禪林寶訓 4.7

4.7

Shui'an said to Attendant Gentleman You Yanzhi: 'Formerly, Dayu, Ciming, Guquan, and Langye formed a group to study under Fenyang. In Hedong it was bitterly cold, and the crowd shrank back in fear; only Ciming set his mind upon the Way, diligent from dawn to dusk. Sitting at night, when he wished to sleep, he would prick himself with an awl, lamenting, "The ancients did not eat or sleep for the sake of the great matter of saṃsāra. What kind of person am I, to indulge in dissipation? In life, bringing no benefit to the times; in death, leaving no renown to posterity—this is to abandon myself!" When one day he bade farewell to return, Fenyang sighed, "Now that Chuyuan departs, my Way goes east."' (Records of Things Heard at West Lake)