Te-shan had only a few disciples, of whom two stood out: Yen-t'ou Ch'üan-huo (828-887) and Hsüeh-feng I-ts'un (822-908). In spiritual gifts, Yen-t'ou was superior to Hsüeh-feng. Yen-t'ou's mind was sharp as a razor. He never deferred to anyone, not even Te-shan and T'ung-shan. One day, as he came to see Te-shan, no sooner had he stepped into the door than he asked, “Is it holy or profane?” As Te-shan shouted, Yen-t'ou did obeisance. Later, when someone related the incident to T'ung-shan, the latter remarked, “Anyone else than Yen-t'ou would have found it hard to respond so well.” When Yen-t'ou heard of this compliment, he said, “The old man of T'ung-shan is very insensible to have passed such an erroneous judgment. He does not know that on that particular occasion, in acting the way I did, I was uplifting him (Te-shan) by one hand while pinching him by the other hand.”
In asking, “Is it holy or profane?” Yen-t'ou was, of course, referring to that state in which there is no more distinction between the holy and profane. In shouting at the question, Teshan made him understand that he saw eye-to-eye with him. In doing obeisance, he was on the one hand showing his delight at the master's reaction, but on the other hand he was testing how he would react. But poor Te-shan sat like an idol and accepted unsuspectingly a homage which was meant for the merely “holy”!
A comment: It's good to be surpassed. It's good to be an aid to a fellow seeker.
Submitted January 17, 2019 at 01:24AM by whatnowis http://bit.ly/2RxL6ot
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