English.pd

palace made of gold, silver and jade. Even at night it is as bright as daylight.
In front of the withered tree, blossoms and grass are in eternal
spring. In front of a rock there is a withered tree. There, grasses and blossoms are
always in bloom. To say that all flowers and grasses are blooming out of the withered
tree is not exactly right. The withered tree is “not possessing anything”; the flowers and
grasses are “unlimited treasure.” So, in the middle of “not possessing anything” there is
unlimited treasure. But even this saying is not really right. Nothing as such is
unlimited treasure, the withered tree as such is the flowers and grass. “Not possessing
anything” is a different name for unlimited treasure; withered tree is a different name
for flowers and grass.
O, a tongueless person, tongueless person! How fitting is the
one phrase – a full manifestation of the absolute command. One phrase
– “tongueless person” – is enough. As I said before, it refers to the “really” tongueless
person. A tongueless person is mountains, rivers, happiness, sadness, an old person, a
child, life, death, and at the same time none of these have any shape or form, but are
indeed “a tongueless person.” All we can say is that this is truly a mysterious world.
As he walks alone in his sovereign realm, all is perfectly clear.
Well then, – let people under heaven be merry and enjoy themselves!
Under the heavens and on the earth I alone am honored The whole universe is I myself
– this fact is so clear. When you clearly understand this fact you are completely at peace
and free for the first time. Nevertheless, people usually do not realize this and live
merrily in a carefree way.
With this we come to the end of my teisho on this koan. As a reference, I
would like to offer Koun Roshi’s comments on this koan and my thoughts related to this.
Neither Koun Roshi’s comments nor my views are to be considered the “official”
interpretation. These are simply offered as reference for your own practice. So please
take them as such.
Koun Roshi notes that this is just his own personal view and leaves us the
following comment: “I cannot help but think that Rakuho’s “Katsu” in the case and
Rinzai’s “Katsu” are on the level of that which takes away the dualistic view of
subject-object in the phenomenal world. When a kendo master shouts “Mee-n!” in a
match, and when a pianist plays the piano, these also take away the subject-object
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