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  Dahui commented, “With your views you can enter only the realm of the Buddha; you cannot enter the realm of Mara. You’ll lose all contact with the four positions that way.”

  Zhang said, “When I understood Zhuozhou Kefu’s asking Linji about ‘taking away both the person and the surroundings,’ I felt a sudden joy.”3

  Dahui replied, “That’s not how it is with me.”

  “How do you see it?” asked Zhang.

  “The walls of Caizhou are demolished, Wu Yuanji is killed.”4

  At these words Zhang attained great freedom.

  1.The expression “Great Purpose of the Buddha” comes from the following passage from the “Expedient Means” chapter () of the Lotus Sutra:

  The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, wish to open the door of Buddha wisdom to all living beings, to allow them to attain purity. That is why they appear in the world. They wish to show the Buddha wisdom to living beings, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to cause living beings to awaken to the Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world. They wish to induce living beings to enter the path of Buddha wisdom, and therefore they appear in the world. Shariputra, this is the one great [purpose] for which the Buddhas appear in the world. (Watson 1993b, p. 31; T 9:1a)

  2.For Linji’s four positions , see Case 208.

  3.[Zhuozhou] asked, “What about ‘to take away both person and surroundings’?” The master said, “No news from Bing and Fen, isolated and away from everywhere” (Sasaki 2009, p. 8).

  During Linji’s time Bing and Fen corresponded to the northern part of present Shanxi, a region virtually independent of the central government owing to the power of the local military commissioners, who sometimes referred to themselves as kings.

  4.Wu Yuanji (738–817) was an infamous rebel who fought against the Tang government. One story is that Wu was once garrisoned in the walled city of Caizhou , which had a reputation for impregnability. In the winter of 817, however, a heavy snowfall left high drifts, allowing Li Su (n.d.), commander of the imperial army, to scale the walls, capture the city, and kill Wu (Jiu Tang shu [Older chronicles of the Tang], 214).

  Mujaku: “Demolishing the walls of Caizhou” refers to “taking away the surroundings”; “Wu Yuanji is killed” refers to “taking away the person.”

  Case 142 Songyuan’s Three Turning-Phrases1

  Songyuan Chongyue, in three turning-phrases, asked:

  How is it that those of great strength can’t lift their legs?2

  How is it that they speak without using their tongues?3

  How is it that the clear-eyed can’t sever the red threads under their feet?4

  1.Also Wumen guan 20, Main Case.

  2.Yamada: Why don’t awakened people move when helping others? (1976, p. 162).

  3.Yamada: Why, when teaching, don’t enlightened people speak? (1976, p. 162).

  4.ZGDJ: “The red threads under their feet” refers to the worldly passions and deluded thoughts, or to karmic ties.

  Case 143 Xutang’s Three Questions

  When Xutang was at Eagle Peak Tomb in Lingyin and had cut off worldly ties, monks came to him for instruction. He devised the following three questions and presented them to the monks, asking them to respond:

  Why does one whose eye is not yet clear wear emptiness like a pair of trousers?

  Why is one who marks [a circle on] the ground and calls it a prison unable to cross this [line]?

  Why does one who enters the sea and counts the sand stand tiptoe on the point of a needle?

  Case 144 Daitō’s Three Turning-Phrases

  National Teacher Daitō addressed the assembly, saying:

  Morning and evening, we entangle eyebrows and rub shoulders. What is this “I”?

  All day long the pillar goes back and forth.1 Why do I not move?

  If you can penetrate these two turning-phrases you have completed a lifetime’s practice.

  These three phrases2 are not the same, but ultimately each returns to the root of the first.

  1.“Pillar” is a common metaphor in Zen for no-mind or the unconscious (see Case 14, note 2).

  2.The first edition of the Kattōshū (1689) has “two phrases,” as the third is simply a comment about the first two phrases.

  Case 145 Nanquan Living in a Hermitage

  Xutang took the high seat and said:

  When Nanquan Puyuan was living in a hermitage,1 a monk visited him. Nanquan said, “I’m going to the mountain to work. At noon when you’ve finished with lunch, would you bring a portion to me?”

