禪林寶訓 2.51

2.51

Foyan said: "Students must not be stuck in written words and spoken language. Written words and spoken language build understanding dependent on others, obstruct one's own gate of awakening, and cannot transcend words and symbols. Formerly, when Daguan Ying first visited Reverend Shimen Cong, he galloped with verbal eloquence in the room. Cong said, 'What you speak of is words on paper. As for the subtlety of the mind, you have not yet seen its depth. You should seek wondrous awakening. When awakened, you will be outstanding and uniquely pre-eminent, neither riding on words nor stagnating in phrases, like the lion king whose roar makes the hundred beasts tremble in fright. Looking back on the study of written words, how could it merely be comparing ten with a hundred, or a thousand with ten thousand?'" (Longjian Jiwen)