An official, bringing some offering to Master Woongoh, asked him, “They say that the Buddha transmitted a secret remark to his first student Mahakasyapa, who didn’t conceal it. What is it?” The master called him by his official title and he answered, “Yes.” The master asked, “Do you know?” The official answered, “No, it doesn’t make any sense to me.” The master said, “If you don’t know, it is a secret remark, but if you know, it is what Mahakasyapa didn’t hide.”
Student: “What is the secret remark?”
Master: “You are speaking it.”
Student: “What is it that Mahakasyapa didn’t hide?”
Master: “You are revealing it.”
Commentary:
The true-Self is impossible to hide even from the blind and the deaf.
Rinzai asked a monk, “Where do you come from?” The monk gave a Katsu. The master made a polite bow with his hands in front and told him to sit down. The monk hesitated – then the master hit him. The master saw a monk coming. He raised his fly whisk. The monk bowed – the master hit him. Again, he saw a monk coming and again raised his fly whisk. The monk pretended not to see him. The master hit him.
Commentary:
When Rinzai tested if the monk knew the true-Self by asking, “Where do you come from?” the monk passed the first test and responded properly by revealing the true-Self through giving a Katsu. However, he couldn’t pass the more sophisticated test that Rinzai posed by inviting him to sit down whilst politely showing courtesy. When the monk was at a loss for words, Rinzai hit him as an answer and as punishment for failing to answer at the same time.
Seeing a monk coming, Rinzai tested if he knew the true-Self by raising his fly whisk. The monk answered the question by offering a bow, and Rinzai responded by hitting him. Seeing another monk coming, Rinzai tested whether he knew the true-Self by raising his fly whisk as well. The monk responded to Rinzai’s action by pretending not to see him, which was not different from offering a bow. Rinzai also responded by hitting him. It is not certain whether Rinzai approved the second and third monks by hitting them or not. What matters here is that we should grasp the meaning of Rinzai’s hitting the monks.
Student: “Why did Rinzai always respond by hitting monastics?”
Master: “Because you only saw him hitting them.”
Student: “Were the second and third monks enlightened?”
A. This means that we should stop wandering in search of the Buddha by chasing after His illusion. The Avatamsaka Sutra says that if one, seeing the Buddha, is not attracted by or attached to Him, he is the one who knows the Buddha and His Dharma. Seeing the Buddha here implies to see the illusion of the Buddha. One who is not deluded by the illusion of the Buddha is the one who knows the Buddha. The real Buddha has no given form and reveals itself in the forms of everything, everywhere, all the time. It never conceals itself and cannot be hidden even for a moment.
There is nothing that is not the Buddha. All that we see and hear is nothing but the Buddha. Even we ourselves are the Buddha and all the sounds we make are the sound of the Buddha. There is no other Buddha to be attached to than that which reaches our eyes and ears. Believing that there is another Buddha other than this is being deluded by the illusion of the Buddha. This is why it is said that when you speak or take a step, the Buddha reveals itself.
One day the Buddha, showing a precious stone that changed colour depending on beholders, asked his students, “What colour is this?” Each of the students responded with a different colour. Then, the Buddha hid the precious stone in his sleeve and raising his hands, said, “What colour is this?” His students answered, “You don’t have the precious stone in your hands. Where can the colours be?” The Buddha said with a sigh of grief, “How can your ignorance be this deep? When I showed you a worldly precious stone, each of you produced words such as blue, orange, red, white, black and so on. However, when I show you the true precious stone, you say that you don’t know.”
Student: “What was the true precious stone that the Buddha showed?”
Master: “It is the worldly precious stone.”
Student: “What is the difference between them?”
Master: “If you see them as different and separate, both become worldly precious stones. If you see them as one, it is the true precious stone.”
Afterwards, Issan asked Gyosan, “How do you understand what those two venerables were talking about?” Gyosan countered, “How do you understand it?” Issan said, “Only when rearing a child does one come to understand a father’s love.” Gyosan said, “Not at all.” Issan asked, “Then what?” Gyosan said, “It is like a thief ruining one’s home.”
Commentary:
Issan asked his disciple Gyosan to tell him his view regarding the dialogue between Obaku and Rinzai about the dialogue with the cook. Gyosan, conscious of his master’s intention, answered his question by posing another question in return because he also wondered what Issan’s answer was like. Issan answered, “Only when rearing a child does one come to understand a father’s love”, which means, “Only when a man gets enlightened and is in a position to teach his students, just as Obaku was, can he know the meaning of Obaku.” When Gyosan said, “Not at all” he didn’t contradict his master’s answer but meant, “I know what you mean, and I have another expression of what you mean.” So, Issan, sensing his intention, allowed him to give his own answer by saying, “Then what?” Gyosan highly acknowledged Rinzai by comparing him to a thief ruining one’s home. In the Zen community a thief symbolises an enlightened man, who is said to have stolen the whole universe. ‘Ruin one’s home’ implies to destroy one’s illusions. In short, Gyosan meant that Rinzai was a great master who tried his best to remove illusions from people.
