筠州洞山悟本禪師語錄 1.87

1.87

A monk took leave of Daci. Daci said, "Where are you going?" The monk said, "For a time I am going to Jiangxi." Daci said, "May I trouble you with a matter?" The monk said, "What matter does the upādhyāya have?" Daci said, "Take this old monk with you." The monk said, "Even if there were someone surpassing the upādhyāya, I could not take him along." Daci then dropped the matter. That monk later recounted this to the Master. The Master said, "How could the ācārya speak like that?" The monk said, "How would the upādhyāya put it?" The Master said, "It is fine." Fayan gave an alternative reply, saying, "If the upādhyāya goes, I will carry your bamboo hat." The Master further asked that monk, "What other words and phrases did Daci have?" The monk said, "Sometimes he instructed the assembly, saying: 'Speaking a zhang is not as good as practicing a chi; speaking a chi is not as good as practicing a cun.'" The Master said, "I do not speak like that." The monk said, "How do you speak?" The Master said, "Speak what cannot be practiced; practice what cannot be spoken." Yunju said, "When practicing, there is no path of speech; when speaking, there is no path of practice. When neither speaking nor practicing, what path should one walk?" Lepu said, "When neither practice nor speech reaches it, then the original matter is present."