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僧問：「不與萬法為侶者是甚麼人？」

A monk asked, “Who is the one who does not keep company with the ten thousand things?”

曰：「待汝一口吸盡西江水，即向汝道。」

The master said, “When you drink up the West River in one gulp, I will tell you.”

【按】此語出《雲門廣錄》等。萬法既空，何有「侶」可離？祖師借江水一喻，令人頓絕思量。

[Note] This exchange appears in the Record of Yunmen and related collections. When the ten thousand things are empty, what “companion” is there to leave? The ancestor uses the West River as a metaphor to cut off thinking at once.

佛問沙門：「人命在幾間？」

The Buddha asked a monk, “How long is human life?”

對曰：「數日間。」佛言：「子未知道。」

He answered, “Several days.” The Buddha said, “You have not yet known the Way.”

復問一沙門：「人命在幾間？」對曰：「飯食間。」佛言：「子未知道。」

He asked another monk, who answered, “The span of a meal.” The Buddha said, “You have not yet known the Way.”

復問一沙門：「人命在幾間？」對曰：「呼吸間。」佛言：「善哉！子知道矣。」

He asked another monk, who answered, “Between breaths.” The Buddha said, “Excellent! You have known the Way.”

【按】見《佛說四十二章經》第三十八。人命不在百年、晝夜或一餐之想，而在一呼一吸之間——當下即無常，當下即修行。與數息、守息、禪七「念在鼻尖」同一路：息在，命在；息失，身壞。切忌以「來日方長」自欺，亦莫執呼吸為實有；知危脆，方能精進不放逸。

[Note] See the Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters, chapter 38. Human life is not found in notions of a hundred years, a day and night, or a meal, but between one breath and the next—impermanence is now; practice is now. This accords with counting the breath, guarding the breath, and Chan-week practice of “mind at the tip of the nose”: while breath is, life is; when breath is lost, the body fails. Do not deceive yourself with “plenty of time,” yet do not cling to breath as something solid—knowing fragility is what makes earnest, non-negligent practice possible.

一日，隨侍馬祖路行次，聞野鴨聲，馬祖云：「什麼聲？」

One day, while accompanying Mazu on the road, they heard wild ducks. Mazu said, “What sound is that?”

師云：「野鴨聲。」

Baizhang said, “The sound of wild ducks.”

良久，馬祖云：「適來聲向什麼處去。」

After a while, Mazu said, “Where did that sound just now go?”

師云：「飛過去。」

Baizhang said, “It flew past.”

馬祖迴頭，將師鼻便搊，師作痛聲。

Mazu turned and twisted Baizhang’s nose; Baizhang cried out in pain.

馬祖云：「又道飛過去？」

Mazu said, “And you still say it flew past?”

師於言下有省。

At these words, Baizhang awakened.

【按】見《馬祖語錄》《傳燈錄》。聲色現前，不可執「去」「來」；馬祖一搊，頓忘知解。

[Note] See the Record of Mazu and Transmission of the Lamp. When sound and form are present, one must not cling to “going” or “coming”; Mazu’s twist of the nose abruptly cuts off conceptual knowing.

南泉和尚。因東西堂爭猫兒。泉乃提起云。大眾道得即救。道不得即斬却也。眾無對。泉遂斬之。晚趙州外歸。泉舉似州。州乃脫履。安頭上而出。泉云。子若在即救得猫兒。

Master Nanquan, because the eastern and western halls were fighting over a cat, held it up and said: “If you can speak, you will save it; if you cannot, I will cut it.” The assembly had no reply, and Nanquan cut it. Later, when Zhaozhou returned, Nanquan told him what happened. Zhaozhou took off his sandals, put them on his head, and walked out. Nanquan said, “If you had been here, you could have saved the cat.”

無門曰。且道。趙州頂草鞋意作麼生。若向者裏下得一轉語。便見南泉令不虛行。其或未然險。

Wumen said: Tell me, what is the meaning of Zhaozhou placing straw sandals on his head? If you can utter one turning word here, you will see Nanquan’s command was not carried out in vain. Otherwise, danger.

頌曰。

Verse:

趙州若在

If Zhaozhou had been there,

倒行此令

he would have reversed this command;

奪却刀子

snatched away the knife,

南泉乞命

and Nanquan would have begged for his life.

