 師古田陳氏子。幼業儒。年二十五。忽厭世相。遂脫臼。依恆濤和尚究心宗。出嶺遍參。禮文覺禪師於北京。疑情頓發。一日覺纔見。打一竹蓖。師禮拜。覺曰，子見什麼道理。曰某甲不是野狐精。覺以手掩其口。雲，離卻口作麼道。師托開雲，有口只堪喫飯。呈偈曰。啞子喫黃連。滿口說不得。只是自點頭。夏到天氣熱。覺為印可。歸閩。濤命繼席。示寂。塔於鼓山。中丞餘公。嚮師道風。執弟子禮。為敘其語錄行世。
註解：
這個是鼓山的一位禪師，叫遍照興隆禪師，也是曹洞宗七十二世的一位祖師。「師古田陳氏子」，古田在福建省古田縣。俗家姓陳的這個家裏頭，也出祖師的。「幼業儒」，他年輕的時候是讀書的人。「年二十五」歲「忽厭世相」，他忽然間就討厭世相了，世間一切一切他覺得都是虛妄無常的，不究竟。「遂脫臼」，於是乎他就出家「依恆濤和尚究心宗。」依是依止。當時有一位很有德行的禪師叫恆濤，興隆禪師依止他來研究參禪的心宗，就是心地法門。心就是心地，心地含諸種，在這個心地法門，能生出種種的功德來，功德法財都由心地生出來的。
「出嶺遍參」，於是他就離開了他所住的地方，到諸方去當參學。「禮文覺禪師於北京」，又到北京地方去親近文覺禪師。「疑情頓發」，他這個時候才用功稍微相應。所以人用功，不要在心意識上用工夫，學佛法也不要在心意識上來學佛法。
心意識是什麼？就是做表面的工作，什麼事情都不實際，不往真的做，儘做一些虛偽的宣傳，做一些個不是真實的事情，做一些虛虛假假，專門叫人知道我，「你看，我是一個很好的佛教徒啊！我是一個佛教的真修行人啦！我是一個怎麼樣怎麼樣的。」這都叫在那兒自我宣傳呢！什麼事情都是儘在表面上用工夫，真實的地方一點都沒有；沒有真東西，把外面貼得很多金，裏邊好邋遢。弄得這個樣子，就不是心宗了，這儘在外面皮毛上面用工夫。因為這樣子，所以他到北京真實用功了，真知道自己以前的錯了。
「一日覺纔見」，這個文覺禪師一見到他就「打一竹蓖」，打他一竹蓖，用好像扁擔的東西就打他。這個打是出其不意，攻其不備。他並沒有說，「等我打一打你啊，令你得到什麼好處。」這就不行了。就是在他什麼也沒有想的時候，一見面不由分說，上去就打，這叫當面關；給你一個當面關，看你怎麼樣。「師禮拜」，他就禮拜，可是文覺和尚還是不知道他是真正明白了還是冒充的，於是乎就再審問審問他。「覺曰，子見什麼道理。」說，「我打你，你看見什麼了啊？你覺得怎麼樣啊？」問他，這就考驗他了。
「曰某甲不是野狐精」，他就說了，「我不是一個狐狸精。」不是山上那個狐狸精，這是口頭禪的一個別名。那口頭禪的人都像狐狸精似的，只會說不會行，能迷人。
好像我們萬佛城，也有狐狸精，那狐狸精很會迷人的。他講得，喔！天花亂墜，地湧金蓮，做什麼事情也做不到。你們要想認識這個是狐狸精不是狐狸精，就用六大宗旨來看。這個人要是儘說得的再好，他還是一樣的爭，一樣的貪，一樣的有所求，一樣的自私，一樣的自利，一樣的一天到晚打妄語來騙人，這是個狐狸精；他要是不爭了，不貪了，不求了，不自私了，不自利了，也不打妄語了，那就是菩薩。
我告訴你們，就在這個地方用工夫，這個地方你能看出來，是不是善知識也在這個地方。所以真正善知識他什麼也不怕的；他也沒有什麼憂愁，也沒有什麼恐懼，什麼都沒有的。「某甲不是野狐精」，就是我不是偷來的，看人家這樣，我也這樣。
「覺以手掩其口」，那麼文覺禪師當時聽他這麼樣說，說他不是也野狐精，就把手掩他口，完了又說，「離卻口作麼道？」你要是不用你的口，你說的什麼啊？看看！這就是考驗。這不是說掩他口怎麼，這都是一種機鋒，看看你還說什麼？沒有口你還說什麼啊？就這麼問他，這是考驗。
「師托開雲」，那麼因為他堵著他口，他不能說話，所以他把他手給推開了，就說了，「有口只堪喫飯」；說我這個口不是能說話的，只可以用它來喫飯，也就是這個道是沒有法子說的。這也就是言語道斷，心行處滅這個道理，也就是心地法門向上一著。他「呈偈曰」，他說完這話就寫了一首偈頌。「啞子喫黃連」，說啞巴在那兒自己喫黃連。「滿口說不得」，有個口，他說不出來是個什麼。這就形容說是苦味，但是也就是表示真正明白道理了，不能說的就像啞子喫黃連自己知道算了，自己有苦自己知。可是這個不是黃連的那個味道，他故意這麼寫，故意這麼說，所以「滿口說不得，只是自點頭。」這個時候自己喫苦頭，只可以自己給自己點頭，「好苦啊！好苦啊！」心裏面講。
「夏到天氣熱」，夏天來了，天氣自然就熱了。「覺為印可」，文覺禪師一聽他這麼說，知道他懂了，使這個離言說相，離心緣相，離文字相，向上一著了，所以就給他印可，證明他是開悟了。
「歸閩」，於是乎他就回到福建去。「濤命繼席」，恆濤和尚就囑咐他，叫他繼續做方丈。「示寂，塔於鼓山。」他示寂了，他在鼓山做過方丈，就給在鼓山那個地方建塔。「中丞餘公」，姓餘的這一位做官的。中丞是一個官，並不一定是丞相，或者比丞相小一點。「嚮師道風」，嚮是嚮往，就是很羨慕他，很讚歎他，很佩服他的道風。「執弟子禮」，雖然興隆禪師圓寂了，他自己甘為弟子。「為敘其語錄行世」，就敘述這位興隆禪師的語錄，流通在世界。
待續
上人語錄
每個人的身體，就是個監獄，只是你不暸解。 |
