The Lu Residence's steward had paid for three days' lodging at the Jurong inn, so when Chen Caozhi returned from touring Mount Hua at dusk, the inn was quiet and deserted, without any bustle of people coming and going. Zhi Daolin's outstanding disciple Zhi Fahan was returning to Dong'an Temple in Jiankang's eastern outskirts, and Chen Caozhi invited him to stay there too. Fond of debate, Zhi Fahan repeatedly tried to engage Chen Caozhi, throwing out such topics as "White Horse Is Not Horse, Hard Stone Is Not Stone," "On Following One's Nature and Roaming Free," and "The Fisherman's Challenges," hoping to lure him into an argument. To a devotee of pure conversation, these topics were as addictive as Cold-Stone Powder and very difficult to refuse. Yet Chen Caozhi merely smiled faintly and said nothing.
Zhi Fahan said, "Layman Chen, on this visit to Jiankang, you will inevitably have to attend all manner of Pure Conversation Gatherings. Without doing so, you cannot make your name. Will you remain as silent there as you have before this humble monk?"
Chen Caozhi said, "I discuss the mysteries only when I must, not out of enjoyment. Whenever I can avoid it, I do."
Zhi Fahan said in astonishment, "Xie Youdu of Chen Commandery and Xi Jiabin of Gaoping both praise you as foremost in discussing the mysteries with exquisite wit. Why do you say you do it only when you must?"
Pestered beyond endurance by the monk, Chen Caozhi said, "Thus have I heard: long ago, at the assembly on Vulture Peak, the Great Brahma King offered the Buddha a Golden Pineapple Flower in homage and asked him to expound the Dharma. Yet the Buddha said nothing. He merely held the Golden Pineapple Flower between two fingers and displayed it to all the