撫州曹山本寂禪師語錄 1.6

1.6

The ancients had a saying: 'The intent does not lie in the words.' They also said, 'Grasp the intent and forget the words.' 'Intent' is the purport; 'words' are the pointer. The purport is not easy to attain, while the pointer is not difficult to attain. Thus one relies on the easily attained pointer to attain the difficult-to-attain purport. If you grasp its purport, it is right to forget the pointer; if you lose its purport, what use is the pointer? Therefore, when the ancients spoke of those who merely cling to the pointer, they called it 'entangling vines', and they also called it a 'tile for knocking at the gate'. Zen monk Qi Gimoku of Unshū obtained the words of Great Master Heyu from Guo Zhengzhong's Wuzong lu, and also acquired the old volumes written by Huixia, Guanghui, Huiran, and others. He collated their agreements and differences, examined and verified the authentic and the spurious, titled it Recorded Sayings of Caoshan, and appended it to the previously published Recorded Sayings of Dongshan, so as to broaden its circulation. Great indeed is this aspiration! He himself began it. Yet I have never known: has he truly grasped the intent, or is he one who clings to words, or does he take it as a tile for knocking at the gate? Please inquire of the Zen monk. In the spring of this year, Kanpō, cyclical year kanoto-tori, Seijun, Master of Genkō on Mount Takagamine, made this inquiry and respectfully composed this with bows and prostrations.