Wumen's commentary on case 2, Baizhang's fox.

The meaning of Wumen's commentary on the case Baizhang's fox was raised in a recent post. Cleary translates Master Wumen as saying:

[When the wild fox monk asserted that the person of great practice] “does not fall into cause and effect,” why did he fall into a wild fox’s body? [When he heard that such a person] “is not deluded by cause and effect,” why did he shed the fox’s body?

If you can focus the eye [of enlightened insight] here on this, then you will know why, long ago on Baizhang Mountain, [the old man] won for himself five hundred lifetimes flowing with the wind.

A frequent poster to this sub disagreed with the translation of the second line and suggested Wumen actually refers to the current incumbent of Baizhang Mountain (Baizhang himself) and not the old man he tells the story about.

I compared a few translations and polled the sources regarding what Wumen may mean when he writes "前百丈" or "former Baizhang."

Akizuki Ryumin was likely the leading 20th century Japanese authority on classical Chan literature. He renders the last sentence of Wumen's comment as:

もしここに一隻眼をつけることができたら、前百丈の野狐の老人が、実は風流千万な五百生をかちえていたのだということが、すぐに分かるだろう。

He adds 野狐の老人 "the fox old man" to 前百丈 "former Baizhang" to make it clear 前百丈 refers to the old man in Baizhangs fairytale.

Cleary is the closest to Akizuki in English when he says: "long ago on Baizhang Mountain, [the old man] won for himself five hundred lifetimes flowing with the wind." He also puts in a parenthetical to make it clear the subject is the old man of the story and not the current abbot.

Shimmonse does the same saying, "If you have one eye in regards to this, then you understand Hyakujo's (the old man's) dramatic 500 rebirths as a fox." He deliberately inserts a comment to make it clear.

Shibayama also. He translates it as "If you have an eye to see through this, then you will know that the former head of the monastery did enjoy his 500 happy blessed lives as a fox."

Blythe also adds "the old man" to make it clear the subject is the old man of the story.

Yamada doesn't have a parenthetical to clarify 前百丈, just saying "former Hyakujo." There isnt any reason to believe Yamada thinks it refers to the current abbot.

Senzaki & Reps avoid the question by not translating 前百丈 at all.

There is not a single translator who suggests that 前百丈 refers to the current incumbent of Baizhang Mountain. Indeed, why would anyone think so when the kanji literally says "former?"

It is likely that someone asserting the opposite view is simply uninformed. People who loudly assert views that are easily researched and disproved are often selling something. This is why Master Rinzai warns us saying:

There are phony monks who do not know good from bad, who point to the east and call it the west, who entertain contradictory desires and love inscrutable sayings. Look and see if they do not bear the telltale marks of false teachers. They know some enlightenment stories [but not when to use them].

Submitted May 04, 2020 at 06:54AM by shaku_kojyu https://ift.tt/2yd7fQt