Monday, 20 May 2019

Zen cases: Asking a question so well that when a zen master replies, the questioner enlightens themselves on the spot.

Examples are abundant:

GG Case 2 Hyakujõ's Fox, an old man is enlightened.

GG Case 3 Gutei Raises a Finger, a boy is enlightened.

GG Case 28 Ryûtan Blows Out the Candle, Tozan is enlightened.

GG Case 32 A Non-Buddhist Philosopher Questions the Buddha, a philosopher is enlightened.

GG Case 23 Think Neither Good Nor Evil, Myo is enlightened.

BCR Case 4 Te Shan Carrying His Bundle, Te Shan is enlightened.

As soon as Te Shan crossed the threshold he said, “Long have I heard of Lung T’an (‘Dragon Pond’), but now that I’ve arrived here, there’s no pond to see and no dragon appears.” Master Lung T’an came out from behind a screen and said, “You have really arrived at Lung T’an.” Te Shan bowed and withdrew. During the night Te Shan entered Lung T’an’s room and stood in attendance till late at night. Lung T’an said, “Why don’t you go?” Te Shan bade farewell, lifted up the curtain, and went out; he saw that it was dark outside, so he turned around and said, “It’s dark outside.” Lung T’an lit a paper lantern and handed it to Te Shan; as soon as Te Shan took it, Lung T’an blew it out. Te Shan was vastly and greatly enlightened. Immediately he bowed to Lung T’an, who said, “What have you seen that you bow?” Te Shan answered, “From now on I will never again doubt what’s on the tongues of the venerable teaching masters of the world.”

BCR Case 5 Hsueh Feng’s Grain of Rice, Hsueh Feng is enlightened.

As soon as he got there, Hsueh Feng asked, “Does this student have any share in this matter handed down from antiquity as the fundamental vehicle?” Te Shan struck him a blow and said, “What are you saying?” Because of this, Hsueh Feng had an insight. Later Hsueh Feng was snowed in on Tortoise Mountain (in Hunan). He told Yen T’ou, “When Te Shan hit me, it was like the bottom falling out of a bucket.” Yen T’ou shouted and said, “Haven’t you heard it said that what comes in through the gate isn’t the family treasure? You must let it flow out from your own breast to cover heaven and earth; then you’ll have some small portion of realization.” Suddenly Hsueh Feng was greatly enlightened; he bowed and said to Yen T’ou, “Elder brother, today on Tortoise Mountain I have finally attained the Path.”

BCR Case 6 Yun Men’s Every Day Is a Good Day, Yun Men is enlightened

When Yun Men went to see Mu Chou, on the third time, as soon as he knocked on the door, Mu Chou said, “Who’s there?” Yun Men answered, “( Me,) Wen Yen.” a As soon as (Mu Chou) opened the door a little, (Yun Men) immediately bounded in; Mu Chou held him fast and said, “Speak! Speak!” Yun Men hesitated, and was pushed out; he still had one foot inside when Mu Chou slammed the door, breaking Yun Men’s leg. As Yun Men cried out in pain, he was suddenly greatly enlightened. Subsequently, the trend of his words in dealing with people, his whole style, emerged from Mu Chou. After this, Yun Men stayed for three years in the home of the ministry president Ch’en Ts’ao.

BCR Case 7 Hui Ch’ao Asks about Buddha, Tse is enlightened

It’s like Superintendent Tse: he had been staying in Fa Yen’s congregation, but had never asked to enter (Fa Yen’s) room (for special instruction). One day Fa Yen asked him, “Why haven’t you come to enter my room?” Tse replied, “Didn’t you know, Teacher, when I was at Ch’ing Lin’s place, I had an entry.” Fa Yen said, “Try to recall it for me.” Tse said, “I asked, ‘What is Buddha?’ Lin said, ‘The Fire God comes looking for fire.’” Fa Yen said, “Good words, but I’m afraid you misunderstood. Can you say something more for me?” Tse said, “The Fire God is in the province of fire; he is seeking fire with fire. Likewise, I am Buddha, yet I went on searching for Buddha.” Fa Yen said, “Sure enough, the Superintendent has misunderstood.” Containing his anger, Tse left the monastery and went off across the river. Fa Yen said, “This man can be saved if he comes back; if he doesn’t return, he can’t be saved.” Out on the road, Tse thought to himself, “He is the teacher of five hundred people; how could he deceive me?” So he turned back and again called on Fa Yen, who told him, “Just ask me and I’ll answer you.” Thereupon Tse asked, “What is Buddha?” Fa Yen said, “The Fire God comes looking for fire.” At these words Tse was greatly enlightened.

BCR Case 11 Huang Po’s Gobblers of Dregs, Chi is enlightened

When Chi came to take leave, Po said, “You don’t need to go anyplace else; just go to the riverbank at Ta An and see Ta Yu.” When Chi got to Ta Yu, he related the preceding story and said, “I do not know where my fault was.” Ta Yu said, “Huang Po was so kind, he exerted himself to the utmost for you; why do you go on speaking of fault or no fault?” Chi was suddenly greatly enlightened: he said, “There’s not much to Huang Po’s Buddha Dharma.” Ta Yu grabbed and held him and said, “You just said you were at fault; now instead you say there’s not much to the Buddha Dharma.” Chi hit Ta Yu in the side three times with his fist; Yu pushed him away and said, “Your teacher is Huang Po; it has nothing to do with me.”

BCR Case 18 National Teacher Chung’s Seamless Monument, Yang Shan is enlightened.

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.”

TIL that Gateless Gate abbreviates to GG.

gl hf!



Submitted May 20, 2019 at 09:05PM by chadpills http://bit.ly/2WhWlTn

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