虛堂和尚語錄 1.68

1.68

He then said, "Before forms and sounds portend, mountains pile upon mountains; as soon as traces of words become evident, echoes and shadows are hard to seek. Therefore, Śākya shut his room in Magadha, and Vimalakīrti closed his mouth in Vaiśālī, leading the twenty-eight [patriarchs] of the Western Heaven and the six of the land of Tang, those old sacks of pus throughout the realm, to exhaust all their mechanisms without finding any handhold. They could only level the high to accommodate the low, taking a broken cord that could not be used two thousand years ago to pierce the nostrils of patch-robed monks throughout the world, calling it 'restricting footsteps to protect living beings' and 'attaining realization within a set period', which only looks all the messier. Bao'en has no strength in cultivation, so he cannot avoid following the precedent and acting topsy-turvy." Striking his staff: "If not for his skill at shooting condors, who would know General Li?"