[53] Mazu and Baizhang: Wild Ducks 【五三】马祖百丈野鸭
Verses on Ancient Cases by Chan Master Xuedou Chongxian, with Commentary by Chan Master Yuanwu Keqin | 2019-04-01 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 【五三】马祖百丈野鸭 |
[Case 53] Mazu and Baizhang: Wild Ducks |
| 垂示云：遍界不藏，全机独露。触途无滞，著著有出身之机；句下无私，头头有杀人之意。且道古人毕竟向什么处休歇？试举看。 |
Pointer: The entire realm does not conceal it; the whole functioning stands forth alone. Encountering circumstances, there is no obstruction; in every move there is an opportunity to break free. In every utterance there is no partiality; at every turn lies the intent to kill. Tell me, where, after all, did the ancients come to rest? Let us raise the case and see. |
| 【五三】举： |
[Case 53] The Case: |
| 马大师与百丈行次，见野鸭子飞过。【两个落草汉草里辊。蓦顾作什么！】 |
As Master Mazu and Baizhang were walking together, they saw some wild ducks fly past. [Two fellows who have fallen into the weeds, rolling about in the grass. Why suddenly turn your head?] |
| 大师云：是什么？【和尚合知。这老汉鼻孔也不知。】 |
The Master said, “What is that?” [The monk should know. This old fellow does not even know where his nostrils are.] |
| 丈云：野鸭子。【鼻孔已在别人手里。只管供欵。第二杓恶水更毒。】 |
Baizhang said, “Wild ducks.” [His nostrils are already in someone else’s hands. He simply makes an offering. A second ladleful of foul water is even more poisonous.] |
| 大师云：什么处去也？【前箭犹轻后箭深。第二回啖啄。也合自知。】 |
The Master said, “Where have they gone?” [The first arrow was still light; the latter arrow strikes deep. A second pecking—he should know himself.] |
| 丈云：飞过去也。【只管随他后转。当面蹉过。】 |
Baizhang said, “They have flown away.” [He simply follows after them. He misses it right before his face.] |
| 大师遂扭百丈鼻头。【父母所生鼻孔却在别人手里。捩转枪头。裂转鼻孔来也。】 |
The Master then twisted Baizhang’s nose. [The nostrils bestowed by one’s parents are nevertheless in someone else’s hands. Turn the spearpoint around; twist his nostrils around!] |
| 丈作忍痛声。【只在这里。还唤作野鸭子得么。还识痛痒么。】 |
Baizhang cried out in pain. [It is right here. Can you still call it wild ducks? Do you still know pain and itch?] |
| 大师云：何曾飞去！【莫瞒人好。这老汉元来只在鬼窟里作活计。】 |
The Master said, “When did they ever fly away?” [Do not try to deceive people. This old fellow, it turns out, has merely been making his livelihood in a ghost cave.] |
| 正眼观来却是百丈具正因，马大师无风起浪。诸人要与佛祖为师，参取百丈。要自救不了，参取马祖大师。 |
Viewed with the true eye, Baizhang possessed the proper cause, while Master Mazu stirred up waves where there was no wind. All of you who wish to take the Buddhas and patriarchs as your teachers should investigate Baizhang. Those who cannot save themselves should investigate Patriarch Mazu. |
| 看他古人二六时中未尝不在个里。百丈丱岁离尘，三学该练。属大寂阐化南昌，乃倾心依附，二十年为侍者。及至再参，于喝下方始大悟。而今有者道：“本无悟处，作个悟门建立此事。”若恁么见解，如狮子身中虫，自食狮子肉。不见古人道：“源不深者流不长，智不大者见不远”。若用作建立会，佛法岂到如今！ |
