#27 from Green's The Sayings of Layman P'ang:
When the Layman arrived at Zen Master Ch'ang-tzu's place, the monks were assembling for a discourse as he entered the temple grounds.
The Layman stood outside as the monks approached the lecture hall and said, "Each of you would do well to speak from your own experience."
As Ch'ang-tzu addressed the assembly, the Layman stood to the right side of the dias.
When the discourse was finished, a monk asked, "Could the Master please speak without violating his true self?"
Ch'ang-tzu said, "Are you acquainted with Mr. P'ang?"
The monk said, "I am not acquainted with him."
Thereupon, the Layman grabbed the monk by the lapels and said, "Is it that hard [to be acquainted with me]? Is it that hard?"
The monk could not reply, and the Layman let go of him.
Later, Ch'ang-tzu asked the Layman, "Would it be worthwhile taking the stick to that monk?"
The Layman said, "What have you been waiting for?"
Ch'ang-tzu said, "The Layman only knows how to work with an awl; he doesn't know how to work with a chisel."
The Layman said, "Then you wouldn't say something meaningful to a person if someone else overhearing it couldn't understand it?"
Ch'ang-tzu said, "Why wouldn't someone else understand it?"
The Layman said, "The Master only knows how to work with a chisel; he doesn't know how to work with an awl."
sje's comment:
This is one of my favourite stories. I've probably posted it before, but I thought we haven't seen much P'ang for a while and this one, literally, captures something fundamental in more ways than one.
When the monk says, "I am not acquainted", why do you think P'ang reacts the way he does? He says, "Is it so hard?" Always so immediate! He's presuming that the monk is being prevented by some perceived difficulty. A fear. In everyday life there is fear everywhere. Normally people cling to it. There is fear of failure, fear of being disliked, fear of appearing fearful...and fear of death. These fears are instilled by evolution and society - to lose the fear would be to lose our mind and become 'crazy' in the eyes of our friends and families. Or would it? P'ang and Ch'ang-tsu on the other hand are different. At another time one of P'ang's acquaintances says, "This craziness is of our own creation, but ultimately who can get the point?"
Why do you think P'ang and Ch'ang-tzu so readily agree that the monk is worth teaching?
The way these insightful folks converse gives me chills. Never settling on one side, but always bringing up the other. Never denying what another person sees or accepting another's vision for their own. Never violating their own true selves and always respecting each other's.
"Then you wouldn't say something meaningful to a person if someone else overhearing it couldn't understand it?"
An awl is used to suddenly punch through, while a chisel is used to slowly reshape. The Layman intimates that the sudden thrust of the awl is tailored to the target. No two enlightenment stories are the same. What would yours look like? Why wouldn't someone else understand it?
P.S. I saw something called a 'pointed chisel' at the hardware shop a few days ago. That's hardcore!
Submitted November 06, 2019 at 02:55PM by sje397 https://ift.tt/34EIbMN
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