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師生撫州崇仁。裴氏子。九歲入鄉校。長依廩山。知有別傳之旨。遂辭山。結廬峨峰。閱傳燈。見僧問興善。如何是道。善曰。大好山。師有疑。究之。忘寢食。一日。因舉石大悟。偈有。欲窮無上菩提道。急急疏通大好山之句。走見山。通所以。山詰之。應對無滯。山與剃落。密承印記。復擔囊謁少室。入五臺。南還居閩之董巖。次住壽昌。寶坊峨峰。萬曆戊午正月十六。索筆大書曰。今日分明指示。擲筆。坐逝。荼毗。頂骨不壞。 塔於方丈。
這
位禪師叫無明慧經，無明是惑，慧經是智慧之經，也就是文字般若，他是六十八世的曹洞宗祖師。「師生撫州崇仁」：這位禪師他是生在江西撫州崇仁縣那個地方。「裴氏子」：俗家姓斐，「九歲入鄉校」：九歲的時候入鄉校，大約是那時候沒有別的學校。「長依廩山」：可是讀完了書，年長了就依止廩山，到廩山那兒親近去。
「知有別傳之旨」：稟山就有禪宗的教外別傳，不立文字的法門。這個法門怎麼叫別傳？別傳就是特別的傳，不是一齊傳。單單一個人的傳叫別傳，不立文字。他知道佛教裡這一種的法，「遂辭山」：於是乎，他就向這個稟山告假，「結廬峨峰」：在峨峰那個地方搭一個茅蓬。
「閱傳燈」：他看這個《傳燈錄》，「見僧問興善」：他看到有一個和尚問興善禪師，「如何是道」：什麼叫道？「善曰」：興善禪師就答覆說，「大好山」。「師有疑」：於是乎，他就生了疑情，就是不明白這句話，到底是什麼意思。那麼因為不明白，他就去參。「究之」：究就是參，來念茲在茲地想要解答這個問題。可是啊！也解答不了。解答不了嘛，就「忘寢食」：把吃飯也忘了，睡覺也忘了。這是用功用到極點，不像現在的人，用了兩天半的功，他就覺得：「我也沒有什麼成就，也沒有什麼功效！」啊！就不幹了，所以就不能開悟。這位禪師二十四年都這麼精進地修道，把吃飯都忘了。
「一日，因舉石大悟」：那麼有一天，他舉這個石頭，這石頭大約不肯動，他還是搬這個石頭，就開悟了。「偈有」：他說，「欲窮無上菩提道」：窮，就是窮究。你想要研究無上的這種覺道，「急急疏通大好山」：快點把這個山要平了它。疏通，就是把它平了，容易走。容易走了，就是沒有一切的執著，沒有一切的煩惱。「走見山」：走去見廩山，「通所以」：告訴那個廩山他的所見。「山詰之」：詰之，就是考問。廩山就考問他。「應對無滯」：他問他什麼，他就對答如流。沒有一點需要想一想，或者不明白，沒有的；他是隨問隨答，沒有說：「我想一想才回答」，沒有的。「山與剃落」：這個廩山就給他剃頭了，像他這樣參禪，並沒有落髮，所以就落髮了。「密承印記」：傳給他心印法門，也就是傳衣缽給他。「復擔囊謁少室」：他接法了之後，又去當參學到少林寺。「入五臺」：到五臺山，去朝拜文殊師利菩薩。
→待續
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The Master was born in Chongren of Fuzhou to the Fei family. He entered a rural school at the age of nine. When he grew older he went to study under Master Lin Shan. Realizing that there was a teaching that was separately handed down, he left Master Lin Shan and went to E Feng, where he built a hut. In the Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, he read about a monk who asked Master Xing Shan, “What is the Way?” Master Xing Shan said, “The wonderful mountain.” The Master was puzzled. He inquired into it, forgetting to sleep and to eat. One day, upon lifting a stone, he experienced a great enlightenment. He spoke a verse: “If you wish to study the supreme Bodhi Way, quickly level the wonderful mountain.” He walked back to see Master Lin Shan and reported what he had experienced. Master Lin Shan questioned him, and he responded without hesitation. Master Lin Shan then shaved his head and secretly transmitted the mind seal to him. Later he carried his bag and went to visit the temple of Shao. Then he went to Wutai (Five-Peaked) Mountain. After returning to the South, he settled at Dong Yan in Fujian. Following that, he served as abbot at Shou Chang, Bao Fang, and E Feng monasteries. On the sixteenth of the first lunar month in the year of Wu Wu of the Wanli reign, he asked for a brush and wrote in large characters: “Today the instructions are clearly given.” Then he threw the brush down and passed away in a seated position. Since his cranial bone remained intact after cremation, his stupa was erected in the abbot’s quarters.