Observe how this ancient, throughout the twenty-four hours, was never absent from this. Baizhang left worldly life in his youth and was thoroughly trained in the three studies. When Great Quiescence was teaching in Nanchang, Baizhang devoted himself to him and relied upon him, serving as his attendant for twenty years. When he later came to see him again, he at last attained great awakening upon hearing a shout. Nowadays some say, “Originally there is no place of awakening; one establishes this matter by creating a gate of awakening.” If this is your understanding, you are like an insect in a lion’s body eating the lion’s flesh. Have you not seen the ancient’s saying: “If the source is not deep, the stream will not flow far; if wisdom is not great, one’s vision will not reach far”? If the Buddhadharma were to be understood as something established in this way, could it have endured until today? |
| 看他马大师与百丈行次，见野鸭子飞过，大师岂不知是野鸭子，为什么却恁么问？且道他意落在什么处？百丈只管随他后走，马祖遂扭他鼻孔，丈作忍痛声。马祖云：“何曾飞去！”百丈便省。 |
Observe how, as Mazu and Baizhang were walking together, they saw wild ducks fly past. Did the Master not know that they were wild ducks? Why then did he ask in this manner? Tell me, where did his intention lie? Baizhang merely followed after them; Mazu then twisted his nostrils, and Baizhang cried out in pain. Mazu said, “When did they ever fly away?” Baizhang thereupon awakened. |
| 而今有底错会，才问着便作忍痛声，且喜跳不出！宗师家为人须为教彻，见他不会，不免伤锋犯手，只要教他明此事。所以道：“会则途中受用，不会则世谛流布。”马祖当时若不扭住，只成世谛流布。 |
Nowadays some misunderstand this: as soon as they are questioned, they cry out in pain, delighted that they cannot leap free! A lineage master, in guiding people, must teach them thoroughly. Seeing that they do not understand, he cannot avoid wounding the blade and hurting his hand; he only wants them to clarify this matter. Thus it is said, “If one understands, one can make use of it amid circumstances; if one does not understand, it becomes merely conventional truth in circulation.” Had Mazu not seized and twisted him at that moment, it would only have become conventional truth in circulation. |
| 也须是逢境遇缘，宛转教归自己，十二时中。，无空缺处，谓之性地明白。若只依草附木，认个驴前马后，有何用处！看他马祖百丈恁么用，虽似昭昭灵灵，却不住在昭昭灵灵处——百丈作忍痛声。若恁么见去，遍界不藏，头头成现。所以道，一处透，千处万处一时透。 |
One must also encounter circumstances and conditions, and skillfully turn them back to oneself. If throughout the twelve periods of the day there is no gap, this is called clarity of the nature-ground. But if one merely clings to grass and trees, recognizing only what comes before the donkey and after the horse, what use is that? Observe how Mazu and Baizhang made use of this. Though it seems brightly aware and vividly responsive, one does not abide in bright awareness and vivid responsiveness—Baizhang cried out in pain. If you see in this way, the entire realm conceals nothing, and every point becomes manifest. Therefore it is said: when one place is penetrated, a thousand and ten thousand places are penetrated at once. |
| 马祖次日升堂，众才集，百丈出，卷却拜席，马祖便下座归方丈。次问百丈：“我适来上堂，未曾说法，尔为什么便卷却席。”丈云：“昨日被和尚扭得鼻孔痛。”祖云：“尔昨日向甚处留心？”丈云：“今日鼻头又不痛也。 |
The next day Mazu ascended the hall. As soon as the assembly had gathered, Baizhang came out and rolled up the bowing mat. Mazu immediately descended from his seat and returned to the abbot’s quarters. He later asked Baizhang, “When I ascended the hall just now, I had not yet spoken the Dharma. Why did you roll up the mat?” Baizhang said, “Yesterday, when the Master twisted my nostrils, they hurt.” Mazu said, “Where did you direct your attention yesterday?” Baizhang said, “Today the tip of my nose no longer hurts.” |
