虛堂和尚語錄 3.127

3.127

Ascending the hall, he cited: "Venerable Zihu instructed the assembly, saying: 'For thirty years I have lived at Zihu; / with two meals of porridge and rice, my energy is robust. / Having nothing to do, I go up the mountain for a stroll, / and ask people of the time: do you understand or not?'" The Master said: "Zihu grew old and his mind was lonely; walking east and walking west, he further asked people, 'Do you understand or not?' Jingshan's lofty peaks and steep ridges are arrayed before us; moreover, encountering the snowy cold, I simply have not been able to go. When spring thaws, I must also take a stroll once or twice, but I simply will not ask people whether they understand or not. Why?" Striking his whisk, he said: "Metaphors using the moon in the water have been many since antiquity; / I am not so today—what is it that I declare? Participate!"