釋門歸敬儀 1.69

1.69

“Second, explaining ‘relying on the meaning and not on the phrasing’: phrasing is spoken words, merely the casting of a fish trap; meaning is the way to penetrate the principle and transform living beings. After verification and understanding, thought is cut off and words are halted; even the Dharma should be relinquished, how much more non-Dharma! Therefore, a sūtra has the parable of abandoning the raft, and people cherish the saying about meeting eye to eye; is this not because words express what is beyond them, and when the meaning is grasped, words cease—just as with the parable of the moon and the wondrous finger, which no one should fail to understand? Now, what is called grasping the meaning is precisely speaking of the ultimate. The practitioner of the path constantly contemplates and constantly demolishes: constantly contemplating relies on the phrasing, and constantly demolishing follows the meaning. Saying that words follow the meaning is still reciting words. Yet because of beginningless false habits, attached views are unyielding; only when retreating into stillness to investigate in detail does one come to know this fault. Otherwise, racing along and unable to catch up with the sounds, how could one even reflect?”