虛堂和尚語錄 3.63

3.63

At the informal gathering on New Year's Eve: "As the old departs and the new arrives, I am too lazy to send off or welcome. Among crags and beneath tombs, withered forms are seen. Resigned, the end of the twelfth month becomes a half-night's dream; seated facing the cold lampstand, a lamp of two years. To announce it like this has already fallen into the present moment; without touching upon meritorious deeds, how could it be brought forward? Tonight this old monk cannot hold back his feelings: before the firecrackers sound, I will open an active path for you all, and also let you know that tomorrow will surely be New Year's Day. If perhaps it is not so, the lion is made to dance in Xihe."