宏智禪師廣錄 4.52

4.52

上堂云。以本際光洗長夜暗。以法界智破塵劫疑。生滅紛紛。而不至真淨之家。夤緣擾擾。而不到圓明之境。任它外變。獨我中虛。步入道環。體亡幻事。所以古人道。有物先天地。無形本寂寥。能為萬象主。不逐四時凋。且道是箇什麼。良久云。鯨吞海水盡。露出珊瑚枝。

Ascending the hall, [the Master] said: "Wash away the darkness of the long night with the light of the original limit; shatter the doubts of kalpas of dust with the wisdom of the Dharma realm. Arising and ceasing rage on, yet do not reach the home of true purity; conditioning relations perturb restlessly, yet do not arrive at the realm of perfect clarity. Let external changes happen as they will; alone within, I remain empty. Stepping into the ring of the Way, the substance eliminates illusory affairs. Therefore an ancient said: 'There is a thing prior to heaven and earth; formless, fundamentally desolate. Capable of being master to the ten thousand phenomena, it does not wither following the four seasons.' But tell me, what is this thing?" After a long pause, he said: "The whale swallows up the seawater completely, exposing the coral branches."