Questions & Koans

Rinzai 236

Rinzai came to Kingyu. Seeing him approach, Kingyu sat down at the gate barring it with his staff. Rinzai struck the staff three times with his hand, went into the monks’ hall and sat himself down in the first place. Kingyu came after, saw him, and remarked, “When guest and host meet, the usual courtesies are observed. Elder, where have you come from to be so ill mannered?” Rinzai retorted, “What are you mumbling, old venerable?” When Kingyu was about to open his mouth. Rinzai hit him. As Kingyu pretended to fall down, Rinzai hit him again. Kingyu observed, “It’s not my day today.”

Commentary:

Kingyu tested Rinzai by sitting down at the gate barring it with his staff, by which he meant ‘Do you know what I am revealing through these actions to you?’ Rinzai, sensing his intention, responded by tapping the staff three times with his hand, going into the monks’ hall and sitting himself down in the first place. This means, ‘I know that you want to see if I am aware of the true-Self. The actions of my tapping your staff, going into the monks’ hall and sitting down in the first place are the functions of the true-Self’. Kingyu tested Rinzai again with ‘When guest and host meet, the usual courtesies are observed. Elder, where have you come from to be so ill mannered?’. Rinzai’s response ‘What are you mumbling, old venerable?’ means ‘I am not deceived by your words since I know that you are revealing the true-Self to see whether I can recognise it or not’. When Kingyu was about to open his mouth to reveal the true-Self by saying something, Rinzai, sensing his intention, hit him, by which he meant ‘I know that you mean to show me this’. In the end, Kingyu played a trick on Rinzai by pretending to fall down, but Rinzai, not being fooled by his trick, responded wisely by hitting him again. Kingyu, realising that he couldn’t deceive Rinzai, approved Rinzai’s enlightenment by observing, “It’s not my day today.”

Rinzai 237

Issan asked Gyosan, “Who of those two masters won and who lost?” Gyosan replied, “If one won, the other won, too. If one lost, the other one lost, too.”

Commentary:

Later Issan asked Gyosan about what had happened between Kingyu and Rinzai. Gyosan meant that there was no winner and no loser because both of them were enlightened and because there is no difference when everything is one as Emptiness.

©Boo AhmAll writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. The core of Buddhist teaching is non-duality, that is, everything is one. Buddha and Mara are not separate but one. Whether someone or something is the Buddha or Mara depends on how you behold it.

Seeing what you see as real is being deluded by Mara and seeing it as empty is seeing the Buddha because Emptiness is another name of the Buddha. This is why the historical Buddha said in the Diamond Sutra, “If you see everything not as real but as empty, you can see the true-Self.”

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A monk asked Joshu, “What will you do if the true-Self comes like this?” Joshu answered, “I meet it like this.” The monk said, “What will you do if it doesn’t come like this?” Joshu said, “I meet it like this.” The monk said, “Meeting it like this when it comes like this makes sense, but what do you mean by meeting it like this when it doesn’t come?” Joshu said, “That’s enough. We need not talk. My Dharma is so subtle and profound that it is beyond thinking.”

Student: “Why did Joshu say that he met the true-Self like that when it didn’t come.”

Master: “Because it came.”

Student: “When did it come?”

Master: “Not only when the monk said, ‘If the true-Self comes’ but also when he said, ‘If it doesn’t come’.”

Commentary:

Asking and answering is the function of the true-Self.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

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.

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A. Being the Buddha is quite different from living as the Buddha. If someone, for example, whose father left enormous inheritance for him is living poorly from hand to mouth without being aware that he is extremely rich, is he rich, or poor?

We are like a rich man who is not aware that he is rich. So, sentient beings are referred to as Buddhas who are not aware that they are Buddhas. The purpose of Buddhism is to get sentient beings to realise that they are Buddhas.

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 All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Master Sekikyo, pulling an empty bow, would say, “Take a look at the arrow” whenever students came to him for his teaching.

Student: “Why did Sekikyo tell students to take a look at the arrow while pulling an empty bow?”

Master: “In order to show the arrow.”

Commentary:

The aim of setting up a wind vane is not to show off the wind vane but to show the movement of unseen wind.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

Rinzai came to Horin, who remarked, “As it happens, I want to ask you something, may I?” Rinzai said, “Why gouge out healthy flesh to make a wound?” Horin said, “Brilliant shines the moon over the sea casting no shade. A fish that plays is only fooling itself.” Rinzai said, “As the moon over the sea casts no shade anyway, how can the fish playing there be deluded?” Horin said, “Observing wind, I know waves will blow up; Measuring the water, I raise a sail on the small boat.” Rinzai said, “Alone shines the solitary moon, rivers and mountains are quiet. The sound of laughing alone startles heaven and earth.” Horin said, “Your tongue may brighten heaven and earth, but say a word to reveal the true-Self exactly.” Rinzai said, “When you chance upon a swordsman, show him your sword. Do not give your poem to a man who is not a poet.” Horin retired, and Rinzai made this verse: “The Great Way surpasses equality, free to go West or East. A spark from flint cannot catch up with it, nor can a flash of lightning get through it.”

