A Non-Buddhist Questions the Buddha CASE 65

Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record) 65
CASE 65
A Non-Buddhist
Questions the Buddha
By
Yamada Kôun
Instruction:
While having no form it has form. It is complete emptiness which
stretches out in all directions. While having no mind it responds. It spreads out
through the universe with no difficulty. In holding up one, he clarifies three. His
eye immediately discerns pennyweights and ounces. Even if the blows of your
stick fall like rain and your shout is like rolling thunder, you have yet to gain the
behavior of the truly outstanding person. But just tell me, what is the affair of
the truly outstanding person? To test, I cite this case. Look!
Case:
A non-Buddhist asked the Buddha, “I do not ask about words, I do not ask
about no-words.” The World-Honored One just sat still. The non-Buddhist
praised him, saying, “The World-Honored One in his great benevolence and great
mercy has opened the clouds of my delusion and enabled me to enter the way.”
After the non-Buddhist had left, Ananda asked Buddha, “What realization did the
non-Buddhist have that he said he had entered the way?” The Buddha replied,
“He is just like a fine horse that runs at the shadow of the whip.”
Verse:
The wheel of activity has never yet turned.
If it were to turn it would definitely run into two.
A bright mirror is suddenly put on the stand.
It instantaneously discerns the beautiful and the ugly.
When the beautiful and ugly are discerned the clouds of delusion open.
Where is there any place for dust to appear on the gate of compassion?
Therefore I think of the good horse discerning the shadow of the whip.
After he has pursued the wind for a thousand li, I call him back.
Upon my calling him and his turning back, I snap my fingers three times.
On the Instruction:
While having no form it has form. It is complete emptiness which stretches
out in all directions. While having no mind it responds. It spreads out through the
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universe with no difficulty. These first two lines form a pair speaking about our essential
nature. You can also see them as a reference to Mu. Our true self is just like this. To realize
Mu is to realize this world to some degree. “While having no form it has form.” Recall the
words from the Hannyashingyô-Sutra: “Form is only emptiness, emptiness is only form.”
While having no form at all, it is there. And while it is there, it is completely empty. The
phenomenal world changes from moment to moment, and we don’t have to be experts on
quantum theory to know this. Your own body is not the same body that was there yesterday;
the content is changing constantly at an extremely fast rate. Some people understand this
constant change and the lack of a lasting or fixed form to be that which is referred to in
Buddhism as mujô or impermanence. They extrapolate and say this is emptiness [kû]. When
you observe the quickly flowing waters of a river from a distance it would seem to be the same
river which has existed from time immemorial. Look more closely and you realize that there is
never the same water in one place. There is nothing you can point to and say that this
composes the river. Some people will use this example in talking of impermanence or
emptiness in a Buddhist sense. They see emptiness [kû] as equal to impermanence. The
famous Buddhist scholar, Inoue Shûten, for example, maintained this theory.
I discussed this once with Yasutani Roshi: “I can accept that the water in the river is
constantly changing. But does the constantly changing water actually exist? ”If we have truly
grasped emptiness, there is no way we could point to the constantly changing phenomenal
world and call it emptiness. For in actuality, even this does not exist. Yasutani Roshi replied,
“This is a very big problem. Most people wouldn’t be able to understand up to that point.”
Recall the lines from the Shôdôka [Song upon Realizing the Way]: “When we have truly
realized there is not one thing.” This doesn’t leave any room for talking about impermanence
or emptiness. “When we realize actuality, there is no distinction between mind and thing, and
the path to hell instantly vanishes.” When we have truly realized the true nature of the
universe there are neither persons nor things. There is neither subject nor object. There is
nothing at all. There is “not a speck of cloud obstructing the eye.” How can we talk in terms
of “constant flow”? Make no mistake. When we speak of emptiness (kû) we are talking about
the universe itself which is totally empty. This is what we realize in the Zen experience.
And yet, as the Instruction says, “while having no form it has form.” The phenomenal
world extends out before us in its myriad forms, but is totally empty. “Form is emptiness,
emptiness is form.” The “is” could be a source of confusion. We might be tempted to conclude
that form and emptiness are two different things which somehow equal each other as A equals
B. They are actually one and the same. But only direct experience will make this
understandable.