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The Master was born to the Chen family in Gutian. In his youth, he was educated as a scholar. At the age of twenty-five, he suddenly grew weary of the world and renounced the home life to investigate the doctrine of the mind under the Venerable Hengtao. He then left the monastery and traveled about as a wandering student. He paid respects to Dhyana Master Wenjue in Beijing. At that time his doubts suddenly increased.
One day Wen saw the Master and immediately dealt him a blow with a bamboo cane. The Master made a full bow. Wen asked him, "What principle have you seen?" The Master said, "I am not a fox spirit." Wen used his hand to cover the Master's mouth and said, "Without using the mouth, what can you say?" The Master brushed Wen's hand away and said, "The mouth is only good for eating." Then he presented a verse: "A mute eats huanglian,but cannot use his mouth to describe it. He can only nod his head. It is hot in the summertime." Dhyana Master Wen certified him. He then returned to Fujian, where the Venerable Hengtao made him his successor. He manifested the stillness, and his stupa was erected at Gushan. Minister Xu, admiring the Master's virtuous example, became his disciple and recorded the Master's oral teachings for publication.
Commentary:
This Dhyana Master, whose name is Dhyana Master Pianzhao (Universally Illuminating) Xinglong, is from Gushan and is a Patriarch of the seventy-second generation. Gutian is the name of a district in Fujian Province. The Chen family produced a Patriarch.
The Master was born to the Chen family in Gutian. In his youth, he was educated as a scholar. He pursued academic studies as a young man. At the age of twenty-five, he suddenly grew weary of the world, feeling that everything worldly was unreal and ephemeral, not ultimate, and so he renounced the home life to investigate the doctrine of the mind under the Venerable Hengtao. He followed a very virtuous Dhyana Master by the name of Hengtao, and studied Chan investigation, which is the study of the mind, the Dharma door of the Mind Ground. The Mind Ground contains all seeds and produces all kinds of merit and virtue. All meritorious virtues and Dharma wealth come forth from the Mind Ground.
