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Chan Master Lingyou said to Chan Master Zhixian, “Since you are so well-read, you will have no problem with this: ‘What was your face before you were conceived?”Zhixian was speechless. A search of his books turned up nothing. He returned to Lingyou for help, but Lingyou said, “If I tell you, the answer still belongs to me and not to you. And you will even be angry with me.”Zhixian, seeing that his Dharma brother would not instruct him, burned his useless books and departed for Mount Baiyai, in Nanyang, to guard the tomb of imperial Master Huizhong. At the same time, he brooded endlessly over Lingyou’s question without getting any closer to an answer. Then while weeding a field, his hoe banged against a stone. Suddenly his body and mind melted away, and he had a great awakening. The bathed, lit incense, bowed toward Mount Gui, and said quietly, “Venerable, you are truly compassionate. Had you given the answer, I would not have this joy today!”Chan awakening cannot be conferred upon us. We must grasp it with our own mind and spirit.