Friday, 18 February 2022

Measuring Tap 32: DON'T QUOTE ME ON THIS

This Case deals with the teaching that turns up in BCR 14: Yunmen's Appropriate Statement:

A monk asked YunMen, "What are the teachings of a whole lifetime? "

YunMen said, "An appropriate statement."

At the end of Measuring Tap 32, Yuanwu talks about two ways of looking at an "appropriate statement"... the teachings of a whole lifetime and a donkey tethering stake.

[The Boatman said] "As soon as one wave goes into motion, myriad waves follow."

I [Yuanwu] say, is there any, is there? How is it, after all?

[The Boatman said] "The night silent, the water cold, fish aren't biting."

The saying about appropriate words is originally a statement of the Boatman; later on Yunmen liked to quote it. Xuedou uses it as a saying of Yunmen. Since it is a saying of the Boatman, why is there talk of appropriateness? Xuedou sees this words fall into this so he opens up a way to live for him.

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Welcome! ewk comment: Why would you say that a quote is appropriate now when it was only appropriate when it was originally said? When Yunmen quotes it (as he likes to) how is that "an appropriate statement".

A quote is just a donkey tethering stake. No wonder donkeys can't cross the bridge of Zhaozhou.

Quickly! Quickly! Who is the donkey?



Submitted February 19, 2022 at 06:46AM by ewk https://ift.tt/xhSUDKW

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