Pointing at the Moon. Alexander Holstein
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all teachings. It is the essence of attaining the nature of the self. Through his pinch, Chao Chou prompted the nun to realize the fact that the innermost mystery for her was her own nature, her body, her self. In saying, "Do you still have this in your mind?" she proved her blunder of dividing people into male and female, as well as all other things into two distinct halves. One who had achieved complete realization couldn't have any opposing concept of duality in his or her mind. Thus, the Enlightened mind doesn't discriminate between male and female. Chao Chou proved the impossibility of attaining the innermost mystery while retaining the opposite halves of duality in the mind. The Ch'an masters of olden times were fond of saying, "A pure mind will produce a pure land."
Those who seek from within attain realization of "the innermost mystery of all mysteries" instantaneously.
Dogs Do Not Have the Buddha Nature
"No," was the reply.
"Even the smallest of insects have minds, so they have the potential to become Buddhas. So why don't dogs have this?"
"Because of'learning,'" replied the master.
Later, someone else asked Chao Chou the same question, "Do dogs have the Buddha nature?"
"Yes," he answered.
"But why did the dog bite through the skin-bag?"
"Because it had realized its potential for becoming Buddha, and therefore went against what was prohibited."
Commentary: Chao Chou answered the same question in two different ways. From the world's point of view this was rather contradictory. However, to the Ch'an master, this was a lively way of teaching. In the Ch'an tradition, the first thing a practitioner needs to do is to rouse his doubts. If he has no doubts, he will never attain realization. When answering a question, the Ch'an masters usually have to determine the intention and the state of mind of the person who asked the question before giving the appropriate answer. When Chao Chou replied "no," he was alluding to the fact that dogs did not attain the Four Morals (pure morality). The answer "yes" meant that dogs, like all other beings, had the potential to become Buddha, but because of their purposeful learning, pure morality would never appear. This is why the master said "no" the first time. On the other hand, although the dog had realized its potential to become Buddha, it went against prohibition, causing evil. This was probably the reason it was reduced to the form of a dog again and again. It seems that the first answer, "no," merely meant that the master disagreed, and replied negatively. However, this "no," according to Ch'an thinking, is one with the ax that breaks down all muddled thoughts.
Just Fall and Break
One day, the hermit brought a crowd of monks from different places with him to visit his abode. Entering the chapel, he started to beat on the stove with a big club, saying "This is only a tile-making stove! What kind of spirits could dwell in it? How could it be so that the vigor of all sacrifices settles down in it?"
This beating was repeated three times in all. Then the stove fell over and broke into pieces. In its place, a being in a formal blue robe appeared before the monks, bowing to them respectfully.
"Who are you?" asked the hermit.
"I am the spirit of the stove," was the answer. "For a long time I was rewarded with many sacrifices. Today, owing to the venerable master's words, I've left my former shape for entering Heaven's path. I am kneeling before you, O Master, to express my thanks and pay my respects to you."
"I deserve no credit at all," protested P'o Tsao To, "this is your original nature, see."
In reply, the spirit bowed thrice and then vanished from sight.
After seeing this, the others began talking all at once. "A long time ago," they said, "we became monks but never received your instructions, Master. Tell us, what secret did you tell the stove's spirit, upon realizing which he rose straight to heaven?"
"You know, I only said that the stove was made of tiles. What else could I add to this, brothers?"
The crowd had nothing to say to that. Then the hermit asked again, "Do you not realize?"
"No, we don't."
"That was its own primal nature," he said, "was it so difficult to see that?"
All the monks became Enlightened upon hearing this. One after another they started to express their thanks to the hermit, while he was exclaiming, "Just fall and break! Just simply fall and break!"
Commentary: The stove's spirit had depended on and enjoyed the sacrifices it accepted over the many years through the stove as its "body." At last, thanks to the hermit, it was given a chance to realize on its own the common nature of spirit and stove body. The stove was made of tiles, after all. Bones and flesh also consist of numerous elements. In Buddhism, they consist of the four main elements: earth, water, wind, and fire. At this point, the stove's form is the same as any creature's, materially. The spirit of all creatures bases itself on bones, flesh, and spine. In this way, one can see the strict connection between the stove and its spirit; they are the same.
The hermit led the monks through their contemplation of this. His task was to destroy the relative boundaries of "body" and "spirit," "I" and "other things" in their minds. Through the crumbling stove, the master made them rise to the realm of Emptiness and see the empty nature of being. He was happy to see the monks had attained realization at last, so his exclaimation "Just fall and break!" meant "No shape, no spirit!" There was absolutely nothing, in full accordance with the Ch'an principle, which said, "The Four Great Realms consist of nothing; the Five Boundless Spheres contain only Emptiness."
How a Mosquito Bit the Iron Buffalo
"The positive is not correct, and the negative is not correct. The unity of the positive and the negative is not correct, either. What is to be done?" asked the master, instead of replying.
Yao Shan could not find an answer for a long time. Then Shi T'ou said, "Your cause is not here. You'd better go to Master Ma Tsu and look for it there."
Following this advice, Yao Shan paid a visit to Ma Tsu. When asked the same question, Ma Tsu replied, "Sometimes, I ask this to raise its eyebrows and blink its eyes; sometimes, I don't ask this to raise its eyebrows and blink its eyes. From time to time, it is this itself that raises its eyebrows and blinks its eyes; but sometimes it is not this that does it. So, how are you going to realize what this is?"
After hearing this, Yao Shan became Enlightened. He knelt respectfully before the master, expressing his thanks to him.
"Why do you pay me so much respect?" wondered Ma Tsu.
"Because