The Three Stooges are not the same.
55. Xuefeng’s three strokes
A monk asked Xuefeng, “’Listeners’ seeing essence is like seeing the moon at night; enlightening beings’ seeing essence is like seeing the sun in daytime’— what is your seeing essence like?” (The three stages are not the same.)
Xuefeng hit him three times. (Cutting nails, shearing iron.)
That monk also asked Yantou; Yantou slapped him three times. (Same road but not the same track.)
Xuedou said, “Giving medicine according to the illness, then he hits three times. (He’s explained logically.)
If he acted according to the imperative, how many blows should be taken?” (Striking, I say just one slap.)
Yuanwu said,
Ordinarily whenever you hear people say there’s no delusion and no enlightenment, this is just a construction, speaking of existence where there is none. Happily there’s no connection. Based on actual perception, there’s not necessarily anything extraordinary about seeing the sun in daytime or seeing the moon at night. Three blows, three slaps—if you call this a beating, what connection is there? Why only hit three times? Xuedou says, “If he acted according to the imperative, how many strokes should be given?” He lets the first move go.
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As u/Temicco pointed out, Cleary's translation is on Amazon. Fun stuff.
Submitted December 29, 2019 at 11:28AM by madewithsticks https://ift.tt/357ZK7w
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