AN INTRODUCTION TO ZEN BUDDHISM
or"Ihearasound,"or"Isecthefist," Zenisnomorethere.
Itislikeaflashoflightning,thereisnoroom,notime,inZen
evenforathoughttobeconceived.Wespeakofakoanora
systemonlywhenwecometothepracticalorconventionalside
ofit.Ashasbeensaidbefore,itisreallyacondescension,an
apology,acompromise,thatthispresentworkhasbeenwritten
;muchmorethewholesystematizationofZen.
Tooutsidersthis"systematization"appearstobenosystema-
tization,foritisfullofcontradictions,andevenamongtheZen
mastersthemselvesthereisagreat dealofdiscrepancy, which
is quite disconcerting.Whatone asserts anotherflatlydenies
ormakesasarcasticremarkaboutit,sothattheuninitiatedare
atalosswhattomakeoutofalltheseeverlastingandhopeless
entanglements.ButthefactisthatZenreallyoughtnottobe
consideredfromitssurface;such termsassystem,rationality,
consistency,contradiction,ordiscordancebelongtothesurface
ofZen;tounderstandZenwearctoturnupthewholepiece
ofbrocadeandexamineitfromtheotherside,wherewecan
trace ata glanceall theintricaciesofwoofandwarp. This
reversingoftheorderisverymuchneededinZen.
Letusquoteanexampletoseehowitistreatedbydifferent
masters.Funyo,agreatZenmasteroftheT'angdynasty,said,
"Ifaman knowswhat thisstaflfis, hisstudyofZencomes
toaclose."Thisseemstobeasimpleenoughkoan.Themaster
generallycarriesalongstaflfwhichisnowakindofinsigniaof
hisreligiousauthority,butinancientdaysitwasreallyatravel-
lingstick that was useful in climbing mountains or fording
streams.Beingoneofthemostfamiliarobjects,itisproduced
anytime bya masterbeforehiscongregation toillustratea
sermon;itisoftenthesubjectofagreatdiscussionamongthe
monks.ChoofRokutan,anotherZenmaster,apparentlyopposed
theviewoftheprecedingmaster, Funyo, whenhe declared,
"Ifamanknowswhatthestaflfis,hewillgotohellasstraight
asanarrowflies."Ifthisisthecase,noonewillbeinducedto
studyZen;butwhatdoesChoreallymean?Ho-an,stillanother
Zenmaster,makesastatementaboutthis staff",whichis not
radical;heisquiterationalandinnocentwhenhesays,"Ifa
manknowswhatthestaffis,lethimtakeitandputitupagainst
thewalloverthere."Arcthesemastersallassertingthesame