The Diamond Sutra says, “The Buddha is one who speaks true words, who speaks words that are not a lie, and who doesn’t say different words.”
Student: “What are the Buddha’s true words?”
Master: “He never said a word.”
Commentary:
The Buddha’s words cannot be dictated but can be said again, without effort, anytime.
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Mogog came for an interview. Spreading out his prostration mat, he asked, “Of the twelve faces of Avalokiteshvara, which is the true one?” Rinzai came down from his seat, took up the prostration mat with one hand, with the other grabbed Mogog, and said, “Where has the twelve faced Avalokiteshvara gone now?” Mogog twisted his body and moved as if to climb Rinzai’s seat. Rinzai lifted his stick and hit him. Mogog grabbed the stick, and both went together to the master’s quarters.
Commentary:
Mogog’s question may seem to ask about the twelve faces of Avalokiteshvara, but it actually meant means, “What is the true-Self?”. Rinzai’s response to Mogog’s question may sound eccentric and illogical but this is a perfect answer to Magog’s question. You should be able to recognise the true-Self that Rinzai showed, just as you can recognise the invisible wind by seeing leaves moving, and the invisible autumn by seeing leaves turning red and yellow. (Refer to Rinzai 7, 8 about Avalokiteshvara).
Then, Mogog, admitting Rinzai’s answer, raised another question by twisting his body and moving as if to climb Rinzai’s seat. This action included both approval and another question: “I know that you mean just this as your answer to my question. Then, what is this? Tell me another answer.” Rinzai made an immediate answer by lifting his stick and hitting him. ‘Mogog grabbed the stick, and both went together to the master’s quarters’ means that both of them approved each other’s enlightenment.
You should know that however leaves may flutter and sound, it’s all just the function of the wind.
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A. It can be treated as an academic discipline. However, Buddhism as a subject of academy is one thing and Buddhism as a religion is another. The former is based on literature, but the latter on practice. The latter pursues enlightenment, but I have never heard that a Buddhist scholar has attained enlightenment.
Let me offer a glimpse into the difference between Buddhism and philosophy by comparing Buddhist masters with philosophers. Philosophers seem to adhere to their unique opinions that are different from those of their predecessors, or their contemporaries, although sometimes being partially in accord with them. They pursue new thought whilst disputing, or negating, or finding fault with existing theories by others.
However, all Buddhist masters who have realised the true-Self, or the Buddha that they believe is the essence of everything have the same opinion concerning it throughout history; what it is like and what its characteristics are, even though their ways of describing and expressing it are diverse from each other. Masters who have realised the true-Self can tell whether a person is enlightened or not by testing him with koans, Zen questions in the same way as elementary school teachers test their students with arithmetic questions to see whether they have mastered arithmetic rules.
Accordingly, Buddhism as a religion is quite different from philosophy.
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One day Chungwon said to Sukdo, “People say that there is enlightenment.” Sukdo said, “There is one who doesn’t say that there is enlightenment.” Chungwon said, “Who is it?” Sukdo answered, “Not only all the Sutras but also everything comes out from him.”
Student: “Who is the one that all the Sutras and everything come out from?”
Master: “Everything is coming out from him now.”
Commentary:
He is always in sight, but invisible when you look for him.
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Monastic Jo came to have an interview with Rinzai. He asked, “What is the essence of the Buddha-Dharma?” Rinzai came down from his seat, grabbed him, gave him a slap, and then let go of him. Jo remained motionless blankly. A monk said, “Jo, why do you not bow?” On the point of bowing, Jo suddenly had a great awakening.
Commentary:
We should appreciate Rinzai’s answer, which he made by coming down from his seat, grabbing Jo, giving him a slap, and then letting go of him. However, Jo, failing to grasp Rinzai’s answer, was at a loss. The monk nearby gave him a hint by saying, “Why do you not bow?”. He meant, “Why don’t you express your gratitude by bowing to Rinzai because he had the kindness to give you such a nice answer?” Even when Jo was told to bow by the monk, he seemed to be doubtful why he should be grateful to Rinzai because he was not aware of Rinzai’s answer. Nevertheless, he had the good fortune to realise Rinzai’s intention thanks to the monk.
