Excerpts from the Blue Cliff Record, Case 22

Hsueh Feng taught the assembly saying:

"On South Mountain there's a turtle-nosed snake."

^{If you see something strange as not strange, it's strangeness disappears by itself. What a strange thing! Unavoidably it causes people to doubt.}

"All of you people must take a good look."

^{Aha! A case of over-indulgence.}

Chang Ching said:

"In the hall today there certainly are people who are losing their bodies and their lives."

^{The man from Pu Chou escorts the thief. He judges others on the basis of himself.}

A monk related this to Hsuan Sha.

^{There's no different dirt from the same hole. When the manservant sees the maidservant he takes care. Those with the same disease sympathize with each other.}

Hsuan Sha said:

"It takes Elder Brother Leng (Chang Ching) to be like this. Nevertheless, I am not this way."

^{He doesn't avoid forming a wild fox spirit view. What news is this? His poison breath afflicts others.}

The monk asked:

"What about you, teacher?"

^{He too presses the old fellow well.}

Hsuan Sha said:

"Why make use of 'South Mountain'?"

^{On a boat fishing, the third son of the Hsiehs. Only this wild fox spirit has attained a little. He's lost his body and his life and doesn't even realize it.}

Yun Men took his staff and threw it down in front of Hsueh Feng, making a gesture of fright.

^{Why be afraid of it? One son has intimately attained, All of them are giving play to their spirits. All of you try to discern this.}

"On South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake; all of you people should watch it carefully." At just such a time, how would you reply? Without following in your former tracks, try to say something for me to see. When you get here, you must understand the phrase outside of patterns; then, when all the public cases are brought up, you will immediately know where they come down.

See how Hsueh Feng teaches the assembly this way, without speaking to you of practice or understanding. Can you figure him out by means of intellectual discrimination?

Yun Men took his staff and threw it down in front of Hsueh Feng, making a gesture of fright. Thus Yun Men used his staff as the turtle-nosed snake. Once, though, he said, "The staff changed into a dragon and has swallowed the universe; where are mountains, rivers, and the great earth to be found?"

Just this one staff -- sometimes it's a dragon, sometimes it's a snake. Why is it like this? Only when you get here will you know the ancient saying, "Mind revolves along with myriad phenomena; the turning point is truly mysterious."

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The famous turtle-nosed snake of Xuefeng! Here in all it's glory! Faced with this snake, how do you respond? Careful! It's already bitten many!

Submitted December 15, 2019 at 11:59PM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/2PnDgLd