ANINTRODUCTIONTO ZENBUDDHISM
oneoftheseanswersappearsin analtogethernewlightand
becomeswonderfullytransparent.
Beingpracticalanddirecdytothepoint,Zenneverwastes
timeorwordsinexplanation. Itsanswersarealwayscurtand
pithy; thereis nothingcircumlocutory in Zen; themaster's
wordscomeoutspontaneouslyandwithoutamoment'sdelay.
Agongisstruckanditsvibrationsinstandyfollow.Ifwearenot
onthealertwefailtocatchthem;amerewinkingandwemiss
themarkforever.TheyjusdycompareZentolightning.The
rapidity,however,doesnotconstituteZen;itsnaturalness,its
freedom from artificialities, its beingexpressive oflife itself,
its originality—these are the essential characteristicsofZen.
Therefore,wehavealwaystobeonguardnottobecarriedaway
byoutwardsignswhenwereally desiretogetintothecoreof
Zen.Howdifficultandhowmisleadingitwouldbetotryand
understand Zen literally and logically, depending on those
statements which have been givenabove as answers to the
question"WhatistheBuddha?"Ofcourse,sofarastheyare
givenasanswerstheyarepointersbywhichwemayknowwhere
tolookforthepresenceoftheBuddha;butwemustremember
thatthefingerpointingatthemoonremainsafingerandunder
nocircumstancescanitbechangedintothemoonitselfDanger
alwayslurkswheretheintellectslylycreeps inand takestheindexforthemoonitself.
Yet therearephilosopherswho, takingsomeoftheabove
utterancesintheirliteraryandlogicalsense,trytoseesomethingofpantheisminthem.Forinstance,whenthemastersays,"Three
poundsofflax,"or"Adirt-scraper,"bythisisapparentlymeant,
theywouldinsist,toconveyapantheisticidea.Thatistosaythat
thoseZenmastersconsidertheBuddhatobemanifestinghimself
ineverything:intheflax,inapieceofwood,intherunning
stream,inthetoweringmountains,orinworksofart.Mahayana
Buddhism,especially Zen,seemstoindicatesomethingofthe
spiritofpantheism,butnothingisinfactfartherfromZenthanthisrepresentation.Themastersfromthebeginninghaveforeseen
thisdangeroustendency,andthatiswhytheymakethoseap>-
parently incoherent statements. Theirintention is to set the
mindsoftheirdisciplesorofscholarsfreefrombeingoppressed
byanyfixedopinions orprejudicesorso-calledlogicalinter-