Xuefeng, the Snake

This is the 24th case from the Book of Serenity,

Xuefeng said to the congregation, "On South Moutain there's a turtle-nosed snake; you people must watch out for it."

Changqing said, "Today in the hall there are many people losing their bodies and lives."

A monk quoted this to Xuansha;

Xuansha said, "Only brother Changqing could say this.

However, even though he's right, I do not concur."

The monk said, "What do you mean, Master?"

Xuansha said, "Why use 'South Mountain'?"

Yunmen threw down his staff in front of Xuefeng and made a gesture of fright.

In his intro, Wansong says this,

The whale of the Eastern Sea, the turtle-nosed snake of South Mountain, Puhua's donkey brays, Zihu's dog howls--they don't fall into ordinary ways, and don't travel among different kinds. Tell me, whose way of practice is this?

I couldn’t find anything about Puhua’s donkey brays, but I found this about Zihu’s dog,

At Zihu's school he set up a sign saying, "Zihu has a dog that takes people's heads on top, takes people's hearts in the middle, and takes people's legs below. Hesitate and you lose your body and life." A monk asked, "What is Zihu's dog?" The master howled. Two monks from Linji's congregation came to call; as soon as he raised the blind, the master said, "Look out for the dog!" The monks turned and looked; the master immediately went back to his quarters.

Not really new information, but it makes it clear that Xuefeng is saying he is the snake, and he is warning people about his own teaching. He "wanted to use poison to get rid of poison," says Wansong.

On Xuansha he comments that "Here we see the hand that manages to bring the snake to life." So not only is Xuefeng a dead snake, but he has to be brought back to life by Xuansha.

Finally, Tiantong writes in his verse, "The cold mouth wounds people, yet they don't feel the pain." The snake is dead, but it still bites people.

Wansong said "Calling snakes is easy, sending away snakes is hard." It’s easy to meet Xuefeng, but how do you pass through him?

Yuanwu said about his answer, "When you get here, you must under­ stand the phrase outside of patterns; then, when all the public cases are brought up, you will immediately know where they come down. See how Hsueh Feng teaches the assembly this way, without speaking to you of practice or understanding."

Submitted April 02, 2023 at 01:15AM by astroemi https://ift.tt/n09Dglw