宏智禪師廣錄 2.105

2.105

When Xuefeng was living in a hermitage, two monks came to pay respects. Seeing them come, Feng pushed open the hermitage door with his hands, stepped out, and said, "What is it?" The monks also said, "What is it?" Feng lowered his head and returned to the hermitage. Later, the monks arrived at Yantou's place. Tou asked, "Where have you come from?" The monks said, "We have come from Lingnan." Tou said, "Have you ever been to Xuefeng's place?" The monks said, "We have been there." Tou said, "What words were there?" The monks recounted the previous conversation. Tou said, "What did he say?" The monks said, "Without a word, he lowered his head and returned to the hermitage." Tou said, "Alas, at the beginning I did not speak the final phrase to him. If I had spoken it to him, no one under heaven could do anything to Old Xue." Toward the end of the summer, the monks raised the previous conversation again and requested further instruction. Tou said, "Why did you not ask earlier?" The monks said, "We did not dare do so lightly." Tou said, "Although Xuefeng was born on the same branch as me, he will not die on the same branch as me. If you want to know the final phrase, just this is it." The ode says: