虛堂和尚語錄 10.171

10.171

Zhiyu respectfully replies to Chan Master Wushi, abbot of Penglai. On the tenth day of the second month my servant arrived, and I received your kind letter. Moreover, learning that the Dharma conditions of your abbotship are flourishing, I am greatly comforted. Regarding what you mentioned about lacking trusted people to share in your labor—this is caused by the times; one should embody the ancient style. Dizang said: 'The widespread talk of Chan in all directions—how can it compare to my plowing the fields and making rice balls?' Talk of this sort has great ground to stand on. Fengxue saw only a few broken rooms and remained solitary for seven years; Guishan ate acorns for nine years. These are all the deeds of wise men, illuminating later generations like this. One only fears lacking a persevering mind; nowadays profit and the Way run together, so that one cannot even bear to look. Moreover, Penglai is a famous mountain on the sea, a place where forebears practiced the Way; you should naturally step back and be prudent and sincere, keeping the monastery in mind and taking the multitude to heart. Naturally the superior conditions of prajñā will arise, fragrant breezes blowing in all four directions—why worry that there will be no one to share your labor? Exert yourself in this! Thank you for the gift of purple mushrooms. For two months I have not felt very well, and I suppose my fortune is just like this. Lingyin is already left behind; I merely accompany candidates. Old Guang will probably enter the monastery in early third month, so I shall move my register and return to the pagoda of Songyuan, so that my auditory faculty may be pure and clean, and moreover, having brothers of the rivers and lakes for company, drinking tea and talking of the Way will be enough. I have proofread the commentaries you sent one by one, and handed them to Master Ze to seal and dispatch. Because of the letter from Young Gentleman Fang's mother, I do not know how long I will stay at the pagoda. Whenever you frame phrasing and employ words in the future, carefully bore and prick through the ancient and the modern, expounding the great meaning in full, and make the place where the blade falls relatively strict—do not be like those in all directions who wash mud in mud. In the warm spring, care for yourself properly; my best wishes are inexhaustible. Zhiyu respectfully replies on the twenty-eighth day of the second month.