these koan are similar in some ways and both give me trouble.
Case 11: Joshu Sees the True Nature of Two Hermits
Joshu came to a hermit and asked, "Are you in? Are you in?" The hermit held up his fist. "The water is too shallow to anchor a vessel," said Joshu, and went away. He then came to another hermit and called out, "Are you in? Are you in?" This hermit also held up his fist. "You are free either to give or to take away, either to kill or to give life," said Joshu, bowing to him.
my 'commentary'
what the fuck? how the hell can joshu tell that one man is 'realized' and the other is not? is that even whats going on here? is he not enlightening the one hermit, and chastising the other? fair enough, but what am i to make of this? theyre both doing the same thing. is realization false? is it him granting/affirming one mans realization and denying anothers? this would be ok, because a realized man wouldnt care if some old dirtbag said his shores were shallow and a non realized man could probably use the verbal beating. this is the only dharma i can interpret from this.
Case 26: Two Monks Rolled Up the Bamboo Blinds
The monks gathered in the hall to hear the Great Hogen of Seiryo give teisho before the midday meal. Hogen pointed to the bamboo blinds. At this two monks went to the blinds and rolled them up alike. Hogen said, "One has it, the other has not"
my 'commentary'
what the fuck are these old men on about? is this an allegory of how samsaric mind randomly generates likes and dislikes based on the random circumstances we live in? that seems much too discriminating and dual to be zen. you could apply the same dharma from the last koan to this one, i suppose.
are we meant to take away from this that zen masters are actors in the high school play of our 'spiritual journey'? standing there to act as a wise and trusted friend to let you know its ok to just chill the fuck out and give you the enlightened mallet when he feels like youve gotten it?
i dont think attainment of satori is a horse and pony show, but this case makes it seem as if it is. as if simply by a master saying youre awakened applies some strange placebo effect that renders you awakened once you meet certain conditions. i do not think this is the case (no pun intended), but i am simply confused.
thoughts on these koan?
Submitted September 09, 2020 at 02:18PM by yellowmoses https://ift.tt/2GzqUh5
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