禪林寶訓 4.18

4.18

Master Xinwen Ben said: "Among patch-robed monks, there are many who contract illness on account of Chan. Some have an illness in their ears and eyes: taking staring eyebrows, glaring eyes, cocking the ear, and nodding the head to be Chan. Some have an illness in their mouth and tongue: taking contradictory speech, preposterous talk, and reckless shouting to be Chan. Some have an illness in their hands and feet: taking stepping forward, stepping back, pointing east, and drawing west to be Chan. Some have an illness in their mind and belly: taking plumbing the abstruse, probing the wondrous, transcending feelings, and leaving views behind to be Chan. Judging by reality, none of these is not an illness. Only a genuine lineage master clearly perceives subtle signs; at a single glance, he knows whether one understands or does not understand; upon one's entering the gate, he discerns whether one has arrived or not arrived. Afterward, employing a single awl and a single slip, he strips away one's fine attachments, attacks one's entanglements, verifies one's authenticity or falsity, and determines one's emptiness or reality. Not adhering to a single expedient means and not being blind to adaptability, he ensures that one ultimately steps into the realm of peace, joy, and non-affair, and only then does he cease." (Recorded Sayings)