筠州洞山悟本禪師語錄 1.82

1.82

The Master asked a monk, "What is your name?" The monk said, "So-and-so." The Master said, "Which one is the ācārya's host?" The monk said, "The one currently responding." The Master said, "How bitter, how bitter! People of today are all like this; they only recognize what is before the donkey and behind the horse and take it to be themselves. The sinking down of the Buddha Dharma is precisely due to this. Even the host within the guest has not yet been distinguished, so how could one discern the host within the host?" The monk then asked, "What is the host within the host?" The Master said, "Speak it for yourself, ācārya." The monk said, "If I can speak it, that is the host within the guest." (Yunju said in his place, "If I can speak it, it is not the host within the guest.") "What is the host within the host?" The Master said, "To speak thus is easy; to maintain it continuously is very difficult." The Master then presented a verse, saying: / "Alas, seeing the students of the Way nowadays, / Thousands upon millions recognize only the outer gate. / Just like entering the capital to have audience with the sage lord, / Arriving only at Tong Pass, they stop."