15Born and Dead示眾

師示眾云：「法本不生，今則無滅。更不要道纔語是生，不語是滅。諸人且作麼生是不生不滅底道理？」問：「早是不生不滅麼？」師云：「者漢只認得箇死語。」問：「『至道無難，唯嫌揀擇。』纔有言語是揀擇，和尚如何示人？」師云：「何不盡引古人語？」學云：「某甲只道得到這裏。」師云：「只這至道無難，唯嫌揀擇。」

Zhaozhou addressed the assembly: "Nothing is ever truly born, so nothing dies. And don't tell me that speaking is birth and silence is death. So what is the truth of no-birth, no-death?"

A monk asked, "But aren't things already no-birth, no-death?"

Zhaozhou said, "This one only knows dead words."

Another monk asked, "'The perfect Way is easy; only stop picking and choosing.' But the moment you speak, that's picking and choosing. So how does the master teach anyone?"

Zhaozhou said, "Why not quote the rest?"

The monk said, "I only got that far."

Zhaozhou said, "Just this: the perfect Way is easy; only stop picking and choosing."