僧問：「雪覆千山，為甚孤峰不白？」

A monk asked, “Snow covers a thousand peaks—why does the lone peak not whiten?”

蒙山和尚曰：「別是一乾坤。」

Master Mengshan said, “It is another realm altogether.”

又問浮石禪師，師云：「從來不受人瞞。」

Another monk asked Master Fushi, who said, “From the beginning, one is never deceived by others.”

五峰禪師云：「孤峰不雪，千山為甚麼覆白？」

Master Wufeng said, “The lone peak is not snowed—then why are the thousand peaks covered white?”

【按】語出《續燈正統》等，非《無門關》原收，然為禪門常用話頭。千山同覆，孤峰獨露——切忌向「白」「不白」二邊落見。

[Note] These sayings appear in the Continued Orthodox Lamp Record and related sources—not originally in the Gateless Barrier, but widely used in Zen teaching. A thousand peaks equally covered, yet the lone peak stands revealed—do not fall into the dualism of “white” and “not white.”

五祖法演問僧云：「倩女離魂，那箇是真底？」

Master Wuzu Fayan asked a monk: “Qiannü’s soul leaves her body—which one is the true one?”

無門曰：「若向者裏悟得真底，便知出殼入殼，如宿旅舍。其或未然，切莫亂走。驀然地水火風一散，如落湯螃蠏，七手八腳。那時莫言不道。」

Wumen said: “If you awaken to the true one here, you will know leaving and entering the shell like staying at an inn. If not yet so, do not run about blindly. Suddenly when earth, water, fire, and wind scatter, you will be like a crab dropped into boiling soup, flailing in all directions. At that time, do not say no one told you.”

頌曰。

Verse:

雲月是同

Cloud and moon are the same;

溪山各異

stream and mountain are each different.

萬福萬福

Ten thousand blessings, ten thousand blessings;

是一是二

is it one, or is it two?

【按】見《無門關》第三十五則。英譯常作 Seijō’s Soul Is Separated。切忌以「兩個身體」作玄解；當下問：誰在問、誰在答？

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 35—often translated as “Seijō’s Soul Is Separated.” Do not treat the “two bodies” as a mystical puzzle alone; ask directly: who is asking, and who is answering?

百丈和尚。凡參次有一老人。常隨眾聽法。眾人退老人亦退。忽一日不退。師遂問。面前立者復是何人。

Master Baizhang noticed an old man who always listened to the teaching with the assembly and left when they left, until one day he did not leave. Baizhang asked who he was.

老人云。諾某甲非人也。於過去迦葉佛時。曾住此山。因學人問。大修行底人還落因果。也無。某甲對云。不落因果。五百生墮野狐身。

The old man said: I am not human. In the time of Kāśyapa Buddha I lived on this mountain. A student asked whether a person of great practice still falls into cause and effect. I answered, “Does not fall into cause and effect,” and for five hundred lives I fell into the body of a wild fox.

今請和尚。代一轉語貴。脫野狐遂問。大修行底人還落因果。也無。

Now I beg the Master for one turning word to free me from the fox body. So he asked again: Does a person of great practice still fall into cause and effect?

師云。不昧因果。

Baizhang said: “Not ignorant of cause and effect.”

老人於言下大悟。作禮云。某甲已脫野狐身。住在山後。

At these words the old man awakened, bowed, and said he was freed from the fox body and was now behind the mountain.

敢告和尚。乞依亡僧事例。師令維那白槌告眾。食後送亡僧。

He asked for funeral rites as for a deceased monk. Baizhang told the assembly after the meal to send off a dead monk.

大眾言議。一眾皆安涅槃堂。又無人病。何故如是。食後只見師領眾。至山後巖下。以杖挑出一死野狐。乃依火葬。

The monks wondered, since everyone was present and no one was sick. After the meal they followed Baizhang to a cliff behind the mountain, where he lifted out a dead wild fox with his staff and cremated it.

師至晚上堂。舉前因緣。黃蘗便問。古人錯祇對一轉語。墮五百生野狐身。轉轉不錯。合作箇甚麼。

That evening Baizhang raised this story. Huangbo asked: If one wrong turning word caused five hundred lives as a fox, what if every turning word is never wrong?

師云。近前來與伊道。黃蘗遂近前。與師一掌。師拍手笑云。將謂。胡鬚赤更有赤鬚胡。

Baizhang said: Come closer and I will tell you. Huangbo stepped forward and slapped him. Baizhang clapped and laughed: I thought a red-bearded barbarian was one thing, now there is another red-bearded barbarian.

無門曰。不落因果。為甚墮野狐。不昧因果。為甚脫野狐。若向者裏著得一隻眼。便知得。前百丈贏得。風流五百生。

Wumen said: If “not falling into cause and effect,” why become a wild fox? If “not obscuring cause and effect,” why be freed? If you gain one eye here, you know old Baizhang won graceful freedom through five hundred lives.

頌曰。

Verse:

不落不昧

Not falling, not obscuring;

兩采一賽

two sides, one game.

不昧不落

Not obscuring, not falling;

千錯萬錯

a thousand mistakes, ten thousand mistakes.

俱胝和尚。凡有詰問。唯舉一指。後有童子。因外人問。和尚說何法要。童子亦竪指頭。

Master Gutei, whenever questioned, only raised one finger. Later, a boy answered visitors the same way when asked what Dharma the master taught.

胝聞。遂以刃斷其指。童子負痛號哭而去。胝復召之。童子迴首。胝却竪起指。童子忽然領悟。

Hearing this, Gutei cut off the boy’s finger. As the boy cried and ran away, Gutei called him back. When he turned his head, Gutei raised one finger; the boy suddenly awakened.

胝將順世。謂眾曰。吾得天龍一指頭禪。一生受用不盡。言訖示滅。

Before passing away, Gutei told the assembly: “I received Tianlong’s one-finger Zen and used it all my life without exhausting it.” Then he entered nirvana.

無門曰。俱胝并童子悟處。不在指頭上。若向者裏見得。天龍同俱胝并童子。與自己一串穿却。

Wumen said: The awakening of Gutei and the boy is not in the fingertip. If you see through this, Tianlong, Gutei, the boy, and you yourself are threaded on one string.

頌曰。

Verse:

俱胝鈍置老天龍

Gutei made old Tianlong seem dull;

利刃單提勘小童

with a sharp blade he tested the young attendant.

巨靈擡手無多子

When the giant spirit lifts his hand, little remains;

分破華山千萬重

he cleaves Mount Hua into ten thousand layers.

達磨面壁。二祖立雪斷臂云。弟子心未安。乞師安心。磨云。將心來。與汝安。祖云。覓心了不可得。磨云。為汝安心竟。

Bodhidharma faced the wall. The Second Patriarch stood in the snow and cut off his arm, saying, “My mind is not yet at peace; I beg the Master to pacify it.” Bodhidharma said, “Bring me your mind and I will pacify it.” The Patriarch said, “I have sought the mind but cannot find it.” Bodhidharma said, “I have pacified it for you completely.”

無門曰。缺齒老胡。十萬里航海特特而來。可謂是無風起浪。末後接得一箇門人。又却六根不具。咦謝三郎。不識四字。

Wumen said: The toothless old barbarian crossed the sea ten thousand miles just to stir waves where there was no wind. In the end he got one disciple, yet that fellow was lacking in all six faculties. Hey, Third Son Xie—he does not know four characters.

頌曰。

Verse:

西來直指

Direct pointing from the West;

事因囑起

the affair arose from entrustment.

撓聒叢林

It disturbed and noisied up the monasteries;

元來是爾

in the end, it is just you.

梁武帝問達磨大師曰：「朕造寺、度僧、布施，有何功德？」

Emperor Wu of Liang asked Bodhidharma, “I have built temples, ordained monks, and given alms—what merit is there in this?”

師曰：「無功德。」

The Master said, “No merit.”

帝曰：「何以無功德？」

The emperor asked, “Why no merit?”

師曰：「此是有為之有，不過人天果報，如影隨形，實無功德。」

The Master said, “These are conditioned acts—no more than human and heavenly retribution, like a shadow following a form. In truth there is no merit.”

帝曰：「何者是真功德？」

The emperor asked, “What then is true merit?”

師曰：「淨智妙圓，體自空寂，雖行此等事，亦不取著，是名功德。」

The Master said, “Pure wisdom, wondrous and complete, whose essence is empty and still—even when doing such deeds, one does not cling. That is called merit.”

帝曰：「何謂聖諦第一義？」

The emperor asked, “What is the highest meaning of the holy truth?”

師曰：「廓然無聖。」

The Master said, “Vast emptiness—nothing holy.”

帝曰：「對朕者誰？」

The emperor asked, “Who is it that stands before me?”

師曰：「不識。」

Bodhidharma said, “I do not know.”

【按】見《續高僧傳·達摩傳》。「不識」非懵懂，乃不將聖凡、朕與臣對立；最親切處，不可名說。

[Note] See the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks, biography of Bodhidharma. “I do not know” is not ignorance—it refuses the opposition of sacred and ordinary, emperor and subject. At the most intimate point, it cannot be named.

趙州因僧問。如何是祖師西來意。州云。庭前柏樹子。

A monk asked Zhaozhou, “What is the meaning of the ancestral teacher’s coming from the West?” Zhaozhou said, “The cypress tree before the courtyard.”

僧云：「和尚莫接人向柏樹子裏鑽。」州云：「吾喚作柏樹子，為法故不避。」

The monk said, “Master, do not lead people to burrow into a cypress tree.” Zhaozhou said, “I call it a cypress tree—for the Dharma I do not shrink back.”

無門曰。若向趙州答處。見得親切。前無釋迦。後無彌勒。

Wumen said: If at Zhaozhou’s answer you see intimately, then before you there is no Śākyamuni and after you no Maitreya.

頌曰。

Verse:

言無展事

Words do not unfold the matter;

語不投機

speech does not meet the pivot.

承言者喪

Those who follow words are lost;

滯句者迷

those stuck in phrases are deluded.

香嚴智閑禪師，初參百丈，後參溈山。溈山一日問：「聞汝在百丈時，百丈有一轉語，汝但舉看。」

Master Xiangyan Zhixian first studied with Baizhang, then with Guishan. One day Guishan asked, “I hear that when you were with Baizhang there was a turning word—try raising it.”

香嚴云：「憶得。」溈山云：「試舉看。」香嚴擬議，溈山云：「不是。」

Xiangyan said, “I remember.” Guishan said, “Try raising it.” Xiangyan began to reason, and Guishan said, “That is not it.”

香嚴退，辭溈山，住南陽。一日因除草，擲瓦礫擊著竹木，發聲，忽然大悟。

Xiangyan withdrew, took leave of Guishan, and lived at Nanyang. One day while clearing weeds he threw a tile that struck bamboo and made a sound; he suddenly awakened greatly.

遂沐浴焚香，遙禮溈山，讚曰：「和尚大慈，恩逾父母。當時若為我說破，何有今日之事？」

He bathed, burned incense, and bowed toward Guishan from afar, praising him: “Master, your great compassion exceeds that of parents. Had you explained it for me then, how could today’s affair have occurred?”

乃說偈曰：「一擊忘所知，更不假修持。動容揚古路，不墮悄然機。處處無蹤跡，聲色外威儀。諸方達道者，咸言上上機。」

He spoke a verse: “With one strike, all I knew was forgotten; no further cultivation is required. Bearing form, I carry the ancient path, not falling into hidden mechanisms. Everywhere without a trace; dignity beyond sound and form. Adepts everywhere say this is the supreme pivot.”

【按】擊竹悟道見《溈山語錄》。無門關第五則另收「香嚴上樹」之問，同出香嚴禪師。

[Note] The bamboo awakening appears in the Record of Guishan. Gateless Barrier case 5 separately collects Xiangyan’s “person in a tree” question—both from Master Xiangyan.

無門曰（第五則「香嚴上樹」）。縱有懸河之辨，總用不著。說得一大藏教，亦用不著。若向者裡對得著，活卻從前死路頭，死卻從前活路頭。

Wumen said (case 5, “Xiangyan in a Tree”): Even with eloquence like a flooding river, it is of no use. Even the entire Tripiṭaka is of no use. If you can answer here, you revive what was dead and kill what was alive.

頌曰。

Verse:

香嚴真杜撰

Xiangyan truly made it up;

惡毒無盡限

malice without limit.

啞卻衲僧口

He silences the mouths of patch-robed monks;

通身迸鬼眼

throughout the body, demon eyes burst forth.

