Entangling Vines Page 13

  2.ZGJI: “Midnight” and “ox” are metaphors for darkness (equality); “dawn” and “fire” are metaphors for light (duality). Thus Nanquan has forgotten both equality and duality.

  Case 116 Guishan Picks Tea

  One day Guishan Lingyou was picking tea with Yangshan Huiji. Guishan said, “All day long I’ve heard your voice but haven’t seen your form.”1

  Yangshan shook the tea bush. Guishan commented, “You have the function but you don’t have the essence.”

  “How about the master?” Yangshan replied. Guishan remained silent.2

  “You have the essence but you don’t have the function,” Yangshan responded.

  “I spare you thirty blows of my staff,” said Guishan.

  1.The word , translated here as “voice,” is interpreted by some masters to be the sound of Yangshan’s tea-picking.

  2.This line has been added to the Kattōshū text on the basis of the original version in Compendium of the Five Lamps 9.

  Case 117 Baizhang’s “No Eating”

  Baizhang Huaihai said, “A day of no work—a day of no eating.”1

  1.Baizhang Huaihai was known for the importance he placed on physical work as part of Zen monastic practice (see Baizhang Huaihai in the Biographical Notes; for another koan on the place of labor in Zen, see Case 93). The inclusion of labor as a central element of the monastic lifestyle was a radical departure from Indian Buddhist monasticism, in which labor (for which the Sanskrit word is “karma”) was strictly forbidden. Farming was particularly proscribed, as it involved not only the production of karma but also the unavoidable taking of sentient life during the processes of cultivation.

  Case 118 Nanyue’s Explanation

  The Sixth Patriarch asked Nanyue Huairang where he had come from.

  “From the place of National Teacher Songshan Hui’an,” said Huairang.

  The Sixth Patriarch asked, “And who is it that has come?”

  Only after eight years could Huairang respond. He said, “Any explanation is off the mark.”1

  The master asked, “Does it involve practice and realization?”

  Huairang said, “Although practice and realization are not uncalled-for, it has never been defiled.”2

  1.Waddell translates this as “The moment I said it was ‘this’ I’d miss the mark completely” (1984, p. 130).

  2.Although practice and realization are almost always part of the path for those who awaken, the mind that one awakens to is undefiled from the start.

  Case 119 Luopu’s “Offerings”

  A monk asked Luopu Yuan’an, “A single follower of the Way free of thought is more worthy of offerings than a hundred thousand buddhas.1 What is the failing of the buddhas, and what is the merit of the follower of the Way?”

  Luopu answered, “A wisp of white cloud blocks the mouth of the valley; many returning birds cannot find their nests in the night.”2

  1.This statement has its source in the Sutra in Forty-two Sections , section 11. The passage reads in part:

  Offering food to a single pratyekabuddha surpasses offering food to one billion arhats. Offering food to a single buddha of the three periods of time surpasses offering food to ten billion pratyekabuddhas. Offering food to a single person of no-thought, no-abiding, no-cultivation, and no-attainment surpasses offering food to a hundred billion buddhas.

  2.The ZGJI comments: “Deluded students who seek outside themselves eventually have no place to return.” Conversely, the Zen Phrase Lexicon says: “The valley is a no-minded wayfarer; the returning birds are mind and thoughts—fine it is that they lose their way.”

  Case 120 Yunmen’s Tune

  A monk asked Yunmen, “What is Yunmen’s tune?”1

  Yunmen answered, “The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month.”2

  1.The monk is asking, “What is Yunmen’s teaching?,” playing off the fact that “Yunmen” was the name of an ancient Chinese song.

  2.The twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month is the end of the year. Regarding such interpretations, however, Dōmae quotes Blue Cliff Record 27, Commentary on the Main Case:

  If you seek Yunmen’s meaning in his words you have already gone wrong. There are among Yunmen’s statements many which people enjoy interpreting conceptually. If one understands him intellectually, one must mourn for one’s descendants.

  Case 121 Zhaozhou’s “Put Out the Fire!”

  When Zhaozhou Congshen called upon Huangbo, Huangbo saw him coming and shut the door.