| ”祖云：“尔深知今日事。”丈乃作礼。却归侍者寮哭。同事侍者问云：“尔哭作什么？”丈云：“尔去问取和尚。”侍者遂去问马祖，祖云：“尔去问取他看。”侍者却归寮问百丈。，丈却呵呵大笑。侍者云：“尔适来哭，而今为什么却笑？”丈云：“我适来哭，如今却笑。”看他悟后。，阿辘辘地，罗笼不住，自然玲珑。 |
Mazu said, “You deeply understand today’s matter.” Baizhang then bowed and returned to the attendants’ quarters, where he wept. A fellow attendant asked, “Why are you crying?” Baizhang said, “Go and ask the Master.” The attendant went to ask Mazu, who said, “Go ask him and see.” The attendant returned to the quarters and asked Baizhang, who then burst into laughter. The attendant said, “You were crying just now; why are you laughing now?” Baizhang said, “I was crying just now; now I am laughing.” Observe how, after awakening, he rolled on freely, impossible to confine, naturally clear and unobstructed. |
| 雪窦颂云： |
Xuedou’s verse says: |
| 野鸭子，【成群作队。又有一只。】 |
Wild ducks—[They form flocks and bands. There is another one, too.] |
| 知何许，【用作什么！如麻似粟。】 |
Who knows how many? [What use is that! They are as numerous as hemp and millet.] |
| 马祖见来相共语。【打葛藤有什么了期。说个什么！独有马祖识个俊底。】 |
When Mazu saw them, they spoke together. [When will all this entangling talk ever end? What are you talking about? Mazu alone recognized the capable one.] |
| 话尽山云海月情，【东家杓柄长，西家杓柄短。知他打葛藤多少！】 |
When their talk was exhausted, there was the feeling of mountain clouds and sea moon; [The eastern household’s ladle handle is long; the western household’s is short. Who knows how much tangled talk they made!] |
| 依前不会还飞去。【 [□@力]！莫道他不会言。飞过什么处去？】 |
Still not understanding, they flew away as before. [[Illegible character]—do not say he could not speak. Where did they fly past to?] |
| 欲飞去，【鼻孔在别人手里。已是与他下注脚了也。】 |
Just as they were about to fly away, [His nostrils were in someone else’s hands. The commentary has already been added for him.] |
| 却把住……【老婆心切。更道什么！】 |
He seized them… [Such urgent grandmotherly concern. What more is there to say?] |
| 道！道！【什么道？不可也教山僧道。不可作野鸭子叫。苍天苍天！脚跟下好与三十棒。不知向什么处去。】 |
Speak! Speak! [What will you say? Do not make this mountain monk say it. Do not imitate the cry of wild ducks. Heaven, heaven! He deserves thirty blows right under his heels. He does not know where he has gone.] |
| 雪窦劈头便颂道：“野鸭子，知何许”，且道有多少？ |
Xuedou begins his verse by saying, “Wild ducks—who knows how many?” Tell me, how many are there? |
| “马祖见来相共语”，此颂马祖问百丈云：“是什么？”丈云：“野鸭子。” |
“When Mazu saw them, they spoke together” praises Mazu’s asking Baizhang, “What is that?” Baizhang replied, “Wild ducks.” |
| “语尽山云海月情”，颂再问百丈“什么处去？”马大师为他意旨，自然脱体，百丈依前不会，却道“飞过去也”，两重蹉过。 |
“When their talk was exhausted, there was the feeling of mountain clouds and sea moon” praises his further question to Baizhang: “Where have they gone?” Master Mazu’s intent was naturally wholly revealed, but Baizhang still did not understand and merely said, “They have flown away.” Thus he missed it twice. |
| “欲飞去，却把住”，雪窦据欵结案。 |
“Just as they were about to fly away, he seized them”—Xuedou concludes the case on this basis. |
| 又云：“道！道！”此是雪窦转身处。且道，作么生道？若作忍痛声，则错。若不作忍痛声，又作么生会？雪窦虽然颂得甚妙，争奈也跳不出。 |
