Master Woonmun said, “It is said that enlightenment can be attained through hearing sounds and seeing things. What is it to attain enlightenment through hearing sounds and seeing things?”
He, raising his hand, said, “Avalokiteshvara brought money and bought a cake.”
He, lowering his hand, said, “It was really a pudding!”
Student: “Why did Woonmun, raising his hand, say, ‘Avalokiteshvara brought money and bought a cake’?”
Master: “Why don’t you attain enlightenment in spite of seeing things and hearing sounds.”
Commentary:
We are surrounded by and covered with things and sounds all the time.
Rinzai left Issan. Gyosan went with him to see him off, and said, “If later on you go north, there will be a place for you.” Rinzai said, “How should that happen?” Gyosan said, “Just go there. Later there will be someone to help you, elder brother. That someone will have a head but no tail, a beginning but no end.” When Rinzai later went to the prefecture of Chin, Fuke was already there and helped the master when he started teaching. But soon after the master had settled in there, Fuke cast off his body and vanished.
Commentary:
Gyosan compared the true-Self to a place by saying, ‘If later on you go north, there will be a place for you’. In fact, the place is free from directions although he said that Rinzai should go north. Then, Gyosan revealed the true-Self by describing what it is like with the words ‘That someone will have a head but no tail, a beginning but no end’.
Fuke symbolises the true-Self because wherever we may go, it is always there although it never moves at all, and because whatever we may do, we cannot avoid depending on its power. We should not be deluded by the words ‘But soon after Rinzai had settled in there, Fuke cast off his body and vanished’. This means that when you have grasped Rinzai’s teaching, that is, you have attained enlightenment, you will not be deluded by the illusion of Fuke.
(It may be a historical fact that Fuke helped Rinzai, but people who practise Zen meditation should see things from the perspective of Zen.)
Student: “What is the true-Self?”
Master: “It is good but not worth trying to be with.”
A. Knowledge itself is neutral in essence. It can be neither detrimental nor beneficial to either a person or a society. Whether it is harmful or beneficial depends on how each of us sees it. That’s why it can be harmful to some people and beneficial to others at the same time.
However, for people who practise Zen meditation, the knowledge of enlightenment is often regarded as an obstacle in the way of attaining enlightenment because people are so deluded by intellectual understanding that they cannot see what it points to. So, ancient masters would say that we should look upon the Buddha’s and patriarchs’ words as enemies.
Obaku sent Rinzai to carry a letter to Issan. At that time Gyosan was in charge of handling guests. He took the letter and asked, “This is Obaku’s, but what is his?” The master slapped him. Gyosan stopped him and said, “Elder brother, since you know about this matter, let’s cease.” Together they went to Issan, who asked, “How many monks are in the community of Master Obaku, my elder brother?” Rinzai replied, “Seven hundred.” Issan said, “Who is the leader?” Rinzai said, “His letter has just reached you.” Then Rinzai asked Issan, “And how large is your community here?” Issan said, “One thousand five hundred.” Rinzai remarked, “Very large.” Issan said, “There are not a few at my elder brother’s, Master Obaku.”
Commentary:
When Gyosan said to Rinzai, “This is Obaku’s, but what is his?” ‘His’ implied the Buddha’s. He tested Rinzai to see if he knew what the true-Self is. Rinzai revealed the true-Self by slapping him, and Gyosan approved him by saying, “Elder brother, since you know about this matter, let’s cease.” Then, together they went to Issan, who asked, “How many monks are in the community of Master Obaku, my elder brother?” With this question, Issan tested Rinzai to see whether he was deluded by the illusion of numbers. Rinzai responded wisely by revealing the true-Self through saying, “Seven hundred.” We should not be deluded by the number. Issan tested Rinzai again by asking, “Who is the leader?”, which meant “Do you know what the Buddha nature of Obaku, who is your leader, is like?” Rinzai showed the Buddha nature of Obaku by saying, “His letter has just reached you.” Then, Rinzai countered Issan by asking, “And how large is your community here?” Issan responded by saying, “One thousand five hundred.” We should know that he didn’t mean the number but showed the true-Self. Issan’s words ‘There are not a few at my elder brother’s, Master Obaku’ meant that there is no difference between seven hundred and one thousand five hundred.
Student: “Why is there no difference between seven hundred monks and one thousand five hundred monks?”
Master: “Which is heavier, one rabbit horn, or one thousand rabbit horns?”
A. In Buddhism one’s real self is referred to as the true-Self, or the Buddha-Nature. You are to your real self as a wave is to the sea. You are part of your real self as the function of it, just as a wave is part of the sea as the function of it. A wave changes as time passes and according to the circumstances it is in, but the sea itself never changes.
The ceaseless changes of all the waves are how the sea is. In the same way, your real self never changes at all, although you, as a human being, change every moment. Buddhism is a religion that helps people to realise the real self in person.
Later, Issan asked Gyosan, “Why did Rinzai snatch the hoe out of Obaku’s hand?”
Gyosan said, “The robber was a wastrel, but in wisdom he prevailed over the noble man.”
Commentary:
‘The robber was a wastrel’ means that if we are deluded by the expedient behaviour that Rinzai, the robber used to reveal the true-Self, he can be taken for a wastrel who is impolite and ignorant, but that in fact, the wisdom in which he prevailed over the noble man is hidden in his behaviour.
Student: “What is the wisdom hidden in Rinzai’s behaviour?”
A. To meditate should not be to try to remove rambling thoughts, illusions but be to try to see them as they are. The harder you try to get rid of them the more you will be troubled by them because trying to remove them is adding yet another thought. They appear to be illusions and trouble you because you can’t see them as they are. Try to see them as they are by tracing them back to the root. When you can see them as they are, you will enjoy happiness you’ve never experienced before. Let me introduce an ancient Zen poem.
Don’t avoid illusions. They are the Buddha you are looking for.
Don’t follow the Buddha. It is the illusion that you are trying to avoid.
Yaoshan had not given a discourse in the dharma hall for some time. The monastery director said, “The assembly has long been wanting to receive teaching from you. Please give a discourse to the assembly, Master.”
Yaoshan asked him to sound the drum. The monastics came together. Yaoshan took the high seat, sat there for a while, got down, and went back to the abbot’s room. The monastery director followed him and asked, “Master, you agreed to give a discourse to the assembly. Why didn’t you say a word?” Yaoshan said, “Scriptural teachers are for scriptures. Commentary teachers are for commentaries. What do you expect from this old monastic?”
Student: “Why didn’t Yaoshan say a word not to mention a discourse?”
Master: “Don’t say that he didn’t give any teaching.”
Zen Fools 