Layman P'ang's "7 & 1"

One day when Tan-hsia saw the Layman coming he assumed a running attitude. The Layman said:

"That's the pouncing attitude, now what's the roaring attitude?"

Tan-hsia sat down.

In front of him the Layman drew the figure seven using his staff. Below it Tan-hsia drew the figure one. The Layman said:

"Because of the seven, the one is seen; having seen the one, the seven is forgotten."

Tan-hsia stood up. The Layman said:

"Sit a little longer, there's still a second phrase coming."

Tan-hsia asked:

"May I please put a capping-phrase to this?"

The Layman mourned and departed saying:

"Oh! Oh! Oh!"

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Without falling into the secondary, what great compassion did the Layman receive from Tan-hsia?

Submitted November 14, 2019 at 09:02AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/33LA3Kj