ANINTRODUCTION TO ZEN BUDDHISM
collegetopassthroughacertaincourseofstudies,butoutofan
innerimpelling necessitywhichstirred up hisspirit hecould
not helpgoingaboutand pickingup whateverknowledgehe
needed.Hewasperfectedbyhimself.Ofcourse,hehadateacher,
buttheteacherdidnothelphiminthewayscholarsnowadays
arehelped—help>edtoofrequently,indeed,beyondtheactual
needsofthedisciple,more than isreallygoodforhim. This
lack ofsoft educationmade the ancient Zenmaster ail the
strongerandmorefullofvirility.Thiswasthereasonwhy,in
thoseearlydaysofZen—thatis,duringtheT'angdynasty—it
was soactive, so brilliant, so intense.When thekoansystem
cameintovogueduringtheSungdynastythehalcyondaysofZenwerealmostoveranditgraduallyshowedsignsofdecline
andsemlity.
Herethenisoneofthefirstkoansgiventolatter-daystudents.WhentheSixthPatriarchwasaskedbythemonkMyo(Ming)
whatZenwas,hesaid:"Whenyourmindisnotdwellingon
thedualismofgoodandevil,whatisyouroriginalfacebefore
youwereborn?" (Showmcthis "face"and yougetintothe
mysteryofZen.WhoareyoubeforeAbrahamwasbom?When
youhavehadapersonal,intimateinterviewwiththispersonage,
youwillbetterknowwhoyouareandwhoGodis.Themonk
isheretoldtoshakehandswiththisoriginalman,or,ifmeta-
physicallyput,withhisowninnerself.)
When this question was put to the monk Myo, he was
alreadymentallyreadytoseeintothetruthofit.Thequestioning
ismerelyonthesurface,itisreallyanaffirmationmeanttoop>cn
themind ofthe listener. The Patriarch noticed that Myo's
mindwasonthevergeofunfoldingitselftothetruthofZen.
Themonkhad beengropinginthedarklong andeamesdy;
hismind hadbecomemature, so matureindeedthat itwas
likearipefruitwhichrequiredonlyaslightshakingtocause
ittodropontheground;hismindrequiredonlyafinaltouch
bythehandofthemaster.Thedemandfor"theoriginalface"
wasthelastfinishnecessary,andMyo'smindinstantlyopenedandgraspedthetruth.Butwhenthisstatementintheformofa
questionabout "theoriginalface"isgivento anovice, who
hashadnopreviousdisciplineinZenasMyohad,itisusually
givenwiththeintentiontoawakenthestudent'smindtothe