宏智禪師廣錄 4.36

4.36

Ascending the hall, a monk asked: "What is the person who goes forward like?"
The Master said: "Desolate and lonely, without a trace."
[The monk] asked: "What is the person who turns back like?"
The Master said: "Clearly distinct, there is news."
[The monk] asked: "What is the person who neither comes nor goes like?"
The Master said: "Only when you sit down on your tongue will you see my nostrils."
[The monk] said: "Thank you, Master, for answering my question."
The Master then said: "The dynamism of the ancestral masters through the ages is like a flash of lightning, which cannot be opened by striking a dull vessel; the eloquence of the Buddhas of the three periods is like a cascading river, which cannot fill a leaking goblet. Do you know that there is a place of saving effort for the sake of people? The weather is cold and the days are short; two people share a single bowl."