虛堂和尚語錄 1.55

1.55

Ascending the hall, he brought up [the following]: "Linji sent his attendant to deliver a message to Deshan. The attendant said, 'Deshan likes to strike people.' Linji said, 'Just go. Wait until he takes up his staff, seize it, and give him a shove; I guarantee he will not strike you.' The attendant followed instructions, and indeed Deshan did not strike him. Returning, he related this to Linji. Linji said, 'I have always suspected this fellow.'" The master said: "Everyone says: 'Deshan only knows how to spread his scales in shallow water, and cannot cast a line in a deep pool.' Little do they know that Linji and his son were buried by Deshan in a heap of wild grass, and to this day they cannot lift themselves up."