Later generations are not as good as the one that precedes them

The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu
Translated by James Green

On another occasion the master said, "Ninety years ago I saw Matsu (Baso)¹ who had more than eighty accomplished people² under him. Every one of them was a good Ch'an (Zen) person. They were not like the people of today who add branches and vines on top of branches and vines, all the time going far astray from the Truth. Later generations are not as good as the one that precedes them.
  "For example, Nan-ch'uan (Nansen) always said, 'You must act being in the midst of differentiation and sameness.' Now what do you understand by this? The yellow-mouthed babies³ of today talk of vines and creepers⁴ on the main streets and highways, earning their living and looking for acclaim. Gathering assemblies of three hundred or five hundred monks they say, 'I am the accomplished person, you are the seeker'."

1. Ma-tsu Taou-i (Baso Doitsu, 709-788 CE) was a disciple of Nanyueh Huaijang (Nangaku Ejo) in the third generation from the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng (Eno). Chao-chou's (Joshu's) own master, Nan-ch'uan, was a descendant of Ma-tsu.
   
2. Akalvanamitra, a Sanskrit word meaning your "closest friend", referring to a person who can inform you of, and liberate you from, your attachments and fetters and help you to find the Buddha's Way.
   
3. A term of abuse.
   
4. "Vines and creepers" are explanations about the Ch'an (Zen) reality.

Submitted December 01, 2018 at 12:49AM by seigando https://ift.tt/2zz0W73