49Linji Shuts His Eyes行錄

師一日在僧堂前坐，見黃蘗來，便閉却目。黃蘗乃作怖勢，便歸方丈。師隨至方丈禮謝，首座在黃蘗處侍立。黃蘗云：「此僧雖是後生，却知有此事。」首座云：「老和尚脚跟不點地，却證據箇後生。」黃蘗自於口上打一摑，首座云：「知即得。」

One day Linji was sitting in front of the monks' hall. Seeing Huangbo approach, he shut his eyes. Huangbo put on a frightened look and withdrew to his quarters. Linji followed and bowed in apology. The head monk was standing in attendance beside Huangbo.

Huangbo said, "This monk is young, but he knows what's going on."

The head monk said, "Old master, your own feet don't touch the ground, and yet you vouch for this boy?"

Huangbo gave himself a slap across the mouth.

The head monk said, "So long as you know it, that's fine."

Pointer

Another scene from Linji's apprentice years with Huangbo, lighter than the beatings in 46. Sitting outside the meditation hall, Linji watches his teacher walk up and simply closes his eyes, a cocky little move that says he doesn't need to keep watch. Huangbo plays along, mock-cowers, and retreats, then praises the kid to the head monk: young, but he knows what's going on. The head monk's needle, "your own feet don't touch the ground, and you're vouching for this boy?", accuses Huangbo of being up in the clouds himself, too lofty to be certifying anybody. Watch what Huangbo does with the dig: he slaps his own mouth, taking the hit and turning it into a joke rather than defending his authority, and the head monk lets it go. The whole exchange runs on the same currency as the harder cases, a teacher who would rather lose face than stand on rank.