佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 7.15

7.15

"Both halls were spurious chan monks." Xuedou does not die under the words, nor does he follow along before donkeys and behind horses; where there is a place to turn, he immediately says, "Stirring up smoke and dust, they could do nothing about it." Xuedou walked hand in hand with Nanquan; in a single phrase he stated it completely. The head monks of both halls had nowhere to rest; everywhere they merely stirred up smoke and dust, powerless to do anything. Fortunately, Nanquan settled this gong'an for them and gathered it in cleanly. What could they do, reaching neither the village ahead nor the inn behind? Therefore it is said: "Fortunately, Nanquan was able to execute the imperative: in one blade, two pieces, letting it be biased or skewed." Directly cut into two pieces with a single blade, paying no heed to whether it is biased or skewed. Now tell me: what imperative did Nanquan rely on?