He then left the monastery where he had been living and traveled about to different places as a wandering student. He drew near and paid respects to Dhyana Master Wenjue in Beijing. At that time his doubts suddenly increased. He started to have some responses in his practice. In studying the Buddhadharma, people should not apply effort merely at an intellectual level by using the conscious, discriminating mind. That is, one should not do things superficially and make a show of working without really doing the work. One should not put on a false show just to impress others and get publicity. One should not say, "Look at me, I'm a great Buddhist. I'm a true cultivator of Buddhism," and so on. That is nothing but false advertising. One focuses on appearances but has no real skill or substance. One's exterior is gold-plated, but the interior is a mess. That is not the study of the mind. Rather, it is superficial hypocrisy. And so when the Master went to Beijing, he truly recognized his past faults and started to apply himself seriously.
One day Dhyana Master Wenjue saw the Master and immediately dealt him a blow with a bamboo cane, the kind used as a carrying pole. The Master was caught off guard by the surprise attack. Dhyana Master Wenjue did not say, "Let me hit you so you can attain some advantages." That wouldn't have worked. Rather, Dhyana Master Wenjue caught the Master when he least expected it; he went up and hit him without saying a word. He was testing the Master to see what how he would react. The Master made a full bow, but Dhyana Master Wenjue didn't know whether he had truly understood or was just pretending, so Wen asked him further, "What principle have you seen?" He was asking, "After I hit you, what insight did you have? How did you feel?" He was still testing the Master.
The Master said, "I am not a fox spirit." The "fox spirit" is an allusion to intellectual effort unsupported by practice. People who confuse others with their talking, but don't practice, resemble fox spirits that live in the mountains. Fox spirits also inhabit the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, and they are very good at confusing people. They speak so eloquently that "celestial flowers rain down and golden lotuses well forth from the earth," but their actions don't match their words. If you want to know whether someone is a fox spirit, use the Six Principles as a yardstick. No matter how well a person can talk, if he still fights, is greedy, seeks externally, is selfish, seeks personal gain, and lies and cheats all day long, he is a fox spirit. If he does not fight, is not greedy, does not seek outside, is not selfish, does not seek personal gain, and does not lie, he is a Bodhisattva.
I tell you, these principles enable us to determine who is working hard and who is a good teacher. A genuinely good teacher fears nothing. He has no worries, fears, or hangups. "I am not a fox spirit" means "I am not stealing or copying someone else's answers."
Hearing that, Dhyana Master Wen used his hand to cover the Master's mouth and said, "Without using the mouth, what can you say? Let's see what you say now!" He was testing the Master. He didn't literally want to know what the Master could say with his mouth covered up. He was just bantering with the Master to see what he would say next. It was a test. Since he couldn't talk with his mouth covered, the Master brushed Wen's hand away and said, "The mouth is only good for eating. I can't talk with my mouth, but I can eat." He was saying that it is impossible to speak of the Way when language has been cut off and thoughts have ceased. This is the ultimate state of the Dharma door of the Mind Ground.
Then he presented a verse: "A mute eats huanglian, but cannot use his mouth to describe it." A mute eats the bitterest herb, but he cannot describe its bitter taste even though he has a mouth. This also represents having true understanding, but being unable to express it. One is like a mute that tastes the bitterness and knows it for himself. However, the Master is not literally referring to the bitter taste of huanglian. Thus he says, "He cannot use his mouth to describe it; he can only nod his head and say to himself, 'How bitter! How bitter!'"
"It is hot in the summertime." In the summer, the weather naturally gets hot. Dhyana Master Wen certified him. Hearing the Master, Dhyana Master Wenjue knew that he understood the ultimate state that goes beyond language, thought, and words, and so he certified the Master's enlightenment.
He, Master Xinglong, then returned to Fujian, where the Venerable Hengtao made him his successor as Abbot. He manifested the stillness, and since he was the Abbot at Gushan (Drum Mountain), his stupa was erected at Gushan. A certain Minister Xu, whose position was slightly lower than that of a prime minister, admiring and praising the Master's virtuous example, became his disciple. Even though Dhyana Master Xinlong had entered the perfect stillness, the Minister still wished to be his disciple and recorded the Master's oral teachings for publication and circulation in the world.
To be continued
Venerable Master's Dharma Words
Every person's body is a prison cell. It's just that we don't realize it.
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