佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 10.9

10.9

Before the World-Honoured One held up the flower, there was already this message. Beginning from Deer Park and ending at the Hiraṇyavatī River, how often did he ever use the precious sword of the Vajra King? At that time, if in the assembly there had been a fellow with the breath of a patch-robed monk who could have snatched it away, it would have saved him from holding up the flower at the very end—a total mess. When the World-Honoured One remained silent for a while, pressed by Mañjuśrī, he immediately stepped down from the seat. At that time there was also this message. Śākyamuni closing his chamber and Vimalakīrti shutting his mouth were both like this; it had already been spoken. It is like Emperor Suzong asking National Teacher Zhong about building a seamless stupa, or like the non-Buddhist asking the Buddha: "I do not ask about what has words, nor do I ask about the wordless." Look at the conduct of those transcendent people: how often did they ever enter a ghost cave to make a living? Some say his intention lay in the silence; some say it lay in the pause; that having words clarifies the wordless matter, or that the wordless clarifies the matter with words. Yongjia said, "Silent, it speaks; speaking, it is silent." If you always understand it like this, even in three lifetimes and sixty kalpas you will not have dreamed of it yet. If you can directly undertake it beneath the words, you will no longer see ordinary or holy: this Dharma is equal, with neither higher nor lower. Day after day you will walk hand in hand with the Buddhas of the three periods of time. Later, look at Xuedou: naturally it can be seen and eulogized.