What Will Sansheng Eat? (BCR49)

KOAN:

Sansheng asked Xuefeng, “I’m the golden carp who has passed through the net,
but I wonder what to eat now.”
Xuefeng said, “I’ll wait for you to come out of the net, and then I’ll tell you.”

“A spiritual friend to fifteen hundred people and you’re still not intimate with the koans!”
“Well, I’m old, and as head of the temple I have a lot on my mind.”

—Blue Cliff Record Case 49
(transl. by John Tarrant & Joan Sutherland, title: Xuefeng Has a Lot on His Mind)