Shitou’s Great and Small Canon
Qingyuan said to Shitou, “Everyone is saying that there is something happening in the city of Caoxi.” Shitou said, “There is someone who doesn’t say something is happening in Caoxi.” Qingyuan said, “How did you get the Great Canon and the Small Canon?” Shitou said, “It all comes from here and nothing is lacking.”
Student: “Whom did Shitou mean when he said, ‘There is someone who doesn’t say something is happening in Caoxi’?”
Master: “I am always trying to show him to you.”
Student: “What are the Great Canon and the Small Canon?”
Master: “You have them, too.”
Student: “Where is here when Shitou said, ‘It all comes from here’?”
Master: “Someone who doesn’t say, is there, and you are there, too.”
Commentary:
Here.
Nowhere else.
Everything is from here, but everything disappears into here.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
#zen #meditation #zenfools http://ow.ly/i/FkvBv
Zen Fools 