虛堂和尚語錄 3.59

3.59

冬至小參：「一氣潛回，八角磨盤空裏走；六爻纔動，無毛鷂子貼天飛。是他時節因緣，不逐四時消長。衲僧家，眼𭿇𭿇地，坐在者裏，直饒向葭灰未動已前，會得西川鄧師波，東山下左邊底也，未是枯木開花底時節。何故？」卓主丈：「冬不寒，臘後看。」

At the informal gathering for the Winter Solstice: "The single primal breath secretly returns, and the octagonal millstone runs in empty space; the six hexagram lines have barely moved, and the featherless sparrowhawk flies hugging the sky. These are conditions of their own season, not pursuing the waxing and waning of the four seasons. You patch-robed monks, with your eyes wide open, sit right here. Even if, before the reed ashes had moved, you understood Deng Shibuo of Xichuan and the one on the left below East Mountain, it still would not be the season when the withered tree blossoms. Why?" Striking the staff, he said: "If winter is not cold, see what happens after the twelfth month."