Joshu's Hermits (Gateless Barrier 11)

From Blythe's translation:

Joshu’s Hermits:
Joshu went to a hermit’s and said, “Anything here? Anything here?” The hermit lifted up his fist. Joshu said, “The water is too shallow to anchor here,” and went away. He went to another hermit’s, and said “Anything here? Anything here?” The hermit lifted up his fist. Joshu said, “Freely you give, freely you take away. Freely you bestow life, freely you destroy,” and made a profound bow.

The Commentary:
Both stuck up their fist; why is one accepted, and the other rejected? Just say, where is the source of the confusion between the two? If, in regard to this you can speak a word of understanding, then you realize that Joshu’s tongue has no bone in it. Now he raises up, now he dashes down, in perfect freedom. But though this is so, remember that the two hermits also saw through Joshu. Further, if you imagine that there was a comparison of superiority and inferiority to be made in regard to the two hermits, you have not an open eye. Neither have you an open eye if you suppose there is no deference of superiority and inferiority between the two hermits.

The Verse:
His eye is a shooting star;
The movements of his soul are like lightning.
He is a death dealer,
A life-giving sword.

Me:
Translations differ on whether the two hermits are actually the same hermit or indeed two different hermits. Looking at the Blythe translation, and the way it (a more literaly word for word translation) appears to carefully lay down indicators in both directions, makes me wonder whether the original text is plausibly interpreted as being intentionally ambiguous on this point. Do you have thoughts or knowledge on that?

In response to Gateless's* implicit challenge in the last two sentences of his commentary, I'd respond--"A fist was raised, and Joshu responded."

What can I do with this? There's the bromide about the "definition of insanity" being "doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results." Do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

*Do we know whether this was the actual name of an actual person who they answered to IRL or is it a nomme de plume assumed by the author as a way to relate themselves to the work via the title? In other words are they in a way just saying, intentionally and out loud, "I'm a voluntary hall monitor, none shall get past me" as a way to prompt people to get past him?

You:
?

Submitted January 10, 2020 at 08:10PM by Porn_Steal https://ift.tt/2TaIr3v