虛堂和尚語錄 1.44

1.44

That evening at the informal gathering: "How shall I meet with you all? If meeting by worldly conventions, greetings about the cold and warmth are already finished. If meeting by the Buddha-Dharma, the questions and answers are already complete. What is more, for patch-robed monks, whose eyebrows are like arrow-shafts and eyes like copper bells, who know before a thing is raised and comprehend before a word is spoken—what is there to say about meeting or not meeting? Even so, this mountain monk has just arrived here and does not know the orientations of the wells and stoves or the heights of the door-sills, so I cannot help asking from the beginning. Why? Both sides need to know."