  The monk ate lunch, then broke the pots and dishes and lay down on the bed. Nanquan waited for a long time but the monk didn’t come, so finally he went down to the hermitage and saw the monk lying there. Nanquan lay down too. Thereupon the monk got up and left.

  Later, after Nanquan became priest of a temple, he said, “When I was living in a hermitage, I met a very clever monk, the likes of whom I’ve never seen again.”

  Xutang commented, “If Nanquan had paid no attention to the monk and his awl-point wiles,2 the monk could never have gotten up and left. But then, “When pushing out from under a stone, bamboo shoots grow sideways; when sprouting from under an overhang, flowers grow downward.” Xutang added a verse:

  Wearing short breeches, long gowns, and white linen headbands,

  They busily push carts under the moon.3

  Later, seeing them [in the daylight] on the capital’s streets,

  All turn out to be no more than peddlers and hawkers.

  1.The master lived in a hermitage on Mount Nanquan for thirty years until taking a position as master of a large temple. See Biographical Notes.

  2.“Awl-point wiles” indicates a superficial cleverness that, although sharp, is no larger than the point of an awl.

  3.The Kattōshū version of this koan has “under the sun” , a scribal error for the “under the moon” of the original in the Record of Xutang. The translation follows the Record of Xutang version.

  Case 146 Ciming’s Signpost

  On the day of the winter solstice1 Ciming Chuyuan set out in front of the monks’ hall a signboard inscribed with the symbols:2

  To the right of this was written: “If one understands this, it’s present in everything you do.”3

  The head monk looked at the signboard and said to the assembly, “Today the master will hold no evening instruction!”4

  Xutang added a comment to the head monk’s: “I’ll go down to the infirmary in place of the master.”5

  Wan’an Daoyan commented, “The Iron-Wheel Emperor is descending to this world!6 Demons, quickly, off with you!7 Apprehend them all!”8

  1.The winter solstice marks the day when the yin forces (darkness, cold) reach their zenith and the yang forces (light, warmth) their nadir. It is simultaneously the day when yang starts once again to increase and yin to decrease. As such it represents in Zen the Great Death followed by rebirth.

  2.The symbols, according to traditional commentaries, represent a Chinese-character puzzle that, when solved, reads , “It is the winter solstice—go east or west as you wish.”

  3.“Everything you do” translates , the “four modes of conduct” (walking, standing, sitting, and lying down), i.e., the entire range of human activity.

  4.Evening instruction was, in Song times, an informal evening meeting between the master and the assembly held in the master’s quarters.

  5.In Chinese Zen, the expression “going down to the infirmary” generally indicated approaching death.

  6.That is, “The end of the world is coming!” The Iron-Wheel Emperor , or Iron-Wheel King , is one of the four cakravartins who govern the continents surrounding Mount Sumeru (see Case 4). The Gold-Wheel King rules the northern, eastern, western, and southern continents; the Silver-Wheel King the eastern, western, and southern continents; the Copper-Wheel King the eastern and southern continents; the Iron-Wheel King the southern continent.

  7.The original Chinese, , can be translated as “Quickly, q
uickly! As prescribed by law!” Hori comments, “In the later Han period, public legal documents often ended with these words enjoining subjects to implement the law immediately. The phrase was then taken up by practicers of magic,” who would chant the phrase while administering charms (2003, p. 186 [5.63]). The equivalent meaning in Zen would be, “No time to waste—throw off delusion!”

  8.The Kattōshū has Ciming’s cryptic symbols repeated after the characters , but in the traditional biographical material on Wan’an Daoyan the characters appear. This phrase was used by Taoist magicians after they recited charms; indicated an order made in place of the emperor, while meant to arrest or apprehend.

  Case 147 Ciming’s Bowl of Water

  One day in his quarters Ciming Chuyuan put down a bowl of water, placed a sword on top and a pair of straw sandals underneath, and sat down beside it holding his staff. Seeing a monk enter the gate, he pointed. When the monk hesitated, the master struck him.1

  1.For a similar koan, see Case 267.

