Questions & Koans

There are everywhere teachers who do not distinguish the false from the true. When a student comes to question one of them on enlightenment, on Nirvana, on the Trinity, on illusions, or wisdom, the blind teacher at once begins to explain them verbosely to the student. And if the student abuses him, he takes his stick and rudely beats the student while shouting, “How rude you are! Where are your manners?” It is because the teacher doesn’t have the eye of wisdom that he is poorly treated. He should not be upset with the student.

Commentary:

Here Master Rinzai talks about the prevalence of unqualified teachers who, pretending to be enlightened, are misleading students. Such teachers, when asked about core aspects of Buddhism such as enlightenment and Nirvana, just beat around the bush, simply quoting from the Sutras without presenting clear-cut answers. This is because they don’t have their own wisdom from enlightenment. Such teachers are bound to be found fraudulent by students whose practice is well ripened. Unfortunately, when their incompetence is uncovered, they blame the students who disclose it for their bad manners so that they may hide their own ignorance.

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A. You seem to be referring to words used as koans, Zen questions that may even sound ridiculous not to mention making no sense. For example, when a master was asked what the Buddha is by a monk, he answered, “Dry shit!” Interpreted literally, this answer might not only appear meaningless but also seems to sneer at the question.

However, the fact is that the master gave a perfect answer. The master made such an answer in order to express what can’t be expressed with words. To the enlightened, the answer leaves nothing to be desired. The reason why the answer is meaningless to you is that you try to grasp, through words, what cannot be expressed with words. If you really want to taste the core of Buddhism, you should comprehend that which is beyond what words portray.

Following words is no better than just licking the peel of a delicious apple without experiencing the true taste inside the peel. This is why ancient masters said that all the Sutras are just Mara’s talks if we merely follow their words.

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A monastic said to Master Josan, “How is it before the Buddha comes out into this world?” Josan answered, “I am not as good as Him.” The monastic asked again, “How is it after He comes out into this world?” Josan said, “He is not as good as I am.”

Student: “Why is the Buddha better than Master Josan before the Buddha comes out into this world?”

Master: “Because the monastic doesn’t know the Buddha.”

Student: “Why is the Buddha not as good as Master Josan after the Buddha comes out into this world?”

Master: “Because the monastic recognises the Buddha.”

Commentary:

Worshipping the Buddha is despising oneself.

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When a student comes to a teacher for a teaching, the teacher presents tricky words or acts and plays them before the student. But the student sees through it; immediately he becomes the host because he does not fall into the trap. The teacher then reveals half of himself; the student shouts a Katsu. Or again, the teacher shows all kinds of differentiations to test the student. The student says: “You bald old rascal, you do not know good from bad.” The teacher is pleased and responds: “A true follower of the Way.”

Commentary:

‘The teacher presents tricky words or acts and plays them before the student’ implies that the teacher tests, or checks the student’s practice with words or actions that allure the student to be deluded by illusions. ‘Immediately he becomes the host because he does not fall into the trap’ means that upon seeing what the teacher presents, the student sees through what the teacher signifies by becoming the host who can distinguish guests, illusions from the host, the true-Self and makes a suitable response without falling into the teacher’s trap. ‘The teacher then reveals half of himself’ implies that the teacher reveals the true-Self through very plausible and tempting words, or acts, so as to check whether the student can distinguish the true-Self from illusions. ‘The student shouts a Katsu’ means that the student says, ‘I know what you mean. My Katsu is not different at all from what you are revealing now’. Then, the teacher can give him more intensive tests with a variety of tricky words which are often called koans. The student never fails to make a correct response to every koan presented by the teacher and says, “You bald old rascal, you do not know good from bad”. This means ‘I am never fooled by you, whatever you may say or do. Your trying to deceive me is rather making illusions’. Then, the teacher approves of the student’s enlightenment by praising him.

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A. In the beginning of your meditation as a novice, you can undergo such experience for a while when you are involved in strong concentration. There are people who start laughing, or even singing. These phenomena are the surfacing of your repressed emotions stored in your unconsciousness.

However, if you continue to start crying every time you practise, you are not practising in the right way. I’d like to advise you to refocus on your question, koan when you sense that you are on the point of starting to cry, or to trace back where your crying is from. If you can find the root of your crying, you will be said to have finished your practice.

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One day Zen master Yangshan joined his teacher Guishan in ploughing the rice field. Yangshan said, “Master, this place is low. How can I level it with the higher place?” Guishan said, “Water is level, so why not use water and make the entire field level?” Yangshan said, “Water is not necessary. Master, high places are level as high and low places are level as low.” Guishan approved.

Student: “What did Yangshan mean by ‘high places are level as high and low places are level as low’?”

