29Zhaozhou Takes Questions示眾
師示眾云：「老僧今夜答話去也，解問者出來。」有僧纔出禮拜。師云：「比來拋磚引玉，只得箇墼子。」問：「狗子還有佛性也無？」師云：「無。」學云：「上至諸佛，下至螘子，皆有佛性，狗子為什麼無？」師云：「為伊有業識性在。」問：「如何是法身？」師云：「應身。」云：「學人不問應身。」師云：「你但管應身。」問：「朗月當空時如何？」師云：「闍黎名什麼？」學云：「某甲。」師云：「朗月當空在什麼處？」問：「正當二八時如何？」師云：「東東西西。」學云：「如何是東東西西？」師云：「覓不著。」問：「學人全不會時如何？」師云：「我更不會。」云：「和尚還知有也無？」師云：「我不是木頭，作麼不知？」云：「大好不會。」師拍掌笑之。問：「如何是道人？」師云：「我向道是佛人。」問：「凡有言句，舉手動足，盡落在學人網中，離此外，請師道。」師云：「老僧齋了未喫茶。」馬大夫問：「和尚還修行也無？」師云：「老僧若修行即禍事。」云：「和尚既不修行，教什麼人修行？」師云：「大夫是修行底人。」云：「某甲何名修行？」師云：「若不修行，爭得撲在人王位中，餧得來赤凍紅地，無有解出期。」大夫乃下淚拜謝。
Zhaozhou addressed the assembly: "Tonight the old monk will take questions. Whoever knows how to ask, step up."
A monk came forward and bowed.
Zhaozhou said, "I tossed out a brick to draw a piece of jade, and all I got back was a lump of clay."
A monk asked, "Does a dog have buddha-nature?"
"No," said Zhaozhou.
"Everything has buddha-nature, from the buddhas above to the ants below. Why not a dog?"
"Because it's still running on the karma it was born with."
A monk asked, "What is the dharma-body?"
"The response-body."
"I didn't ask about the response-body."
"Never mind. Just stick with the response-body."
A monk asked, "When the bright moon hangs in the empty sky, what then?"
"What's your name, reverend?"
"So-and-so."
"And where's that bright moon in the empty sky now?"
A monk asked, "Right at the height of the full moon, what then?"
"East here, east there, west here, west there."
"And what is 'east here, east there, west here, west there'?"
"Look for it and you won't find it."
A monk asked, "When I don't understand a thing, what then?"
"I understand even less."
"Master, do you actually know or not?"
"I'm not a block of wood. How could I not know?"
"Wonderful. You don't understand a thing."
Zhaozhou clapped his hands and laughed.
A monk asked, "What is a man of the Way?"
"I call him a man of buddha."
A monk said, "Every word out of a mouth, every lift of a hand, every step of a foot, all of it falls into the net I'm caught in. Set that aside, and say something."
"The old monk has finished his meal but hasn't had his tea."
Minister Ma asked, "Master, do you practice or not?"
"If the old monk practiced, that would be a disaster."
"If you don't practice, then who are you telling to practice?"
"You're the one who practices, Minister."
"How can you call me a practitioner?"
"If you hadn't practiced, how would you have landed in the seat of a king? But now you're stuffed full and frozen stiff, with no way out in sight."
At that, Minister Ma wept and bowed in thanks.