He further says, “Speak! Speak!” Here Xuedou turns himself around. Tell me, how would you speak? If you cry out in pain, you are wrong. If you do not cry out in pain, then how will you understand it? Although Xuedou’s verse is wonderfully composed, he still cannot leap free. |
| 【铁扫帚】：而今有者道：“本无悟处，作个悟门建立此事。” |
[Iron Broom]: Nowadays some say, “Originally there is no place of awakening; one establishes this matter by creating a gate of awakening.” |
| 若恁么见解，如狮子身中虫，自食狮子肉。不见古人道：“源不深者流不长，智不大者见不远”。若用作建立会，佛法岂到如今！ |
If this is your understanding, you are like an insect in a lion’s body eating the lion’s flesh. Have you not seen the ancient’s saying: “If the source is not deep, the stream will not flow far; if wisdom is not great, one’s vision will not reach far”? If the Buddhadharma were to be understood as something established in this way, could it have endured until today? |
| ----笑看本论坛上也有此见解人身影，似乎他的扫帚尾巴比俺的还大。借用大老虎所说“罕遇穿耳客，多逢刻舟人，欲不“输却一半”也得乎！” |
—It is amusing to see that this forum also has people who hold this view. It seems that the tail of his broom is even bigger than mine. To borrow what Big Tiger said: “Those who pierce the ear are rarely encountered; those who mark a boat to find a sword are common. Can one avoid ‘losing half’?” |
| 【铁扫帚】：“鬼窟”是哪个？ |
[Iron Broom]: Who is the “ghost cave”? |
| 大师云：何曾飞去！【莫瞒人好。这老汉元来只在鬼窟里作活计。】 |
The Master said, “When did they ever fly away?” [Do not try to deceive people. This old fellow, it turns out, has merely been making his livelihood in a ghost cave.] |
| 【lvm】：圆悟可以恁么道，因他无这一问。 |
[lvm]: Yuanwu can speak this way because he did not ask this question. |
| 【铁扫帚】：我觉得他这样说冤枉了马大师。 |
[Iron Broom]: I feel that in saying this he has wronged Master Mazu. |
| 因为马大师该话“触途无滞，著著有出身之机；句下无私，头头有杀人之意。” |
Because Master Mazu’s words should be: “Encountering circumstances, there is no obstruction; in every move there is an opportunity to break free. In every utterance there is no partiality; at every turn lies the intent to kill.” |
| 【lvm】：我觉得你这样说冤枉了圆悟大师。 |
[lvm]: I feel that in saying this you have wronged Master Yuanwu. |
| 【心僧】：哈哈～～岂只是冤枉了圆悟大师 |
[Mind-Monk]: Ha ha~~ It is hardly only Master Yuanwu who has been wronged. |
| 连马大师和您也一网打尽了! |
Master Mazu and you have both been swept up in the same net! |
| 【lvm】：你也不得无份。 |
[lvm]: You cannot claim to have no share in it either. |
| 【菩提树】（接【lvm】：圆悟可以恁么道，因他无这一问。）：呵呵，老师，次日卷席的百丈早就恁么道了，是么？ |
[Bodhi Tree] (responding to [lvm]: “Yuanwu can speak this way because he did not ask this question.”): Heh heh, Teacher, Baizhang, who rolled up the mat the next day, had already spoken in just this way, had he not? |
| 【lvm】：这里说“鬼窟”也无不可。 |
[lvm]: There is nothing wrong with speaking of a “ghost cave” here as well. |
| 【布袋】：请大虫解释：虽似昭昭灵灵，却不住在昭昭灵灵处。 |
[Budai]: Please, Big Tiger, explain: “Though it seems brightly aware and vividly responsive, one does not abide in bright awareness and vivid responsiveness.” |
| 这是否是说，见到它的时候给人的感觉是昭昭灵灵，但是因为对它的认识，可以知道他却不是昭昭灵灵，所谓昭昭灵灵只是识神对它的感觉，所以不可住。对否？请老师指教？ |
Does this mean that, when one encounters it, it gives one the impression of being brightly aware and vividly responsive; yet because one understands it, one knows that it is not brightly aware and vividly responsive? So-called bright awareness and vivid responsiveness are only the consciousness’s impression of it and therefore should not be abided in. Is that correct? Please instruct me, Teacher. |
