無門關 1.49

1.49

香嚴和尚云。如人上樹。口啣樹枝。手不攀枝。脚不踏樹。樹下有人。問西來意。不對即違他所問。若對又喪身失命。正恁麼時。作麼生對。

Upādhyāya Xiangyan said: "It is like a person up in a tree, hanging from a branch by his mouth, his hands not grasping a branch, his feet not treading on the tree. Someone under the tree asks him the meaning of the Patriarch coming from the West. If he does not answer, he fails the questioner; if he does answer, he loses his body and forfeits his life. Right at such a time, how would you answer?"