虛堂和尚語錄 1.73

1.73

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."