| 【lvm】：“离念灵知”也不可得。 |
[lvm]: Even “spiritual knowing apart from thoughts” cannot be obtained. |
| 【布袋】：请问老师，我的理解对否？ |
[Budai]: Teacher, may I ask whether my understanding is correct? |
| 【禅者】：有感觉便非昭昭灵灵。 |
[Chan Practitioner]: If there is a feeling, then it is not bright awareness and vivid responsiveness. |
| 【lvm】：理解就有对错，莫错过那个没有对错的。 |
[lvm]: Understanding entails right and wrong. Do not miss that which has neither right nor wrong. |
| 【布袋】：俺知也。谢谢老师！ |
[Budai]: I understand. Thank you, Teacher! |
| 【zxb】：请问老师，若百丈做痛声，马祖怎么道？ |
[zxb]: Teacher, may I ask: if Baizhang made a sound of pain, what would Mazu say? |
| 【lvm】：大师云：何曾飞去！ |
[lvm]: The Master would say, “When did they ever fly away?” |
| 【小鱼】：请问老师 |
[Little Fish]: Teacher, may I ask: |
| “若只依草附木，认个驴前马后，有何用处！”这句怎么解。 |
How should one understand the sentence, “But if one merely clings to grass and trees, recognizing only what comes before the donkey and after the horse, what use is that?” |
| “依草附木”是指妄念未断还是着在境上？经常听说的“不剿绝”是不是也是指妄念不断？ |
Does “clinging to grass and trees” refer to deluded thoughts not having ceased, or to attachment to objects? Does the often-heard expression “not cutting them off completely” also refer to deluded thoughts not ceasing? |
| “认个驴前马后”是指当面错过，事后回顾？ |
Does “recognizing only what comes before the donkey and after the horse” mean missing it right before one’s face and looking back afterward? |
| 【lvm】：一切贤圣皆以无为法而有差别。 |
[lvm]: All sages and worthies differ by means of the unconditioned dharma. |
| “若只依草附木，认个驴前马后，有何用处！”这句怎么解。 |
How should one understand the sentence, “But if one merely clings to grass and trees, recognizing only what comes before the donkey and after the horse, what use is that?” |
| ＊草木都有相。前念已过——马后；后念未起——驴前。原本前念已过、后念未起之际，正好蓦面碰着，正好一把擒来，奈他着相何！奈他仍从有相上求何！若他着相的习气深重，即使蓦面碰着，也是认假不认真，当面错过——若只依草附木，认个驴前马后，有何用处！ |
* Grass and trees all have appearances. The previous thought has passed—behind the horse; the subsequent thought has not yet arisen—in front of the donkey. At the very point when the previous thought has passed and the subsequent thought has not yet arisen, one can encounter it face-to-face and seize it in one grasp. What can attachment to appearances do to it? Why would one still seek it through appearances? If one’s habitual tendency to cling to appearances is deep, then even upon encountering it face-to-face, one mistakes the false for the true and misses it right before one’s face—what use is there in merely clinging to grass and trees, recognizing only what comes before the donkey and after the horse? |
| “依草附木”是指妄念未断还是着在境上？ |
Does “clinging to grass and trees” refer to deluded thoughts not having ceased, or to attachment to objects? |
| ＊是啊。 |
* Yes. |
| 经常听说的“不剿绝”是不是也是指妄念不断？ |
Is the often-heard phrase “not cutting off completely” also referring to deluded thoughts not being cut off? |
| ＊“不剿绝”也就是不能彻底无为。“一切贤圣皆以无为法而有差别。” |
* “Not cutting off completely” means that one cannot be wholly free of contrivance. “All worthy and holy ones are distinguished by the unconditioned dharma.” |
