佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 3.47

3.47

"Zhenzhou produces large radishes"—if you take this as the ultimate standard, you are already mistaken. An ancient said: "Holding hands to climb a high mountain inevitably brings sneers from bystanders." People all know that this is a statement of the ultimate standard, yet in the end they do not know the place of the ultimate standard. Therefore Xuedou said: "Patch-robed monks under heaven take it as the standard; / They only know that from antiquity to the present, / How can they distinguish the white of a swan from the black of a crow?" Although they know present people answer like this and ancient people also answered like this, when have they ever distinguished black from white? Xuedou said: you must go into his sparks struck from flint and flashes of lightning, and distinguish the white of a swan from the black of a crow; only then will you get it. The gong'an is eulogised up to here. Xuedou brings forth his own intent, and facing the lively, dynamic place, further says to you: "Thief, thief! Patch-robed monks' nostrils have been caught hold of!" The Buddhas of the three periods are also thieves; the ancestral masters of successive generations are also thieves. To be good at being a thief, swapping people's eyes without moving hands or feet—Zhaozhou alone is conceded this. Tell me, what is the place where Zhaozhou was good at being a thief? "Zhenzhou produces large radishes."