宏智禪師廣錄 4.43

4.43

Ascending the hall, a monk asked: "When the hundred bones all disintegrate, one thing remains perpetually numinous. What is the thing that remains perpetually numinous?"
The Master said: "Clearly enduring beyond all forms, towering foremost before all operations."
[The monk] asked: "If so, when the poor household is robbed, it cannot be stripped bare."
The Master said: "Before the dry skull, behind the leather bag."
[The monk] asked: "Right at such a time, what is its original face?"
The Master said: "A fellow with rheum in his eyes—what is there to talk with him about?"
The Master then said: "The lump of red flesh has no master; the kalpa of emptiness has a home. Fully ten parts of pure white livelihood, an expansive stretch of life. The wind is high at the moonlit door as clouds gather over the ancient path; the waves are calm on the starry river as a numinous raft floats by night. Venerable Zen practitioners! Mind alone accomplishes the ten thousand dharmas; transformation Buddhas manifest on a thousand flowers. Quickly pull the fragrant elephant back by its nose; take special care not to step directly on the dead snake."