Issan asked Gyosan, “It is said that a spark from flint cannot catch up with it, nor can a flash of lightning get through it— but what did the old masters teach people with?” Gyosan asked, “How do you understand it?” Issan said, “Mere words, there is no true meaning whatsoever.” Gyosan disagreed, “No, not so.” Issan said, “Then how do you understand it?” Gyosan said, “Officially not a needle can pass. Unofficially carriages go through.”
Commentary:
Issan asked his favourite student Gyosan about the poem Rinzai made before Horin so that he might see how well Gyosan understood it. Issan’s answer to Gyosan’s question ‘Mere words, there is no true meaning whatsoever’ means that the true-Self reveals itself clearly if people are not deluded by words. Gyosan’s ‘No, not so’ never means negating Issan’s answer but means that he has another answer with the same meaning.
Gyosan’s ‘Officially not a needle can pass. Unofficially carriages go through’ means that from the perspective of the realm of Emptiness even a single word is allowed to be said but that once you have realised that everything is empty, whatever words may be said never matter. In other words, not a word should be said to one who is deluded by words, but any word can be said freely to one who sees each word as the function of the true-Self.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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