ANINTRODUCTION TOZEN BUDDHISM
ThesameJoshuwasonceaskedbyamonk,"Allthingsare
reducibletotheOne;whereisthisOnetobereduced?"The
master'sreplywas,"WhenIwasinTsindistrictIhadamonk's
robemadethatweighedsevenchin."Thisisoneofthemostnoted
sayingseverutteredbyaZenmaster.Onemayask:"Isthiswhat
ismeantbyanabsoluteaffirmation?Whatpossibleconnectionis
therebetweenamonk'srobeandtheonenessofthings?"Letme
ask: YoubelievethatallthingsexistinGod,butwhereisthe
abodeofGod?IsitinJoshu'sseven-chincassock?Whenyousay
thatGodishere,hecannomorebethere;butyoucannotsay
thatheisnowhere,forbyyourdefinitionGodisomnipresent.
Solongaswearefetteredbytheintellect,wecannotinterview
Godasheis;weseekhimeverywhere,butheeverfliesawayfrom
us.Theintellectdesirestohavehimlocated,butitisinhisvery
naturethathecannotbeUmited. Hereisagreatdilemmato
puttotheintellect,anditisaninevitableone.Howshallwefind
thewayout?Joshu'spriestlyrobeisnotours;hiswayofsolution
cannotbebUndlyfollowed,foreachofusmustbeatouthisown
track.Ifsomeonecomestoyouwiththesamequestion,howwill
youanswerit?Andarewenotateveryturnoflifeconfronted
withthe sameproblem? Andis it notever pressingforan
immediateandmostpracticalsolution?
Gutei's(Chu-chih)^favouriteresponsetoanyquestionputto
himwastoliftoneofhisfingers.Hishtdeboyattendantimitated
him,andwhenevertheboywasaskedbystrangersastotheteach-
ingofthemasterhewouldlifthisfinger.Learningofthis,the
masteronedaycalledtheboyinandcutoffhisfinger.Theboyin
frightandpaintriedtorunaway,butwascalledback,whenthe
masterhelduphisfinger.Theboytriedtoimitatethemaster,as
w£ishiswont,butthefingerwasnomorethere,andthensuddenly
thesignificanceofitaUdawneduponhim.Copyingisslavery.
Thelettermustneverbefollowed,onlythespiritistobegrasped.
Higheraffirmationsliveinthespirit.Andwhereisthespirit?
Seekitinyoureverydayexperience,andthereinliesabundance
ofproofforallyouneed.
Wereadinasutra:"Therewasanoldwomanontheeast
sideofthetownwhowasbomwhentheBuddhawasbom,and
theylivedinthesameplacethroughoutalltheirlives.Theold
*Adiscipleof"Picn-lung,oftheninthccntviry.
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