萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 5.78

5.78

Case: Changsha ordered a monk to ask Master Hui, 'How was it before you met Nanquan?' (In the morning there was gruel.) Hui was silent for a good while. (Ask him, and at once there is the smell of shit.) The monk said, 'How about after meeting him?' (Further picking and poking at it.) Hui said, 'There could not be anything else.' (Just falling flat into a pile of shit.) The monk returned and brought this up to Sha. (A fellow wagging his tongue and carrying tales.) Sha said, 'A person sitting on top of a hundred-foot pole— (Those beneath the pole suffer a round of humiliation.) / Although having gained entry, is not yet true. (Only when the lonely and perilous is not maintained is the Way exalted.) / At the top of a hundred-foot pole, he must take a step: (What is so great as this letting go?) / The worlds of the ten directions are his whole body.' (Only then does one believe the rush mat is not heaven.) The monk said, 'How to take a step at the top of a hundred-foot pole?' (Indeed, this is here.) Sha said, 'The mountains of Langzhou, the waters of Lizhou.' (Striking against it, bumping into it.) The monk said, 'I do not understand.' (Exceedingly clever!) Sha said, 'The four seas and five lakes are within the king's transforming influence.' (Allowing him to leap about as he pleases.)