Full case
When Hyakujō Oshō delivered a certain series of sermons, an old man always followed the monks to the main hall and listened to him. When the monks left the hall, the old man would also leave.
One day, however, he remained behind, and Hyakujō asked him, “Who are you, standing here before me?” The old man replied, “I am not a human being. In the old days of Kashyapa Buddha, I was a head monk, living here on this mountain. One day a student asked me, ‘Does a man of enlightenment fall under the yoke of causation or not?’ I answered, ‘No, he does not.’ Since then I have been doomed to undergo five hundred rebirths as a fox. I beg you now to give the turning word to release me from my life as a fox. Tell me, does a man of enlightenment fall under the yoke of causation or not?” Hyakujō answered, “He does not ignore causation.”
No sooner had the old man heard these words than he was enlightened. Making his bows, he said, “I am emancipated from my life as a fox. I shall remain on this mountain. I have a favor to ask of you: would you please bury my body as that of a dead monk.”
Hyakujō had the director of the monks strike with the gavel and inform everyone that after the midday meal there would be a funeral service for a dead monk. The monks wondered at this, saying, “Everyone is in good health; nobody is in the sick ward. What does this mean?”
After the meal Hyakujō led the monks to the foot of a rock on the far side of the mountain and with his staff poked out the dead body of a fox and performed the ceremony of cremation. That evening he ascended the rostrum and told the monks the whole story.
Ōbaku thereupon asked him, “The old man gave the wrong answer and was doomed to be a fox for five hundred rebirths. Now, suppose he had given the right answer, what would have happened then?” Hyakujō said, “You come here to me, and I will tell you.” Ōbaku went up to Hyakujō and boxed his ears. Hyakujō clapped his hands with a laugh and exclaimed, “I was thinking that the barbarian had a red beard, but now I see before me the red-bearded barbarian himself.”
Comment
Does a man of enlightenment fall under the yoke of causation or not?
'No, he does not.'
or
Does a man of enlightenment fall under the yoke of causation or not?
'He does not ignore causation.'
Answering no to this question may have an honest intention, but an ignorant one. We have been born out of causation, how can we ignore or even deny it? Everything the monk has lived after answering this question may have proved him wrong, causing him distress. A step towards a direction is a choice, a no-step is also a choice, whether you are aware of it or not. We choose not to choose as much as we choose to choose.
If you choose not to ignore causation, you might as well observe it as it passes by, as it affects you or leave you unaffected.
As for the interaction between Ōbaku and Hyakujō, the first, seeking an answer to the wrong question, was threatened to be hit by the latter. Instead, Ōbaku hit Hyakujō himself, surprising him, leaving the interaction satisfied.
Verse
Ignorance and wisdom
Falling under causation or not
Two sides of one single coin
Flip this coin! Watch it float in mid-air!
From Mumonkan, "As for those who try to understand through other people's words, they are striking at the moon with a stick; scratching a shoe, whereas it is the foot that itches. What concern have they with the truth?"
Take off your shoes. If you kill your Zen masters, you will be left alone. If you leave them alone, they will soon join you.
Submitted January 13, 2020 at 06:12PM by felipeforte https://ift.tt/2QPmWDM
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