Blue Cliff Record (Fourth Case)

Translated by Thomas and J.C. Cleary:

When Te Shan arrived at Kuei Shan, he carried his bundle with him into the teaching hall, where he crossed from east to west and from west to east. He looked around and said, “There’s nothing, no one.” Then he went out.

Hsueh Tou added the comment, “Completely exposed.”

But when Te Shan got to the monastery gate, he said, “Still, I shouldn’t be so coarse.” So he reentered (the hall) with full ceremony to meet (Kuei Shan). As Kuei Shan sat there, Te Shan held up his sitting mat and said, “Teacher!” Kuei Shan reached for his whisk, whereupon Te Shan shouted, shook out his sleeves, and left.

Hsueh Tou added the comment, “Completely exposed.”

Te Shan turned his back on the teaching hall, put on his straw sandals, and departed. That evening Kuei Shan asked the head monk, “Where is that newcomer who just came?” The head monk answered, “At that time he turned his back on the teaching hall, put on his straw sandals, and departed.”

Kuei Shan said, “Hereafter that lad will go to the summit of a solitary peak, build himself a grass hut, and go on scolding the Buddhas and reviling Patriarchs.”

Hsueh Tou added the comment, “He adds frost to snow.”

kphoover commentary: Some in the forum are coarse like Te Shan. Some in the forum brandish a whisk like Kuei Shan. Who is Hsueh Tou?

Submitted March 08, 2018 at 11:05PM by kphoover http://ift.tt/2tshi0L