  Zhaozhou went to the Dharma Hall, where, torch in hand, he shouted, “Put out the fire! Put out the fire!”

  Huangbo came out and grabbed him. “Speak! Speak!” he demanded.

  Zhaozhou replied, “That’s drawing the bow after the thief has left!”

  Case 122 Huangbo’s Staff

  Huangbo gave Linji sixty blows with his staff.1

  1.See Case 187.

  Case 123 Comparing Three Students of Linji

  In the “Zen Master Huiran of Sansheng Temple” chapter of the Treasury of Bright Light, Juzhou Baotan says:

  The disciples Baoshou Zhao, Sansheng Huiran, and Xinghua Cunjiang under Linji were much like the disciples Baizhang Huaihai, Guizong Zhichang, and Nanquan Puyuan under Mazu.

  Baizhang resembled Mazu in his strength of character; Guizong resembled Mazu in his depth of talent; and Nanquan resembled Mazu in his greatness of mind. In the same way, Baoshou resembled Linji in his sincerity, Sansheng resembled Linji in his keenness, and Xinghua resembled Linji in his subtlety and depth.

  The sincerity of Baoshou is seen in how he applied the staff to the clear blue sky,1 and in how he struck Rivet-and-Shears Hu.2 The keenness of Sansheng is seen in his exchange with Yangshan Huiji,3 and also in the way he struck Xiangyan,4 pushed over Deshan,5 and extinguished Linji’s True Dharma Eye.6 The subtlety and depth of Xinghua is seen in his scattering of pearls in the purple-curtained room,7 and in the way he waved his hand two times in front of the monk’s face.8 Though they each gained but a single of the master’s qualities, still Linji’s Zen has lasted a hundred generations. If all his qualities were grasped, how could Linji’s Zen fail to flourish for a thousand or ten thousand generations?

  What always troubles me is that if the stick and shout are not applied to the present generation, Linji’s Dharma will decline. Why should there be anything that later generations cannot do if they but make the effort? The problem is that their teachers have not yet fully penetrated Linji’s Dharma. It is like drinking water and knowing for oneself whether it is cold or warm. Xinghua’s stick of incense9—this was gained through hardship and effort. Therefore Linji’s Dharma flourishes.

  1.A monk asked, “When there’s not a cloud for ten thousand miles, what then?” Baoshou answered, “The clear sky should taste the staff!” The monk said, “What offense has the clear sky committed?” Baoshou struck him (Compendium of the Five Lamps, “Baoshou”).

  2.Rivet-and-Shears Hu (Hu Dingjiao) called upon Baoshou Zhao.a Baoshou said, “I’ve long heard about Rivet-and-Shears Hu. Is that you?”b “Yes,” Hu answered. Baoshou asked, “Can you can drive a rivet into the void?” Hu replied, “Break it open, master, and bring it here!” Baoshou struck him. Hu didn’t accept this. Baoshou said, “In the future, a talkative monk will clarify this matter for you.” Hu later visited Zhaozhou and told him of this conversation. Zhaozhou asked, “Why were you hit by Baoshou?” Hu said, “I don’t know what my error was.” Zhaozhou said, “You couldn’t even deal with this one split seam! How could you ask Baoshou to break open the void and bring it to you?” Hu was silent. Zhaozhou then said, “Just rivet shut that split seam.” At these words Hu had an understanding (Blue Cliff Record 48, Commentary).

  a.Hu Dingjiao’s name, , derived from the fact that he was a tinker ( means “nail” or “rivet,” means “scissors” or “shears”).

  b.Hu was well known in China as a poet before starting his Zen study.

  3.Sansheng Huiran arrived at Yangshan Huiji’s place. Yangshan asked him, “
What is your name?” Sansheng answered, “Huiji.” Yangshan said, “Huiji is my name.” Sansheng replied, “My name is Huiran.” Yangshan laughed heartily (Compendium, “Sansheng”).

  4.Sansheng went to Xiangyan Zhixian’s place. Xiangyan asked, “Where did you come from?” Sansheng answered, “From Linji.” Xiangyan said, “Did you bring Linji’s shout?” Sansheng hit Xiangyan in the mouth with his sitting cloth (Compendium, “Sansheng”).

