虛堂和尚語錄 1.73

1.73

上堂，舉：「南泉住庵，時一僧到，泉云：『我上山作務，齋時做飯，喫了送一分來。』其僧飯了，將家事一時打碎，就床上臥。泉伺久不來，遂歸，見僧臥，泉亦臥。僧便起去，泉住後云：『我往前住庵時，有箇靈利道者，至今不見。』」師云：「王老師若不顧錐頭利，者僧要起去未得。雖然，石厭笋斜出，岸懸花倒生。」

Ascending the hall, he cited: "When Nanquan lived in a hermitage, a monk arrived. Quan said, 'I am going up the mountain to do chores. Cook food at mealtime, eat, and send a portion up.' That monk finished eating, smashed all the household utensils at once, and lay down on the bed. Quan waited long and [the monk] did not come, so he returned. Seeing the monk lying down, Quan also lay down. The monk then got up and left. After Nanquan became abbot, he said, 'When I lived in a hermitage in the past, there was a sharp-witted practitioner whom I have not seen to this day.'" The Master said, "If Old Teacher Wang had not looked out for the sharpness of the awl's point, that monk would not have been able to get up and leave. Even so: the rock suppresses the bamboo shoot, which sprouts obliquely; the cliff hangs over the flower, which blooms upside down."