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A. Haven’t you ever thought that your troublesome events can be beneficial events to someone else? Everything and every event itself is neutral in essence. It has no meaning unless you grant meaning to it.
The meaning you give to it varies depending on what you are and the context of your viewing. For example, when you return to a farm village where you spent your childhood, you feel that the barn which looked so large when you were young appears very small. The same barn looks smaller than before more because you are not what you used to be and because your perspective has changed, rather than because the size of the barn has changed with time. This means that all the troublesome events you think of as troublesome appear to be so not because they are troublesome by nature but because you see them as troublesome.
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The Buddha said to Subhuti, “Subhuti, if someone says that the Buddha comes, goes, or lies down, this person doesn’t understand the principle of my teaching because the Buddha neither comes from somewhere else nor goes anywhere else.”
Student: “Where is the Buddha now?”
Master: “He is where He used to be.”
Student: “Why can’t I see Him?”
Master: “Why can’t I avoid seeing Him?”
Commentary:
Invisibility is not the evidence of His absence but that of your blindness.
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Joshu, when wandering on pilgrimage, came for an interview with Rinzai. He arrived just as the master was washing his feet and asked him, “What is the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West?” Rinzai replied, “Opportunely, I am just washing my feet.” Joshu came closer and pretended to listen to Rinzai’s washing his feet. Rinzai said, “I think I should throw out the second gourd of dirty water.” On that, Joshu withdrew.
Commentary:
Joshu’s question ‘What is the meaning of the patriarch’s coming from the West?’ means ‘What is the true-Self?’ Rinzai’s answer to Joshu’s question ‘Opportunely, I am just washing my feet’ means, ‘The act of washing my feet and the speech that I am making to answer your question is no other than the true-Self. Why don’t you discern this although it is revealing itself clearly before your eyes?’ Joshu responded by coming closer and pretending to listen to Rinzai’s washing his feet, which means, ‘I know what you mean. My act of coming closer and pretending to listen to your washing your feet is not different from what you mean.’ Rinzai’s ‘I think I should throw out the second gourd of dirty water’ means, ‘I’ve already answered your question by saying, ‘Opportunely, I am just washing my feet’. Strictly speaking, there cannot be any words in the state of the true-Self. The words I made to answer your question are no better than a gourd of dirty water if you follow words. Then, I think I should reveal the true-Self one more time by commenting like this. If you don’t grasp this, it will be the second gourd of dirty water.’
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A. The core of Buddhism is not to worship the Buddha but to realise that everything, including ourselves, is the Buddha. In other words, Buddhism is not to worship and pray to an imaginary being that is out of sight for mercy and happiness, but to realise that everything in sight around us is the Buddha we are looking for by seeing things as they really are.
In order to see things as they are, we should not be deluded by illusions. The virtual image of the Buddha is the most typical and strongest illusion that most Buddhists are attached to. The illusion of the Buddha hinders Buddhists from realising the true Buddha. This is why ancient masters advised their students to kill the Buddha. So, ‘killing the Buddha’ implies ‘removing the illusion of the Buddha’, or ‘not being deluded by the illusion of the Buddha’. What should be kept in mind is that the Buddha is formless and whatever can be killed is not the Buddha.
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Joshu said, “A clay Buddha cannot cross water because it collapses. A steel Buddha cannot cross a forge because it melts down. A wooden Buddha cannot cross fire because it burns. What is the true Buddha?”
Student: “What is the true Buddha?”
Master: “It never collapses, never melts down and never burns.
Commentary:
Seeing what doesn’t change in what changes is seeing the Buddha.
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Zen Fools 