鎮州臨濟慧照禪師語錄 1.56

1.56

"Followers of the Way! There is a bunch of baldies who apply their efforts inwards, intending to seek a world-transcending Dharma—they are mistaken! If a person seeks the Buddha, that person loses the Buddha; if a person seeks the Way, that person loses the Way; if a person seeks the patriarchs, that person loses the patriarchs. Worthies, do not make a mistake! For now, I do not take your understanding of sūtras and treatises; I do not take your [ties to] kings and great ministers; I do not take your eloquence flowing like a torrential river; I do not take your cleverness and wisdom. I only require your true and correct insight.

"Followers of the Way, even if you could understand a hundred sūtras and treatises, it would not compare to being an Ācārya who has nothing to do. If you understand them, you will disparage others, engage in asura-like competition, fall into the ignorance of self and others, and foster hellish karma. It is just like the bhikṣu Sunakṣatra, who understood the twelve divisions of teachings, yet fell bodily into hell, the great earth unable to bear him. You had better put everything to rest and have nothing to do: eat when hungry, close your eyes when sleepy. Fools laugh at me, but the wise know! Followers of the Way, do not seek within words and letters! Your mind is stirred and fatigued, sucking in cold air to no benefit. Nothing compares to a single thought of dependent origination without arising, surpassing the provisionally studying bodhisattvas of the three vehicles.