It fills space in the ten directions. When we say that it “fills space,” it might
sound as if something is there, but there is actually nothing at all. Though it totally fills the
whole universe, we will never see it. “Is there such a thing?” you may ask. Yes, there is.
Consider your own mind. Can you grasp your own mind? You absolutely cannot grasp your
mind with your five senses. But does that mean that it doesn’t exist? Of course not. For
there you are listening to me and watching me right now. Sometimes you feel happy,
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sometimes sad. It is impossible to grasp with our five senses this heart-mind which sees,
hears, feels happy or sad. And yet it exists.
According to recent discoveries in quantum mechanics, elementary particles appear
out of nowhere for billionths of a second and then disappear again. It’s amazing in itself that
physicists are able to calculate this. But where is the world from which these elementary
particles come?
As the Instruction tells us, this substance fills the universe in all directions; it
completely fills limitless space. This is essential nature, the true fact.
While there is no mind, it responds. Now we are talking solely in terms of the
objective world. The true reality is the true self, and the true self is the true reality. They
are one and the same. “No mind” means the activity which completely lacks any type of trying
or attempting. And in this way it responds perfectly. We hear without our trying to do so.
When I call out, “Mr. Smith!”, he responds with “Yes!” If I am itching when I am sleeping,
my hand stretches out involuntarily to scratch the itchy spot. These are all examples of “while
there is no mind it responds.” And although it responds, it is totally empty. When pressed to
give a name to it, we call it “mind” or “heart” [kokoro]. The true substance of this no-mind or
no-form “spreads out through the universe with no difficulty.” The universe contains myriad
solar systems.
The ancient Indians were constantly thinking in terms of the absolute or the infinite, a
fact which we can surmise from looking at the sutras. For example, there is the expression
“three thousand great thousand worlds.” According to this theory, a collection of one thousand
solar systems is a “small thousand worlds.” And when a thousand of these “small thousand
worlds” are gathered together we have a “middle thousand worlds.” And when, now, a
thousand “middle thousand worlds” are gathered together we have a “large thousand worlds.”
Finally, when three thousand of these “large thousand worlds” are gathered together we have
“three thousand large thousand worlds.” But the actual universe is evidently far vaster even
than that! At any rate, the Indians went to great pains to somehow explain the infinite
universe. For example, they considered the number of solar systems to be equal to the sands
of the Ganges River, that is to say, limitless. Just when I was thinking this was impossible, I
received information to the contrary!
The other day I had a visit from a certain Chris Fang. This gentleman, an extremely
fine fellow, was born in China but later became an American citizen. I first met him at a Zen
sesshin in Hawaii several years ago. When I met him at that time he was working as a
gardener’s helper, part-time work which he was forced to take to support himself. He is
actually an astronomer by profession with a Ph.D. in that field. In Switzerland there is an
association for outstanding astronomers who receive research grants from the Swiss
government. Every two years a research conference is held there and Chris was on his way
back from that meeting.
I had difficulty understanding the explanation of astronomy which he expounded to me
during his stay here. He used the expression “dark sea” in referring to the vast area of space
in which our solar system finds itself and the unimaginably vast distances between our own
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solar system and the next one. And yet all of these individual solar systems go on to comprise
what we know as the Milky Way. And this Milky Way, in which our solar system is only a tiny
speck, is revolving! There are limitless numbers of these dark seas. Astronomers will take
pictures of the sky on the last day of the year and use brightness as a means of measuring
distance, which is invariably in terms of billions of light years. As you know, a light year is the
distance a beam of light travels in a year. Thus, to speak in terms of billions of light years
truly defies the imagination. This also means that the light we see from the stars now was
actually emitted billions of years ago.
I asked him what was happening at the end of the universe but even he didn’t know the
answer to that. At any rate, the universe is truly limitless and beyond our wildest imaginings.
The people of ancient India did not prove this with their mathematics, but they did have an
intuitive or intellectual grasp of this vastness, which is to their credit.
