29Not the Wind, Not the Flag非風非幡
六祖因風颺剎幡。有二僧對論。一云幡動。一云風動。往復曾未契理。祖云。不是風動不是幡動。仁者心動。二僧悚然。
The Sixth Patriarch was at the temple when the wind set a flag flapping. Two monks were arguing about it. One said, "The flag is moving." The other said, "The wind is moving." Back and forth they went, getting nowhere. The Patriarch said, "It is not the wind that moves, and not the flag. What moves is your mind." The two monks froze.
Verse 頌曰
風幡心動
一狀領過
只知開口
不覺話墮
Wind, flag, mind, all moving.
One charge covers the lot.
He knows only that his mouth came open.
He never feels the words hit the dirt.
Wumen's Comment 無門曰
不是風動。不是幡動。不是心動。甚處見祖師。若向者裏見得親切。方知二僧買鐵得金。祖師忍俊不禁一場漏逗。
Not the wind moving. Not the flag moving. Not the mind moving. So where do you find the Patriarch? See right into this, and you'll know the two monks paid for iron and walked off with gold. As for the Patriarch, he couldn't help himself, and the whole thing slipped out.