虛堂和尚語錄 2.41

2.41

He then said, "The place where cold and heat do not reach, the bare pillar bears witness to; the months and years without shift or change, the person of the Way's eyes are alive. Therefore, a year has three hundred and sixty days; counting from the year's start to the year's end, not a single day has ever failed to function as a day. Today is precisely the thirtieth night of the twelfth month. You might think that cold ashes flare up and dead trees bloom again, but when you consider it carefully, fundamentally there is still plenty of snow ahead. Baolin speaks in such a way, knowing full well that in extreme poverty one roasts oneself, and in starvation one wrangles with oneself; having no one to speak to, he just makes a bit of bustle. Why so? Having experienced the bitterness of frost and snow, even the falling of willow catkins brings a startle."