The substance which totally fills this incredibly vast space is no other than the
substance of our own essential nature. This may be hard for you to believe upon just hearing
it. I can hear some of you saying, “My essential nature filling the universe? Why, I’m just an
ordinary office worker!” But it’s really true. I wish for each of you to experience this yourself.
In holding up one, he clarifies three. His eye immediately discerns
pennyweights and ounces. Here is a person like the non-Buddhist in the main case who
only needs to hear about one to understand three. It is an expression of extremely quick
perception. He doesn’t even need a scale to immediately guess the weight of even very small
objects. This, too, is a metaphor for an extremely quick-witted person.
Even if the blows of your stick fall like rain and your shout is like rolling
thunder, you have yet to gain the behavior of the truly outstanding person. The
first two lines speak about the extremely vigorous activity of the true Zen person as shown in
Tokusan’s use of the stick or Rinzai’s cries of Katsu! No matter what the student asked,
Tokusan would immediately hit him with his stick. Blows falling like rain must be numerous
indeed. Shouts like rolling thunder, being Rinzai’s specialty, must be a reference to that
illustrious master. But, as the Instruction tells us, even a Zen person with such intensity has
yet to reach the state of the truly outstanding Zen person. Recall the first lines of the
Instruction: “While having no form, it has form. It is complete emptiness which stretches out
in all directions. While having no mind it responds. It spreads out through the universe with
no difficulty.“
“With no difficulty” is important. In recent days, the labor unions and teachers’ union
often demonstrate for changes. But here there is no strife whatsoever. A “truly outstanding
person” is one who has made this world his or her own. This is clearly a reference to
Shakyamuni Buddha.
The standard for all Zen persons, when we get down right down to it, is Shakyamuni
Buddha himself. Comparing the many masters of the past with Shakyamuni is enough to see
just what level these people had arrived at in their understanding. The sutras and Zen
records contain no mention of the Buddha Shakyamuni ever striking with a stick or shouting
“Katsu!” In today’s koan, for example, the Buddha sat perfectly still in response to the
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non-Buddhist’s question. Shakyamuni is forever the very model of gentleness when he
appears in the koans. Consider, for example, Case 1 of the Book of Serenity: “The
World-Honored One Ascends the Rostrum”:
One day the World Honored One ascended the rostrum. Manjusri struck the
gavel and said, “See clearly the Dharma-king’s Dharma. The Dharma-king’s
Dharma is like this.” The World Honored One then descended from the
rostrum.
Here,too, he reveals the Dharma in his sitting still. Shouts of “Katsu!” and blows from the
stick are still all too green. They have yet to attain the behavior of the truly outstanding
person.
But just tell me, what is the affair of the truly outstanding person? To test,
I cite this case. Look! But what is the behavior of the truly outstanding Zen person. I
will show an example to you now, so look carefully.
On the Case:
A non-Buddhist asked the Buddha, “I do not ask about words, I do not ask
about no-words.” The World-Honored One just sat still. This koan also appears as
Case 31 of the Gateless Gate. The word used in the original text for non-Buddhist, Gedô,
actually refers to any of the approximately 96 non-Buddhist schools of Indian philosophy
existing at that time, all of which were characterized by extremely profound thought, masterful
analysis and penetrating synthesis. For the most part, however, they still concerned
themselves with the phenomenal. The tradition of Indian wisdom evidently had its start in
the Himalayas and then spread out to the rest of India. Although this is just supposition on
my part, I sometimes wonder if this original tradition didn’t eventually spread to Greece and
Rome and become the foundation for Western thought, especially the German schools of
philosophy. I also sometimes wonder if the other branch didn’t then spread out to the East.
That would mean that the encounter which takes place in today’s case is between a
representative of the philosophical tradition which eventually spread to the West and the
Buddha, whom we can see as representing the Eastern tradition of direct, intuitive wisdom.
An outstanding intellect is certainly a great asset. Many are those who believe they
can understand Zen with the intellect. But the ideal Zen experience is seeing with the same
clarity and directness that a mirror has which reflects everything which comes before it.
It often occurs, in the process of working on koans, that people will discover a certain logic
running through them. Instead of directly perceiving the koan as a mirror reflects that which
comes before it, they will come up with an answer in their heads. To be quite frank, this is not
the real thing. Nevertheless, I believe that continuing to work on koans while sitting
steadfastly will deepen the original experience to the point where it can truly reflect like a
mirror.
The non-Buddhist came to Shakyamuni Buddha and said, “I do not ask about words, I
do not ask about no-words.” This is a very crafty question. If the Buddha uses words to
answer, the non-Buddhist will say, “Aren’t those words? That is not what I asked about. I do
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not ask about words and I do not ask about no-words.” He presses Shakyamuni into a corner.
We need not emphasize words or no-words. The important matter is being or non-being. The
non-Buddhist wants to know about that which transcends them both. He asks, “I do not ask
about form and I do not ask about emptiness. I do not ask about the phenomenal and I do not
ask about the essential.” But how does the Buddha respond?
“The World-Honored One just sat still.” You may think that this is no-words, but as
Engo says in his critical comment to this line, “His voice is like thunder.” In his sitting still,
the Buddha emits a voice like thunder. The non-Buddhist was able to realize this on the spot.
“Ha-ha! Now I understand!” He didn’t understand it with his head. Such a realization
would not have been possible on a purely intellectual level. It was true experience which led
him to exclaim as he did. It appears that this man had been practicing with all his might
before he met the Buddha and that his practice had ripened to the point where the response of
the Buddha was enough to touch off true experience.
The non-Buddhist praised him, saying, “The World-Honored One in his
great benevolence and great mercy has opened the clouds of my delusion and
enabled me to enter the way.” It is quite possible that this person later became a
Buddhist disciple. Some books mention similar such encounters. If we look at the
Transmission of Light [Denkôroku], for example, we find several cases which speak of how a
non-Buddhist philosopher of great intellectual brilliance has a dialogue with a Buddhist
patriarch. This person may have been one of them.
After the non-Buddhist had left, Ananda asked Buddha, “What realization
did the non-Buddhist have that he said he had entered the way?” The Buddha
replied, “He is just like a fine horse that runs at the shadow of the whip.”
Ananda was third in the line of patriarchs descending from the Buddha, in other words, the
second patriarch of Indian Buddhism. One of the original disciples of the Buddha, he received
the name Tamon Dai-Ichi [“First Among Hearers”] while acting as attendant to Shakyamuni
for twenty years. Following the death of the Buddha, the Dharma was transmitted to
Mahakasyapa. At the time of this koan, Ananda was still acting as attendant to the Buddha
and had yet to attain realization. He stood on the side and watched this exchange without
understanding what was going on. After the non-Buddhist had left, Ananda asked the
Buddha, “That philosopher just thanked you profusely and said that he had attained
enlightenment. What did he realize?”
The Buddha answered, “He is just like a fine horse that runs at the shadow of the
whip.” Notice that the Buddha makes no attempt to explain the content of the non-Buddhist’s
experience. Instead, he refers to the extremely penetrating, wonderful Zen activity of the
non-Buddhist.
It is said that there are four types of horses. The finest horse is said to start running
when the whip barely touches the hairs on its back. This horse in the koan is even better than
that; he needs only to see the shadow of the whip to be off and running.
The second grade of horse runs when he feels the sting of the whip in his skin, and the
third type when he feels the sting of the whip in his flesh. The fourth and worst type of horse
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will only start running when he feels the sting of the whip in his marrow! How is it for all of
you? Has it penetrated to the marrow yet? (General laughter) But there are horses that will
not even run when the whip penetrates to the marrow! (More laughter) If we add this
classification and the type of horse which runs at the shadow of the whip, we have a total of six
types.
It is said traditionally that, for the practice of Zen, it is not the least bit necessary to be
intellectually brilliant or to be a very learned person or good logician. But quickness of
perception is a definite asset. It has also been said that a sharp mind is important for zazen,
but I do not necessarily agree. The story of Ikkyû Oshô when he was a boy is often quoted as
an example of this. But when we get down to it, this is no more than being quick-witted.
True appropriateness of response emerges from the wisdom of satori. But, as I said, even
before attaining enlightenment, a certain amount of quickness in perception is important. If
we truly make our finest alert efforts we will realize. Such an activity of the heart-mind is
necessary, I feel. Although keen intelligence is not indispensable for Zen, it is necessary to be
sharp and alert in our practice. Dullness is certainly no asset. And this is not limited to zazen.
In everyday life, too, we don’t know what’s going to happen next. We have to be ready for
sudden changes.
On the Verse:
The wheel of activity has never yet turned. If it were to turn it would
definitely run into two. “The wheel of activity” means those activities which appear on the
surface. The wheel of activity which has never turned must be a reference to the essential self.
Having walked the entire day, we have not taken a step. As soon as the activity appears in
the phenomenal world, it must become two; in other words, being and non-being or form and
emptiness. What is that which transcends this? Look at the next lines of the verse.
A bright mirror is suddenly put on the stand. It instantaneously discerns
the beautiful and the ugly. This is referring to how the Buddha just sat still. A perfectly
clear mirror reflects both the ugly and the beautiful. When the non-Buddhist questions the
Buddha, his uprightness and shortcomings, his depth or shallowness are perfectly reflected.
When the beautiful and ugly are discerned the clouds of delusion open.
Where is there any place for dust to appear on the gate of compassion? Both
beauty and ugliness are clearly reflected and the delusions of the non-Buddhist are swept away.
But what does this actually mean? The non-Buddhist has become one with the mirror. He
has become “the non-Buddhist in the mirror.” The two mirrors reflect each other perfectly.
That which is reflected here 1 is reflected here 2 and vice-versa. He realized instantaneously
that it was one and the same. Thus, although he was brought to enlightenment by
Shakyamuni Buddha, he was also completely one with the world of the Buddha. It was at that
moment that the clouds of delusion were finally swept away. There was not the slightest
speck of dust clinging to the Buddha’s mirror of great compassion.
1 Roshi holds up his left hand.
2
He holds up his right hand.
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Therefore I think of the good horse discerning the shadow of the whip.
After he has pursued the wind for a thousand li, I call him back. As the verse says,
it is for this reason that we are drawn to compare the quick response of the non-Buddhist to the
horse which starts to run at the shadow of the whip. “The One That Chases the Wind for a
Thousand Li” was the name of a horse belonging to the Ch’in dynasty. The Emperor of Ch’in
had seven outstanding steeds and the best among them could reportedly run a thousand li
[Chinese miles] in a single day. This is once again a reference to the non-Buddhist. If he is
let loose he will run off in another direction, but the Buddha called him back with his action.
In other words, when the non-Buddhist saw the Buddha sitting still, he suddenly realized and
came back.
Upon my calling him and his turning back, I snap my fingers three times.
Here is Setchô having his say on the matter. “You say that he came back when you called, but
wait! A horse which comes back when called is not worth very much!” The non-Buddhist
came to enlightenment upon seeing the Buddha and “came back.” But a real horse, says
Setchô, should run free with the wind. What was wrong with him while he was still a
non-Buddhist? Is there really any difference between the non-Buddhist before his realization
and afterward?” From the essential standpoint this is quite true. “Upon my calling him and
his turning back, I snap my fingers three times.” A horse which turns back upon being called
is not of much use. The snapping of the fingers is a sign of displeasure. But this snapping of
the fingers actually has two meanings. One meaning is driving it away in displeasure. The
other meaning is a warning, bringing the matter to everyone’s attention. It was traditional
custom to snap your fingers upon entering a room. It was also common practice in old times to
snap one’s fingers upon entering the toilet to drive away impurity. The snapping of the fingers
here in the verse is of the first type, in other words, a sign of displeasure toward the
good-for-nothing horse which immediately turns back when it is called. This is viewing things
from the essential standpoint. Setchô views things from a rather lofty vantage point.
(translated by Paul Shepherd)
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