ANINTRODUCTION TOZEN BUDDHISM
speculationandabstractionwillneverobtainthedepthsofit,
which can be sounded only through the highestwill-power.
Theremaybehundredsofkoans,ortheremaybeaninfinite
numberofthemasthereareinfinitenumbersofobjectsfilling
uptheuniverse,butitdoesnot necessarilyconcernus. Only
letonegainanall-viewingandentirelysatisfyinginsightinto
thelivingactualityofthings and thekoanswill takecareof
themselves.
Thisiswherelurksthedangerofthekoansystem.Oneisapt
toconsideritaseverythinginthestudyofZen,forgettingthe
trueobjectofZen,whichistheunfoldingofaman'sinnerlife.
Therearemanywhohavefallenintothispitfallandtheinevitable
resulthasbeenthecorruptionanddecayofZen.Daiye(Ta-hui)
wasquiteapprehensiveofthiswhenheburnedupthebook
ononehundredkoanswhichwziscompiledbyhismasterYengo
(Yuan-wu). Theseone hundredkoanswereselectedfromZen
literaturebySeccho(Hsueh-ton),whocommentedonthemwith
verses,onetoeach.DaiyewasatruefollowerofZen.Heknew
well theobjectwhichhismasterhadinviewwhenhemade
remarksupontheseselections;heknewverywellalsothatthey
woxild subsequently prove a self-murdering weapon againstZen;sohecommittedthemalltotheflames.
Thebook,however,hassurvivedthefireandisstillinour
p>ossessionasoneofthemostimportanttreatisesonZen;indeed,
itisastandardtextandauthority,towhichappealisstillmade
tosettlepointsofdoubtinthestudyofZen.Theworkisknown
inJapaneseasHekigan-shu{Pi-yenChi).Tooutsidersitisasealed
book;in thefirstplacethe Chineseisnot aftertheclassical
modelbutisfilledwithcolloquialismsoftheT'angandSungperiod,whichcannowbetracedonlyinZenliterature,while
itismostvigorouslywritten.Secondly,thestyleispeculiarto
thiskindofwork,anditsthoughtsandexpressionsseemtobesounexpectedastostaggerthereaderwhoexpectstofindinit
ordinaryBuddhistnomenclatureoratleasttameclassicalism.
Besidestheseliterarydifficulties,theHekiganisnaturallyfullofZen.However,thosewhowanttoknowhowkoansarehandled
byZenfollowerswilldowelltoconsultthebook.
Therearesomeotherbooksdealingwiththekoanswhichare
moreorlessafterthestyleoftheHekigan;sucharetheShoyoroku,
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