Questions & Koans

Rinzai 14

Again, a monk asked, “What is the essence of Buddhism?”
The master gave a Katsu.
The monk bowed.
The master said, “Tell me, was it a good Katsu or not?” The monk said: “The petty thief had a whacking defeat!” The master said, “Where then was the fault?”
The monk said, “It is not permitted to do it a second time.” The master gave a Katsu.

Commentary:
This is a beautiful dialogue, which is highly difficult to understand. When the monk asked, “What is the essence of Buddhism?”, Master Rinzai answered his question by giving a Katsu. The monk responded to the Katsu, the master’s answer by offering a bow. Rinzai, in order to see if the monk really knew what the Katsu implied, asked him another question, ‘Was it a good Katsu or not?’. This was a question luring the monk into falling a pit of discrimination. However, the monk was wise enough to see through what Rinzai meant, so he responded to Rinzai’s question not only politely but also wonderfully by saying, “The petty thief had a whacking defeat!”.

In the Zen community an enlightened man is referred to as a thief since he got the whole universe for nothing without being noticed. The monk lowered himself by calling himself a petty thief and admitting his defeat. However, this seemingly humble answer, you should know, implies a lot more than seen superficially. By calling himself a thief, the monk said that he was enlightened. And admitting his defeat doesn’t mean that he couldn’t grasp Rinzai’s intention, but means, “I know that even opening my mouth is the wrong to answer your question. So, I know that answering you like this is also my fault.”
Then, Master Rinzai, for the sake of reconfirmation, posed another question as sharp as a razor blade ‘Where was the fault?’, which means, “What was your fault if you admit your defeat?” However, the monk returned, ‘It is not permitted to do it a second time’ very courteously without embarrassment. This was an answer that was no less sharp than Rinzai’s question, which means, “I’ve already committed an error by opening my mouth to reveal the true-Self for courtesy’s sake, whilst aware that it was not right. If I made the same error again, I would disgrace you as well as myself.” Hearing this, Rinzai approved of the monk’s answer.

When you read this, you should put yourself in the monk’s shoes and ask yourself how you would answer if you were asked the same question.

Student: “What would you have said if you had been asked, ‘Was it a good Katsu or not?’?”
Master: “I would have said, ‘Are you good or not?’.”

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Q. What does ‘being captured by patriarchs’ words’ mean?

A. This means to interpret patriarchs’ words just literally without grasping what is beyond the words. In this sense, it can be said that we are captured by the Bible and the Sutras as well as patriarchs’ words. This is often compared to looking at the finger instead of looking at the moon which the finger is pointing to. This is actually the main reason why few people attain enlightenment even though so many people read or study the Sutras and the Bible. That is why Buddha on his deathbed said, “Not a word have I said” for fear that people should be captured by his words, and why ancient masters would say, “You should look upon Buddha’s and patriarchs’ words as your enemy.”

Student: “If we should look upon Buddha’s and patriarchs’ words as our enemy, why should we read their books, or listen to masters’ dharma talks?”
Master: “Oh! How poor! You are captured by my words.”

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Yangshan’s “It’s Not That There Is No Enlightenment”

Mihu of Jingzhao had a monastic ask Yangshan, “Can people these days depend on enlightenment?”
Yangshan said, “It’s not that there is no enlightenment, but rather how can we deal with falling into words?” The monastic returned and reported this to Jingzhao, who then approved Yangshan.

Student: “How can we avoid falling into words?”
Master: “Don’t follow words.”
Student: “If we shouldn’t follow the words, why do we need the Sutras and dharma talks?”
Master: “Then, follow words.”
Student: “What shall we do? Make it clear.”
Master: “Following words correctly is avoiding falling into words.”

Commentary:
How could you avoid falling into words without understanding the words ‘Don’t follow words’?
If we could follow words correctly, we could avoid falling into words and get enlightened when we read the Sutras.

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Rinzai 13

When the master was at the High Seat, a monk came forward and bowed. The master gave a Katsu.
The monk said, “Old Venerable, better not test me!”
The master replied, “Then you say it. Where does the Katsu fall?”
The monk gave a Katsu.

Commentary:
Wanting his state checked by the master, the monk came forward and bowed, which implies, “I know what the true-Self is. This is it. Do you know what I mean?” Master Rinzai responded to this with a Katsu, which means, “Of course, I know what you mean. Do you know what I mean with this Katsu?” Then, the monk counterattacked beautifully with ‘Old Venerable, better not test me’, which means, “I know what you mean with a Katsu.” At this, by asking the monk where the Katsu falls, the master threw a tempting question in order to check whether the monk was deluded by words or not as if to cast a net to catch fish. However, the monk escaped the net nimbly by giving a Katsu.

Once Mazu, seeing snow falling, said, “Of all the snowflakes, not a single flake falls out of it.” This has been a well-known koan among Zen practitioners ever since. The key point of this comment is ‘Where in the world do the snowflakes fall if not falling out of it? Interpreted literally, all the snowflakes fall within it. Where is it?’ ‘It’ here means the true-Self. Mazu meant, “All the snowflakes fall in the true-Self. Do you know the true-Self?” Likewise, Rinzai asked the monk if he knew that the Katsu falls within the true-Self, that is, the Katsu is the function of the true-Self. The monk revealed the true-Self by shouting a Katsu as an answer, which is saying, “It falls here.”

Student: “You say that the Katsu falls here. I still don’t know where you mean by here.”
Master: “Where are we now?”

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Q. I don’t want to be me anymore, but I don’t want to be anyone else either. What then is left?

A. What you want now is what Zen meditation pursues. That is to be had when you can see everything as it is, or when you are enlightened. When you are not you and neither anyone else nor anything else, what then is left is perfection itself, eternity itself, freedom itself and beauty itself, which is your true-Self. This is called God in Christianity and the true-Self, Buddha in Buddhism.

What do you think you are now? Is there anything that is innate, not given by others among the things that define your identity? In order to achieve what you want, eliminate all labels that define you from yourself such as human being, body, mind, man, woman, American, British, tall, short and so on. Keep asking yourself what you are when you are stripped of all these labels. Being able to see and hear yourself free from such labels is enlightenment.

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Xiangyan’s Great Enlightenment

Zen master Xiangyan was bright in nature. Being at the assembly of Guishan, he was well learned and had extensive memory.
Guishan one day said to Xiangyan, “Everything you say is what you’ve memorised from commentaries. Now I am going to ask you a question. When you were an infant—before you could even distinguish east from west – at that time, how was it?”
Xiangyan spoke and presented his understanding, explaining the principle, but could not get approval. He went through the texts he had collected and studied, but he could not find an answer that would satisfy the master.
Deeply grieved and in tears, he burned all his books and commentaries. Then he said to himself, “I will never understand Zen in this lifetime. I will become a hermit monastic and enter a mountain and practise.”
Thus, he entered Mount Wudang and built a hut near the grave site of National Teacher Nanyang.
One day while he was sweeping the path, a pebble struck a stalk of bamboo and made a cracking sound. At that moment he suddenly had a great enlightenment experience.

Student: “How did Xiangyan get enlightened by the cracking sound of a pebble and a stalk of bamboo?”
Master: “Ask a pebble and a stalk of bamboo in person. I am not as good as them.”

Commentary:
Hear your master’s words in the same way you hear the cracking sound of a pebble and a stalk of bamboo.

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Rinzai 12

The monk hesitated. The master released him and said: “What a
shit-stick this True Man of no Status is!” Then he withdrew to his quarters.

Commentary:
Unfortunately, the monk failed to grasp the master’s meaning despite the master’s unsparing effort. The master, having compassion for the monk, answered his question by saying, “What a shit-stick this True Man of no Status is!”

‘A shit-stick’ originates from a dialogue between a respectable master Woon-moon and a monk. When a monk asked him, “What is the Buddha?”, the master answered, “A dry shit-stick.” When the master said, “A dry shit-stick”, he meant two things: revealing the Buddha and telling people not to follow words. This is because the word ‘Buddha’ is no better than a useless label, a name like ‘a dry shit-stick’ that is just an imaginary line.

Likewise, master Rinzai revealed the True Man of no Status in person and advised the monk not to be deluded by the words ‘True Man of no Status’ at the same time.

Student: “Why did Rinzai talk as if the True Man of no Status, the true-Self were the same as a shit-stick?”
Master: “Because a shit-stick, in essence, is not different from the True Man of no Status.”

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Q. We practise meditation to reach enlightenment. If the process really works, then why don’t we see any monks becoming enlightened? I even sometimes feel that enlightenment is just a figment of man’s imagination. Have we lost the true technique?

A. That you have not seen an enlightened man is one thing and whether there is an enlightened man, or not, is another. Considering that only an enlightened man can recognise the enlightened, the odds are that there is no enlightened man at all, but chances are that you have not met any of them or have failed to recognise them even though there are a lot of enlightened men.

Can you recognise an enlightened man if you should meet him now? Can you tell the enlightened apart from those who are not enlightened? What do you think the enlightened are or should be like? If you can recognise an enlightened man, you are already enlightened, or at least very close to enlightenment. However, you cannot recognise the enlightened unless you yourself are enlightened, no matter how many they may be.

There is a saying ‘If you attain enlightenment, the whole universe becomes enlightened along with you’. Don’t think that there is no enlightened man but think that you can’t recognise the enlightened. Practise hard and you will understand what the words ‘If you practise sincerely, an enlightened man appears out of nowhere and helps you’ mean.

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Touzi’s Moon

Once a monastic asked Zen master Touzi, “How is it when the moon is not yet full?”
Touzi said, “It swallowed up three and four.”
The monastic said, “How is it after the moon is full?”
Touzi said, “It spat out seven and eight.”

Student: “Why is the moon not full when it swallowed up three and four while it is full when it spat out seven and eight?”
Master: “Because you swallowed.”
Student: “How can I spit out?”
Master: “Don’t swallow.”
Student: “I have nothing in my mouth. What shall I spit out?”
Master: “Your mouth.”

Commentary:
When realising that you have no mouth, you’ll realise that there is nothing to swallow up and spit out.”

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Rinzai 11

A monk came forward and asked, “What is the True Man of no Status?”
The master descended from the meditation cushion, grabbed the monk and said: “Speak, speak!”

Commentary:
Then, a monk, not grasping Rinzai’s meaning, asked what the true-Self is. As a response to the monk’s question, the master descended from his seat, grabbed the monk and spurred him to speak. This is the scene that shows how compassionate the master was. Though he could answer the monk’s question from his seat without bothering himself to leave it, he descended from his seat for the purpose of delivering a more concrete answer. Master’s action ‘Speak, speak!’, seemingly sounding as if he were urging the monk to speak, in fact, is showing that he was taking pains to give the best answer that he could by leading him to see, hear and feel the true-Self directly at the same time.

Student: “I still don’t understand Rinzai’s answer.”
Master: “You should know that Rinzai’s answer was completed at the moment he started to move to leave his meditation cushion.”

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