萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 3.110

3.110

The Master said: Yunyan studied as a secondary student under Daowu; Xuefeng studied as a secondary student under Yantou. The gentleman is not ashamed to inquire of those below. That the ways of Yunyan and Xuefeng are widely practiced today is also the remaining blessing of stepping back and yielding to others. Yet Yantou's natural talent was heroic and outstanding: evaluating and promoting Deshan's Way, he strode horizontally across all under heaven, and no one dared face his sharp point. This was because his insight was thoroughly penetrating and his nurturing was fully accomplished, hence he could be like this. Look at those two monks under Xuefeng's gate: arrows meeting point to point, he too was an itinerant fellow. Why is it that, right up until the end of the summer, he still doubted the final word? It was only because his eyes were dull and his head was bewildered, letting it slip right past his face. Yantou spoke out so many principles for him: "Although Xuefeng was born on the same branch with me, he will not die on the same branch with me." Though one Dharma has no difference, three people see disparity. This monk and Xuefeng at the same time said, "What is it?" When it came to discussing the final word, even when told, he did not know it. Is this not a difference of a hair's breadth leading to a loss of a thousand miles? And tell me, did this monk truly not understand, or did he want to set this dialogue in motion? Guishan Zhe said: "Great or small, Xuefeng and Yantou were both exposed by this monk." Wansong says: If the cold eye does not watch out, Yantou and Xuefeng might still be forgiven; later he also pointed out that Deshan too did not understand the final word, which is truly hard to bear. For this reason, Tiantong brought it forth twice in verse. The verse says: