The monk Yanzhao lived for many years in an abandoned temple on Mount
Fengxue. During the day, he begged for food in the nearby village, and at night
he meditated by the light of burning pine resin. Slowly a group of students was
attracted to him and joined him on the mountain.
One of these students said, “Master, you once said that truth can be
transmitted without speaking and without keeping silent. Can you explain this
to me?”
Yanzhao replied, “When I was a young boy in Hangzhou, how the birds played
among the blossoms in the springtime!”
Zen Masters of China: 247-50
When a man asked to be taken on as a student,
Shoushan Xingnian told him. “I don’t have time for that type of thing.”
