PRACTICAL ZEN
thatisinthewrongwithme."Isthisnotsimpleenough?—jxist
callingonebyname?Chu'slastcommentmaynotbesovery
intelligiblefrom an ordinary logical p>oint ofview, but one
callingandanotherrespondingis oneofthecommonestand
most practicalaffairs oflife. Zen declares that the truthis
preciselythere,sowecanseewhatamatter-of-factthingZen
is.Thereisnomysteryinit,thefactisop)entoall:Ihailyou,
andyoucallback;one"hallo!" callsforthanother"hallo!"
andthisisallthereistoit.
Ryosui(Liang-sui)wasstudyingZenunderMayoku(Ma-ku,
acontemporaryofRinzai),andwhenMayokucalledout,"O
Ryosui!" he answered, "Yes!" Thus called three times, he
answered three times, when the master remarked, "O you
stupid fellow!" This brought Ryosui to his senses; he now
imderstoodZenandexclaimed: "Omaster,don'tdeceiveme
anymore.IfIhadnotcometoyouIshouldhavebeenmiserably
ledastrayallmylifebythesutrasandthesastras." Lateron
Ryosuisaidtosomeofhisfellow-monkswhohadbeenspending
theirtimeinthemasteryofBuddhistphilosophy,"Allthatyou
know,Iknow;butwhatIknow,noneofyouknow."Isitnot
wonderfulthat Ryosuicouldmakesuch anutterancejustby
understandingthesignificanceofhismaster'scall?
Dotheseexamplesmake thesubjectin handany clearer
ormoreintelligiblethanbefore?Icanmultiplysuchinstances
indefinitely, but thosesofar citedmay sufficeto show that
Zenisafterallnotaverycomplicatedaffair,orastudyrequiring
thehighestfacultyofabstractionandspeculation.Thetruthand
p>ower ofZen consists in its very simplicity, directness, and
utmost practicalness. "Good morning; howare you today?"
"Thankyou,Iamwell"—hereisZen. "Pleasehaveacupof
tea"—this,again,isfullofZen.Whenahungrymonkatwork
heardthedinner-gongheimmediatelydroppedhisworkand
showedhimselfin thedining-room. Themaster, seeinghim,
laughed heartily, forthe monk had been acting Zen to its
fullestextent.Nothing couldbemorenatural; theonething
needfulisjusttoopenone'seyetothesignificanceofitall.
ButhereisadangerousloopholewhichthestudentofZen
oughtto be especially careful to avoid. Zen must never be
contusedwithnaturalismorhbertinism,whichmeanstofollow