法演禪師語錄 3.20

3.20

When Court Gentleman of Consultation Guo Xiangzheng requested him to ascend the hall, the Court Gentleman burned incense before the Dharma seat and said: "This petal of incense, burned in the censer, becomes a cloud of radiant light filling the Dharma realm, as an offering to my senior Dharma-brother Chan Master, head of the hall. I respectfully pray that within this cloud, upon the seat of broad expanse, he will tear open his face and release the form and appearance of our late master to depict them for everyone. Why so? / Beside the crag of Baiyun we met of old; / things are not the same today as in past times. / In the quiet night the water is cold, and the fish do not bite; / a single censer of incense disperses into the breeze of White Lotus." / The Master then said: "Namo sattātaprāya. Like this, like this: several times looking out over the creek of Baiyun, the yellow plum blossoms open amid the snow. Not like this, not like this: the tender willow twigs are threads of gold, and they must arrive in their proper season. Have you not seen Layman Pang ask Great Master Ma: 'Who is the one who keeps no company with the ten thousand dharmas?' Great Master Ma said: 'Wait until you have swallowed all the water of the West River in a single gulp, and then I will tell you.' Great assembly! Swallowing all the water of the West River in a single gulp, the pool ten thousand fathoms deep is exhausted to the bottom. A single-plank bridge is not the Zhaozhou Bridge; how can the bright moon and clear breeze compare?"