You tell me if this is a complicated bundle. Te Shan's backstory, neatly wrapped: "fulfilling Buddhahood".
[Te Shan] is just like Li Kuang, by innate talent a skilled archer... commissioned as the General of the Flying Cavalry (Imperial Elite corps).
Li Kuang penetrated deep into enemy territory, where he was captured alive by the King of the Huns.
...
Kuang suddenly sprang up and leaped on the horse, throwing down the Hun rider and seizing his bow and arrows. Whipping the horse, he galloped off towards the South; drawing the bow and shooting back at the riders pursuing him, he thus made good his escape.
This fellow had the ability to wrest life from the midst of death...
Kuang knew how to preserve his energy... a keen eye saves him from demise. Is this not extraordinary?
[Te Shan] heard that Kuei Shan's teaching was flourishing, so he traveled to Kuei Shan to meet him as an adept.
When Te Shan arrived at Kuei Shan, he carried his bundle with him into the teaching hall, where he crossed from east to west and from west to east. He looked around and said, "There's nothing, no one." Then he went out.
Hsueh Tou added the comment, "Completely exposed". ... [And Yuanwu says, "Wrong! After all. Check!"]
...
In the assembly this is called an added comment: although it goes for both sides, it does not remain on either side. ...
Where does the complete exposure take place? Tell me, is Te Shan completely exposed, or is it Kuei Shan who is completely exposed?
Not just one of them... but what is it that's revealed?
People misinterpret [Te Shan's actions] as 'establishment,' but that is simply irrelevant.
See how extraordinary Te Shan was; this is why it is said, "To stand out from the crowd, you must be a brave spirited fellow; to defeat enemies is a matter for a lion's son. If you try to become Buddha without an eye like this, how will you ever do it, even in a thousand years?"
Brave! Don't flatter yourself.
When you get here, you must be a thoroughly competent adept before you will be able to see. Why? In the Buddha Dharma there are not so many complications; where can you bring intellectual views to bear?
This is the action of (Te Shan's) mind; where is there so much toil? This is why Hsuan Sha said, "Even if you're like the moon reflected in an autumn pond, which when striking the waves is not scattered, or like the sound of a bell on a quiet night, which when hit never fails to resound, this is still an affair on this shore of birth and death."
The water scatters, a mirror breaks--hallelujah! An unfailing bell. Is this normal?
When you arrive here there is no gain or loss, no affirmation or negation, nor is there anything extraordinary or mysterious. Since there is nothing extraordinary or mysterious, how will you understand (Te Shan's) going back and forth from east to west and west to east? Tell me, what was his meaning?
On his way out Te Shan got as far as the monastery gate, but then he said to himself, "Still, I shouldn't be so coarse." He wanted to bring out his guts, his innermost heart, in a Dharma battle with Kuei Shan; so he went back in with full ceremony to meet him.
That's what this was about from the start. He sure built up courage!
As Kuei Shan sat there, Te Shan held up his sitting mat and said, "Teacher!"
Kuei Shan reached for his whisk, whereupon Te Shan shouted, shook out his sleeves, and left.
How extraordinary!
Hsueh Tou added the comment, "Completely exposed." [Again Yuanwu says, "Wrong! After all. Check!"]
Do you see it differently? Can you expose yourself like this?
Te Shan turned his back on the teaching hall, put on his straw sandals, and departed. Tell me, what was his meaning? ...did Te Shan win or lose? ...did Kuei Shan win or lose?
[Hsueh Tou] makes an effort and sees through the Ancients' ultimate riddle; only thus could he be so extraordinary. ... He was like a bystander judging those two men.
A bystander, but no way was he on a break.
What's the riddle?
...(Kuei Shan) was unhurried; when evening came he finally asked the head monk, "Where is that newcomer who just came?"
The head monk [told him of Te Shan's departure.]
Kuei Shan said, "Hereafter that lad will go up to the summit of a solitary peak, build himself a grass hut, and go on scolding the Buddhas and reviling the Patriarchs." ...
Old man Kuei Shan was not being good hearted; in the future Te Shan could scold the Buddhas and revile the Patriarchs, pummel the wind and beat the rain, yet he would still never get out of that cave. Te Shan's whole lifetime's methods have been seen through by this old fellow.
Does Kuei Shan make a prediction?
Did Lung T'an make a prediction?
What does it take for someone to hide away in a cave the rest of their days?
Hsueh Tou knows what this public case comes down to, so he can dare to settle it for them by further saying, "He adds frost to snow." Once again he offers it up for people to see. [Yuanwu also says, "Wrong! After all. Check!" once more.]
If you do see, I'll allow that you're a fellow student of Kuei Shan, Te Shan, and Hsueh Tou. If you don't see, beware of vainly producing intellectual interpretations.
Excerpts from The Blue Cliff Record, Cleary and Cleary, case 4
Submitted December 25, 2018 at 10:15AM by i-dont-no http://bit.ly/2EMedge
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