The Useless Great Function

If it can be taken away from you, or you gained it at some point, it is not the family jewel. Though the useless great function is had by all, who can discern it clearly? From the Book of Serenity,

When Yantou came to Deshan, he straddled the threshold and asked, “Is this ordinary or is it holy?”

Deshan immediately shouted. Yantou bowed.

Dongshan heard of this and said, “Anyone but Yantou would hardly get it.”

Yantou said, “Old Dongshan doesn’t know good or bad; at the time I was holding up with one hand and putting down with one hand.”

In his commentary, Wansong is really concerned that people will misunderstand how this interaction played out. He says,

Dongshan purposely took it up and falsely accused Yantou, wanting to show that at that time in the bow there was the provisional and the real.

We are seeing three masters of our school turning freely. Wansong says a bit more in his commentary to Tiantong’s verse. So let’s read that first,

Demolishing the oncomer.

Holding the handle of authority;

Tasks have a manner in which they must be carried out,

The nation has an inviolable law.

When the guest serves reverently, the host becomes haughty—

When the ruler dislikes admonition, the ministers flatter.

The underlying meaning—Yantou asks Deshan;

One upholding, one putting down—see the action of mind.

So he uses the imagery of the verse to explain,

This eulogizes three people all demolishing the oncomer, each holding the handle of authority.

I think this interaction is not about someone being righter than anyone else. What would being better at words or logic or explaining things or being likeable have to do with it? Not a single thing. Still, Wansong fears people will misunderstand,

Everywhere they say that Yantou was upholding with one hand and putting down with the other, that Dongshan misconstrued it; they hardly realize that Dongshan’s upholding with one hand and putting down with the other is even more distinctly clear. Unless one is an adept who has investigated for a long time, it will certainly be difficult to comprehend the essence of this. In the present time, all novices who’ve just shed their civilian clothes see Tiantong’s verse saying, “One upholding, one putting down—see the action of mind” and say how strange it is that Chan folk do not consent to explain things through for people—after all, all of it is the action of mind. So they become students clever at deceit. I say, one bit of mental action is a bit of compassion; if you don’t encounter something, you don’t learn to cope with it. You might say that the fruit comes from within the flower; sweet comes from the bitter.

What do you gather from this paragraph? I think he is saying Zen is not about doing whatever you like and calling it mind. I think he is saying being able to explain reality is not what Zen is. I think he is saying you should be thorough with this.

Submitted June 20, 2022 at 08:36PM by astroemi https://ift.tt/xsEGySP