Inconceivable! (3.1)

The next section of Nanquan's record is a lecture. It begins with this introduction below, followed by a single question from a monk and then a long reply from Nanquan.

I will be dividing it into sections as I did with the previous Q&A section.

Nanquan (3.1)

師示眾云。The Master, instructing an assembly, said,
真理一如。"Truth [is of] one suchness.
潛行密用。[It's] hidden actions and secret use,
無人覺知。no one knows or perceives.
呼為滲智。Because [of this, it is] called 'Permeating Wisdom'.
亦云無滲。Likewise, [it is] said [to be] 'Without Permeation'.
不可思議。Inconceivable;
等空不動。[It is] equal to emptiness without motion.
性非生死流。[It's] nature is not [of the] stream of life and death.
道是大道無礙涅槃。The path is the 'Great Way of Unobstructed Nirvana'.
妙用自足。[It's] wonderous use [is] self-sufficient.
始於一切行處而得自在。Beginning in every place of action, and obtaining freedom.
故云於諸行處無所而行。That is why [it is] said 'in all places of action, [there is] nothing to do'.
亦云徧行三昧。Also [it is] said, 'everywhere [is the] action [of the] Samadhi [of]
普現色身。Universal Manifest Forms'.
只為無人知他用處無蹤跡。Only because no one realizes it's usefulness, [it is] without traces.
不屬見聞覺知。[It is] not belonging to [that which one] 'sees, hears, feels, or knows'.
真理自通。The Truth [is] self-evident.
妙用自足。[It's] wonderous use [is] self-sufficient.
大道無形。The Great Way is without form.
真理無對。The Truth is without parallel.
所以不屬見聞覺知。Therefore, [it is] not belonging to [that which one] 'sees, hears, feels, or knows'.
無麤細想。Without coarseness, consider [this] carefully.
如云不聞不聞是大涅槃。If [we] say [it] is 'not heard', 'not hearing' is the Great Nirvana.
道者箇物不是聞不聞。This Way is not something 'heard or unheard'.

Submitted May 05, 2023 at 06:18AM by Surska0 https://ift.tt/xbuqT68