Between Hui-neng and Lin-chi came four illustrious masters in the Golden Age of Zen in China: Nan-yueh, Ma-tsu, Po-chang, and Huang-po. When Hui-neng met Nan-yueh, he asked him, "Where do you come from?" Nan-yueh replied, "I come from Tung-shan." "What is it that so comes?" asked Hui-neng. It took Nan-yueh six years before he could answer, "Even when it is said to be something, the mark is already missed!"
When Nan-yueh met Ma-tsu, the latter was doing nothing but zazen day and night. One day Nan-yueh asked him, "What are you trying to accomplish, Reverend Sir?" Ma-tsu said, "I am trying to become a Buddha." Nan-yueh walked away without a word, picked up a piece of brick, and started to polish it. Ma-tsu asked, "What are you doing?" Nan-yueh said, "I am making a mirror." Ma-tsu further asked, "Can polishing a brick make it into a mirror?" Nan-yueh retorted, "Can doing zazen make one into a Buddha?" Ma-tsu asked, "What should I do then?" Nan-yueh replied, "It is like putting a cart to an ox. When the cart does not move, which is better, to beat the cart or the ox?" Ma-tsu was unable to answer. Nan-yueh then explained, "If you want to learn to do zazen, know that Zen is not in sitting or lying. If you want to become a Buddha by sitting, know that the Buddha has no fixed form. Never discriminate in living the Dharma of nonattachment. If you try to become a Buddha by sitting, you are killing Buddha. If you attach to the form of sitting, you can never attain Buddhahood."
Ma-tsu gave two famous answers to the question, "What is Buddha?" First he said, "Mind is Buddha," and later, "No mind, no Buddha." On another occasion when he was asked, "What kind of man does not keep company with anything?", he replied, ''I will tell you when you swallow the water of the West River in one gulp."
One day after a flock of wild geese flew by, Ma-tsu asked Po-chang, "What are they?" "They are wild geese," said Po-chang. "Where are they flying?" asked Ma-tsu. "They are already gone," answered Po-chang. Ma-tsu then suddenly grabbed Po-chang's nose and wrenched it. Po-chang cried in pain. "You say they have flown away, but all the same they have been here from the beginning," said Ma-tsu. Po-chang broke into a cold sweat and was enlightened. The next day Ma-tsu was about to give a talk when Po-chang came forward and rolled up the mat to end the talk. Without protesting Ma-tsu came down from his seat and returned to his room. He then called Po-chang and asked why he had rolled up the mat. Po-chang said, "Yesterday you twisted my nose, and it was quite painful." Ma-tsu asked, "Where was your thought wandering then?" "It is not painful anymore, Master," replied Po-chang. Years later Po-chang once again came to Ma-tsu for instruction. Ma-tsu gave a loud shout "Katsu!" which crushed everything in him and deafened him for three days.
Po-chang established work as an integral part of the monastic order. Out of concern for his health the monks hid his farming tools, since Po-chang refused to rest even in his old age. When he could not find them, he retired to his room but then refused to eat, saying, "A day without work, a day without eating."
One day a visitor came seeking an abbot for a monastery. Po-chang called his monks. The visitor asked them to walk three steps and clear their throats to determine their worthiness. Beginning with the head monk, none of the monks could pass this test except the cook monk, who was immediately approved. The head monk protested the evaluation, however, so Ma-tsu gave his own test. He placed a pitcher on the floor and said, "Do not call this a pitcher. What do you call it? The head monk said, "It cannot be called a piece of wood." The cook monk simply kicked the pitcher over with his foot. Ma-tsu proclaimed, "Head monk, you have been outdone by this cook monk." Eventually Po-chang transmitted the Dharma to Huang-po, saying, "When the disciple's insight is identical with that of the master, the master's power is diminished by half. When the disciple's insight surpasses that of the master, then he is worthy of receiving the transmission."
There is a famous story about Huang-po pointing out the true Self to a governor. Visiting a temple, the governor pointed to a portrait and asked the abbot, "Who is he?" The abbot answered, "The late abbot." The governor then asked, ''Here is his portrait, and where is the person ?" The abbot could not answer, but the governor was insistent. Unable to find anyone who could, the abbot finally thought of a monk who had come for lodging and spent his time cleaning the courtyards. Huang-po was called, and the governor asked him, "Venerable Sir, these gentlemen are unfortunately unwilling to answer my question. Will you be good enough to undertake the task?" "What is the question?" Huang-po said. The governor repeated the question, "Here is the portrait of the former abbot, and where is the person?" At once Huang-po called out, "Governor!" "Yes!" responded the governor. "Where is he?" answered Huang-po.
Lin-chi I-hsuan was born between 810 and 815 and was already a well-versed Buddhist scholar when, in his twenties, he decided to study Zen under Huang-po. Plain and direct in his behavior, Lin-chi trained for three years without asking a single question. The head monk recognized his potential and urged him to approach the master. He told Lin-chi just to ask what the cardinal principle of Buddhism was. Lin-chi went, but before he had finished speaking, Huang-po hit him. Lin-chi did not understand, but the head monk urged him to try again. The same thing happened again and again. Lin-chi regretted the karma preventing him from understanding and decided to leave. Meanwhile the head monk praised Lin-chi to Huang-po, so when Lin-chi came to take his leave, Huang-po advised him to see Ta-yu.
Meeting Ta-yu, Lin-chi said, "Three times I asked Huang-po what the cardinal principle of Buddhism was and three times he hit me. I don't know whether I was at fault or not."
~~Samadhi: Self Development in Zen, Swordsmanship, and Psychotherapy -by- Mike K. Sayama
No comments:
Post a Comment