趙州因僧問：「曾到此間麼？」

A monk asked Zhaozhou, “Have you been here before?”

曰：「曾到。」

The monk said, “Yes, I have.”

州云：「喫茶去。」

Zhaozhou said, “Go drink tea.”

又問僧：「曾到此間麼？」

He asked another monk, “Have you been here before?”

曰：「不曾到。」

The monk said, “No, I have not.”

州云：「喫茶去。」

Zhaozhou said, “Go drink tea.”

院主云：「曾到、不曾到，為甚麼教他喫茶去？」

The abbot said, “Whether he has been here or not—why tell him to go drink tea?”

州云：「院主，也須喫茶去。」

Zhaozhou said, “Abbot, you too must go drink tea.”

【按】見《趙州語錄》。來與不來、知與不知，盡在平常一碗茶中；切忌向文字裡討會。

[Note] See the Record of Zhaozhou. Coming or not coming, knowing or not knowing—all are settled in an ordinary bowl of tea. Do not seek understanding in words.

舉：古有十六開士，於浴僧時，隨例入浴，忽悟水因。

Case: Long ago, sixteen bodhisattvas entered the bath with the assembly on bath day and suddenly awakened to the condition of water.

跋陀婆羅白佛言：「我等先於威音王佛，聞法出家。於浴僧時，隨例入室。忽悟水因，既不洗塵，亦不洗體，中間安然，得無所有。」

Bhadrapāla said to the Buddha: “We first left home under King of Majestic Sound Buddha. On bath day we entered the bath as usual and suddenly awakened to the condition of water: neither washing dust nor washing the body; in between, peacefully, attaining ‘nothing at all.’”

「妙觸宣明，成佛子住。佛問圓通，如我所證，觸因為上。」

“Wondrous touch illuminates clearly; I abide as a child of the Buddha. When the Buddha asked about perfect penetration, as I have realized it, the cause of touch is supreme.”

【按】見《首楞嚴經》及《碧巖錄》第七十八則。洗亦非洗，觸亦非觸，當下無所得，是真般若。圜悟評曰：「妙觸宣明，成佛子住，也須七穿八穴始得。」

[Note] See the Śūraṅgama Sūtra and Blue Cliff Record, case 78. Neither washing nor touching—at once attaining nothing: this is true prajñā. Yuanguo’s comment: “Wondrous touch illuminates; abide as children of the Buddha—yet you must still be pierced seven times and eight.”

爾時維摩詰謂文殊師利言：「諸文殊！病起於妄，妄起於著，著起於顛倒。若除顛倒，則無病；若無病，則無身；若無身，則無眾生。」

Then Vimalakīrti said to Mañjuśrī: “Mañjuśrī, illness arises from delusion; delusion arises from attachment; attachment arises from inversion. Remove inversion and there is no illness; without illness, no body; without body, no beings.”

文殊問：「云何菩薩慰問病者？」

Mañjuśrī asked, “How should a bodhisattva console the sick?”

維摩詰言：「以無身為身，起於大慈悲；以無病為病，起於大慈悲。若菩薩作是念：『我病故，諸菩薩亦病。』」

Vimalakīrti said, “Take no-body as body and arouse great compassion; take no-illness as illness and arouse great compassion. If a bodhisattva thinks, ‘Because I am ill, all bodhisattvas are ill…’”

「以一切眾生病，是故我病；若一切眾生病滅，則我病滅。」

“Because all beings are ill, therefore I am ill; if the illness of all beings ceases, then my illness will cease.”

【按】見《維摩詰所說經·文殊問疾品》。病即眾生相，慰問即同體大悲，非世間醫藥可盡。

[Note] See the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, “Mañjuśrī’s Inquiry into Illness.” Illness is the mark of beings; consolation is compassion of shared body—not exhausted by worldly medicine.

世尊因波斯匿王請，與大眾至一處，指地云：「此處宜建梵剎。」

When King Prasenajit invited him, the World-Honored One went with the assembly to a place, pointed to the ground, and said, “This place is suitable for building a monastery.”

時帝釋梵王，從空而下，於前地插一草，却云：「建梵剎已竟。」

Then Śakra, king of the gods, descended from the sky, planted a blade of grass in the ground before them, and said, “The monastery has already been built.”

世尊微笑。

The World-Honored One smiled.

