Yangshan asked a monk, “Where are you from?”
The monk said, “From Yu province.”
Yangshan said, “Do you think of that place?”
The monk said, “I always think of it. ”
Yangshan said, “The thinker is the mind and the thought-of is the environment. Therein are mountains, rivers, and the land mass, buildings, towers, halls and chambers, people, animals, and so forth;
reverse your thought to think of the thinking mind
are there so many things there?”
The monk said, “When I get here, I don’t see any existence at all.”
Yangshan said, “This is right for the stage of faith, but not yet right for the stage of person.”
The monk said, “Don’t you have any other particular way of guidance?”
Yangshan said, “To say that I have anything particular or not would not be accurate. Based on your insight, you only get one mystery – you can take the seat and wear the robe. After this, see on your own.”
Shoyoroku, Case 32