Student: “What is Obaku’s love?”
Master: “A father’s love made Rinzai a thief.”
Student: “Did Rinzai ruin one’s home?”
Master: “You still have your home.”
The purpose of ruining one’s home is to make one a thief.
A. This means that once you have realised what the essence of Mara is, you will come to know that it is the Buddha. When ancient masters said that we should get rid of or escape from Mara, they did not mean that we should move away or do away with it but meant that we should realise that it is also the function of the true-Self.
In essence, Mara is not Mara but the Buddha. The Buddha and Mara are not separate and different from each other but absolutely one. When we don’t see things as they are, that is, when we are deluded by illusions, we mistake the Buddha for Mara. This is why ancient masters would say, “Why do you struggle to avoid the Buddha while trying to see Him?” when they were asked how people could escape from Mara.
One day the Buddha, showing a precious stone that changed colour depending on beholders, asked his students, “What colour is this?” Each of the students responded with a different colour. Then, the Buddha hid the precious stone in his sleeve and raising his hands, said, “What colour is this?” His students answered, “You don’t have the precious stone in your hands. Where can the colours be?” The Buddha said with a sigh of grief, “How can your ignorance be this deep? When I showed you a worldly precious stone, each of you produced words such as blue, orange, red, white, black and so on. However, when I show you the true precious stone, you say that you don’t know.”
Student: “What is the true precious stone that the Buddha showed?”
Master: “It is in your hands now as well.”
Commentary:
It never moves at all but there is no place it cannot reach.
When Rinzai came to see Obaku, the latter at once mentioned the above dialogue with the cook. The master said, “The cook does not understand. Please, say a word that can get him enlightened, and then he asked, “Isn’t that rather a lot of rice?” Obaku said, “Why not say, tomorrow they’ll have to eat still more.” Rinzai said, “Why talk of tomorrow, eat it now at once!” Saying this, the master slapped Obaku, who replied, “What madman has come here to stroke the tiger’s whiskers!” Rinzai gave a Katsu and left.
Commentary:
When Obaku talked to Rinzai about the dialogue with the cook, Rinzai, sensing Obaku’s intention to test him, asked Obaku to say something that could get the cook enlightened whilst copying the cook’s answer. As soon as Obaku responded to Rinzai’s request by saying, “Why not say, tomorrow they’ll have to eat still more” Rinzai, seeing through his meaning, revealed the true-Self by slapping Obaku and showed that he was not deluded by illusions such as ‘past’, ‘present’ and ‘future’ by saying, “Why talk of tomorrow, eat it now at once!” Obaku admitted that Rinzai’s answer was excellent by saying, “What madman has come here to stroke the tiger’s whiskers!”
Student: “Why did Rinzai slap his master Obaku?”
Master: “Because you didn’t see the one who showed respect but saw the madman?”
A. You should not be deceived by the word ‘transmit’ since, as mentioned previously, all words are illusionary. The true-Self cannot be moved and has never been moved at all. It can neither be gained nor be lost. The historical Buddha didn’t try to transmit the true-Self to us that he had brought from somewhere else but tried to confirm that everything, including us, is the true-Self and that there is nothing that is not the true-Self. This is why an ancient master said, “One person transmitted falsely but ten thousand people transmitted truly” when he was asked to comment about the Buddha’s remark ‘I transmit the true Dharma I have to Mahakasyapa’. The master meant that although the Buddha said such words for the purpose of revealing the true Dharma, true-Self to the people who attended his talk, all but Mahakasyapa, deceived by the Buddha’s words, believed that the Buddha transmitted something to Mahakasyapa. who received it.
Student: “What is it that the Buddha transmitted to Mahakasyapa?”
When the Buddha was alive, seven wise sisters happened to pass a cemetery. One of them, pointing to a dead body, asked the others, “The corpse is here. Where is the man?” One of them said, “What? Why? Why?” All of them attained enlightenment upon hearing these words. Then, surprised to see them get enlightened, a heavenly God, spraying flowers, said, “Oh, my glorious sisters, what do you need? I will be willing to provide you with whatever you need forever.” The sisters answered, “We have everything we need. But if you want to help us, we hope to have three more things; one is a tree without a root, another is a patch of land without light and shade, and the third is a valley that doesn’t make any echo even if we shout.” The heavenly God said, “I have everything needed, but I don’t have the three things you mentioned.” The sisters responded, “If you don’t have these things, how can you save people from their suffering?” The heavenly God went to the Buddha and asked him about the meaning of these things. The Buddha answered, “Even my students who have practised a lot don’t know the meaning of these things. Only Bodhisattvas can know the meaning of them.”
Student: “Why did the Buddha not mention the meaning of the three things?”
Master: “Because it cannot be explained with words.”
Commentary:
The Buddha didn’t say even a word, but he never failed to answer any questions.
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