Blue Cliff Record case ordering

There are diminishing mentions of enlightenments as Blue Cliff Record cases progress from 1 to 100. The BCR's organization appears similar to a machinery repair manual where simple problems are up front and complicated repairs appear at the end. The first cases do not introduce a labeled error. The last cases to not provide a reward for endurance. There appears to be no intention to string a reader along from beginning (1) to end (100).

Hypothesis: BCR cases are ordered by error presented in case.

Support derived from first and last five cases:

• Case 1 commentary makes things sound simple: "From afar Bodhidharma saw that this country (China) had people capable of the Great Vehicle, so he came by sea, intent on his mission, purely to transmit the Mind Seal, to arouse and instruct those mired in delusion. Without establishing written words, he pointed directly to the human mind (for them) to see nature and fulfill Buddhahood. If you can see this way, then you will have your share of freedom." The case itself gives a sample first conversation with an enlightened person.
• Case 2 pointer calls out beginners: "Superior people who have studied for a long time do not wait for it to be said; latecoming beginners simply must investigate and apprehend it." The case itself appears to give an example of teacher student interaction with bonus refined questions.
• Case 3 delivers a question with a premise of unfamiliarity about a zen master.
• Case 4 renders a person arriving at a monastery (A beginner's scenario).
• Case 5 gives an example of what may happend when a student does not answer a question, serving to demonstrate an error of omission.
• Case 96 lists where various types of buddhas fail in circumstances.
• Case 97 rests on the premise something (Anything?) is wrong with a student (Deserving of scorn and vilification).
• Case 98 is two characters using the word 'wrong'. The commentary describes a downstream problem after understanding: "If you say, 'I understand, others do not understand,' carrying a bundle of Chan around the coun­try, when you are tried out by clear-eyed people, you won't be able to use it at all."
• Case 99 delivers an emperor sized error, if the size of the source determines the size of an error. The commentary contains the paragraph: "Even if you cleaned everything and made yourself cut off your tracks and swallow your voice, still in the school of the patchrobed monks this is still the view of novices and children. You must still turn your heads around to the troubles of the world and fully arouse your great function." Meeting this demand would not take the form of a victory lap, but rather a shakedown cruise.
• Case 100 pointer contains the line: "But when the Diamond Sword cuts directly, I first realize my hundred-fold incompetence." The case itself is notable short. Perhaps asking 'What is the sharp sword' is a case of using mind to look for mind, referred to in Hsin Hsin Ming as the greatest of all mistakes? Perhaps studying a sword in the absence of appropriate circumstance reveals an entanglement fit for the last case of a collection intended to be useful (In the manner of a backstop with the subtext "If you are reading this, the record is being misused.")? The case's question regards a sharp object which by definition touches little, and the response is about many things supporting a lot. Something went sideways.

Case 92 appears errorless, did I miss the point of it? Is it a distinctive counter-example? All other 9x cases look gnarly. Somebody somewhere has likely figured the organizing principle out already...

Submitted February 23, 2022 at 12:05AM by thralldumb https://ift.tt/ozDUFip