An introduction to Zen Buddhism

ZEN A HIGHER AFFIRMATION

thirtyblows.Anabsoluteaffirmationmustrise&om thefiery

crateroflifeitself.

Hoyen(Fa-yen,died1104),ofGosozan(Wu-tsu-shan),once

asked,"Whenyoumeetawisemanonyovirway,ifyoudonot

speaktohimorremainsilent,howwouldyouinterviewhim?"

ThepointistomakeonerealizewhatIcallanabsoluteaffirma-

tion.Notmerelytoescapetheantithesisof"yes"and"no",but

to find a positive way in which the opposites are perfectly

harmonized—thisiswhatisaimedatinthisquestion.Amaster

oncepointedtoalivecharcoalandsaidtohisdisciples,"Icall

thisfire,butyoucallitnotso;tellmewhatitis."Thesamething

hereagain.Themasterintendstofireehisdisciples'mindsfrom

thebondageoflogic,whichhaseverbeenthebaneofhumanity.

Thisoughtnottoberegardedasariddleproposedtopuzzle

you.Thereisnothingplayfiolaboutit;ifyoufailtoanswer,you

arc toface theconsequences. Are yougoingtobeeternally

chainedbyyourownlawsofthought,orareyougoingtobe

perfectlyfreeinanassertionoflifewhichknov^^nobeginningor

end?Youcannothesitate.Graspthefactorletitslip—between

thesethereisnochoice.TheZenmethodofdisciplinegenerally

consistsinputtingoneinadilemma, outofwhichonemust

contrivetoescape,notthroughlogicindeed,butthroughamind

ofhigherorder.

Yakusan (Yueh-shan, 751-634) studied Zen first under

Sekito(Shih-t'ou,700-790) andaskedhim: "Astothethree

divisionsandtwelvedepartmentsofBuddhism,Iamnotalto-

getherunacquaintedwiththem,butIhavenoknowledgewhat-

everconcerningthedoctrineofZenastaughtintheSouth.^Its

followersassertittobethedoctrineofdirectlypointingatthe

mindand attaining Buddhahood througha perceptionofits

realnature. Ifthisis so,howmayIbeenlightened?"Sekito

replied:"Assertionprevailsnot,nordoesdenial.Whenneither

ofthemistothepoint,whatwouldyousay?"Yakusanremained

meditative,ashedidnotgraspthemeaningofthequestion.The

masterthentoldhimtogotoBadaishi(MaTai-shih)ofChiang-

hsi,whomightbeabletoopenthemonk'seyetothetruthofZen.

Thereupon,themonkYakusanwenttothenewteacherwiththe

^Zen,incontradbtinctiontotheotherBuddhistschools,originatedinthe

southernprovincesofChina.