Acquiring a Red Persimmon

Case 92 of the Provisionally Titled: The Roar of the Lion Collection

Guishan and Yangshan were walking together once when a crow dropped a red persimmon from its beak on the road in front of them. Yangshan offered it up to Guishan.

"Where did it come from?" asked Gui.

"This is the inspiration from the venerable sir's strength of the way" answered Yang.

"You too have not acquired it in vain," said Gui and divided it in half to share.

OK. First off, shame on Randy for not giving a footnote on "...the venerable sir's strength of the way". But! He does provide citations to where the cases may be found in the Taisho Canon:

此是和尚道徳所感。

The word play here is not so subtle.

"Strength of the Way" is the translated title of the Dao De Jing; the texts central concern.

You know? That weird text written a bajillion years ago that has been repeatedly butchered in translation and almost wholly divorced from any discussion on how China has wrangled with it for 2k+ years.

But! The the approach that text makes in discussing the Way isn't what we're dealing with here--after all, a red persimmon that a bird dropped on a road before two Zen Masters is identified as its source.

That's not worth much...

No wonder people beg me to not ask them about this stuff.

Shanzhao's Verse:

A crow with a persimmon, dropped in front of the master

Offering it, asking where it came from, the matter is quite

One divided in half, sweet as honey

If not understood today, how many years?

Until Maitreya?! Until Donkey Year?! (Still won't suffice.)

Submitted March 13, 2022 at 05:27AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/tSb5Lnz