Text asking, as above, for an exposition of Seon at a Seon gathering同前禪會請說禪文
佛是心心卽是佛。斯爲無上之宗。人弘道道非弘人。須藉指南之辯。自忘輕觸。貪沐餘滋。恭惟某禪師丈下。雪竇前身。曹溪老手。閑雲出岫。涉浮世以來遊。明鏡無塵。照靈臺之本淨。學者擬高山仰止。敎焉如時雨化之。不惟慧解之踈通。搜探道奧。抑亦口音之洪暢。悅可人心。凡聞杭舌之談。如聽瑠喉之說。伏念弟子本無遠識。叨據重權。上不能以爕理陰陽。下不能以拊循民庶。羣情洶洶。衆謗嗷嗷。强隣頑獷之人。往來絡繹。列曜著明之象。陵守連仍。未知眹兆之何如。深軫憂勞之罔極。惟是心法。足却兵災。宜拜叩於法王。請弘揚於佛海。伏惟云云。廓廻大度。無拒哀祈。弄微音於無孔笛中。彈雅曲於勿絃琴上。快宣秘蘊。大豁羣心。
Buddha is mind and mind is Buddha; this is the tenet above which there is none. It is man who broadens the Way, not the Way that broadens man, and so one must borrow the eloquence of a guide. Forgetting that I presume lightly, I covet a steeping in what grace is left over.
Respectfully I consider that the venerable Seon master So-and-so is Xuedou (雪竇) in a former life and the seasoned hand of Caoxi (曹溪). As an idle cloud comes out from a peak, he crosses into this floating world and wanders in it; like a bright mirror without dust, he reflects the original purity of the mind-ground. Those who study look up to him as to a high mountain, and his teaching is as timely rain that nurtures. Not only does his wise exposition pass without hindrance, so that he gropes out the depths of the Way; his voice too is broad and clear and gladdens the hearts of men. Whenever one hears his words, it is as though one heard a sermon in a voice of jade.
Prostrate, I consider that your disciple, having from the first no discernment that sees far ahead, has presumptuously taken weighty power. Above, I cannot govern yin and yang into evenness; below, I cannot soothe and settle the people. The hearts of the multitude are troubled and slanders are loud. The stubborn, fierce host of our strong neighbor comes and goes without end, and the ranked stars show themselves plainly, trespassing upon one another and lodging together one time after another. Not knowing what the omen portends, I grieve deeply that my care and labor are without end.
Only this Law of mind is enough to turn away the calamity of war. Fittingly I bow and knock before the King of the Law and ask that he spread it abroad on the Buddha's sea.
Prostrate, I consider and pray: turn your great magnanimity broadly this way and do not refuse this anguished request; play the subtle sound on a flute without holes and strike an elegant air upon a geomungo without strings, so that the secret meaning be unfolded clearly and the hearts of all be greatly opened.