Zen 108

ZEN 108

The Queries of Ch’an Masters

Published by Alexander Goldstein

Copyright 2019 Alexander Goldstein

All rights reserved

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CONTENTS

PREFACE

PART 1. THE CH’AN SAYINGS RECORDED DURING THE MOONLIT MEDITATION

THE MOVING MIND

A WITHERED TREE, A SPLENDID TREE

THE CH'AN MASTERS' MISSION

GIVE UP TWO DISTINCT HALVES

THE ONE AND ONLY GATEWAY THROUGH

THE MOST OPEN SECRET

DRINK THE RIVER HSICHIANG IN ONE DRAFT

WORSHIP OF BUDDHA

THE UNIT OF MOTION AND MOTIONLESSNESS

FINAL REALIZATION

THE MAGICAL EFFECT OF DOING NOTHING

BUDDHAHOOD IS OUR TRUE MIND

REALIZE THE WAY THROUGH EVERYDAY LIVING

JUST THIS IS

FIRE FIGHTING

THE SHOW OF A NOVICE IN CHARGE

DOGS DO NOT HAVE THE BUDDHA NATURE

A HERO OF WAR

STILL, HAVE THIS IN MIND

WINE AND MEAT

DEAD CAT TREASURE

JUST FALL AND BREAK

ONE MEANS CH'AN

THE GOLDEN GIANT-FISH

THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE

MALE AND FEMALE

USE THE PRIMAL WISDOM OF THE SELF WITHOUT SENSUAL EXPERIENCE OF THE MIND

A MATCH

DRIVE A CART INSTEAD OF ITS OXEN

HOW THINGS ATTAIN ENLIGHTENMENT

GETTING WATER FROM A JUG

YOU DON'T HAVE A STITCH ON?

BUDDHAHOOD IS UNDER THE SUN, BUDDHAHOOD IS UNDER THE MOON

THE QUICK AND THE DEAD

POINTING AT THE MOON

CH'AN MASTER BY THE NAME OF OLD BUDDHA

A HEAVY BURDEN

THIS IS STILL WITH YOU

BECOME BIGGER FROM WITHIN ONE'S OWN OCEAN

EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY

RENOUNCE THE WORLD FOR THE SAKE OF THE WORLD

THE TEA TREE

WHAT WAS YOUR ORIGINAL FACE BEFORE BEING GIVEN BIRTH BY YOUR PARENTS?

THE USEFULNESS OF MYSTERY

THE SLIPPERY PATH TO CH'AN MASTER SHIH T'OU

NEITHER COMING OUT NOR COMING IN

WHAT START FROM BECOMING ENLIGHTENED?

CRY OUT ONE'S SELFISHNESS

THE WILD DUCK OF CH'AN MASTER PAI CHANG

POKE A FIRE

CROSSING THE OCEAN OF LIFE AS A DURABLE SHIP

DO NOT IGNORE THE CAUSALITY OF KARMA

LET US CHANGE INTO SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN THE HUMAN BEING

MOONLIGHT IN THE WATER

HOW A MOSQUITO BIT THE IRON BUFFALO

THE BUFFALO

WHAT'S CALLED WISDOM? WHAT'S CALLED FOLLY?

EVERYTHING IS PREDETERMINED

A MUTE AND HONEY

HANDING DOWN THE PATRIARCH'S ROBE AND BOWL

A CHOICE

CAPSIZE

THE PORTRAIT

WHO IS IN THE WELL?

PART 2. A SELECTION FROM THE FIVE BOOKS OF THE CH’AN MASTERS SAYINGS

MY MIND IS NOT PACIFIED

THE PANCAKE STORY

TALKING THINGS

LATER GENERATIONS: WHO ARE THEY?

THE TRUE WAY IS THE IMPARTIAL MIND

BETWEEN YES AND NO

THERE ARE NO CLOUDS ON THE HIGHEST PEAK, THERE IS MOONLIGHT IN THE WAVES OF MIND

THE BUDDHA NATURE IS EVERYWHERE

THE PLUM IS RIPE

A MUSTARD SEED AND SUMERU PEAK

CLEAN THE ALMS BOWL OUT!

OUT OF ANY GRADE

USE WITHOUT USEFULNESS (USE WITHOUT USING)

THE DOG OF TZUHU MOUNTAIN

SEEKING THE TRUTH

LIGHTNESS AND DARKNESS

THE WORM OF TAHSIUNG MOUNTAIN

CLOUDS ARE IN THE BLUE SKY, WATER IS IN THE JUG

INTERDICTION OF REASONING

THROUGHOUT EMPTINESS

CUTTING THE CAT

LET'S DRINK TEA!

BECOMING A BUFFALO

HOLINESS AND VOID

PART 3. THE LIGHT OF CH’AN SAYINGS RECORDED IN THE YEAR OF DEVELOPING VIRTUE (1004 AD)

THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS

A MIND WHICH CAN CHANGE REALITY IS BUDDHA’S MIND

THE HERMIT'S LIFE

THE REALM OF BUDDHAHOOD

WHENCE COMES RICE?

