In these texts Linji is referred to as “the Master.”
59
When the Master arrived at San-feng, Reverend P’ing1 asked “Where have you come from?”
“From Huang-po,” the Master said.
P’ing said, “What kind of words and phrases did Huang-po have for you?”
The Master said, “The golden ox last night fell into the furnace. Since then no one’s seen a trace of it.”
P’ing said, “In the golden wind of autumn he blows a jade flute. But who is it that understands the tune?”
The Master said, “He passed right through the ten-thousandfold barrier, doesn’t even linger in the pure heights of heaven.”
P’ing said, “Your query is far too lofty!”
The Master said, “A dragon gave birth to a golden phoenix that smashed through the turquoise of the sky.”
P’ing said “Sit down a while and drink your tea.”
Later he asked, “Where else have you been recently?”
The Master said, “Lung-kuang.”
P’ing said, “How is Lung-kuang these days?”
The Master got up and left.2
UhExist: We met Lung-kuang in the previous post.
Notes
Nothing is known of Reverend P’ing of Mount San-feng.
As an example of how the cryptic utterances of these exchanges are interpreted, I give here the explanation of this passage found in Akizuki’s notes, which is based on traditional Japanese interpretations of the text. There is no guarantee that this is what Lin-chi and Reverend P’ing intended by their remarks, but it is at least a possible and indeed plausible interpretation of the exchange.
P’ing said “What kind of words and phrases did Huang-po have for you?”
The Master said “The golden ox last night fell into the furnace. Since then no one’s seen a trace of it.
(“Huang-po taught me the highest level of level of truth where all dualisms disappear.”)
P’ing said, “In the golden wind of autumn he blows a Jade flute. But who is it that understands the tune?”
(“Huang-po’s teachings are indeed lofty. But call you really understand them?”)
The Master said, “He passed right through the ten-thousandfold barrier, doesn’t even linger in the pure heights of heaven.”
(“I have not only understood them, but I have gone beyond them!”)
P’ing said, “Your query is far too lofty!”
(“You are getting out of hand!”)
The Master said, “A dragon gave birth to a golden phoenix that smashed through the turquoise of the sky.”
(“The dragon, Huang-po, has produced a phoenix, Lin-chi, who reaches the highest level.”)
P’ing said, “Sit down a while and drink your tea.”
(P’ing gives up the battle.)
Submitted November 12, 2019 at 11:08PM by UhExist https://ift.tt/33NjTjK
No comments:
Post a Comment