Do not mock the gimlet.

Case 23 of the Provisionally Titled: The Roar of the Lion Collection

Ven. Juzhi, when anybody had a question, he just raised one finger.

Shanzhao's verse:

Tianlong's one finger awoke Juzhi

At that moment there was no self, no limits

Myriad connections, a thousand differences, really nothing to say

Teach the ancient and modern directly, do not mock the gimlet.

Let's do this line-by-line:

"Tianlong's one finger awoke Juzhi"--refers to an emasculated and humiliated Juzhi (alternatively transliterated as Judi) Zen Master Huanglong Tianlong got enlightened at Tianlong pointing a finger upwards. See Shobo #306

"No self, no limits"--If you try to attain enlightenment by trying to rationalize the cases of Zen Masters, you're missing the mark.

"Myriad connections...really nothing to say"--Despite this, Zen Masters are incessantly blabbing about and amongst themselves and lambasting quietistic contemplation on silence as not just HERESY but a HERESY of cultist losers.

"Teach the ancient and modern directly, do not mock the gimlet"--I had no idea what a gimlet is, so I consulted the great Wikipedia. My immediate question after reading the article is whether this 'gimlet' is what Cleary translates elsewhere as 'awl'.

The old awl sets up many methods indirectly;

Moreover, he produces branch upon branch.

Best be like a good horse seeing the shadow of the whip;

One who chases a clod isn't a lion cub.

Both awl's and gimlet's are tools that use pressure to pierce holes through stuff. I used one to make put a hole in a leather belt once.

But this raises the question...what are Zen Masters piercing?

Submitted March 13, 2022 at 04:53AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/kRN4qYJ