宏智禪師廣錄 5.26

5.26

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "'Do not establish the two extremes purely; there is no need to settle in the middle way.' What is the meaning?"
The Master said: "Here there is no place for you to step down."
The monk said: "'The ancient sages did not arrange it; to this day it has no dwelling place.'"
The Master said: "In the monks' hall, the one ladling gruel and dishing up rice—who is that person?"
The monk said: "Throughout the twelve periods of the day, thoroughly stuffed and sated."
The Master said: "Indeed, you are a gruel-and-rice monk."
The monk said: "In the end, where would you have him settle?"
The Master said: "Beyond heaven there is no path to walk; within it, one must be clearly aware all alone."
The monk said: "'Lifting the head, the lingering glow remains; originally, the residence is in the west.'"
The Master said: "In the mixed place, no wind gets through; when you arrive, there are no companions."
The monk bowed. The Master then said: "In no place can it be gathered in; in no time can it be caged. Therefore it is said: 'Refusing to stay in a cage, not turning the head when called. The ancient sages did not arrange it; to this day it has no dwelling place.' If one is a fellow who acts like this, it truly spans all heaven and earth—east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above and below—and after all there is no empty gap. Thus, refusing to stay in a cage, having refused to stay in a cage, one does not turn the head when called. Not only did old Śākya and Grand Master Bodhidharma act in this way: if your mind of deluded thinking is exhausted and differential affairs dissolve, going straight ahead in this way, precisely not falling into a second thought, just at such a time, what facing or turning away is there? What object and self are there? What other and this are there? Straightforwardly unmixable, not of an equal class. Why is this so? At all times and in all places, clearly and distinctly aware, not obscured by them, not caged by them—where is it not the elder's path to cast off the body? Therefore it is said: 'Amidst the myriad forms the body is uniquely revealed; only when one affirms it for oneself is it intimate. In former years mistakenly sought on the road; looking at it today, it is ice in the fire.' If you can discern it like this, at this time not a single thread or particle can be attached. If there is the tip of a single hair, one is immediately obstructed by the three realms. Just at such a time, there are no three realms to leave, and no three realms to enter, undulating like a bright pearl. A genuine patch-robed monk should act like this. Take care!"