Questions & Koans

Daikaku came for an interview with Rinzai. Rinzai lifted up his fly whisk. Daikaku spread out his prostration mat. Rinzai then threw down his fly whisk and Daikaku took up his prostration mat and entered the monks’ hall. The monks gossiped, “Surely this monk is not a new comer but a close friend of Rinzai; he approached him without bowing, and yet did not receive the stick!” Upon hearing this, Rinzai sent for Daikaku and said, “The monks say that you haven’t greeted me politely yet.” Daikaku commented, “How are you?” and simply rejoined the monks.

Commentary:

Rinzai tested Daikaku by lifting up his fly whisk; he asked Daikaku if he could recognise the true-Self whilst revealing the true-Self by his action. Daikaku lost no time in responding properly according to the circumstances by spreading out his prostration mat and revealed the true-Self with his action. Rinzai tested him once more by throwing down his fly whisk, and Daikaku didn’t hesitate to reply by taking up his prostration mat and entering the monks’ hall. They made beautiful harmony.

The reason why the monks gossiped, “Surely this monk is not a new comer but a close friend of Rinzai; he approached him without bowing, and yet did not receive the stick!” was that they were deluded by the illusions of the words and behaviour that Rinzai and Daikaku performed without discerning what they showed to each other. Aware of this, Rinzai sent for Daikaku and revealed the true-Self one more time for the monks by saying, “The monks say that you haven’t greeted me politely yet.” Daikaku, sensing Rinzai’s intention, properly responded by revealing the true-Self through saying, “How are you?”

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A. You should remember that the person whom you inflicted harm upon is still suffering from the harm you did to him or her. An apology is your share, and forgiveness is his or her share. You should not think that your apology will easily undo what you did. A true apology is to understand your victim’s mind that can’t forgive you and wait until his or her wound is healed with the pain and bad memory fading away.

In Buddhism, seeing one’s own suffering as empty is wisdom, and seeing others’ suffering as one’s own is compassion. You should see your mental stress from being unforgiven as empty and your opponent’s suffering as yours.

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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 is in the three Buddhas?”

Commentary:

The Buddha is in everything, but it is not a thing.

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On seeing a monk approach, Rinzai stretched out both hands, palms upwards. The monk made no response. Rinzai said, “Do you understand?” The monk said, “No, I do not.” The master said, “What an idiot! I give you two pence as travel expenses.”

Commentary:

When Rinzai, stretching out both hands, said to the monk, “Do you understand?”, he was asking the monk whether he could recognise the true-Self that Rinzai himself was revealing. Unfortunately, the monk failed to grasp Rinzai’s intention. Sensing that the monk missed the point, Rinzai added, “What an idiot! I give you two pence as travel expenses,” which means, “I reveal the true-Self one more time to you for the cost of your trouble in coming here. This is what the reward for the effort you made to come to see me.” The heart of the problem here is whether the readers who are reading this can really obtain the ‘two pence as travel expenses’.

Image: 022_9944a_thumb.jpg

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A. The Buddhist concept of paradise is not to build a new paradise on the earth from scratch, but to realise that where each of us stands is no other than paradise itself. The problem is that we cannot recognise paradise while staying there because we are deluded by illusions. We can enjoy it only if we become free from illusions.

So, Buddhism is not a religion that encourages us to pursue a paradise that is somewhere remote beyond our reach, but a religion that helps us to realise that we are already in paradise, by letting us know why we cannot realise the fact and teaching how to discern it. In fact, the idea of creating a new paradise is just another illusion.

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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: “Joshu showed it.” 

Commentary:

The Buddha never moves, but there is nowhere that He doesn’t reach.

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Rinzai asked Takuho, “Hitherto, one used the stick, another the Katsu. Which one is nearer the truth?” Rakuho said, “Neither is near.” Rinzai said, “What is it to be near?” Rakuho gave a Katsu. Rinzai hit him.

Commentary:

Rinzai’s question is ‘if one used the stick to reveal the true-Self and another the Katsu, which revealed the true-Self better?’ Actually, he asked, “Can you see the true-Self that I am revealing now, without being deluded by words?” Rakuho’s answer ‘Neither is near’ means that he is not deluded by either choice since he is aware that both are wrong if he follows the words, but that both options are right because they are the same if he sees them as they truly are. Rinzai asked one more time, “Then, what is the true-Self?” by saying, “What is it to be near?” Rakuho responded by giving a Katsu, and Rinzai approved by hitting him.

Student: “If one uses the stick, and another the Katsu, which one is nearer the truth?”

Master: “What is near the truth is still far away from the truth.”

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A. Worshipping some imaginary being, without knowing what it is, is referred to as superstition, or blind faith. The difference between a religion and a superstition is that the former helps people to realise what the object of their faith is, while the latter induces people into blind faith.

Truth is not truth until you realise it, just as a meal becomes a meal only when you eat it. Intellectual understanding of Buddhism is to appreciating a picture of food as enlightenment is to eating food. The purpose of practice is to demystify the divine into something realistic that can be visible and tangible, that is, to turn something imaginary into reality through personal experience.

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On Buddha’s Birthday Master Yaksan saw one of his students bathing the statue of baby Buddha, and asked him, “You can wash this Buddha as you please, but can you bath the true Buddha?” Then, the student answered, “Bring it to me.”

Student: “How can we wash the true Buddha?”

Master: “Washing it is staining it.”

Commentary:

The Buddha’s body has no surface.

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