Dongshan’s “Where Is the Fault?”
Dongshan Liangjie once invited Head Monastic Tai to have fruit with him and asked, “There is something that holds the sky above and the ground beneath. It is as black as lacquer. It is always in activity but cannot be received within activity. Tell me, where is the fault?” The head monastic said, “The fault is activity.” Dongshan shouted and then had the attendant take the fruit away.
Student: “What was the head monastic’s fault?”
Master: “He mistook an answer for a question.”
Student: “What would you have said if you had been the head monastic?”
Master: “I would have asked him back, ‘Where is the fault?’.”
Commentary:
There is nothing that is not the universe to him who knows what the universe is.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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