虛堂和尚語錄 9.45

9.45

Ascending the hall, he cited: "Court Gentleman Guo Gongfu invited Upādhyāya Wuzu Fayan to ascend the hall. The Court Gentleman first burned incense before the Dharma throne and said: 'This piece of incense, burned in the censer, becomes a cloud of radiance permeating the Dharma realm, offered to our monastery abbot, elder Dharma brother and Chan master. I humbly pray that upon this broad throne within the cloud, you break open your face and release the form of our late master to depict it for everyone. Why is this? / Formerly we met beside the White Cloud Crag; / past days and today, affairs are not the same. / In the quiet night and cold water, the fish do not bite; / a censer of incense disperses over White Lotus Peak.' / Wuzu then said: 'Namo sattata prabhāya. Like this, like this: / How many times looking out over the White Cloud Creek, / yellow plum blossoms blooming in the snow. / Not like this, not like this: / The tender willow twigs, golden threads, / must arrive in due season. / Have you not seen Layman Pang asking Great Master Ma: "Who is the person who is not a companion to the ten thousand dharmas?" The Great Master said: "Wait until you swallow the water of the West River in a single gulp, then I will tell you." Assembly, swallowing the water of the West River in a single gulp, the ten-thousand-fathom deep pool is plumbed to the bottom. A single plank is not Zhaozhou's bridge; how could the bright moon and cool breeze compare?'" The master took this up and said: "In such talk, what is there to grasp? It all flows out of this samādhi of non-reliance and desirelessness. Someone may say: 'A chess player meets his match; the lute encounters a connoisseur.' Who would not say so? Wait until Xutang changes the bones of an eon, and then I will grant you this turning phrase."