  5.Sansheng went to Deshan Xuanjian’s place and started to spread his sitting cloth [to pay obeisance]. Deshan said, “Don’t spread your napkin—we don’t have even leftover soup and spoiled rice.” Sansheng said, “Even if you did, there’s no place to put it.” Deshan struck him. Sansheng grabbed Deshan’s staff and pushed him onto the meditation platform. Deshan laughed heartily (Compendium, “Sansheng”).

  6.See Case 195.

  7.Xinghua addressed the assembly, “I hear shouts in the front corridor and shouts in the back quarters. All of you, don’t make blind shouts or wild shouts. Even if you shouted me up into the sky I’d come back down, and though I might not have a breath of air in me I’d revive and say, ‘That’s still not enough!’ Why? Because I have yet to scatter pearls for you inside the purple-curtained room.” (Compendium, “Xinghua”; “scattering pearls for you inside the purple-curtained room” indicates Xinghua’s revealing his deepest understanding in the sanzen room.)

  8.See Case 184.

  9.Following Linji’s death, Xinghua studied further under his fellow student Sansheng, from whom, he said, he learned the meaning of Linji’s “host” and “guest.” He then studied under Dajue, another of Linji’s Dharma successors. When he inquired about the Dharma, Dajue threatened him with a beating. At this Xinghua awoke to the deep meaning of the severe beatings Linji had received at the hand of his teacher Huangbo (see Case 187).

  Xinghua later said that, had he stopped with Sansheng’s teaching, his understanding would have been incomplete; under Dajue, he attained true realization. Nevertheless, at the ceremony in the Dharma Hall when Xinghua assumed the abbacy of a monastery and held up a stick of incense to announce whose successor he was, he said, “Elder brother Sansheng was too far abovea me to merit this stick of incense; elder brother Dajue was too liberal.b It is best, therefore, that I offer it to my late teacher Linji.”

  a.“Too far above” translates , which usually means “solitary” or “lonely,” but which in this case has a nuance of grandeur, like a solitary peak standing above all others.

  b.“Liberal” translates , which has a variety of meanings, including “to buy or sell on credit,” “to treat,” “to stretch,” “distant,” “lenient,” “loose,” and “gentle.” Here the meaning probably corresponds to “lenient,” although it is difficult to define the exact sense in which the word is being used.

  Case 124 The World-Honored-One’s Lotus Eyes

  Fengxue Yanzhao went to the hall and said, “The World-Honored-One looked upon the assembly with his blue-lotus eyes.”1

  Then he asked, “At that moment, what was the Buddha teaching? If you say he was teaching by not teaching, you are slighting the Old Sage. So tell me, what was he teaching?”2

  At this, Shoushan Shengnian shook his sleeves and left.

  Fengxue threw down his staff and returned to his quarters. His attendant, following after him, asked, “Why didn’t Shengnian answer you?”

  “Because Shengnian understood,” replied Fengxue.

  1.“Blue-lotus eyes” are one of the thirty-two marks of a buddha. In the Zen school the term “blue-lotus eyes” has come to mean eyes able to discern the true from the false. This case is the same in intent to Case 135, “The World-Honored-One Holds Up a Flower.”

  2.For background material, see Shoushan Shengnian in the Biographical Notes.

  Case 125 The Secret Transmission from West to East

  The true mind of the Great Sage of India was secretly transmitted from west to east.1 What was it that was secretly transmitted?

  1.This statement comes from the “In Praise of Identity” (T 51:2076), a short poem by Shitou Xiqian.

  Case 126 Confucius’s “Changes”

  With one change, Qi could attain to the level of Lu; with one change, Lu could attain to the Tao. With one change, to what would the Tao attain?1

  1.Based on Analects, “Yong Ye ” [6:24]. Qi and Lu were ancient Chinese countries.