Master: “He knew how to make long rabbit horns and short ones the same size.”

Commentary:

The rice field flows but the soil never flows.

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Followers of the Way, when from everywhere students come to inquire, host and guest are clearly distinguished. A phrase is uttered to test the teacher he has before him. For example, the student devises a weighty sentence and then facing the corner of the teacher’s mouth, shouts out: “Do you know that or not?” If the teacher recognises it as a trap, he grabs it, throws it into a pit and buries it there.

The student then reverts to normal and asks for the teacher’s instruction. The teacher still doesn’t approve his words, and the student says: “What superior wisdom, what a truly great teacher.” The teacher just says: “You really do not know what is good and bad.”

Commentary:

This part shows how masters treat monastics who come to them for teaching. ‘When from everywhere students come to inquire, host and guest are clearly distinguished’ implies that Rinzai himself clearly knows what the students’ problems are, no matter where they are from and no matter what questions they have.

And he also can distinguish a good teacher from a poor one and a good student from a poor one by seeing them exchange words. For example, when a student raises the question ‘Do you know that or not?’ to a teacher, if the teacher, seeing through the student’s intention, responds with correct words that can be both an answer and a question at the same time, the student, at a loss for a suitable answer, usually says, “Forgive me my rudeness. Please, give me a teaching.” Then, the teacher makes a sarcastic remark about the student’s apologetic words in order to check his practice. The student, conceding once more that he cannot outsmart the teacher, admires him, “What superior wisdom, what a truly great teacher.” The teacher, then, gives him a final teaching by saying, “You really do not know what is good and bad”, which means ‘Why don’t you recognise my teaching while I keep giving you my teaching? You still can’t tell illusions from the true-Self.”

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A. If we rephrase ‘not being judgmental’, it means to see and hear everything without attaching any names to it. As soon as you put a name, an imaginary line, on anything, numerous judgments come along with it from out of thin air. In fact, such judgements are also all imaginary lines since they are created based on names, imaginary lines. For example, upon your naming something a table, countless judgments such as antique, modern, expensive, cheap, wooden, steel, plastic, big, small and so on will follow it. Judgments thrive on names and judgments themselves feed new judgments. In other words, illusions thrive on illusions and they feed each other. That is why ancient masters would say that all the universe is from an illusion.

If you can stop being judgmental, that is, if you can see or hear even a single thing without attaching any name to it, you can realise the ultimate truth named the Buddha or the true-Self in Buddhism and God in Christianity.

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Yangshan asked Commander Lu, “I hear that you achieved enlightenment by reading a sutra? Is this true?”

Lu said, “Yes, Master. When I read the Nirvana Sutra, it said, ‘Without cutting off desire, enter nirvana.’”

Yangshan held up a whisk and said, “How can this enter nirvana?”

Lu said, “There is no need for even the word ‘enter.’”

Yangshan said, “‘Enter’ is not for you.”

Lu stood up and left.

Student: “How is it possible to enter nirvana without cutting off desire?”

Master: “Because there is no desire to cut off.”

Student: “Why is there no need for even the word ‘enter’?”

Master: “Because it is a barrier separating you from nirvana.”

Student: “How can I enter nirvana without ‘enter’?”

Master: “Enter.”

Commentary:

Removing ‘enter’ from your mind is true ‘enter’.

Removing ‘nirvana’ from your mind is true ‘nirvana’.

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The illusions arise from the mind. If there were no mind, where then would the illusions that tie you be? Do not tire yourselves in vain by making up discriminations and attaching yourselves to them, and you will find the Way in no time. If you chase wildly around, trying to get from others through learning, even after three kalpas you will only end up in returning to birth and death. It is not as good as just sitting with your legs crossed on the meditation cushion with nothing further to seek.

Commentary:

When it is said that everything is from the mind, many people are confused into being attached to the illusion of the mind. That is why Master Rinzai said that there is no mind. In ‘everything is from the mind’, the mind implies Emptiness. So, everything from the mind is also empty. Without knowing what reaches your eyes and ears is all Emptiness, attaching names to it according to your perspective and clinging to the names is no other than being deluded by illusions. Seeing everything, your acts of naming things and all names included, just as the functions of Emptiness is finding the Way, the true-Self, which is referred to as enlightenment. In this state of Emptiness there is nothing to acquire by learning and no one to learn or learn from. That is why Rinzai said, “Do not tire yourselves in vain by making up discriminations and attaching yourselves to them, and you will find the Way in no time.” You should remember that the realisation of the true-Self, enlightenment cannot be acquired from others in the way we get knowledge through learning step by step but happens in no time just like awakening from your dream. So, Master Rinzai said, “If you chase wildly around, trying to get from others through learning, even after three kalpas you will only end up in returning to birth and death.”

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