Pointing at the Moon. Alexander Holstein
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discovery.
The most commonly used method, especially from the eighth through the eleventh century, has been the "public case" (kung-an in Chinese, koan in Japanese). This method of questioning and eliciting responses may consist of scolding, beating, or constant preoccupation with strange and objectively untenable mind utterances. The task is to wake up, shock, and sensitize a person's mind so as to stimulate him or her to seek the truth on his or her own. This was the first stage, the "hard way" of educating through enigmatic words, gestures, and acts, to make the disciple of a Ch'an master cultivate himself or herself. Later, the questions and answers were set not so much as stumbling blocks for the intellect but as the means or signs of intuition. They were used by the Ch'an masters in order to test or to verify whether their disciples had achieved realization or not. In the modern sense, this could be seen as a kind of examination. The only difference is that its form and content change according to the individual, the time, and the place. There are no uniform answers. Neither is it passed through thinking or rationalization. That is why it is sometimes very difficult to understand the reasoning of the Ch'an sayings.
This book comprises one hundred brilliant examples of the Ch'an masters' questions and answers from the following four treatises of the Ch'an tradition: A Selection From the Five Books of the Ch'an Masters' Sayings, The Light of the Ch'an Sayings Recorded in the Year of Developing Virtue (A.D. 1004), The Ch'an Sayings Recorded During the Moonlit Meditation, and An Anthology of Ch'an Sayings, through which, we hope, the reader can find his or her Ch'an mind.
Realize the Way Through Everyday Living
"In the place where you come from," replied the master, "there was not a moment when I didn't form your aspirations."
Disagreeing, Lung T'an showed his displeasure. "What do you mean by that?"
"As things are," argued Tao Wu, "when you send me your tea I receive it; when you bring me your rice I take it from you. Now, when you bow to me I return it with a nod. Say, what is wrong? Dare you say that I don't form your aspirations anywhere you are?"
Lung T'an couldn't find an answer. He bowed his head in thought and was silent for a long time.
"Those who realize completely do not have the slightest doubt whether it is true Enlightenment or not," said Tao Wu.
After hearing this, Lung T'an attained instant realization. He asked the master, "From now on, what should I do in order to keep this state of Enlightenment?"
"It costs nothing to do this," said the master, "just follow your self-nature. When you want to be leisurely and carefree, please, go traveling on the Four Seas like a floating cloud. Adapt yourself to the circumstances and don't worry about aftereffects. In the light of everyday living, clear your mind and never analyze your activities in forms of folly and wisdom. That's all."
Commentary: Seeking the Way, one need not do anything supernatural. The simplest method of entering the Way is to realize it through one's daily life, wearing clothes, eating food, standing, and walking. Hence, one shouldn't be afraid of mortal troubles, because it is said that the Way is not to be found outside the mundane world. The beginning of the Diamond Sutra describes how Buddha put on his robe, carried his bowl, and went on his alms rounds. "He went to the large cities begging for food. Then he came back to his place and ate. Then he put away his robe and bowl and washed his body. If there was shelter for the night he went there to sleep...." This depicts no difference between the ascetic life and the lives of ordinary people. However, the state of mind of an ordinary being is markedly different from the state of mind of an Enlightened being in the pursuit of everyday life. The question for those who are seeking the Way is not "Who are you?" but "How are you to realize this in daily life?"
Actually, people do not need to isolate themselves from the community in order to practice the Way. As it is said in the classic Chung Yung, "The Way is not something that alienates people. The idea of alienation is due to those who isolate themselves from the community for the sake of so-called entering the Path, while in effect getting further and further away from the Truth."
Buddhahood Is Our True Mind
The external facade is like a high temple;
In whose interior, even a small statue of Buddha is completely absent.
Hearing this, Wu Yeh knelt before the master and said, "I searched the Three Vehicles of Buddhism and successfully came to an understanding on my own. But as for the Ch'an principle Buddhahood is our True Mind, this is something that I cannot understand through the mind."
"Listen," said the master, "I want you to realize that only such a mind, through which one cannot understand, is the very Buddha-mind you talk about and nothing else."
On this occasion, Wu Yeh didn't see the point. He was a bit dumbfounded and couldn't find anything to say. At last, summoning up his will, he asked, "What is the meaning of the patriarch coming from the west?"
Ma Tsu merely stared at him. Then he exclaimed, "Oh, my dear successor! Enough of this folly! Go away and then come back again!"
At the moment Wu Yeh intended to leave the master, a sudden cry was heard, "Oh, successor!"
Wu Yeh turned his head to look back, while the master exclaimed "What?!"
Realizing the Truth of this, Wu Yeh knelt respectfully before the master, expressing his thanks.
Commentary: The True Mind is not the one that discriminates between or reasons about the myriad things around us. The True Mind transcends all tangible existence, yet manifests itself in all existence. Even the most ordinary things are full of the subtleties of Buddhahood. A simple cry of "What?!" made Wu Yeh realize spontaneously that one cannot find Buddhahood that is everywhere, outside of one's mind. It was his True Mind which answered the master's "What?!" instantly. Thus, Wu Yeh entered the True Mind.
The Ch'an Masters' Mission
"On receiving the patriarch's teachings I had nothing I didn't have before," was the reply.
"Suppose it was so," assented the master, "in such a case, why did you ask Ts'ao Hsi for his teachings?"
"If I didn't do that," the reply came, "then how could I be sure I had nothing I didn't have before being taught by the patriarch?"
Commentary: Here we see the essence of the Ch'an masters' mission. They force their disciples to focus their thinking or consciousness, and then demand that they find their way out. In such a situation, if one can break through the barrier of one's mind, one can see the nature of the self and attain the unfathomable and all-pervading Buddhahood. The virtuous masters of olden times used to say, "A virile person has the determination to break through the sky and will not follow the way of the Buddha." This kind of pioneer spirit is the basis of Ch'an teaching. Not to be dragged around by others; to