AN INTRODUCTION TOZEN BUDDHISM
spadelyinginfrontofyou,andholdingitforth,makesthebolddeclaration,"Iholdaspade,yetIholditnot."Noreferenceis
madetoGodortothesoul;thereisnotalkabouttheinfiniteora
lifeafterdeath.Thishandlingofahomelyspade,amostordinarythingtoseeaboutus,opensallthesecretsweencounterinlife.
Andnothingmoreiswanted.Why?BecauseZenhasnowcleared
upanew approachtotherealityofthings. Whenahumble
flowerinthecranniedwallisunderstood,thewholeuniverseand
allthingsinitandoutofitareunderstood.InZenthespadeisthe
keytothewholeriddle.Howfreshandfulloflifeitis—thewayZengrappleswiththeknottiestquestionsofphilosophy
!A notedChristianFatheroftheearly MiddleAges once
exclaimed:"OpoorAristotle!Thouwhohasdiscoveredforthe
hereticstheartofdialectics,theartofbuUdingupanddestroying,
theartofdiscussingallthingsandaccomplishingnothing!"Somuchadoaboutnothing,indeed!Seehowphilosophersofall
ages contradict one another aftersj>ending all their logicalacumenandanalyticalingenuityon theso-calledproblemsof
science andknowledge. Nowonderthe sameold wiseman,
wantingtoputastoponceforalltoallsuchprofidessdiscussions,hasboldlythrowmthefollowingbombrightintothemidstof
thosesand-builders: "Certum estquia impossibleest";or, more
logically,"Credoquiaabsurdumest."Ibelievebecauseitisirra-
tional;isthisnotanunqualifiedconfirmationofZen?Anoldmasterbroughtouthisstickbeforeanassemblageof
monksandsaid:"Omonks,doyouseethis?Ifyouseeit,what
isityousee?Wouldyousay,Itisastick?Ifyoudoyouarc
ordinarypeople,youhavenoZen.Butifyousay,'Wedonotsee
anystick,'thenIwouldsay,'HereIholdone,andhowcanyou
denythefact?'"ThereisnotriflinginZen.Untilyouhavea
thirdeyeop>enedto seeintotheinmostsecretofthings, youcannotbeinthecompanyoftheancientsages.Whatisthisthird
eyethatseesthestickandyetseesitnot?Wheredoesonegetthis
illogicalapprehensionofthings?Zensays, "Buddha preachedforty-nineyearsand yethis
'broadtongue' (tanujihva) never oncemoved." Canonetalk
withoutmovingone's tongue? Whythis absurdity?Theex-
planationgivenbyGensha(Hsuan-sha,831-908)follows:"All
thosepiouslyinclinedprofesstobless othersineverypossible