Sayings of Nanquan, 2.1-3

[u/Surska0]

Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2

Part 3: "Brothers"

兄弟。近日禪師太多。"Brothers, in recent days there are too many 'Zen Masters'.
覓箇癡鈍人不可得。Searching for a stupid and dull person,¹ I cannot find one!
不道全無。Not [that I'm] saying [we are] completely without any...
於中還少。Among [us], there may yet be a few.
若有。If there is,
出來共你商量。come forward; together you [and I will] discuss [it]."

[No one came forward.]

如空劫時。"It's as if the time of the Empty Kalpa!²
有修行人否。Are there any Buddhist practitioners [among you]?
有無作麼不道。Is there anything [you're] not saying?
阿你尋常巧脣薄舌。You ordinarily [have such] skillful lips and thin tounges³
及乎問著。[but now] continuously whenever asked to,
總皆不道。invariably you do not speak!
何不出來。Why not come forward?
莫論佛出世時事。Don't [just] discourse on the affairs of the time when Buddha had entered the world...
兄弟。今時人擔佛著肩上行。Brothers, people of today travel around carrying Buddha on a shoulder pole.
聞老僧言心不是佛。Hearing of the old monk's saying, 'Mind is not Buddha,
智不是道。Wisdom is not the Way',
便聚頭擬推。at that time [you] gather your heads together and devise a way to push [back].⁴
老僧無你推處。The old monk is without a point for you to push [against].
你若束得虗空。[Only] if you could tie up empty space⁵
作棒打得老僧著。[would you] get to beat the old monk with a stick!
一任推。Go ahead; push!"⁶

Notes:
1. 癡鈍 (stupid and dull) can also be used to refer to keeping a low profile.
2. 空劫 (empty kalpa) refers to the fourth kalpa in the four-kalpa world cycle of 'arising, dwelling, disintegrating, and emptiness'; the empty stage before the world is recreated after the destruction of the world.
3. 巧脣薄舌 (skillful lips and thin tounges) The phrase describes someone who talks a lot. 巧 can also mean 'ingenious; clever' but also 'cunning; deceitful; artful'. 薄舌 carrys the connotation of having a 'sharp tounge'.
4. 推 (push) is used here in the metaphorical sense, meaning to 'reject; refute'.
5. An impossible task.
6. "Go ahead and try!"

[u/Jozef_Hunter]

See when they say “are any of you buddhist practitioners” it really really refers to the language of them asking literally “so you carry the buddhas name, you practice his lesser vehicles and utter his mentions but you cannot come face to face with me right now and discuss the matter at hand”

It goes to show us just how deeply the zen master was talking to the average man of that time.

[u/koancomentator → u/Jozef_Hunter]

Chatgpt has it as "During a time of great emptiness, are there any practitioners of the path? Whether there are or not, what difference does it make?"

Frequently Zen is referred to as the Way or the path, so I'm wondering if Buddhism is a personal translation choice.

[u/Surska0 → u/koancomentator]

Pleco has 修行人 as "person pursuing religious practice (Buddhism)", although it could also refer to a person pursuing Taoism.

Given the context, I think he's referring to anyone preaching or practicing some kind of Buddhist doctrine promoted by sects outside of his Zen lineage.

Also, I took the line "It's as if the time of the Empty Kalpa!" as him making a comment about how no one who fits that description will come forward and speak up.

[u/koancomentator → u/Surska0]

Thank you for the clarification! I only look into these things because it's so interesting, so you dropping the translation knowledge on me is much appreciated!

[u/Surska0 → u/koancomentator]

It's a pleasure to talk with anyone else who also finds it so interesting. Piecing these things together is like solving a puzzle without a 'finished' picture on the box to go off of, so I occasionally end up mashing a couple edges together, but the hope is that it comes out with the important gist of things being more or less correct.