Daikaku came for an interview with Rinzai. Rinzai lifted up his fly whisk. Daikaku spread out his prostration mat. Rinzai then threw down his fly whisk and Daikaku took up his prostration mat and entered the monks’ hall. The monks gossiped, “Surely this monk is not a new comer but a close friend of Rinzai; he approached him without bowing, and yet did not receive the stick!” Upon hearing this, Rinzai sent for Daikaku and said, “The monks say that you haven’t greeted me politely yet.” Daikaku commented, “How are you?” and simply rejoined the monks.
Commentary:
Rinzai tested Daikaku by lifting up his fly whisk; he asked Daikaku if he could recognise the true-Self whilst revealing the true-Self by his action. Daikaku lost no time in responding properly according to the circumstances by spreading out his prostration mat and revealed the true-Self with his action. Rinzai tested him once more by throwing down his fly whisk, and Daikaku didn’t hesitate to reply by taking up his prostration mat and entering the monks’ hall. They made beautiful harmony.
The reason why the monks gossiped, “Surely this monk is not a new comer but a close friend of Rinzai; he approached him without bowing, and yet did not receive the stick!” was that they were deluded by the illusions of the words and behaviour that Rinzai and Daikaku performed without discerning what they showed to each other. Aware of this, Rinzai sent for Daikaku and revealed the true-Self one more time for the monks by saying, “The monks say that you haven’t greeted me politely yet.” Daikaku, sensing Rinzai’s intention, properly responded by revealing the true-Self through saying, “How are you?”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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