虛堂和尚語錄 1.142

1.142

上堂，舉：「趙州因僧問：『至道無難，唯嫌揀擇，是時人窠窟否？』州云：『曾有人問我，直得五年分疎不下。』」師云：「觀大海者難為水，遊聖人之門者難為言，不因者僧，難見趙州老子。」

Ascending the hall, he cited: "Zhaozhou, because a monk asked, '"The Great Way is not difficult, it only avoids picking and choosing"—is this not a nest and burrow for people of today?' Zhaozhou said, 'Once someone asked me, and for five whole years I could not explain it away.'"
The master said, "One who has seen the great ocean finds it hard to think of other waters; one who wanders at the gates of a sage finds it hard to speak. Were it not for this monk, it would be hard to see the old man Zhaozhou."