佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 1.12

1.12

The pointer says: Heaven and earth are narrow; the sun, moon, and stars turn dark all at once. Even if staffs fall like rain and shouts rush like thunder, it still cannot match the matter of the transcendent ancestral vehicle. Even if the Buddhas of the three periods could only know it for themselves, the ancestral masters through the ages could not completely bring it up, the teachings of the entire Tripiṭaka could not expound it, and clear-eyed patch-robed monks could not save themselves. Arriving here, how can you ask for instruction? Speak the word 'Buddha', and you are dragging through mud and water; speak the word 'Chan', and your whole face is covered in shame. Advanced practitioners of long standing need not be told; beginners and novices must simply investigate it.