From Zen and Zen Classics Vol 1 by R H Blyth, pg. 86:
One day while Gensha was thinking, he heard the voice of a swallow, and said, "How well it has explained the Buddhist Truth, speaking profoundly of the Real Nature of Things!" and came down from his seat. Afterwards a monk, wishing to get some profit from his words, said to Gensha, "I didn't understand what you meant." Gensha retorted, "Be off with you! How can anyone trust you!"
Blyth's commentary: I have been asked many questions in my life about poetry, religion, life, and I have given precisely the same number of answers, but I have never, I repeat, never, satisfied a single interlocutor. Why was this? Because all questioning is a way of avoiding the real answer, which, as Zen tells us, is really known already. Every man is enlightened, but wishes he wasn't. Every man knows he must love his enemies, and sell all he has and give to the poor, but he doesn't wish to know it, - so he asks questions. Gensha's reply to the questioner is too kind; he should just say, "Liar!"
Makolini's commentary:
The monk was unknowingly lying, in his desire to seek deeper meaning, he questions Gensha, obscuring his own nature with seeking "profit", as if there is an intellectual answer to constantly uncover. “Be off with you!” retorts Gensha, an act of compassion.
I found this interesting. I take it that when our clarity is obscured, we are knowingly or unknowingly lying to ourselves and others through questioning and seeking, and don’t want to face the simple truth of what is. I have found myself seeking profit from texts, words, and other people, but what profit is there to be gained from hearing the voice of a swallow?
After reading this I closed the page and continued my park walk, enjoyed the sunshine with a new found smile on my face...
Submitted September 30, 2019 at 11:15AM by Makolini https://ift.tt/2mWzOvL
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