From Chan Talks: On Liberation and Enlightenment (Cleary).
Wumen tells a story:
In olden times, Master Yushan of Chaling used to meditate on the saying about how to take a step forward atop a hundred foot pole. One day he was riding a mule over a bridge, and just as he was bringing the saying to mind the mule slipped, and he got insight. He composed a verse.
Yushan sent his follower Duan to Master Yangqi to see if he actually had Chan or not. Yangqi asked Duan about his teacher and whether it was true that he had a verse on enlightenment, Duan then recited his teacher's verse:
I have a bright pearl,
Long locked up in material toils;
Today the dust is gone and its glow emerges,
Shining throughout mountains and rivers everywhere.
Yangqi laughed out loud and went back to his room.
Duan didn't understand what he meant and anxiously went right back to him the next day:
"Yesterday you asked me about the story of my teacher's entry into the Way; did he have enlightenment or not? Please be so kind as to tell me, as I really wonder about this."
Yangqi said, "Have you ever seen an entertainer?"
Duan said he had.
Yangqi said, "They just want people to laugh; you fear people laughing."
Duan was greatly enlightened at this.
My commentary:
Yangqi had the sword-laughter to kill and the single sword-statement to bring life. After giving his account of this encounter, Wumen praises the use of such methods to help people from a position of authority, pushing seekers standing a top a mountain to the bottom of a cliff, and raising people in a canyon up to the top of the highest mountain.
What did Yangqi laugh at?
Submitted August 17, 2020 at 03:00AM by Coinionaire https://ift.tt/2PVIBJ5
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