Yang Shan came to see Tan Yuan. Tan Yuan's words were severe, his nature harsh and unapproachable. It was impossible to stay there, so at first Yang Shan went and saw the Ch'an master Hsing K'ung. There was a monk who asked Hsing K'ung, "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" Hsing K'ung said, "It's as if a man were down in a thousand foot deep well; if you could get this man out without using even an inch of rope, then I would tell you the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West." The monk said, "These days Master Ch'ang of Hunan is talking this way and that for people too." Hsing K'ung then called to Yang Shan, "Novice, drag this corpse out of here!" Later Yang Shan took this up with Tan Yuan and asked, "How can you get the man out of the well?" Tan Yuan said, "Bah! Ignoramus! Who is in the well?" Yang Shan didn't understand. Later he asked Kuei Shan. Kuei Shan immediately called out (Yang Shan's name) "Hui Chi!" When Yang Shan responded, Kuei Shan said, "He's out." At this Yang Shan was greatly enlightened. He said, "At Tan Yuan's I attained the essence; at Kuei Shan's I attained the function."
Why does Tan Yuan call Yang Shan an ignoramus for wondering how to get the man out of the well? After all, who was in the well?
Kuei Shan's saying "he's out" implies that it was Yang Shan who was in the well... what does the well symbolize and what did Yang Shan do to end up in there? And finally, what brought him out?
I think this case is largely about snapping out of fantasyland, what do you guys think?
Submitted May 09, 2019 at 07:49AM by TFnarcon9 http://bit.ly/2VpvfKs
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