8ATORI, ORACQUIRING A NEWVIEWPOINT
throughDoken'smindwhenhisfriend Sogengavehim such
matter-of-factadvice?Kyogen(Hsiang-yen)wasadiscipleofHyakujo(Pai-chang).
Afterhismaster's death Kyogen wentto Yisan (Kuei-shan),
whohadbeenaseniordiscipleofHyakujo. Yisanaskedhim:
"Iamtoldthatyouhavebeenstudyingundermylatemaster,
andalsothatyouhaveremarkableintelligence.Theunderstand-
ingofZenthroughthismediumnecessarilyendsinintellectual
analyticalcomprehension,whichisnotofmuchuse;butnever-
thelessyoumayhavehadaninsightintothetruthofZen.Let
mehaveyour\dewastothereasonofbirthanddeath; that
is, astoyourownbeing beforeyourparentshadgivenbirth
toyou."
Thusasked,Kyogendidnotknowhowtoreply.Heretired
into his ovnti room and assiduously made research into the
noteswhichhehadtakenofthesermonsgivenbytheirlate
master.Hefailed tocomeacrossasuitablepassagewhich he
might present as his own view. He returned to Yisan and
imploredhimtoteachhiminthefaithofZen,butYisanreplied
:"Ireallyhavenothingtoimparttoyou,andifItriedtodoso
youmight have occasionto makeme an objectofridicule.
Besides,whateverIcantell youismyownandcanneverbe
yours."Kyogenwasdisappointedandconsideredhimunkind.
Finallyhecameto thedecisiontobumupallhisnotesand
memoranda, which seemed tobe ofnohelp tohisspiritual
welfare,and,retiringaltogetherfromtheworld,tospend the
restofhis life insolitude and thesimplelife in accordance
vrithBuddhistrules.Hereasoned:"Whatistheuseofstudying
Buddhism,whichissodiflBculttocomprehendandwhichistoo
subdetoreceiveasinstructionfromanother?Iwillbeaplain
homelessmonk,troubledwithnodesiretomasterthingstoodeep
forthought."HeleftYisanandbuiltahutnearthetombofChu,
theNauonalMasteratNan-yang.Onedayhewasweedingand
y\Neepingthegroundwhenaf>ebblewhichhehadsweptaway
struck a bamboo; the unexpected sound produced by the
percussionelevated hismind toa state ofsatori.Hisjoywas
boundless.ThequestionproposedbyYisanbecametransparent
;hefeltasifmeetinghislostparents.Besides,hecametorealize