虛堂和尚語錄 3.76

3.76

He brought up again: "Subhūti was sitting in meditation in a cliff cave. The devas rained down flowers in praise. The Venerable One said, 'Who is raining flowers and offering praise in the air?' The reply came, 'I am Brahmā.' The Venerable One said, 'Why do you offer praise?' The deva said, 'I revere the Venerable One for expounding Prajñāpāramitā well.' The Venerable One said, 'Regarding prajñā, I have not expounded a single word; why do you praise me?' The deva said, 'The Venerable One has no exposition, and I have no hearing; no exposition and no hearing is the true expounding of Prajñāpāramitā.' Again the earth shook and flowers rained down. Xuedou said: 'A place to avoid clamor and seek quietude—the world has never had such a method. When he was sitting in meditation in the cliff cave, he was still made a fool of by that band of fellows. Furthermore, that old man could not hold fast. Asking, "Who is raining flowers and offering praise in the air?" already revealed his blunder. "I revere the Venerable One for expounding Prajñāpāramitā well" was foul water splashed right over his head. "Regarding prajñā, I have not expounded a single word" was running among the weeds. "The Venerable One has no exposition, and I have no hearing"—what good and bad did they know? If everyone were like these sorts of fellows, where would today come from?' He called again to the assembly: 'Fortunately, Xuedou is an unconcerned person; what are you coming here to look for?' With his staff, he chased them all down at once." The Master said: "Although Xuedou was not adept in military tactics, he nonetheless secretly coincided with Sunzi and Wu Qi. Today at Baiyan, opening the hall to offer wishes for the Emperor's longevity, why is there no one raining flowers in offering?" Striking the whisk, he said: "Thieves do not enter the gate of a cautious house."