8ATORI, OR ACQUIRING A NEWVIEWPOINT
bysome Christianmystics.Zenhasfromthebeginningmade
clearandinsisteduf)onthemainthesis,whichistosecintothe
work ofcreation; the creator may befound busy moulding
hisuniverse,orhemaybeabsentfromhisworkshop,butZen
goesonwithitsownwork.Itisnotdependentuponthesupport
ofacreator;whenitgraspsthereasonforlivingalife,itissatis-
fied.Hoyen(Fa-yen,died 1104)ofGo-so-sanusedtoproduce
hisownhandand askhis discipleswhyitwascalledahand.
Whenwe knowthereason, thereissalon andwehave Zen.
WhereaswiththeGodofmysticismthereisthegraspingofa
definiteobject;whenyouhaveGod,whatisno-Godisexcluded.
This is self-limiting. Zenwants absolutefreedom, evenfrom
God."Noabidingplace"meansthatverything;"Cleanseyour
mouth when you utter the word Buddha" amoimts to the
samething.ItisnotthatZenwantstobemorbidlyunholyand
godless, but thatit recognizesthe incompletenessofa merename. Therefore, when Yaktisan (Yueh-shan, 751-834) was
askedtogivealecture,hedidnotsayaword,butinsteadcame
downfromthepulpitand wentofftohisownroom.Hyakujo
merely walked forward a few steps, stood still, and then
openedouthisarms, which was his cx|X)sitionofthe great
principle.
6.Satoriisnotamorbidstateofmind,afitsubjectforthe
studyofabnormal psychology. If anything, it is a perfectly
normalstateofmind.WlienIspeakofamentalupheaval,some
maybe led to considerZen assomething to beshunnedby
ordinaryp>eople. ThisisamostmistakenviewofZen,butone
unfortunately often held by prejudiced critics. AsJoshu de-
clared,"Zenisyoureverydaythought"; italldependsonthe
adjustment ofthehinge whetherthedooropens inoropens
out.Eveninthetwinklingofaneyethewholeaffairischanged
andyouhaveZen, and youarezsf)crfect andas normalas
ever.Morethanthat,youhaveacquiredinthemeantimesome-
thingaltogethernew. All yourmental activitiesv^all nowbe
workingtoadifferentkey,whichwillbemoresatisfying,more
peaceful,andfullerofjoythananythingyoueverexperienced