THE THREE REALMS

WHAT'S THE USE OF THE HANDLE?

THE MAGICAL TREASURE OF THE SELF-NATURE

THE BOUNDLESSNESS OF CH'AN

AN INTERPRETER OF THE BUDDHIST SUTRAS

PART 4. THE ANTHOLOGY OF CH’AN SAYINGS

DON'T THINK GOOD, DON'T THINK EVIL

THE RAT'S SERMON

IT'S JUST LIKE THIS

CURE A DISEASE

A PURE LAND

TAKE MY NAME OFF THE WORLD

CUT TWO PIECES IN THREE

WHERE WILL THE ONE GO TO?

TWO WORDS A DECADE ONLY

HAPPY WISHES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ENDNOTE

PREFACE

Better known to the West by the Japanese pronunciation Zen, this doctrine, in fact, stems directly from Chinese sources when the monks in many from Japan pilgrimaged to the Mainland China for learning Chinese (Ch'an) Buddhism. Till today people want to know what Ch'an actually is, and is there any difference between the Japanese conception of Zen and the Chinese Ch'an. The problem is that it is not an easy task to describe Ch'an at all. It is something that cannot be talked about nor expressed in written words. The moment language is used, we are no longer dealing with the true spirit of Ch'an. Ch'an is beyond all words.

However, Ch'an cannot be left unexpressed. To introduce the reader to the world of Ch'an, there is no an alternative but to resort to the use of language. For this reason, there are so many books written on Ch'an (Zen). So, what is Ch'an? It is the abbreviated form of the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit term dhyana translated as quiet contemplation. However, Ch'an is something bigger than merely exercising of dhyana (meditation). As stated above, it is rather difficult to describe what Ch'an is through the medium of words. Some people say that Ch'an is a mysterious experience, the realm of mystery, or simply mysticism. Actually, if Ch'an is a mysterious experience, it means that it is the direct realization of the fundamental nature of the self. If it is the realm of mystery, Ch'an is the substance of the pure emptiness. If it is mysticism, Ch'an is the cornerstone of all doctrines and teachings, the source of all ideas. To define what Ch'an is in this way is admissible on paper, but it is absolutely inadequate as a means of transmitting the truth. In fact, Ch'an is neither an experience nor the realm, less still the ‘-ism.’ Ch'an is only Ch'an, neither more nor less.

Realizing the real essence of Ch'an, one can attain it as the enlightened mind of Buddhahood. It means the extensive realization of Lord Buddha Sakyamuni, of sound thought and pure feeling, who, at thirty-five years of age, sitting quietly under a Pothi tree, realized that the way to release oneself from the chain of rebirth and death lay not in asceticism but in moral purity.

Most people think that Ch'an is something subtle and mysterious, that it is so profound that it cannot be measured and is too high to be reached. These are the feelings of those who observe Ch'an from outside. But Ch'an is everywhere. It is something that can be found within every one of us. As a religious practice, most certainly, Ch'an is something absolutely personal, wherein, for the development of one's own individual consciousness, one is led towards universality.

The first essential condition for universality is to organize oneself, summoning up one's full energy and free will. That's why a practitioner of Ch'an, in every waking moment, has to correct his own experience, making it bright and free from impurities. Otherwise, the dangerous tendency to take an extra-subjective viewpoint can be developed. The only way to prevent this is to use the method of self-examination to see regularly the real nature of the self. On the other hand, it is not possible to reach enlightenment through intellectual efforts alone. Since it is something that has no face, no world, language does not extend to explaining it in detail, so, people have no way to transmit or interpret it. Full realization (enlightenment, awakening, illumination) and its testimony can be grasped only intuitively. The Ch'an masters understood wisdom not as rational knowledge but mainly as intuition. For this wisdom, it is essential to reach a point of absence of thought. The bodily mind should free itself from the influence of the external world, bring itself into sharp focus and be alert to intuit the truth everywhere, instantly. To this end, unique methods have been devised to throw off intellectual work and imagination and allow the pure mind to make its own discovery.

The most commonly used method, especially from the eighth through the eleventh century, has been the public case (公案; kung-an in Chinese, ‘koan’ in Japanese). This method of questions and answers 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 questioner's mind to stimulate him to seek the truth on his own. This was the first stage, the hard way of educating by enigmatic words, gestures, and acts, to make a disciple of a Ch'an master cultivate himself. 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 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. It does not have any straight answer. Neither is it passed through thinking or rationalization.

The kung-an was initially a device for administering a Confucian state and considered as 'a legitimate case,' which was used in the proper administration of the country. An official – probably a magistrate or similar – would transparently administer matters of state, so that justice could be clearly seen to have been done amongst the people. This justice was, in fact, the presentation (and correct interpretation) of the law of the land, which was nothing less than the expressed thoughts of the emperor himself. If the divine law were applied correctly by the officials, then peace, tranquility, and wisdom would exist in the land. However, if this divine law were not used successfully, then chaos and social disintegration would befall the country. Transparently applying the emperor's ruling was a significant undertaking that had associated with it, much danger and risk. This is why an