明覺禪師語錄 4.140

4.140

保福到庵主處，茶話次，庵主云：「有僧問某甲，如何是祖師西來意？某豎起拂子，不知得不得？」福去：「某爭敢道得不得。有箇問，有人讚歎此事，如虎帶角；有人輕毀此事，分毫不直。一等是恁麼事，為什麼讚毀不同？」庵主云：「適來出自偶爾。」有老宿云：「毀又爭得。」又老宿云：「惜取眉毛。」師都別云：「若非和尚證明，拂子一生無用。」

Baofu went to a hermitage master's place. While having tea and chatting, the hermitage master said, "A monk asked me, 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch coming from the West?' I held up my whisk; I wonder if that passed or not?" Baofu said, "How would I dare say whether it passed or not? But here is a question: someone praises this matter, like a tiger with horns; someone disparages this matter, not worth a tiny bit. Equally it is such a matter—why are the praise and disparagement not the same?" The hermitage master said, "Just now it came out purely by chance." A senior venerable said, "How could one disparage it either?" Another senior venerable said, "Spare your eyebrows!" The Master made a substitute phrase for all of them, saying: "Were it not for the upādhyāya's verification, the whisk would be useless for a lifetime."