景德傳燈錄 10.8

10.8

A scholar viewing the Scripture of Buddha Names asked, "Among the hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, one sees only their names; I wonder what lands they reside in, and do they also transform sentient beings or not?"
The Master said, "After Cui Hao composed his poem at the Yellow Crane Tower, did you, scholar, ever compose one?"
He replied, "Never."
The Master said, "When you have leisure, what harm is there in composing one?"
A monk asked, "Where did Nanquan go upon his passing?"
The Master said, "To the house in the east to be a donkey; to the house in the west to be a horse."
The monk said, "What is the meaning of this?"
The Master said, "If one wants to ride, one rides; if one wants to dismount, one dismounts."
The monk Haoyue asked, "Have the kalyāṇamitras of the world realized the three-virtue nirvāṇa or not?"
The Master said, "Does the Venerable ask about nirvāṇa as the fruit, or nirvāṇa in the cause?"
He replied, "I ask about nirvāṇa as the fruit."
The Master said, "The kalyāṇamitras of the world have not realized it."
He asked, "Why have they not realized it?"
The Master said, "Their merit is not equal to that of all the sages."
He said, "If their merit is not equal to that of the sages, why are they kalyāṇamitras?"
The Master said, "Clearly seeing the Buddha-nature may also be named being a kalyāṇamitra."
He said, "I wonder, when merit is equal to what path is it called realizing great nirvāṇa?"
The Master gave a verse, saying: