CASE 89

Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record) 89 

CASE 89 

Ungan’s Hands and Eyes 

By Yamada Kôun 

Instruction: 

The entire body is an eye; there is no seeing. The entire body is an ear; there 

is no hearing. The entire body is a mouth; there is no speaking. The entire body 

is a mind; there is no thinking. Putting aside for the time being the matter of the 

entire body, if you suddenly do not have eyes, how do you see? If you do not 

have ears, how do you hear? If you do not have a mouth, how do you speak? If 

you do not have a mind, how do you think? If you are able here to produce a 

single way, you practice together with the ancient Buddhas. Leaving aside 

matters of practice, just tell me, who will you practice under? 

Case: 

Ungan asked Dôgo, “ What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion do with 

all his hands and eyes?” Dôgo said, “It is like a person groping for his pillow in 

the middle of the night.” Ungan said, “I understand.” Dôgo said, “How do you 

understand?” Ungan said, “The whole body is hands and eyes.” Dôgo said, 

“What you say is very well said. However, you have only succeeded in saying 

eight parts.” Ungan said, “How is it for you?” Dôgo said, “Throughout the body 

is hands and eyes.” 

Verse: 

“Whole body,” that's it. 

“Throughout the body,” that's it. 

Although you may have brought something forth, 

it is still a hundred thousand miles removed. 

Beating its wings, the Roc disperses the clouds in the six directions, 

Driving the wind to blow away the waters of the four seas. 

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What is this dust that has suddenly appeared? 

Have those fine hairs not yet stopped? 

Don't you see how the jeweled net is let down 

to produce endless reflections? 

Where do the hands and eyes at the top of the stick come from? 

Totsu! 

We have come to the final teisho of this sesshin. How quickly the time passes. At such 

times the words, “Life and death are serious matters, all things pass quickly away” come home 

to me with particular force. I just received a telephone call saying that one of my coworkers 

from my days in Manchuria had just passed away. It's a lonely feeling as old friends go on to 

the next world one by one. 

The other day I was telling you about a monk who was in the habit of saying, “He'll be dead 

too someday!” to get over his chagrin when he lost at gambling. I actually used this as the 

theme for my latest Opening Comments in the Kyôshô magazine. When I was still practicing 

under Asahina Sôgen Roshi, former abbot of Engakuji in Kamakura, the Roshi once had 

occasion to speak about the Hannya-shingyô or Prajna-paramita Sutra during one of the 

zazenkai. Most of you are familiar with the beginning lines of that sutra: “When the 

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was engaged in deep Prajna-paramita, he clearly realized the 

emptiness of the five skhandas and passed beyond all suffering. O, Sariputra! Form is no 

other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form. Form is only emptiness, emptiness only 

form.” 

It is my firm conviction that the very essence of Buddhism and Zen is expressed in this 

short sutra. This is what is left when Buddhism has been condensed to the point where it 

cannot be condensed any further. “Engaged in deep Prajna-paramita” means that he had 

profoundly realized the wisdom of satori. At that instant he realized that all phenomena are 

totally empty and was thus relieved of all his suffering and anguish. 

These words in the sutra are attributed to Shakyamuni Buddha himself who was talking about 

Avalokitesvara during one of his sermons. Sariputra was one of the disciples of the Buddha. 

In other words, the Buddha was addressing his words to his disciple when he said that all 

phenomena are no other than emptiness itself, that emptiness is the phenomenal world itself. 

In speaking about that sutra on that occasion, Asahina Roshi told the following interesting 

story. Among the Roshi's friends was a monk who was extremely fond of gambling (probably 

hanafuda 1 ). He received invitations to gamble from all around but usually ended up losing. 

1 

A Japanese card game. 

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Then he felt angry at the person who had won and would go around grumbling until he would 

finally cry out, “Oh well, he'll be dead someday, too!” This apparently had the effect of calming 

his spirits and he would then recover his composure. 

This, too, could be considered a sort of “seeing the emptiness of the five skhandas”! Since 

we all die, everything passes away. That realization was somehow of comfort to this monk. 

Asahina Roshi's comment was that the monk was “saving” himself to some degree by this 

realization, though it might not have been Prajna-paramita in the strictest sense. 

Few indeed are the people who would not be stopped short in their tracks by such a 

statement. Even a big politician, with all his power and influence, would be given cause to 

ponder if he were told, “You'll be dead someday, too!” What would you say in reply? This could 

also be a koan. If you are a true Zen person you must be able to repel this verbal attack. How 

would you do it? 

It's a matter of solving the problem of life-and-death. “Life and death are serious matters, 

all things pass quickly away.” If I were suddenly challenged with such a statement, I would say, 

“Go wash your face and come out again!” In other words, a true Zen person must realize that 

“My world knows neither life nor death” [Waga shari ni shôji nashi]. As Bankei Zenji said, 

“The unborn puts everything in perfect order.” If you are going to present yourself as a Zen 

person you must be able to say unflinchingly, “I know neither life nor death.” Then you can 

pass through any koan barrier with ease. The door to the inmost recesses of Buddhism will be 

opened to you. Indeed, I believe that the door to Christian heaven would be opened as well, 

since there is neither being born nor dying. I want you to realize clearly this fact that “There is 

neither life nor death in my world.” 

On the Instruction: 

The entire body is an eye; there is no seeing. This could be taken as meaning that 

we see with the whole of our physical body, but it would be better to see it as meaning the 

entire universe. The entire universe is an eye, in which case there is neither seeing nor being 

seen. That is why the Instruction says, “There is no seeing.” One of the Miscellaneous Koans 

which we work on immediately after kensho says, “If a person uses colors to see me or sounds to 

find me, that person is practicing a heretical path. He or she will not be able to see the 

Tathagatha.” What should you do? You must become one with the sounds and colors, you 

must forget yourself. 

You practice Mu to forget yourself by melting into Mu to the point where there is no longer 

any distinction between you and Mu. Since Mu is the entire universe which is completely 

empty, when you become one with Mu you suddenly realize your true empty self. The entire 

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universe is an eye, in which case there is no one who sees and nothing which is seen since they 

are completely one. This is why the Instruction says, “There is no seeing.” 

The same goes for the next line: The entire body is an ear; there is no hearing. The 

entire universe is an ear since it is totally one. Thus, there is no sound which is heard and no 

one who hears since hearer and heard are completely one. 

Another koan included in the Miscellaneous Koans is, “Stop the sound of the distant 

temple bell.” I have people coming to me in dokusan with this koan and in reply they will use 

their hands to stop up their ears! This isn't going to stop the sound of that bell. The answer 

is actually very simple. It's simply a matter of becoming one with the sound so that there is 

neither the one listening nor the one listened to. What is left then? This is what you must 

show me. 

How about the next line? The entire body is a mouth; there is no speaking. This 

is the same as the preceding lines. In other words, the entire universe is a mouth. There is 

neither speaking nor no speaking. There is a verse in the sutras: “Though you talk the whole 

day long you have yet to say a word.” This is viewing things from the standpoint of the 

essential world, the world of complete emptiness. In the phenomenal world there is speaking 

the entire day. But viewing things from the essential standpoint there is no talking 

whatsoever. Shakyamuni Buddha's final words before he passed away were, “I have not said a 

single word in forty-nine years.” After the Buddha had his great enlightenment he spent the 

remaining forty-nine years of his life preaching the Dharma. Those sermons are recorded in 

the sutras of which there are some 1,800 separate texts. But from the essential point of view, 

Shakyamuni Buddha is completely right when he says that he never preached a word. It is 

just like a class in which the teacher may fill the blackboard with writing but erases it all at the 

end of the class. 

We could say the same thing about the next part of the Instruction. The entire body is 

a mind; there is no thinking. Since there is essentially no mind there is no thinking. 

Although we spend our entire day thinking about one thing or another there is actually not a 

single thought. This is said, of course, from the standpoint of the Zen person who has truly 

grasped the world of emptiness. As I am always telling you, if you have not yet realized 

emptiness you cannot understand the koans. They seem to be filled with contradictions. 

Thus, people of serious intent who know nothing about Zen will often shake their heads in 

disgust when they read koans, calling them illogical. This is especially true about scientists. 

However, when seen from the standpoint of the essential world, koans are just presenting the 

most ordinary facts. But you have to see this in actual experience; it can never be grasped by 

logic. 

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Putting aside for the time being the matter of the entire body, if you suddenly 

do not have eyes, how do you see? If you do not have ears, how do you hear? If 

you do not have a mouth, how do you speak? If you do not have a mind, how do 

you think? We are told now to put aside the matter of the entire body, of the entire universe 

being one eye, ear, mouth, or mind. What if there is no eye? How do we see? Do you recall 

the line from the Surangama Sutra 2 ? “When I do not see, how is it that I do not see my not 

seeing?” We are asked in the dokusan room to present “when I do not see.” What is “not 

seeing”? It means to become just “one.” “Not seeing” means that there is neither seeing nor 

being seen. So, how would you reply to this koan? Can you give an answer? 

We are asked the same thing about ears, mouth and mind. But since this is difficult to 

understand, a single road should be opened up, a road from which we can understand this. If 

you are able here to produce a single way, you practice together with the ancient 

Buddhas. If we are able to produce this single way we practice together with Shakyamuni 

Buddha and the seven Buddhas of the past, which is to say that our state of consciousness is 

the same as theirs. 

Leaving aside matters of practice, just tell me, who will you practice under? 

But once again, putting aside for the time being this matter of practicing together with the 

ancient Buddhas, is there anyone among ordinary human beings like ourselves who has 

realized this and under whom we can practice? An example of such a person will be given now 

and we are advised to look carefully. 

On the Case: 

Ungan asked Dôgo “What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion do with 

all his hands and eyes?” Ungan and Dôgo were both students of Yakusan Zenji, with Dôgo 

the elder of the two. Ungan, whose full name was Ungan Donjô Zenji, was the teacher of 

Tôzan Ryôkai Zenji. 

One day, Ungan asked the question which appears in the case to his older brother monk. 

What does the Bodhisattva Kannon do with his thousand hands and eyes? The Bodhisattva 

Kannon [Sanskrit: Avalokitesvara] is the Bodhisattva of great compassion while Manjusri is 

the Bodhisattva of wisdom. Many images of Kannon will portray him or her with many hands 

and eyes of which there are said to be a thousand of each. 

In reply to this question, Dôgo said, “It is like a person groping for his pillow in the 

middle of the night.” “It is like a person who unconsciously gropes for his pillow in the 

middle of the night.” Hearing this, Ungan said, “I understand.” Dôgo said, “How do 

2 

The line forms the text of Case 88 in the Book of Serenity (Shôyôroku). 

5


you understand?” Now, “the whole body is hands and eyes,” was the reply. This is much 

the same as that which is said in the Instruction for this koan. In commenting on Dôgo's 

answer about groping for the pillow, Engo Zenji, in his short critical comments appended to the 

case, says that the answer is too lukewarm and fails to present the real fact just as it is. Dôgo, 

in Engo's eyes, is beating around the bush. What is the real fact? How would you present it 

in light of the initial questions about hands? Slap 3 ! That's how I would respond. 

Nevertheless, Ungan understood very well in spite of how lukewarm Dôgo's reply might 

have been. Ungan said, “The whole body is hands and eyes.” In response to this, 

Dôgo said, “What you say is very well said. However, you have only succeeded in 

saying eight parts.” You only get eighty percent for your answer, he says. How typical of 

a Zen exchange where no one ever gets a hundred percent no matter how fine their reply might 

be. 

Ungan said, “How is it for you?” “Well, older brother, how about you?” Dôgo said, 

“Throughout the body are hands and eyes.” I feel that Ungan's first statement, “the 

whole body is hands and eyes” is perfectly fine as an answer. Because the two monks use 

different expressions you might be tempted to conclude that the final answer is somehow 

deeper than the first. You might assume that Dôgo's answer was a hundred percent in 

contrast with Ungan's mere eighty. 

There are actually people who will proclaim out loud their conviction that the second 

answer is better than the first one. When I read statements of this sort I know immediately 

that that person does not know anything about Zen. For example, there is a statement of this 

sort in the book “Tea and Zen” [Cha To Zen]. Although this would no doubt have to be 

examined in detail in the dokusan room, you must be clearly aware of the aspect whereby both 

answers are exactly the same. When I slap with my hand this is both “the whole body is 

hands” and “throughout the body is hands.” How are they any different? Exactly the same. 

All body, all spirit [zenshin zenrei]. 

On the Verse: 

“Whole body,” that's it. “Throughout the body,” that's it. Although you may have 

brought something forth, it is still a hundred thousand miles removed. Both “whole 

body” and “throughout the body” are on the mark. Nevertheless, if you just bring them forth 

as concepts, if there is the slightest intellection mixed in, they are far indeed from the truth. 

“If there is even a hairsbreadth of difference, it is like the difference between heaven and earth. 

“ What this means is that if we have some idea in our head when we say “the whole body is 

3 

Roshi makes a gesture of slapping. 

6


hands and eyes” or “throughout the body are hands and eyes,” it is miles away from the real 

fact. 

Beating its wings, the Roc disperses the clouds in the six directions, driving 

the wind to blow away the waters of the four seas. The next lines of the verse speak 

about the roc, a monstrous bird of Buddhist tradition. They are said in praise of the two 

monks who appear in the main case. The first of the two lines refers to Ungan's “the whole 

body is hands and eyes” and the second of the two lines is about Dôgo's “throughout the body 

are hands and eyes.” 

The great bird mentioned here also appears in the Taoist text attributed to Chuang Tz'u 

where it says, “With one beat of his wings, the roc travels nine-hundred thousand li.” It is said 

that this bird is actually the transfiguration of a great fish. When this bird beats its wings the 

four great oceans are emptied of their waters by the force of the wind to reveal the many 

dragons wriggling on the bottom which the great bird gulps down as its food. These words are 

said in praise of the statement “the entire body is hands and eyes.” 

“Driving the wind to blow away the waters of the four seas.” When the roc flies by, all 

clouds are blown away in an instant, so great is his strength. This is now said in praise of D- 

ôgo’s “throughout the body is hands and eyes.” 

What is this dust that has suddenly appeared? Although the poet has praised the 

two men in the Main Case for their answers, which might seem to be quite something, they are 

actually nothing more than concepts. The “dust” of concepts has suddenly made its 

appearance, the poet says. Having praised them up to now, he suddenly changes his tune. 

Have those fine hairs not yet stopped? This is saying the same thing with different 

words. The fine hairs refer to the extremely subtle thoughts and concepts still remaining. 

Then comes the next line in contrast: Don't you see how the jeweled net is let 

down to produce endless reflections? He has directed our attention to something far 

more wonderful than those answers in the koan. Upon reading these lines of the verse about 

the great roc, I recalled the statements of the astronauts who landed on the moon and who said 

the earth looked truly small from that vantage point. Thus, even if a great bird were to spread 

its giant wings on the earth and send the clouds scudding away, it amounts to nothing from this 

other vantage point. It is like so many fine hairs. The world of our essential nature is truly 

limitless. You could insert any number of universes into it without filling it. Seeing things 

from the standpoint of this essential nature, you can readily see these statements as so much 

dust and fine hairs and wonder why such concepts are still lingering! 

Let us return again to the next to the last line: “Don't you see how the jeweled net is let 

down to produce endless reflections?” These words originally appear in the Kegon [chin.: 

7


Hua-yen] Sutra in the Entering the Dharma World Chapter of that work. Here we can 

imagine a net to which diamonds, crystals and all manner of precious gems are attached. The 

net is completely covered with gems. In each single jewel are reflected all other jewels in an 

endless process of mutual reflection. This is like a curtain hanging down. The images of the 

jewels merge with each other to create a truly wondrous curtain. The poet points our 

attention to the existence of this beautiful world. Although he seemed to be praising the 

answers in the Main Case in the first lines of his poem, he now throws them down. It is said 

that Indra lives in this net of jewels, watching over that world. In that heaven is located 

Indra’s Dharma Hall of Goodness where this jeweled net is hanging in unimaginable splendor. 

Some of you may be wondering by now if such a world really exists. In fact, this is a 

description of our world. For each of us is a jewel in the sense that all beings are intrinsically 

Buddha. Each single thing is the full revelation of the whole. Our true world is not simply 

such a curtain; it is the entire universe. The entire phenomenal world is a great curtain 

covered with jewels giving forth their wondrous light. Each of you is a jewel. This is a truly 

wonderful world. 

Let us proceed now to the final line: Where do the hands and eyes at the top of the 

stick come from? This is speaking about the essential world. This stick 4 hits like this. 

Smack! But it mustn’t be a blind stick! A blind stick is a stick which hits indiscriminately. 

When you hit, your stick must have the eyes to distinguish when it is right to hit. This is true 

about the use of the kyôsaku, for example. The stick is used on someone who is dozing or 

whose spirits have been slackened. But very often the practitioners are hit in succession in 

the early morning hours so that the initial sleepiness is driven away; this is not a case of the 

stick having eyes. 

Here the line from the Verse is referring to the Main Case: “The whole body is hands and 

eyes.” “Throughout the body is hands and eyes.” “Where do those eyes and hands come 

from?” the poet asks us. You must clearly realize that they come from nowhere else but the 

essential world, from the world of total emptiness. But this is the emptiness that contains the 

entire universe. 

Totsu! He calls to us and asks us: “Have you understood?” “Just this!” Or it could be 

understood in the same way as “Katsu!”, blowing away all concepts. Anyway, the koan is over. 

“Totsu!” the poet tells us. 

4 

Roshi takes up his stick. 

8

CASE 89

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