舉。
俱胝和尚。凡有所問(有什麼消息。鈍根阿師)只竪一指
(這老漢也要坐斷天下人舌頭。熱則普天普地熱。寒則普天普地寒。換却天下人舌頭)。

Case
Whenever anything was asked, Master Chu Ti would just raise one finger.

Notes
What news is there? Dull-witted teacher!
This old fellow too would cut off the tongues of everyone on earth. When it's warm, all heaven and earth are warm; when it's cold, all heaven and earth are cold. He snatches away the tongues of everyone on earth



若向指頭上會。則辜負俱胝。若不向指頭上會。則生鐵鑄就相似。會也恁麼去。不會也恁麼去。高也恁麼去。低也恁麼去。是也恁麼去。非也恁麼去。所以道。一塵纔起大地全收。一花欲開世界便起。一毛頭獅子。百億毛頭現。圓明道。寒則普天普地寒。熱則普天普地熱。山河大地。下徹黃泉。萬象森羅。上通霄漢。且道。是什麼物得恁麼奇怪。若也識得。不消一揑。若識不得。礙塞殺人。俱胝和尚。乃婺州金華人。初住庵時。有一尼名實際。到庵直入。更不下笠。持錫遶禪床三匝云。道得即下笠。如是三問。俱胝無對。尼便去。俱胝曰。天勢稍晚。且留一宿。尼曰道得即宿。胝又無對。尼便行。胝嘆曰。我雖處丈夫之形。而無丈夫之氣。遂發憤要明此事。擬棄庵往諸方參請。打疊行脚。其夜山神告曰。不須離此。來日有肉身菩薩。來為和尚說法。不須去。果是次日。天龍和尚到庵。胝乃迎禮。具陳前事。天龍只竪一指而示之。俱胝忽然大悟。是他當時鄭重專注。所以桶底易脫。後來凡有所問。只竪一指。長慶道。美食不中飽人喫。玄沙道。我當時若見。拗折指頭。玄覺云。玄沙恁麼道。意作麼生。雲居錫云。只如玄沙恁麼道。是肯伊。是不肯伊。若肯伊。何言拗折指頭。若不肯伊。俱胝過在什麼處。先曹山云。俱胝承當處莽鹵。只認得一機一境。一等是拍手撫掌。見他西園奇怪。玄覺又云。且道俱胝還悟也未。為什麼承當處莽鹵。若是不悟。又道平生。只用一指頭禪不盡。且道曹山意在什麼處。當時俱胝實然不會。及乎到他悟後凡有所問。只竪一指。因什麼。千人萬人。羅籠不住。撲他不破。爾若用作指頭會。決定不見古人意。這般禪易參。只是難會。如今人纔問著。也竪指竪拳。只是弄精魂。也須是徹骨徹髓。見透始得。俱胝庵中有一童子。於外被人詰曰。和尚尋常以何法示人。童子竪起指頭。歸而舉似師。俱胝以刀斷其指。童子叫喚走出。俱胝召一聲。童子回首。俱胝却竪起指頭。童子豁然領解。且道見箇什麼道理。及至遷化。謂眾曰。吾 得天龍一指頭禪。平生用不盡。要會麼。竪起指頭便脫去後來明招獨眼龍問國泰深師叔云。古人道。俱胝只念三行呪。便得名超一切人。作麼生與他拈却三行呪。深亦竪起一指頭。招云。不因今日。爭識得這瓜州客。且道。意作麼生。祕魔平生。只用一杈。打地和尚凡有所問。只打地一下。後被人藏却他棒。却問如何是佛。他只張口。亦是一生用不盡。無業云。祖師觀此土有大乘根器。唯單傳心印。指示迷塗。得之者不揀愚之與智。凡之與聖且多虛不如少實。大丈夫漢。即今直下休歇去。頓息萬緣去。超生死流。逈出常格。縱有眷屬莊嚴。不求自得。無業一生凡有所問。只道莫妄想。所以道。一處透。千處萬處一時透。一機明。千機萬機一時明。如今人總不恁麼。只管恣意情解。不會他古人省要處。他豈不是無機關轉換處。為什麼只用一指頭。須知俱胝到這裏。有深密為人處。要會得省力麼。還他圓明道寒則普天普地寒。熱則普天普地熱。山河大地。通上孤危。萬象森羅。徹下嶮峻什麼處得一指頭禪來。


