袁州仰山慧寂禪師語錄 1.38

1.38

When the Master was a śrāmaṇera, a monk asked Shishuang, "What is the meaning of the Ancestral Master's coming from the West?" Shishuang said, "If a person is in a thousand-foot well without using an inch of rope to get out, this person will answer for you the meaning of coming from the West." The monk said, "Recently Upādhyāya Chang of Hunan has appeared in the world, and he also babbles this way and that for people." Shishuang called the śrāmaṇera: "Drag this dead corpse out!" Later, the Master asked Danyuan, "How does one get out the person in the well?" Danyuan said, "Bah! You fool! Who is in the well?" The Master went and asked Guishan. Guishan called, "Huiji!" The Master responded. Guishan said, "He is out!" After the Master became an abbot, he often cited this previous conversation and said to the assembly, "At Danyuan's place I obtained the name; at Guishan's place I obtained the ground."