  Case 127 Earning a Living and Producing Things

  In the Lotus Sutra it is written, “Earning a living and producing things—these activities are all in accord with the true Dharma.”1

  1.This paraphrases a line from “The Teacher of the Law” chapter of the Lotus Sutra:

  If good men or good women accept and uphold this sutra after the Thus Come One has entered extinction, if they read it, recite it, explain and preach it, or transcribe it, they will acquire twelve hundred mind benefits.… If they should expound some text of the secular world or speak on matters of government or those relating to wealth and livelihood, they will in all cases conform to the correct Law. (T 9:50a; Watson 1993b, p. 263)

  Part 2

  Case 128 Deshan Burns His Commentaries1

  Once, when Deshan Xuanjian had attended Longtan Chongxin until late in the evening, Longtan said, “It is late. Why don’t you go now?”

  Deshan bid his teacher good night and raised the screen to leave. Seeing how black the night was, however, he turned back and said, “It is dark outside.” Longtan lit a paper torch2 and offered it to Deshan, but just as Deshan was about to take it the master blew it out. At that moment Deshan was deeply enlightened. He bowed to Longtan, who asked, “What truth have you seen?”

  Deshan replied, “From now on I’ll never doubt the words of venerable priests anywhere.”

  The next day Longtan took the high seat in the hall and said, “If there’s someone with fangs like a row of swords and a mouth like a bowl of blood, who doesn’t look back though hit with a stick, some day he’ll climb to the top of a solitary peak and there establish our Way.”

  Afterward Deshan took the commentaries he had been studying and, holding a torch in front of the Dharma Hall, said, “Though one masters the profoundest doctrines, it’s like casting a single hair into the great void. Though one accomplishes the world’s most important tasks, it’s like throwing a drop of water into the vast ocean.” He then set fire to his commentaries, bowed to Longtan, and left.

  1.Also Wumen guan 28, Main Case; Blue Cliff Record 4, Commentary on the Main Case.

  2.A paper torch is a cord of twisted, oiled paper used as a taper.

  Case 129 Dongshan and the Earth Spirit1

  Though Dongshan Liangjie spent his life at the temple, the local earth spirit,2 search though he might, couldn’t locate so much as a trace of him.

  Then one day Dongshan noticed some grain scattered on the ground in front of the kitchen. He became angry and said, “How could community supplies be wasted like this!”

  At that moment the earth spirit finally detected him and paid him homage.

  1.Also Blue Cliff Record 97, Commentary on the Verse.

  2.Local earth spirits are the tutelary deities of a particular region. In East Asian Zen monasteries these spirits are usually honored in a small “earth-spirit shrine” .

  Case 130 Xinghua Levies a Fine

  One day Xinghua Cunjiang said to Taihang Kebin, the duty-monk,1 “Soon you will become a teacher who guides others.”

  “I won’t join that bunch!” answered Kebin.

  “You won’t join because you have fully understood, or you won’t join because you haven’t fully understood?” asked Xinghua.

  “It’s got nothing to do with any of that!” replied Kebin.

  Thereupon Xinghua struck him and said, “Duty-monk Kebin lost a Dharma-battle. You must pay a fine to buy a rice-and-vegetable dinner.”

  The next day Xinghua entered the hall, struck the gavel, and said, “Duty-monk Kebin failed to win a Dharma-battle. He must pay a fine of five strings of c
ash, with which the assembly will be treated to a rice-and-vegetable dinner. Then he must leave the monastery.”

  Kebin left and went to live on Mount Taihang, and later succeeded to Xinghua’s teachings.2

  1.For “duty-monk,” see Case 34, note 4.

  2.A monk would announce whose successor he was only upon assuming the position of abbot at an official temple. See, e.g., Case 123, note 9.

  Case 131 Magu and the Hand-Cloth

  One day Magu Baotie was sitting inside a paper curtain,1 his head covered with a hand-cloth.2 Piyun entered, saw this, and gave a mournful cry. After a moment he went out to the Dharma Hall, circled the meditation seat once, then went again to where Magu was. Magu had removed the cloth and was sitting.

  Piyun said, “Not one in ten thousand gains life within death!”

  Magu came down from his seat and started to spread his sitting cloth.3 Piyun stepped forward, grabbed him, and demanded, “A moment ago you were dead, now you’ve came back to life—are you alright with that?”

  “I’m alright, though it’s of no consequence to me.”4

  Piyun pushed him away and said, “I see. But what you said first doesn’t match what you said next.”5

  1.Paper curtains were used as windbreaks on cold days.