萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 1.121

1.121

The Master said: Establishing cultivation and realization, dividing cause and effect, a foot of water becomes a fathom of wave, falling into the phantom spirit of a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. Even if the two monks at Jicui Hermitage had eloquence that stood out from the crowd, upon examination, they could not avoid bumping into a nest of entangling vines. In this line of Tiantong's, two words are not settled; why did he not say, "As before, he bumps into a wild fox's den"? Ah, haha! This versifies Baizhang's realization and exposes his own bosom, saying, "Do you understand?" Just ask Tiantong whether he understands or not. If you are free and unconstrained, it does not hinder my babbling along. Fortunately there is a shady spot; why bother not sharing it with people? Babbling along (duoduo hehe) depicts the indistinct speech of an infant. Furthermore, the Fahua shiqian says, "Duoduo describes the appearance of learning to walk; pohe is the sound of learning to speak." The Nirvāṇa Sūtra has the practice of illness and the practice of infancy; one edition reads pohe pohe. Chan Master Shishi Shandao said, "Among the sixteen practices of the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra], the practice of infancy is foremost." Babbling along illustrates that a practitioner of the Way is free from minds of discrimination, grasping, and rejection. It has the same meaning as the "spirit songs and village dances" below. And tell me, what melody is this? With mind, the myriad sounds cannot hear it; having no ears, the solitary cliff yet recognizes the tune.