read this book, first investigate these words. |
| 然是书之行。所关甚重。若见水即海。认指作月。不特大慧忧之。而圜悟又将为之去粘解缚矣。昔人写照之诗曰。分明纸上张公子。尽力高声唤不应。欲观此书。先参此语。 |
Written by the Elder of the Three Teachings on the full-moon day of the fourth month in the jiachen year of the Dade era. |
| 大德甲辰四月望。三教老人书。 |
Written by the Elder of the Three Teachings on the full-moon day of the fourth month in the Jiachen year. |