【按】見《景德傳燈錄》等。佛指處所，帝釋以草表成——當下圓成，不在造作。與《無門關》第六則「世尊拈花」同為佛與大眾默契之機。

[Note] See the Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp and related sources. The Buddha points to the site; Śakra marks completion with a blade of grass—fulfillment is immediate, not a matter of construction. Like Gateless Barrier case 6 (“The Buddha Holds Up a Flower”), this is a pivot of tacit accord between Buddha and assembly.

趙州和尚、因僧問、狗子還有佛性也無。州云、無。

A monk asked Zhaozhou, “Does a dog have Buddha-nature or not?” Zhaozhou said, “Mu (No).”

無門曰：「參禪須透祖師關、妙悟要窮心路絕。只者一箇無字、乃宗門一關也。」

Wumen said: “To study Zen you must pass through the barrier of the patriarchs and cut off the way of thinking. This one word ‘Mu’ is the barrier of the Zen school.”

頌曰。

Verse:

狗子佛性

The dog, the Buddha Nature;

全提正令

the pronouncement, perfect and final.

纔渉有無

Before you say it has or has not,

喪身失命

you are a dead man on the spot.

【按】見《無門關》第一則。

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 1.

香嚴和尚云、如人上樹、口啣樹枝、手不攀枝、脚不踏樹。樹下有人問西來意、不對即違他所問、若對又喪身失命。正恁麼時、作麼生對。

Master Xiangyan said: “It is like a man up in a tree hanging by his mouth from a branch; his hands grasp no bough, his feet rest on no limb. Someone below asks about the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the West. If he does not answer, he fails to respond. If he does answer, he loses his life. At such a moment, what would you do?”

無門曰：「縱有懸河之辨、惣用不著。説得一大藏教、亦用不著。若向者裏對得著、活却從前死路頭、死却從前活路頭。」

Wumen said: “Even if your eloquence flows like a river, it is of no avail. Though you expound the whole Tripiṭaka, it is of no use. If you answer here, you revive what was dead and kill what was alive.”

頌曰。

Verse:

香嚴眞杜撰

Xiangyan is truly thoughtless;

惡毒無盡限

his vice and poison are endless.

唖却納僧口

He stops up the mouths of the monks,

通身迸鬼眼

and devil’s eyes sprout from their bodies.

【按】見《無門關》第五則。

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 5—not to be confused with Xiangyan’s bamboo awakening (case 12 in other collections).

六祖、因明上座、趁至大庾嶺。祖見明至、即擲衣鉢於石上云、此衣表信、可力爭耶、任君將去。明遂擧之如山不動、踟蹰悚慄。明云、我來求法、非爲衣也。願行者開示。

The Sixth Patriarch was pursued by the monk Huiming as far as Dayu Mountain. Seeing Huiming arrive, the patriarch placed the robe and bowl on a rock and said, “This robe represents the faith; it should not be fought over. If you want it, take it now.” Huiming tried to move it but could not. Trembling, he cried, “I came for the Dharma, not for the robe. I beg you, please instruct me.”

祖云、不思善、不思惡、正與麼時、那箇是明上座本來面目。明當下大悟、遍體汗流。

The patriarch said, “Think neither good nor evil. At this very moment, what is the original face of the monk Huiming?” At these words Huiming was directly illuminated; his whole body was covered with sweat.

無門曰：「六祖可謂是事出急家、老婆心切。譬如新荔枝、剥了殼去了核、送在你口裏、只要你嚥一嚥。」

Wumen said: “The Sixth Patriarch acted like a grandmother in an emergency—peeling a fresh lychee, removing the pit, putting it in your mouth, and asking you to swallow.”

頌曰。

Verse:

描不成兮畫不就

You cannot describe it; you cannot picture it;

贊不及兮休生受

you cannot admire it—do not try to eat it raw.

本來面目沒處藏

Your original face has nowhere to hide;

世界壞時渠不朽

when the world is destroyed, it is not destroyed.

【按】見《無門關》第二十三則。

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 23.

