Weekly Measuring Tap: Case 7

This is the 7th case from Yuanwu’s Measuring Tap,

Xiangyan set down this saying: “Suppose someone has climbed a tree: his mouth is clamped onto a branch of the tree. His hands are not holding onto a branch. Under the tree someone asks the meaning of the coming from the West. If he doesn’t answer, he’s avoiding the other’s question. If he does answer, then he loses his life. At such a time, what should he do?” At that time elder Hutou came forth and said, “I don’t ask about climbing up in the tree; please talk about before climbing the tree.” Xiangyan laughed out loud.

Xuedou brought this up and said, “It’s easy to say up in the tree, hard to say under the tree. (He puts out a branch sideways.) I’m up in a tree—pose a question.”

So some guy gives you two choices, you either keep quiet and avoid the question, or expound the Dharma and answer why did Bodhidharma come from the West, losing your life in the process. Then some other guy came along and asked, "well what about before I have to make that choice?" Then some other other guy says, "try to put me in the spot where I have only two choices."

Then apparently all of that is supposed to help out,

The elders everywhere attained this insight, but they brought it out in a thousand ways with myriad strategies to help people, not concealing it or covering it up, setting out similes to get people to understand easily; but instead it became hard to understand.

By this point I think they all know they are not clarifying anything. So I think they are making it harder on purpose.

Real helpful.

Submitted May 05, 2023 at 06:34AM by astroemi https://ift.tt/p5lMSXR