Why don't you say something?

Master Dayang Mingan asked Liangshan, "What is the formless site of enlightenment?"

A sharp question--no suture can stitch this one up.

Liangshan pointed to a picture of Guanyin and said, "This was painted by Wu Daozi."

As Mingan was about to speak further, Liangshan hurriedly demanded, "This is the one with form; what is the formless one?"

Watch out, this one's slippery.

Mingan attained enlightenment at these words. He bowed, then stood there.

A country bumpkin shilly-shallying...

Liangshan said "Why don't you say something?"

Mingan said, "I don't decline to speak, but I'm afraid it will get into paper and ink."

Too late: interest is overdue.

Liangshan laughed loudly and said, "These words will wind up on a memorial stone yet."

No take-backsies.

---

What did Mingan or old-long-eared Buddha do to attain enlightenment?

That's a question that comes to enrage Buddhists that have been confronted with the Great Zen Vehicle on here to no end especially given the long and "colorful" history of Buddhist make-believing that praying a certain way, reciting words to scripted questions a certain way, focusing really really hard on the letter 'a', or not listening to Ode to Joy by Beethoven is absolutely vital super srs stuff if they want to pacify themselves to a nirvana-lobotomy.

What about Zen Masters?

了無門戸可入、亦無階級可升。

There is no gate for you to go through; there are no stairs for you to ascend.

掉臂度關不問關吏。

You pass the checkpoint, squaring your shoulders, without asking permission of the keeper.

If you have to ask permission of a gatekeeper, it's not Zen.

Submitted July 16, 2020 at 05:47AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/3ezwmfa