宏智禪師廣錄 4.52

4.52

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."