圓悟佛果禪師語錄 14.20

14.20

Bodhidharma traveled to Liang and entered Wei, plunging into the weeds to seek out a person. Facing the wall at Shaolin, he sat coldly for nine years, finding only one in the deep snow. When it came to the final question, what did [Huike] attain? He merely made three prostrations and stood in his place, whereupon there were the words about attaining the marrow. This led those of the sort who "guard a tree stump waiting for a rabbit" to vie in taking wordless prostration and standing in place as the profound import of attaining the marrow. Little do they know that the sword has long since fallen, yet they are still notching the boat—how could they have ever even dreamed of the Patriarch? If one is an authentic, true follower of the Way, one must transcend emotional views, step beyond opinions, and have a different livelihood; one must never make a living in dead water. Only then can one inherit the estate of their house. Arriving here, one must know there is the transcendent matter. As it is said, one who is skilled at learning from Liuxia Hui never imitates his tracks. Therefore the ancients said, "A matching phrase is a donkey tethering stake for ten thousand kalpas." How true!