Commentary
If you understand at the finger, then you turn your back on Chu Ti; if you don't go to the finger to understand, then it's like cast iron. Whether you understand or not, Chu Ti still goes on this way; whether you're high or low, he still goes on this way; whether you're right or wrong, he still goes on this way. Thus it is said, "As soon as a speck of dust arises, the great earth is contained therein; when a single flower is about to open, the world immediately comes into being. The lion on the tip of a single hair appears on the tips of ten billion hairs."
Yuan Ming said, "When it's cold, all throughout heaven and earth are cold; when it's warm, all throughout heaven and earth are warm." The mountains and rivers and the great earth reach down through the Yellow Springs (Hades); the myriad images and multitude of forms penetrate upward through the heavens. But tell me, what is so extraordinary? For those who know, it's not worth taking hold of; for those who don't know, it blocks them off utterly.
Master Chu Ti was from Chin Hua in Wu Chou (in Chekiang). During the time he first dwelt in a hermitage, there was a nun named Shih Chi ('Reality') who came to his hut. When she got there she went straight in; without taking off her rain hat she walked around his meditation seat three times holding her staff. "If you can speak," she said, "I'll take off my rain hat." She questioned him like this three times; Chu Ti had no reply. Then as she was leaving Chu Ti said, "The hour is rather late: would you stay the night?" The nun said, "If you can speak, I'll stay over." Again Chu Ti had no reply. The nun then walked out. Chu Ti sighed sorrowfully and said, "Although I inhabit the body of a man, still I lack a man's spirit." After this he aroused his zeal to clarify this matter.
He meant to abandon his hermitage and travel to various places to call on teachers to ask for instruction, and had wrapped up his things for foot-travelling. But that night the spirit of the mountain told him, "You don't have to leave this place. Tomorrow a flesh and blood bodhisattva will come and expound the truth for you, Master. You don't have to go." As it turned out, the following day Master T'ien Lung actually came to the hermitage. Chu Ti welcomed him ceremoniously and gave a full account of the previous events. T'ien Lung just lifted up one finger to show him; suddenly Chu Ti was greatly enlightened. At the time Chu Ti was most earnest and single-minded, so the bottom of his bucket fell out easily. Later, whenever anything was asked, Chu Ti just raised one finger.
Ch'ang Ch'ing said, "Delicious food is not for a satisfied man to eat." Hsuan Sha said, "If I had seen him then, I would have broken the finger off." Hsuan Chueh said, "When Hsuan Sha spoke this way, what was his meaning?" Hsi of Yun Chu said, "When Hsuan Sha spoke this way, was he agreeing with Chu Ti or not? If he agreed with him, why did he speak of breaking off the finger? If he didn't agree with him, where was Chu Ti's mistake?" The Former Ts'ao Shan said, "Chu Ti's realization was crude: he only recognized one device, one perspective. Like everyone else, he claps his hands and slaps his palms, but I look upon Hsi Yuan as exceptional."a Again, Hsuan Chueh said, "But say, was Chu Ti enlightened or not? Why was Chu Ti's realization crude?" If he wasn't enlightened, how could he say, "My whole life I've used one-finger Ch'an without ever exhausting it"? Tell me, where is Ts'ao Shan's meaning?
At that time, Chu Ti actually did not understand. After his enlightenment, whenever anything was asked, Chu Ti would just raise one finger; why couldn't a thousand people, even ten thousand people, entrap him or break him apart? If you understand it as a finger, you definitely won't see the Ancient's meaning. This kind of Ch'an is easy to approach but hard to understand. People these days who just hold up a finger or a fist as soon as they're questioned are just indulging their spirits. It is still necessary to pierce the bone, penetrate to the marrow, and see all the way through in order to get it.
At Chu Ti's hermitage there was a servant boy. While he was away from the hermitage, he was asked, "What method does your master usually use to teach people?" The servant boy held up a finger. When he returned, he mentioned this to the Master. Chu Ti took a knife and cut off the boy's finger; as he ran out screaming, Chu Ti called to him. The boy looked back, whereupon Chu Ti raised his finger; the boy opened up and attained understanding. Tell me, what truth did he see?
When he was nearing death, Chu Ti said to his assembly, "I attained T'ien Lung's one-finger Ch'an and have used it all my life without exhausting it. Do you want to understand?" He raised his finger, then died.
The One-Eyed Dragon of Ming Chao asked his 'uncle,' Shen of Kuo T'ai, "An Ancient said that Chu Ti just recited a three line spell and thereby became more famous than anyone else. How can you quote the three line spell for someone else?" Shen also raised one finger. Chao said, "If not for Today, how could I know this borderlands traveller?" Tell me, what does this mean?
Mi Mo just used a forked branch all his life. The Earth-Beating Teacher would just hit the ground once whenever anything was asked. Once someone hid his staff and then asked, "What is Buddha?" The Teacher just opened his mouth wide. These (methods) too were used for a whole lifetime without ever being exhausted.
Wu Yeh said, "The Patriarch (Bodhidharma) observed that our country had people with the potential to be vessels of the Great Vehicle. He transmitted only the mind seal, in order to instruct those on the paths of illusion. Those who attain it do not choose between ignorance and wisdom, between worldly and holy. Much falsehood is not as good as a little truth. Anyone who is powerful will immediately rest right this moment and abruptly still the myriad entanglements, thus passing beyond the stream of birth and death and going far beyond the usual patterns. Though you have family and estate, if you do not seek, it is attained of itself." Throughout his whole lifetime, whenever anything was asked, Wu Yeh would just say, "Don't think falsely!" Thus it is said, "Penetrate one place, and at once you penetrate a thousand places, ten thousand places. Clearly understand one device, and at once you clearly understand a thousand devices, ten thousand devices."
Generally people these days are not this way; they just indulge in conceptual and emotional interpretations, and don't understand what is most essential with these Ancients. How could Chu Ti have had no other devices to switch to? Why did he just employ one finger? You must realize that here is where Chu Ti helps people so profoundly and intimately.
Do you want to understand how to save strength? Go back to Yuan Ming's saying, "When it's cold, all throughout heaven and earth is cold; when it's warm, all throughout heaven and earth is warm." Mountains, rivers, and earth, extending upward to the solitary heights; myriad forms in profuse array penetrate down through dangerous precipices. Where will you find one finger Ch'an?


對揚深愛老俱胝 (癩兒牽伴。同道方知。不免是一機一境) 宇宙空來更有誰 (兩箇三箇。更有一箇。也須打殺) 曾向滄溟下浮木 (全是這箇。是則是。太孤峻生。破草鞋有什麼用處) 夜濤相共接盲龜 (撈天摸地。有什麼了期。接得堪作何用。據令而行。趕向無佛世界。接得闍黎。一箇瞎漢)

Verse
For his appropriate teaching I deeply admire old Chu Ti;
(A leper drags along his companions. Only those on the same path know. Nevertheless it's (only) one device, one perspective.)
Since space and time have been emptied, who else is there?
(Two, three-there's still one more. He too should be struck dead.)
Having cast a piece of driftwood onto the ocean,
(It's all this. So it is, but it's - inaccessible. Worn out straw sandals; what use does it have?)
Together in the night waves we take in blind turtles.
(Dragging the sky, searching the earth; what end will there be? When we take them in, what are they good for? We act according to what is imperative. I'd drive them towards a world where there is no Buddha. I've taken you in, Reverend, one blind man.)


雪竇會四六文章。七通八達。凡是誵訛奇特公案。偏愛去頌。對揚深愛老俱胝。宇宙空來更有誰。今時學者。抑揚古人。或賓或主。一問一答。當面提持。有如此為人處。所以道。對揚深愛老俱胝。且道雪竇愛他作什麼。自天地開闢以來。更有誰人。只是老俱胝一箇。若是別人須參雜。唯是俱胝老。只用一指頭。直至老死。時人多邪解道。山河大地也空。人也空。法也空。直饒宇宙一時空來。只是俱胝老一箇。且得沒交涉。曾向滄溟下浮木。如今謂之生死海。眾生在業海之中。頭出頭沒。不明自己。無有出期。俱胝老垂慈接物。於生死海中。用一指頭接人。似下浮木接盲龜相似。令諸眾生得到彼岸。夜濤相共接盲龜。法華經云。如一眼之龜。值浮木孔。無沒溺之患。大善知識接得一箇如龍似虎底漢。教他向有佛世界。互為賓主。無佛世界坐斷要津。接得箇盲龜。堪作何用。
垂示云。堆山積嶽。撞牆磕壁。佇思停機。一場苦屈。或有箇漢出來掀翻大海。踢倒須彌。喝散白雲。打破虛空。直下向一機一境。坐斷天下人舌頭。無爾近傍處。且道從上來。是什麼人曾恁麼。試舉看。

Commentary
Hsueh Tou has mastered literary composition; he's consummately accomplished. He especially likes to make up verses for obscure and unusual public cases. For students of today he censures and praises the Ancients; as guest or host, with a question or an answer, he holds them up before you-this is how he helps people. Thus he says, "For his appropriate teaching I deeply admire old Chu Ti." Tell me, why does Hsueh Tou admire him? Since heaven and earth began, who else has there ever been? Just this one, old Chu Ti. If it had been anyone else, inevitably he would have been inconsistent; only Chu Ti just used one finger up until his old age and death.
People often interpret this wrongly and say, "Mountains, rivers, and the great earth are empty; man is empty; the Dharma is empty too. Even if time and space were emptied out all at once, it's just this one, old Chu Ti." But this has nothing to do with it.
Having cast a piece of driftwood onto the ocean." Nowadays they call this the ocean of birth and death. Within the ocean of doing, sentient beings appear and disappear without understanding themselves clearly, without hope of getting out. Old Chu Ti extends his mercy to take people in; in the ocean of birth and death he uses one finger to rescue others. It's like letting down a piece of driftwood to rescue a blind turtle. He enables all sentient beings to reach the Other Shore.
"Together in the night waves we take in blind turtles." The Lotus Scripture says, "It's like a one-eyed turtle sticking his nose through a hole in a floating board." When a great man of knowledge receives a fellow who is like a dragon or a tiger, he directs him towards a world where there is Buddha to act in turn as guest and host, and in worlds without Buddhas to cut off the essential way across. Having taken in a blind turtle, what use is it?


source NTI Reader, translation by Thomas Cleary


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