萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 2.78

2.78

Case: Fengxue was in the government headquarters of Yingzhou. Ascending the hall, he said, "The Patriarch's mind-seal is shaped like the mechanism of an iron ox. (Even a needle cannot prick it.) / If it goes, the seal remains; (Drag back its nostrils.) / If it remains, the seal is broken. (Cut off its heels.) / Just as when it neither goes nor remains, is it right to seal it or right not to seal it?" (Washing a lump of clay in the mud.) / At that time Elder Lubi came forward and asked, "I possess the mechanism of an iron ox; I request the Master not to apply the seal." (Distinctly possessing the waves that go against the current.) / Xue said, "Accustomed to angling whales and settling the great ocean, / I instead lament the frog walking and floundering in the mud and sand." (A soul-guiding banner, a bag of gas.) / Bi hesitated in thought. (He has already passed the Ghost Gate checkpoint.) / Xue shouted and said, "Elder, why do you not speak further?" (He has already approached the cliff's edge; give him another push.) / Bi was about to deliberate. (Where have you gone for so long?) / Xue struck him once with his whisk and said, "Do you still remember the topic of the dialogue? Try raising it and let us see." (To help a person thoroughly, kill him until blood is seen.) / Bi was about to open his mouth. (He still refuses to yield to burial.) / Xue struck him once more with the whisk. (Still thirty blows short.) / The prefect said, "Buddhadharma is just like the King's law." (Not knowing how to be an official, observe the precedent of neighboring prefectures.) / Xue said, "What did you see?" (Just right to give him a blow with the whisk.) / The prefect said, "When one ought to decide and does not, one inversely brings about chaos." (Cursing himself and inviting it on himself.) / Xue then stepped down from the seat. (When the taste of success is richest, it is the best time to stop.)