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師生漣水。濮氏子。其年八歲。見同學衣縞素。疑而問之。答曰吾祖母死。師曰人有死耶。即留意生死二字。十七入泮。三十三歲入國學。參雪嶠信。深蒙開示。疑情愈切。後經行林間。抬頭見柳梢月上。忽全身放下。惟女子出定公案甚疑。偶見洛陽花開。頓爾打破疑團。順治甲午秋。受嵩乳密和尚囑。年六十出世住卓錫。語錄雜著盛行於世。於康熙丙寅秋坐脫。時年八十有二。塔建於卓錫之青龍岡。
註解：
這位禪師也是曹洞宗的七十一世。他名字叫破巖，大約是個石匠，所以他能把這個山巖給打破；字叫弘繼禪師。
「師生漣水」：漣水是地名。「濮氏子」：他俗家姓濮。「其年八歲」：他在很小的時候，才八歲。「見同學衣縞素」：見同學穿白衣服。「疑而問之」：他八歲以前大約沒見過人穿白衣服。在中國穿白衣服認為是不吉祥的衣服。「答曰吾祖母死」：說我祖母親死了，所以要戴孝。「師曰人有死耶」：人人都應該死嗎？這「耶」就是問號。「即留意生死二字」：從這之後他就很注意－－留意就是注意－－生死問題上了。對這個問題總不釋然，時時都放不下。
「十七入泮」：泮不一定是中學，好像是中秀才。鄉考考上了就叫入泮，是不是有秀才的這個資格，就不確實知道。「三十三歲入國學」：在三十三歲的時候他入國學，就是國子監，在那時候大約就是當時國家的最高學府。「參雪嶠信」：他入國學，當然也就隨時研究。完了，就出去研究佛學；研究佛學就親近雪嶠信禪師。「深蒙開示」：雪嶠信禪師，對他有很大的啟示。
「疑情愈切」：他懷疑的這個倩，對於佛法，對禪宗這一門，他更用功了。用功用到什麼樣子呢？這個我們可想而知。疑情愈切，就是用功到那專一的程度，甚至於發憤忘食來用功，把一切都忘了，就是專一念茲在茲的，行不知行；坐不知坐；渴就不知渴；餓不知餓的，這個時候工夫就到了登峰造極。
「後經行林間」：他白天晚間都這麼用功參這個話頭，念茲在茲地時刻也不忘這種情形。以後他在晚間也睡不著覺，就跑到樹林子裏頭經行去。「抬頭」：本來用功的人多數都低著頭，眼睛往地下看，很少抬頭的。大約他也用功到極點了，不知不覺地就抬起頭來一看。「見柳梢月上」：那個月亮爬到柳梢上去了。
「忽全身放下」：這時候就像用鑰匙開鎖似的，把他這個鎖給開開了。他把一切都放下了，就空了。「惟女子出定公案甚疑」：他對「女子出定」這個公案還沒有打破，還不明白為什麼。這公案他打不破，所以他後來「偶見洛陽花開」，到洛陽那地方看見花開。「頓爾打破疑團」：他在這個時候忽然間通體脫落，甚麼都沒有了，真是空了。這時真開悟了。
「順治甲午秋」：那個秋天。「受嵩乳密和尚囑」：就是傳給他心印法了。「年六十出世」在卓錫那個地方，「住卓錫」。「語錄雜著」：他有語錄，又有雜著寫作。「盛行於世」：在當時都印出來了。「於康熙丙寅秋」：丙寅秋天的時候。「坐脫」：那時候他自己坐著就圓寂了。「時年八十有二」：這時候他年紀八十二歲了。「塔建於卓錫之青龍岡」：卓錫寺旁邊青龍岡那地方，就是在這個寺的左邊。
待續
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Text:
The Master was born in Lianshui to the family of Pu. At the age of eight, he saw a classmate wearing white and asked the reason. The classmate replied that his grandmother had died. "Will all people die?" asked the Master. He began to pay attention to the matter of birth and death. At age seventeen, he entered college. At thirty-three, he entered the national school.
