Snakes on a Case

I find it very interesting to see how (and if) people (can) connect what the Zen Masters were saying to their own lives. From my perspective you can only do that if you can understand what’s happening in a text first. To illustrate this, I present the 24th case from the Book of Serenity,

Xuefeng said to the congregation, “On South Mountain there’s a turtle nosed snake; you people must watch out for it.”

Chagqing said, “Today in the hall there are many people losing their bodies and lives.”

A monk quoted this to Xuansha; Xuansha said, “Only brother Changqing could say this. However, even though he’s right, I do not concur.”

The monk said, “What do you mean, Master?”

Xuansha said, “Why use ‘South Mountain’?”

Yunmen threw down his staff in front of Xuefeng and made a gesture of fright.

If you know nothing about the Zen tradition, I would find it really understandable if this exchange meant nothing to you and you’d dismiss it as gibberish. I think that’s too easy, and we can challenge ourselves to understand it. Let’s start with the things that are being referenced.

What is South Mountain? What is a turtle nosed snake? Who are all these people and who is saying what when? What does it mean for people to be losing their lives?

If you are an idiot like me you can research all this stuff on your own until you get all the pieces in place. Or you can be smart and search for this very case and what the discussion about it has been in the past. This one was the most useful: https://reddit.com/r/zen/comments/pr4jg1/xuefengs_turtle_nosed_snake_how_i_work/

So after that part is clear (if not, please ask a question about it), we can add some spice. Tiantong’s verse,

Xuansha’s great strenght,

Changqing’s little courage,

The turtle-nose on South Mountain, dead has no use,

Wind and clouds meet, horns on the head are born,

After all we see Yunmen pitching in to play—

In a flash of lightning, see the change and movement.

With me, it’s possible to send away and summon;

With him, there’s capture, there’s release.

The underlying matter—to whom is it imparted now?

The cold mouth wounds people, yet they don’t feel the pain.

Then, in his commentary, Wansong says,

Only when one always returns the verse to oneself and brings it out up front, is one an adept.

Let’s forget about “always.” What about this one single time? Can you return the verse to yourself and bring it out up front?

The only way to not lose your life to the snake is to let it bite you. Who here has a little courage?

Submitted July 01, 2022 at 04:21AM by astroemi https://ift.tt/VWby0w8