大慧普覺禪師語錄 20.21

20.21

Layman Pang asked Great Master Ma: "When one is like water without sinews and bones, yet capable of bearing a ten-thousand-hogshead boat, what then?" The Patriarch said: "Here I have neither water nor boat; what further talk of sinews and bones is there?" At these words, the layman suddenly put all conditions to rest, and then returned to Nanyue to see Venerable Shitou. One day Shitou asked the layman: "Since seeing this old monk, what have your daily affairs been like?" The layman said: "If you ask about my daily affairs, there is simply no place to open my mouth." Shitou said: "Knowing you were like this, only then did I ask you." The layman then recited a verse, saying: / "In daily affairs there is no difference, / Only I myself naturally harmonize. / In everything, neither grasping nor rejecting, / In every place, do not act contrarily. / For red and purple robes, who makes a name? / The rolling hills are without a speck of dust. / Supernormal powers and wondrous functions: / Carrying water and hauling firewood." / This is the model of Chan practice among laymen. If you are determined to bring this matter to its ultimate conclusion, please follow this old man's pattern. Since he was a great hero, how could I not be so? Do not neglect this; make effort, make effort!