Letter of Zen Master Ta Hui to Liu Yen-chung
So Very Close
“Just because it’s so very close, you cannot get this Truth out of your own eyes. When you open your eyes it strikes you, and when you close your eyes it’s not lacking either. When you open your mouth you speak of it, and when you shut your mouth it appears by itself. But if you try to receive it by stirring your mind, you’ve already missed it by eighteen thousand miles.”
J.C. Cleary
Swampland Flowers: The Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui
“这个道理。只为太近。远不出自家眼睛里。开眼便刺著。合眼处亦不缺少。开口便道著合。口处亦自现成。拟欲起心动念承当。渠早已蹉过十万八千了也。”
大慧宗杲禅师