Rinzai and all the monks were out hoeing. When Rinzai saw Obaku approach, he stopped working and propped himself up on his hoe. Obaku said, “Would this fellow be tired?” Rinzai replied, “I have as yet not even lifted my hoe. Why should I be tired?” Obaku hit him. Rinzai grabbed the stick, gave Obaku a good blow and knocked him over. Obaku called the superintendent to help him up. The superintendent, doing so, remonstrated, “Venerable, how can you permit the impudence of this madman?” Obaku was hardly on his feet when he hit the superintendent. Rinzai, having started to hoe, remarked, “Cremation is the custom everywhere, but here, I bury everything alive with a single stroke!”
Commentary:
When Obaku said, “Would this fellow be tired?” he meant the true-Self by this fellow. Rinzai meant that the true-Self cannot be tired since there is nothing such as a hoe to lift in the state of the true-Self by saying, “I have as yet not even lifted my hoe. Why should I be tired?” Obaku tested Rinzai again to see if he could recognize the true-Self by hitting him, and Rinzai meant, “This is the true-Self you showed to me by hitting me” by grabbing the stick, giving a good blow and knocking him down. Unaware of the deep meaning exchanged between Obaku and Rinzai, the superintendent remonstrated, “Venerable, how can you permit the impudence of this madman?” Obaku, sensing that he had not grasped his intention, revealed the true-Self by hitting him as soon as he was on his feet. Rinzai’s remark ‘Cremation is the custom everywhere, but here, I bury everything alive with a single stroke!’ implied that he could make everything disappear, that is, make everything into the true-Self with a single stroke.
Student: “How is it possible to make everything into the true-Self with a single stroke?”
Master: “A drop of seawater is enough to know that all the seawater in the world is salty.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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