禪林寶訓 1.34

1.34

Patriarch Yan said: "Benefiting beings and transmitting the Way depends entirely on obtaining the right people. Yet knowing people is difficult—something even sages and worthies found troublesome. If one listens to their words, one cannot guarantee their deeds; if one seeks their deeds, one fears overlooking their talents. Unless one has associated with them over time and knows their beginning and end in full detail, probing their aspirations and deeds and observing their capacity and ability, then those who preserve the Way and conceal their abilities can never be recognized, and those who seek fame and disguise their appearance cannot be prevented from their pretense. Even if they remain hidden and secretive, their source will be seen. The principle of observing, probing, examining in detail, and listening is certainly not something that can be accomplished in a single morning or evening. For this reason, after Nanyue Rang saw Dajian, he still served as an administrator for fifteen autumns; when Mazu saw Rang, he also followed him for more than ten years. From this we know that when the former sages conferred and received [the transmission], it was certainly not something shallow people dared to transmit and uphold. Only like pouring water from one vessel into another can one succeed to the grand model, like a true son taking up the ancestral lineage. This is the clear proof of the principle of observing, probing, examining in detail, and listening. How could one allow clever words, a fawning countenance, craftiness, and flattery to fill the selection?" (From A Letter to Yuanwu).