The Zen Teaching of Huang Po - Case #29: The Master slaps the Son of Heaven!

Our Master once attended an assembly at the Bureau of the Imperial Salt Commissioners at which the Emperor T'ai Chung was also present as a sramanera. [1] The sramanera noticed our Master enter the hall of worship and make a triple prostration to the Buddha, whereupon he asked: 'If we are to seek nothing from the Buddha, Dharma or Sangha, what does Your Reverence seek by such prostrations?'

'Though I seek not from the Buddha,' replied our Master, 'or from the Dharma, or from the Sangha, it is my custom to show respect in this way.'

'But what purpose does it serve?' insisted the sramanera, whereupon he suddenly received a slap.

'Oh,' he exclaimed. 'How uncouth you are!'

'What is this?' cried the Master. 'Imagine making a distinction between refined and uncouth!' So saying, he administered another slap, causing the sramanera to betake himself elsewhere! [2]

Notes

1. Here, probably, meaning a layman who had taken ten precepts instead of the normal five.

2. This story is, to anyone familiar with the customs of Eastern courts, hair-raising. That Huang Po should have dared to slap the Divine Emperor, the Son of Heaven, indicates both the immensity of the Master's personal prestige and the utter fearlessness which results logically from an unshakeable conviction that samsaric life is but a dream. The Emperor's willingness to accept the blow without retaliation indicates the depth of his admiration for the Master. It must be remembered that Huang Po, as one of several Masters belonging to a relatively small sect, with no temporal authority whatever, cannot be compared to a Western pope or archbishop who, under certain circumstances, might be able to strike a reigning emperor with impunity by reason of his authority as a Prince of the Church.

Comment

If you bow down to me, then I have to slap you. Whoever I bow down to has to slap me. Bow down to the statue: nobody gets slapped! Too bad the Master can't reply to the Emperor's question by saying "In order to not get slapped" and be understood. The Emperor would simply laugh at such a nonsensical reply. Who has the gall to slap the Emperor?

Submitted January 26, 2020 at 11:37PM by dabfad https://ift.tt/2uwPMA8