Commentary:

Rinzai’s ‘Why gouge out healthy flesh to make a wound?’ means that the true-Self is so perfect that describing it in one way or another is no better than adding dirt to it. Horin’s ‘Brilliant shines the moon over the sea casting no shade. A fish that plays is only fooling itself.’ means that the moon that symbolises the true-Self is so perfect that it never casts any shade to delude people and that a foolish man makes the true-Self dirty by being deceived by words, illusions. In other words, Horin meant, “If gouging out healthy flesh to make a wound happens, it is only because you don’t know better than to be deluded by words, illusions.” Rinzai’s response ‘As the moon over the sea casts no shade anyway, how can the fish playing there be deluded?’ means, ‘I am not deluded by your words because I am clearly aware of the true-Self’. Horin’s ‘Observing wind, I know waves will blow up; Measuring the water, I raise sail a on the small boat’ means ‘Observing a man coming, I know that he is revealing the true-Self, and measuring how deep his practice is, I reveal the true-Self according to the depth of his practice’. Rinzai’s ‘Alone shines the solitary moon, rivers and mountains are quiet. The sound of laughing alone startles heaven and earth’ means ‘When the true-Self is revealing itself alone, everything in sight, rivers and mountains included, is the true-Self. The sound of my laughing is that of heaven and earth’. Horin’s ‘Your tongue may brighten heaven and earth, but say a word to reveal the true-Self exactly’ means ‘You seem to describe the true-Self beautifully. Then, can you say words to reveal it exactly one more time?’. Rinzai’s response ‘When you chance upon a swordsman, show him your sword. Do not give your poem to a man who is not a poet’ means ‘Reveal the true-Self only to an enlightened man. If you reveal it to a man who is not enlightened, he cannot recognise it, and your efforts will turn out to be as futile and fruitless as if you were to give your poem to a man who cannot understand poetry’. By this answer, Rinzai implied ‘If you are enlightened, you would recognise what I meant, just as a swordsman recognises a sword and a poet understands a poem’. Then, Horin approved Rinzai’s enlightenment, and Rinzai made a beautiful poem that describes the true-Self.

‘The Great Way surpasses equality, free to go West or East’ means that the Great Way, the true-Self is beyond even the concept equality that means emptiness because it is the state free of discrimination. It, in fact, is free to go in any direction since there is no direction such as West or East. ‘A spark from flint cannot catch up with it’ means that the true-Self is everywhere and there is no place that is not the true-Self. No matter how fast light such as a spark from flint may reach a place, it cannot surpass the true-Self, because it is already there. ‘Nor can a flash of lightning get through it’ means that the true-Self is so huge and vast, that is, boundless, that nothing can get through it.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

A. It is not because it doesn’t appear before us but because you can’t recognise it that you can’t see it. It always reveals itself before you even at this moment when you read this writing, not to mention when you attend retreats. You can’t see it because it is covered with a multitude of various shapes of things and can’t hear it because it is covered with countless fancy and plausible words.

What you have to keep in mind is that when you read Buddhist literature such as the sutras and records of ancient masters, or listen to Dharma talks, you should read and listen beyond words. In Buddhism a Dharma talk refers not to remarks or texts but to a gate. Even if you are content with intellectual understanding of each word you read and listen to, you have failed to understand what you read or listened to if you have not attained enlightenment, that is, you have not passed the gate. This is why some ancient masters would say that all the sutras are only Mara’s talks if we are deluded by words without grasping the core.

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When a monk was making a farewell speech, master Daeja said, “Where are you going?” The monk said, “I am going to Gang-seo.” The master asked, “Can you take me?” The monk answered, “I cannot take even one who is superior to you, not to mention you.”

Student: “Why can’t the monk take the master?”

Master: “Because he degrades the master to a sentient being if he takes him.”

When another monk was making a farewell speech the next day, master Daeja said, “Where are you going?” The monk said, “I am going to Gang-seo.” The master asked, “Can you take me?” The monk answered, “Of course, I can take even one who is inferior to you as well as you.” The master said, “I am so old now that I cannot walk such a long way. How are you going to take me when you don’t have money to hire a horse and cart?” The monk answered, “Don’t be worried. I will take you in comfort.” 

Student: “The master is too old to walk such a long way. You said that the former monk wouldn’t take him lest he should degrade him. How can the monk take the old master such a long way in comfort without degrading him to a sentient being?”

Master: “His going is the master’s going.”

Commentary:

The Buddha is always with you although he never moves at all.

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway

On the way to see Horin Rinzai met an old woman, who asked him, “Where are you going?” “To Horin,” replied Rinzai. The old woman informed him, “Horin is away just now, so you cannot visit him.” “Where did he go?”, asked Rinzai. But the old woman was already walking off. Rinzai called after her and, when she turned around, he hit her.

Commentary:

We should be aware that the old woman was testing Rinzai to see whether he had the wisdom to discern the true-Self that is the essence of Horin without being deluded by the words ‘Horin is away just now, so you cannot visit him’. When Rinzai asked her where he had gone, she showed the true-Self by walking off. Grasping the woman’s meaning, Rinzai called after her and hit her when she returned as a token of appreciating her intention.

Student: “Was Horin in the temple, or was he actually away as the woman said?”

Master: “Why do you dismiss the woman’s kindness?”

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All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway