"The peak experience, the final act, as soon as you try to pursue it in thought, there are white clouds for a thousand miles. Don't stick to the ruts in the road of the ancients - you must travel a living road of your own. East, west, foot up, foot down, using it directly - only then will you know the peak experience that illumines the heavens and covers the earth, illumines the past and flashes through the present. This is your own place to settle and live. When I say this, I am only using water to offer flowers, never adding anything extra. Think of this."

--- Daio (1235-1309)
Taken from The Original Face; An Anthology of Rinzai Zen translated by Thomas Cleary (1978 - out of print)