This Dhyana Master's name is Wu Ming Hui Jing. Wu Ming (ignorance) means delusion; Hui Jing means the Sutra of wisdom, that is, literary Prajna. He was the sixty-eighth generational patriarch of the Cao Dong sect. The Master was born in Chongren of Fuzhou to the Fei family. This Dhyana Master was born in Chongren County of Fuzhou in Jiangxi Province. His lay surname was Fei. He entered a rural school at the age of nine. Probably there were no other schools for him to go to at that time. When he grew older he went to study under Master Lin Shan. After he finished his studies and was older, he drew near Dhyana Master Lin Shan and studied under him.
Realizing that there was a teaching that was separately handed down, he left Master Lin Shan and went to E Feng, where he built a hut. Master Lin Shan understood the Dharma-door of the Chan School’s separate transmission outside the teaching, which does not rely on writing. The transmission is separate in that it is specially passed on to one individual at a time; it is not a group transmission. When a single person receives the transmission, which occurs without writing, that is a separate transmission. The Dhyana Master was aware that this kind of Dharma existed in Buddhism. Therefore, he took his leave from Master Lin Shan and went to build a hut in E Feng.
In the Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, he read about a monk who asked Dhyana Master Xing Shan, “What is the Way?” Master Xing Shan said, “The wonderful mountain.” The Master was puzzled. He gave rise to feelings of doubt; he couldn’t fathom the meaning of that sentence. Since he didn’t understand, he began to investigate it. He inquired into it, forgetting to sleep and to eat. He applied himself to examining this question, trying to resolve it in thought after thought. However, his efforts were fruitless. When he could not resolve his doubt, he tried harder, forgetting even about eating and sleeping. He was applying himself to the utmost point, unlike people nowadays, who work for two and a half days and think, “I haven’t achieved anything! I haven’t seen any results!” Then they give up and fail to attain enlightenment. This Dhyana Master cultivated with this kind of zeal and vigor for twenty-four years, to the point that he even forgot to eat.
One day, upon lifting a stone, he experienced a great enlightenment. The stone probably refused to budge, but he was still able to move it, and when he did so, he became enlightened. He spoke a verse: “If you wish to study the supreme Bodhi Way, quickly level the wonderful mountain.” If you want to look into the unsurpassed enlightenment, hurry up and level the mountain so that it will be easy to walk on. When it is easy to walk on, that means there are no longer any attachments or afflictions. He walked back to see Master Lin Shan and reported what he had experienced. He told Master Lin Shan what he had seen. Master Lin Shan questioned him in order to test him, and he responded without hesitation. No matter what Master Lin Shan asked him, he replied smoothly and easily. He didn’t even have to ponder for a moment, and the questions didn’t throw him off at all. As soon as a question was asked, he would answer it. He didn’t procrastinate and say, “Let me think about it for a minute.” Master Lin Shan then shaved his head and secretly transmitted the mind seal to him. Although he had been investigating and meditating in such a way, he had not yet shaved off his hair. At this point he finally shaved his hair and left the home-life. Master Lin Shan transmitted the Mind Seal Dharma-door to him, that is, handed the robe and bowl [symbols of the Dharma] to him. Later he carried his bag on a pole over his shoulder and went to visit the temple of Shao. After receiving the transmission of Dharma, he went to Shaolin Monastery and became a student there. Then he went to Wutai (Five-Peaked) Mountain to pay homage to Manjushri Bodhisattva.
→To be continued
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