Source: "Zen and Zen Classics" Volume Three, R.H. Blyth. Tokyo: 1970, Hokuseido Press, p. 104-105 -- This text can be found by searching terebess + Blyth. I won't link directly to it here. --
Note: Kyozan is the Japanese word for Yangshan (Yang-shan). (Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/zen/wiki/names)
Kyozan once returned to Isan to interview him. Isan said to him, "You are now called a good and clever teacher. How can you distinguish between those who come from all parts and know It, and those who don't know It; the Masters who have inherited It, and those who have not; the profound learning, and the (mere) meaning learning. Explain and let me hear.”
Kyozan replied, “[I] have had this experience. When monks come from all directions, [I] raise [my] mosquito-flapper, and ask them if This is expounded where they come from or not. Further, [I] say to them, leaving this aside, "What are the old Masters where you come from teaching?" Isan admired him and said, "This has always been the claw and fang of our sect."
Blyth's note:
"Claw and fang" is the fighting weapons of Zen, that is to say, direct pointing to the mind, or rather, the mind-thing, for when the mosquito flapper is raised, (so suitable in its certain-uncertainty of wood and hair) there is no subject or object, both subject and object, or, if you like, object only, subject only. What is also interesting in the above is the Zen pedagogy. We see how to teach Zen, and also how to teach a Zen teacher. Indeed, the aim of teaching is to produce teachers, so that the Earthly Paradise would be a realm of teachers only, but not unteachable, we may hope.
wrrdgrrl: Okay, so now I know of at least one source of the oft-repeated zen-slogan repeated by u/ewk... this seems like some small achievement for me. What's next? Digging into the meat of it.
1. "What are the old Masters where you come from teaching?" -- This may have had relevance in Yangshan's time, when those approaching would have already been immersed in the tradition of teacher-pupil, religious study, practice, yada yada. How can modern students make sense/use of this same interrogation? I mean, the old masters where I come from taught the usual bullshit - high school, college, university, etc. Is this what Yangshan is asking? "What is your Curriculum Vitae?" I suspect it's subtler than that. "Please demonstrate your education; What have you learned so far?" might be another way to phrase his interrogatory. What do you think? I'm reminded of the car salesman asking a new customer, "What are you driving now?" in order to assess the person's vehicular needs and preferences.
2. The fly-swatter and subject/object split. This is clearly a test, to separate those who "Know It" from the rest. The answer to this question about one's relationship to objects (?) would have set the stage for the rest of the lesson. What would one such answer look like? Is the monk in for a beating if he or she starts to utter a response?
3. What in the everloving is that bit about Earthly Paradise being comprised of teachers? Thinking of my former classmates, I'd take a hard pass on that - Yet, "Not unteachable" - Who, among us, is truly unteachable?
I'd recommend these volumes to those dipping their toes in the zen texts. Blyth provides context as well as revealing his own perspective and biases, such as classical lit, the bible, and Thoreau, he wrote a book about him. All interesting stuff to one such as I.
That's all I have for now. Thanks for reading.
Submitted May 04, 2020 at 09:13PM by wrrdgrrl https://ift.tt/3fi3t8R
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