  Case 148 Putting on Your Vestment at the Sound of the Bell1

  Yunmen said, “How vast the world is! So why do you put on your vestment at the sound of the bell?”2

  1.Also Wumen guan 16, Main Case.

  2.For “vestment,” see Case 95, note 1.

  Case 149 Subtle Flow

  Guishan Lingyou asked Yangshan Huiji, “How many years has it been since you ended the mind’s subtle flow of defilements?”1

  Yangshan didn’t answer, but instead asked Guishan, “How many years has it been since the master ended it?”

  Guishan said, “It has already been seven years since this old monk ended it.” He then asked Yangshan, “And you?”

  Yangshan replied, “Me, I’m quite active.”

  1.“The mind” translates , short for , which combines: (1) (citta, mind; i.e., the eighth consciousness, or ālaya-vijñāna, where the impressions resulting from an individual’s karmic activities are stored and from which the other seven levels of consciousness arise); (2) (manas, sentience; i.e., the seventh consciousness, or mano-vijñāna, where the consciousness of self forms); and (3) (vijñāna, consciousness; i.e., the six consciousnesses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and conscious thought). The defilements (kleśa) are greed, anger, ignorance, and the various other factors that give rise to suffering and impede awakening.

  Case 150 Fayun Addresses the Assembly

  Fayun Gao said to the assembly, “In the third year of Xining (1070), I had to pay the Fengxiang authorities for an ordination certificate.1 That year Mount Shaohua collapsed and buried houses for a distance of eighty li.2 You worldly young slackers—how could you ever understand this?”

  1.From the Tang or earlier, ordination certificates ()—documents certifying eligibility to enter the sangha—had to be purchased from the government. Originally this was to prevent the use of ordination as an escape from taxation and the corvée; later it was used to raise revenue. By the Song the certificates served as a form of tender, and honorary titles, such as the “purple robe,” were available from the authorities for a price.

  2.The Chinese li is a unit of measurement approximately one-quarter to one-third of a mile in length, depending on the era and location in which it was used. In modern China the li has been assigned a length of exactly five hundred meters. Mount Shaohua actually collapsed in 1072.

  Case 151 Yangshan Smashes a Mirror

  When Yangshan Huiji was residing at Dongping, a letter and a mirror arrived from Guishan Lingyou. Yangshan ascended the high seat and received the letter. Then, holding up the mirror, he addressed the assembly.

  “Monks, this mirror comes from Guishan. Tell me, is it Guishan’s mirror or is it mine? If you say it’s mine, still it was sent by Guishan. If you say it’s Guishan’s, still it’s here in my hands. If you can say something, I’ll spare the mirror; if you can’t, I’ll smash it.” He repeated this three times, but no one in the assembly responded. The master then smashed the mirror.

  Wuzu Shijie answered in place of the assembly: “[I would have said,] ‘Master, please, try to explain your meaning a bit more clearly,’ then grabbed the mirror and shattered it myself.”1

  1.Dōmae reads the line as: “Wuzu Shijie answered in place of the assembly: ‘Master, please, try to explain your meaning a bit more clearly, then straightaway I’ll grab the mirror and shatter it myself.’”

  Case 152 Yunmen’s Sermon

  One day Yunmen asked, “In the Zen school, how do we promote the teachings?” In place of the assembly he answered, “Hou!”1

  1.Hou is onomatopoeia for a cow mooing. Mujaku comments that in this case the character transliterates the Sanskrit syllable “huṁ” (“suchness,” bhūtatathatā) and cautions against applying interpretive reasoning to any of Yunmen’s statements.

  Case 153 Chen Cao in a Tower1

  One day when Chen Cao was in a tower with some officials they saw several monks approaching. An official said, “Those monks who are coming are all Zen monks.”

  “That’s not so,” Chen Cao said.

  “How do you know?” the official asked.

  Chen Cao said, “Wait till they’re closer and I’ll check them out for you.” When the monks reached the tower, Chen suddenly called out, “Venerable monks!”

  The monks all looked up.

  “Now do you believe me?” Chen Cao asked the officials.

  1.Also Blue Cliff Record 33, Commentary on the Main Case.

  Case 154 An Old Woman Burns Down a Hermitage

  There was an old woman who supported a hermit for twenty years. She always had a girl, sixteen or seventeen years old, take the hermit his food and wait on him. One day she told the girl to give the monk a close hug and ask, “What do you feel just now?” The hermit responded:

  A dead tree1 on a cold cliff;

  Midwinter—no warmth.

  The girl returned and told this to the old woman. The woman said, “For twenty years I’ve supported this vulgar good-for-nothing!” So saying, she threw the monk out and burned down the hermitage.

  1.The “old tree” of the Kattōshū has been changed to the “dead tree” of the original case in Compendium of the Five Lamps 6.

  Case 155 A Different Way of Doing Things1

  Longya Judun was a priest of the Caodong school. If he had been a student of Linji or Deshan, he would have had a different way of doing things.2

  1.Also Blue Cliff Record 20, Commentary on the Main Case.

  2.Commentators situate this statement in the context of Longya’s exchanges with his teacher, the Caodong master Dongshan Liangjie, and later with the masters Cuiwei Wuxue (n.d.) and Linji Yixuan. The Blue Cliff Record comments:

  Longya once asked Liangjie, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?” Liangjie replied, “I’ll tell you when East River runs uphill.” At this Longya was enlightened. Afterward, meeting Cuiwei, Longya asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?” “Hand me the meditation-brace,” said Cuiwei. When Longya gave him the brace, Cuiwei hit him with it. “Hit me if you wish,” Longya said, “but still there’s no meaning in the Patriarch’s coming from the West.” Later Longya met Linji and asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the West?” “Hand me the cushion,” replied Linji. Longya did so; Linji hit him with it. Longya said, “Hit me if you wish, but still there’s no meaning in the Patriarch’s coming from the West.…”

  Later, when Longya was serving as abbot of a temple, a monk asked him, “Abbot, when you met those two masters, did you approve of them or not?” Longya answered, “I did approve of them, but still there’s no meaning in the Patriarch’s coming from the West.” There are thorns in the soft mud [of Longya’s kind words]. He approved of them, but in doing so he fell into secondary discrimination. Longya was firm in his understanding, but he was an adherent of the Dongshan line. If he had been in the line of Deshan or Linji he would have had a different way of doing things. If it was me [Yuanwu], I wouldn’t have
answered in that way. I would have said to the monk, “I didn’t approve of them. The fact is there’s no meaning in the Patriarch’s coming from the West.”

  Case 156 One Word and a Four-Horse Team

  A monk asked Ciming Chuyuan, “What is the original face?”

  Ciming replied, “If a single word gets out, not even a four-horse team can overtake it.”1

  1.This expression originally appears in the Confucian Analects, fascicle 12.

  Case 157 The Dharmakāya Eats Food1

  Regarding the matter of the dharmakāya eating food,2 the master asked, “What is it that eats when you eat food?”

  Again he said, “What is your entire being?”

  And again, “How far is it between body and mind?”

  1.This koan cannot be found in any of the records. Dōmae suggests that it may have been created in Japan from statements by Yunmen Wenyan.

  2.For “dharmakāya,” see Case 17, note 1.“The matter of the dharmakāya eating food” refers to an exchange in the Record of Yunmen. A monk asked Yunmen, “What is it that transcends the dharmakāya?” Yunmen replied, “It wouldn’t be hard to speak to you of transcendence, but what do you mean by ‘dharmakāya’?” The monk said, “Master, please, consider my question!” “Let’s set ‘consideration’ aside for the moment,” answered Yunmen. “How does the dharmakāya talk?” The monk answered, “Like this! Like this!” Yunmen said, “That’s something you can learn from sitting on the meditation platform. What I’m asking you now is, ‘Does the dharmakāya eat food?’” The monk had nothing to say (T 47:573c).