The Layman raised up one leg.
The monk had nothing to say.12
Layman P'ang studied under Ma-tsu for two years, but he finally decided to resume his life as a wandering student of Ch'an. He left Ma-tsu declaring the family his source of strength, or so it would seem from his parting verse presented to the master.
I've a boy who has no bride,
I've a girl who has no groom;
Forming a happy family circle,
We speak about Birthless.13
And off he went to travel, a completely enlightened man after his stay in Kiangsi. He turned increasingly to poetry during these years of wandering across the central part of China, composing some of his most sensitive verse. One poem in particular seems to capture the carefree spirit of these years of wanderings:
The wise man, perceiving wealth and lust,
Knows them to be empty illusion;