| “认个驴前马后”是指当面错过，事后回顾？ |
Does “recognizing a donkey’s front and a horse’s rear” mean missing it face-to-face and looking back afterward? |
| ＊当面错过无相，落入光影。事后回顾一定是光影，实相不存在事前事后。 |
* To miss the formless face-to-face is to fall into mere appearances. Looking back afterward is certainly an appearance; ultimate reality has no before or after. |
| 【小鱼】：唉，俺若问您“正当面时，如何不错过？” |
[Little Fish]: Ah, if I were to ask you, “At the very moment of meeting it face-to-face, how can one avoid missing it?” |
| 您一定回答“正当面时，还有错过的余地么！” |
you would surely answer, “At the very moment of meeting it face-to-face, is there still any room to miss it?” |
| 可是，可是，唉，说不清楚。 |
But, but—ah, it cannot be put into words. |
| 【lvm】：比如颜色，也是没法说清楚的，除非自己看到过。 |
[lvm]: Take color, for example: it cannot be explained clearly unless one has seen it oneself. |
| 言语道断，心行路绝，唯证乃知，真实不虚。 |
The way of words is cut off, and the path of mental activity is extinguished; only through realization can one know. It is true and not false. |
| 【问题】：请问老师： |
[Question]: May I ask the teacher: |
| 为何说“一切贤圣皆以无为法而有差别”？这里的差别指的是什么？ |
Why is it said, “All worthy and holy ones are distinguished by the unconditioned dharma”? What does this distinction refer to? |
| 【lvm】：一切贤圣包括了三贤十圣等。 |
[lvm]: “All worthy and holy ones” includes the three worthies and ten sages, among others. |
| 地前三贤——十住、十行、十回向位的菩萨。 |
The three worthies before the first bhūmi—the bodhisattvas at the stages of the ten abodes, ten practices, and ten dedications of merit. |
| 十圣——第一欢喜地。 |
The ten sages—the first, the Joyous Ground. |
| 第二离垢地。 |
The second, the Ground Free from Defilement. |
| 第三发光地。 |
The third, the Luminous Ground. |
| 第四焰慧地。 |
The fourth, the Ground of Blazing Wisdom. |
| 第五难胜地。 |
The fifth, the Ground Difficult to Conquer. |
| 第六现前地。 |
The sixth, the Ground of Manifest Presence. |
| 第七远行地。 |
The seventh, the Far-Going Ground. |
| 第八不动地。 |
The eighth, the Immovable Ground. |
| 第九善慧地。 |
The ninth, the Ground of Good Wisdom. |
| 第十法云地。 |
The tenth, the Dharma Cloud Ground. |
| 为何说“一切贤圣皆以无为法而有差别”？ |
Why is it said, “All worthy and holy ones are distinguished by the unconditioned dharma”? |
| ＊《金刚经》无得无说分第七 |
* Diamond Sūtra, Chapter Seven: No Attainment, No Teaching |
| 须菩提！于意云何？如来得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提耶？如来有所说法耶？ |
Subhūti, what do you think? Has the Tathāgata attained unsurpassed, complete, perfect awakening? Does the Tathāgata teach any dharma? |
| 须菩提言：如我解佛所说义，无有定法名阿耨多罗三藐三菩提，亦无有定法如来可说。何以故？如来所说法，皆不可取，不可说，非法，非非法，所以者何？一切贤圣皆以无为法而有差别！ |
Subhūti said: As I understand the meaning of what the Buddha has taught, there is no fixed dharma called unsurpassed, complete, perfect awakening, nor is there any fixed dharma that the Tathāgata can teach. Why is this? The dharmas taught by the Tathāgata cannot be grasped or spoken of; they are neither dharmas nor non-dharmas. Why is this so? All worthy and holy ones are distinguished by the unconditioned dharma! |
| 这里的差别指的是什么？ |
What does this distinction refer to? |
| ＊很明显，指的是无为的程度 |
* Obviously, it refers to the degree of non-contrivance. |
