大慧普覺禪師語錄 3.39

3.39

Ascending the hall, [the Master] cited: "A monk asked Nanquan, 'Before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch, why did the hundred birds carry flowers in their beaks to offer [him]?' Nanquan said, 'Step by step he trod the stairs of buddhahood.' The monk said, 'Why did they not carry flowers to offer [him] after he met [him]?' Nanquan said, 'Even granting they do not come, he still differs from Teacher Wang by a thread of a path.' Yunmen said, 'Nanquan only knows how to step by step ascend to the heights; he does not know how to let go from the void.'" The Master said, "Although Yunmen has the skill to needle the vital organs and heal crippled limbs, he cannot avoid curing the deaf by making them mute. 'Step by step ascending to the heights' and 'letting go from the void'—from where did he get this news? A monk asked Yunmen for further instruction: 'What is step by step ascending to the heights?' Yunmen said, 'The Realm of Fragrant Accumulation.' The monk said, 'What is letting go from the void?' Yunmen said, 'Filling gullies and plugging ravines.'" The Master said, "[He] barely saved half of it."