Wumen 31 v 33

via Wonderwheel: http://home.pon.net/wildrose/gateless.htm

30. As It Is Heart-Mind, As It Is Buddha

Mazu: Because Damei asked, "So, what is Buddha?"

Zu said, "As it is heart-mind is Buddha."

33. Not Heart-Mind, Not Buddha

Mazu: Because a monk asked, "Compared to what is the Buddha?" Zu said, "Not heart-mind, not Buddha."

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Welcome! ewk comment: Wonderwheel is (intentionally or not) our best option in the "Young's Literal Translation" category. Two things occur to me in this comparison:

1. These were originally one Case as far as I know. Wumen split it in half, and then didn't put them one after the other. See also Wumen's use of only "half a dog" in the Zhaozhou Dog Buddha Nature Case.

2. "What is Buddha?" versus "Compared to what is Buddha?" intrigued me.

   • Here is the Chinese from the not-reliable Sekida who got both the Chinese wrong AND the translation wrong:

   馬祖、因大梅問、如何是佛。

   馬祖、因僧問、如何是佛。

Looks identical to me except for the name... who is 因大梅 though?

And would that matter?

It would because this suggests Wumen didn't take the dialogue and cut it in half. I've only ever seen on dialogue with one guy on this.

Thoughts?

Submitted July 08, 2022 at 03:36PM by ewk https://ift.tt/pUNExaY