虛堂和尚語錄 2.167

2.167

At the informal gathering on New Year's Eve: "The new does not know that the old has already gone; the old does not know that the new has already come. The new and the old do not know each other, and thing after thing is matched as a pair; patch-robed monks take this as the ultimate principle. Little do they know that in the dead of night, at the third watch, sitting upright on the rush mat with backbones erect, who cares about the shifting of the water clock's arrows or the speed of the night watches? Still they are called Great Kings of Non-turning Wisdom, not to mention being like dwarfs watching a play, bobbing up and down with others. Even so, they only know that the warm sun gives birth to fragrant grass; how could they anticipate that the spring wind secretly touches a person?"