직지심체요절 (Anthology of Great Buddhist Priests' Zen Teachings — World's Oldest Movable Metal Type, 1377)

penetrate the eye of the Way and enter the ocean of the nature of prajna transcendent wisdom. Only then will you have attained it. Stand for a long time. Take care."

Xuefeng and Yantou arrived together at Ao Mountain Town in Lizhou, where they were blocked by snow. Yantou spent every day sleeping, while the Master [Xuefeng] sat in meditation zuochan sitting meditation the entire time. One day, he called out, "Brother, Brother, please get up!" Yantou said, "What for?" The Master said, "In this life, I have not attained ease. I have wandered everywhere with this fellow, and everywhere I have been burdened by him. Today, I arrived here with you, and you just keep on sleeping." Yantou shouted, "Bah! Sleep! Sleep! By sitting on the bed every day, you are just like the local earth deity in a village. Some other day, you will go off to bewitch men and women." meaning: to cause confusion The Master pointed to his own chest and said, "I have not found peace here yet, so I dare not deceive myself." Yantou said, "I thought you had some understanding. Later, you will build a grass hut on a lone peak and propagate the Great Teaching, yet you speak such words?" The Master said, "Truly, I have not found peace yet." Yantou said, "If it is really like that, then present your insights one by one. If it is correct, I will verify it for you. If it is incorrect, I will dismantle it for you." The Master said, "At first, when I arrived at Yanguan, I saw the Abbot of Yanguan lecturing on the meaning of form and emptiness and gained an entry point." Yantou said, "From now on, for thirty years, absolutely do not mention this."

[Yantou] also cited Dongshan’s verse: "Absolutely do not seek it from others, or you will be far removed from yourself. Now I go on alone, and everywhere I meet it. It is me, yet I am not it. I am now exactly it. You must understand in this way to attain the tathata suchness." Yantou said, "If it is like this, your self-salvation is still not complete." The Master said, "Later, I asked Deshan: 'Do I have a share in the matters of the ancestral transmission from the past?' Deshan gave me a blow and said, 'What are you saying?' At that moment, I was suddenly liberated, as if the bottom of a tub had fallen out." Yantou shouted, "Don't you hear it? What comes in through the gate is not the family treasure." The Master asked, "What is it like after that?" Yantou said, "If you can ask, if you can ask—later, when you wish to propagate the Great Teaching, it will all flow out from your own bosom and serve to cover the heaven and cover the earth." The Master was greatly enlightened at these words. He then performed bows and, rising, said repeatedly, "Today, for the first time, I have attained the Way at Ao Mountain."

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