景德傳燈錄 19.27

19.27

泉州東禪和尚初開堂。僧問。人王迎請法王出世。如何提唱宗乘即得不謬於祖風。師曰。還奈得麼。曰若不下水焉知有魚。師曰。莫閑言語。問如何是佛法最親切處。師曰。過也。問學人末後來請師最先句。師曰。什麼處來。問如何是學人己分事。師曰苦。問如何是佛法大意。師曰。幸自可憐生剛要異鄉邑。

When Upādhyāya Dongchan of Quanzhou first opened the hall, a monk asked, "The king of humans invites the Dharma King to appear in the world; how should the tradition of the school be expounded so that it does not err against the ancestral style?"
The Master said, "Can you still cope with it?"
The monk said, "If one does not go into the water, how can one know there are fish?"
The Master said, "Do not chatter idle words."
[A monk] asked, "What is the most intimate place of the Buddha Dharma?"
The Master said, "Gone past."
[A monk] asked, "The student has come at the very end; I ask the Master for the very first phrase."
The Master said, "Where have you come from?"
[A monk] asked, "What is the student's own proper share of the matter?"
The Master said, "Bitterness."
[A monk] asked, "What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?"
The Master said, "Fortunately quite pitiable on your own, yet you insist on going to an alien village."