大慧普覺禪師語錄 4.37

4.37

Vice Minister Zhang requested [the Master] to ascend the high seat. A monk asked, "'From the ten directions they gather together, each studying the unconditioned; this is the selection arena for buddhas: when the mind is emptied, they pass the examination and return'—at just such a time, how is it?" The Master said, "What does the topic say?" [The monk] advanced and said, "It is distinct right before our eyes." The Master said, "Fabricating Chan monks are as numerous as hemp seeds and millet grains." [The monk] advanced and said, "How can one help but join together in climbing the immortal cassia tree, aiming to snap off the foremost bough in the Toad Palace?" The Master said, "This fellow has drawn a blank today." [The monk] advanced and said, "Even though it is like this, this summer I will surely become the top graduate in Chan." He then bowed. [He] asked, "How does the Vice Minister's understanding compare to last year?" The Master said, "This year and last year are separated by only three hundred and sixty days." [The monk] advanced and said, "Better not slander the Vice Minister; the Vice Minister has no such news." The Master said, "Since he already has no such news, why do you talk wildly again?" [The monk] advanced and said, "Borrowing someone else's mouth to speak a sentence or two—what harm is there in that?" He then bowed. The Master then said, "What is spoken by borrowing another's mouth does not concern one's own self. As for what flows forth from one's own breast, onlookers have eyes as if blind and mouths as if mute. If you comprehend it like this, to be the top graduate in Chan is not difficult. Even granting it were like this, you have only entered the gate of Jingshan; you have not yet entered the inner chamber of Jingshan. If you enter the inner chamber of Jingshan, only then will the top graduate in Chan be of use. The moment the top graduate in Chan is of use, the top graduate in Confucian learning will not be of use. I venture to ask the great assembly: Why was the former of use, while the latter is not of use?" He then looked left and right, and said, "Do you know where Jingshan settles? If you know where Jingshan settles, the top graduate in Chan is the top graduate in Confucian learning, and the top graduate in Confucian learning is the top graduate in Chan. Right now, setting aside both Chan and Confucianism, tell me: what can you say about the sentence directly confronting you? If you want to know the dead Vice-director Zhang, he is none other than the living Top Graduate!"