Afterwards, he studied under Master Xin of Xueqiao ("Faith of Snowy Ridge"), from whom he received profound instruction. His sense of doubt grew surpassingly keen. Later, while walking meditatively in the woods, he raised his head and saw that the moon had risen to the top of the willow tree. Suddenly his entire body was liberated. He still had doubts about the public record of "the girl who came out of samadhi." Happening to see the flowers blooming in Loyang, he smashed through his doubts at once.
In autumn of the year
jiawu during the Shunzhi reign period, he received the transmission from the Venerable Songru Mi. At age sixty, he became abbot at Zhuoxi. His recorded sayings and miscellaneous writings were put into circulation. In the autumn of the year
binyin during the Kangxi reign period, he departed in a seated posture. He was eighty-two years old. A stupa was built at Qinlonggang (Green Dragon Ridge) next to Zhuoxi Monastery.
Commentary:
This Dhyana Master was another one of the seventy-first generation of the Caodong Sect. His name was Poyan ("Cliff Shattering"). He was probably a stone mason who was capable of breaking up cliffs and precipices. His other name was Dhyana Master Hongji ("Vast Succession").
The Master was born in Lianshui to the family of Pu. Lianshui ("Flowing Waters") is the name of a place. His lay surname was Pu. As a child,
at the age of only eight, he saw a classmate wearing white and asked the reason. He had probably never seen anyone all dressed in white before he turned eight. In China, white clothing is considered inauspicious.
The classmate replied that his grandmother had died, and that he had to dress thus to show his filial piety.
"Will all people die?" asked the Master. "Is everyone going to die?" From that time on,
he began to pay attention to the matter of birth and death. It never left his mind. He could not forget about it.
At age seventeen, he entered college. When one passed the district exam, one could enter college. It is not certain whether he had attained the status of a
xiucai (graduate of the first degree). At thirty-three, he entered the national school, that is, the Imperial Academy. It was probably the highest educational institution in the country at the time. While attending the Imperial Academy, he engaged in constant research.
Afterwards, he pursued the study of Buddhism. He drew near and
studied under Dhyana Master Xin of Xueqiao ("Faith of Snowy Ridge"), from whom he received profound instruction. He gained tremendous insights from Dhyana Master Xin.
His sense of doubt regarding the Buddhadharma and the Chan practice
grew surpassingly keen. These doubts drove him to apply himself with greater diligence. The degree of his zeal and concentration was so high that he forgot about eating and everything else; all he thought about in every second was concentrating on his practice. He was not aware of walking and sitting; he was not conscious of hunger and thirst. He had reached a climax in his practice and was ripe for a breakthrough.
Day and night, he investigated his meditation topic, not forgetting it for a moment.
Later, one night he could not sleep, so he took a walk in the forest.
While walking meditatively in the woods, he raised his head. Usually, when people are engrossed in their practice, their heads are lowered and they are looking down at the ground. Seldom do they look up. He probably looked up without realizing it when he reached a peak in his meditative effort. He raised his head
and saw that the moon had risen to the top of the willow tree. Suddenly his entire body was liberated. It was as if something had been unlocked. He put everything down, and experienced emptiness.
However, he still had doubts about the public record of "the girl who came out of samadhi." He had not penetrated this public record yet. He did not understand it. Later,
happening to see the flowers blooming in Loyang, he smashed through his doubts at once. Everything fell away and disappeared, and there was true emptiness. He was truly enlightened at that time.
In autumn of the year jiawu during the Shunzhi reign period, he received the transmission of the mind-seal Dharma
from the Venerable Songru Mi. At age sixty, he became abbot at Zhuoxi Monastery.
His recorded sayings and miscellaneous writings were put into circulation. They were all published.
In the autumn of the year binyin during the Kangxi reign period, he departed in a seated posture. While seated, he perfected the stillness.
He was eighty-two years old at the time.
His stupa was built at Qinlonggang (Green Dragon Ridge) next to Zhuoxi Monastery. It was to the left of the monastery.
To be continued
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