景德傳燈錄 14.47

14.47

Upādhyāya Xiantian. A monk from Silla arrived to study with him. Just as he spread his sitting cloth and was about to make a bow, the master seized him and said: "Say a phrase before you set out from your native country!" The monk was speechless. The master pushed him away, saying: "Asked for one phrase, he speaks two phrases." Another monk arrived and was about to bow. The master said: "Wild fox spirit! What did you see that you bow?" The monk said: "Old bald slave! What did you see that you ask like that?" The master said: "How bitter, how bitter! Today Xiantian forgot the front and lost the back." The monk said: "Though you gained an advantage, in the end it does not make up for the loss." The master said: "How could it not be so?" The monk said: "Who?" The master said: "Haha! Far indeed, far indeed!"