撫州曹山本寂禪師語錄 1.2

1.2

荊山之璞，非逢明世與和氏，則空藏荊石之中，燦然連城之美，豈得顯乎哉？玉實不乏，明世與和氏實難相逢而已。新豐荷玉之語錄，初先是往盛行于世，魚目淆珠、純金在沙，宜默上座傷其弊深矣，就郭氏五宗錄暨群籍之中，取其精、舍其麁，錄終成矣。余與上座，方外之交甚厚，俾寄余讀之，余曰：上座也，其豐玉之和氏乎，雖有和氏，復非逢明世，則何以能至於斯哉？於戲懿哉！吾大東文明之徵，至於有今日之美，孔門之徒，豈何敢不美其美、喜其喜乎哉？新豐之錄彫梓已成，荷玉之錄今亦成，不佞書其所以美而喜，俾大方之人知上座之正法眼也。

Without encountering an enlightened age and Master He, the unworked jade of Mount Jing would lie hidden in vain among the stones of Jing; how could its beauty, splendid enough to equal multiple walled cities, ever be revealed? True jade is certainly not lacking; it is only that an enlightened age and Master He are truly difficult to bring together. In the past, the recorded sayings of Heyu of Xinfeng first circulated widely in the world, but fish eyes were mixed with pearls, and pure gold was amidst sand. Elder Gimoku was deeply grieved by how profound the corruption had become. Turning to Master Guo's Wuzong lu and a host of other works, he took their essence and discarded their coarseness, and the record was finally completed. I have a very close friendship beyond worldly bounds with the Elder. He sent it to me to read. I said, 'Elder! Are you not the Master He for the jade of Xinfeng? Yet even if there is a Master He, if he does not meet an enlightened age, how could he achieve this? How splendid! As an evidence of the cultural brilliance of our Great East reaching the excellence of today, how could the disciples of the Confucian school dare not praise its excellence and rejoice in its joy?' The printing blocks of the record of Xinfeng are already completed, and the record of Heyu is now also completed. Unworthy though I am, I write down that in which I find excellence and joy, so that people of broad vision may know the Elder's true Dharma eye.