溈山和尚、始在百丈會中充典座。百丈、將選大溈主人、乃請同首座對衆下語、出格者可往。百丈遂拈淨瓶、置地上設問云、不得喚作淨瓶、汝喚作甚麼。首座乃云、不可喚作木橛也。百丈却問於山。山乃趯倒淨瓶而去。百丈笑云、第一座輸却山子也。因命之爲山。

When Guishan was head cook under Baizhang, Baizhang wanted to choose a master for Mount Wei and asked the assembly for an outstanding answer. He placed a water bottle on the floor and said, “You may not call this a water bottle. What do you call it?” The head monk said, “It cannot be called a stump.” Baizhang asked Guishan, who tipped over the water bottle with his foot and walked out. Baizhang laughed: “The head monk loses,” and named Guishan abbot.

無門曰：「溈山一期之勇、爭奈跳百丈圈圖不出。脱得盤頭、擔起鐵枷。」

Wumen said: “Guishan showed great spirit, yet he could not cut himself free from Baizhang’s apron strings. He took off his headband to bear the iron yoke.”

頌曰。

Verse:

颺下笊籬并木杓

Tossing bamboo baskets and ladles away,

當陽一突絶周遮

he made a glorious dash and swept all before him.

百丈重關欄不住

Baizhang’s barrier cannot stop his advance;

脚尖趯出佛如麻

thousands of Buddhas come forth from the tips of his feet.

【按】見《無門關》第四十則。

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 40.

六祖、因風颺刹幡。有二僧、對論。一云、幡動。一云、風動。往復曾未契理。祖云、不是風動、不是幡動、仁者心動。二僧悚然。

The wind was flapping a temple flag, and two monks argued: one said the flag moved, the other said the wind moved—they could not agree. The Sixth Patriarch said, “It is not the wind that moves, it is not the flag that moves; it is your mind that moves.” The two monks were awe-struck.

無門曰：「不是風動、不是幡動、不是心動、甚處見祖師。若向者裏見得親切、方知二僧買鐵得金。」

Wumen said: “Not wind, not flag, not mind—where do you see the patriarch? If you see intimately here, you know the two monks got gold when buying iron.”

頌曰。

Verse:

風幡心動

Wind, flag, mind—all moving;

一狀領過

all equally to blame.

只知開口

Only knowing how to open his mouth,

不覺話墮

unaware of his fault in talking.

【按】見《無門關》第二十九則。

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 29.

五祖曰、譬如水牯牛過窗櫺、頭角四蹄都過了、因甚麼尾巴過不得。

Master Wuzu said, “It is like a water buffalo passing through a window frame: its head, horns, and four legs all pass through—why can’t the tail pass too?”

無門曰：「若向者裏顛倒、著得一隻眼、下得一轉語、可以上報四恩、下資三有。其或未然、更須照顧尾巴始得。」

Wumen said: “If you turn yourself completely about, open your eye, and speak a turning word here, you can repay the four kindnesses and help sentient beings in the three realms. If not yet so, return to this tail and reflect upon it.”

頌曰。

Verse:

過去墮坑塹

Passing by, it falls into a ditch;

回來却失壞

coming back, all the worse, it is lost.

者些尾巴子

This tiny little tail—

直是甚奇怪

what a strange thing it is!

【按】見《無門關》第三十八則。

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 38.

世尊、昔、在靈山會上拈花示衆。是時、衆皆默然。惟迦葉尊者破顔微笑。

When the World-Honored One was at Mount Grdhrakuta, he held up a flower before the assembly. Everyone was silent. Only Mahākāśyapa broke into a smile.

世尊云、吾有正法眼藏、涅槃妙心、實相無相、微妙法門、不立文字、教外別傳、付囑摩訶迦葉。

The Buddha said, “I have the True Dharma Eye, the Marvelous Mind of Nirvana, the True Form of the Formless, the Subtle Dharma Gate—independent of words, transmitted beyond doctrine. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.”

無門曰：「若道正法眼藏有傳授、黄面老子誑闤閭閻。若道無傳授、爲甚麼獨許迦葉。」

Wumen said: “If you say the True Dharma Eye can be transmitted, the golden-faced old man is cheating the crowd. If you say it cannot be transmitted, why did he approve of Kāśyapa alone?”

頌曰。

Verse:

拈起花來

Hold up a flower—

尾巴已露

the tail is already exposed.

迦葉破顔

Kāśyapa breaks into a smile;

人天罔措

heaven and earth are at a loss.

【按】見《無門關》第六則。

[Note] Gateless Barrier, case 6.