A monk asked Kyuho,
“What is the head?”
Kyuho said,
“Opening the eyes and not perceiving the dawn.”
The monk said,
“What is the tail?”
Kyuho said,
“Not sitting on a ten-thousand-year-old sitting place.”
The monk said,
“What if there is a head, but no tail?”
Kyuho said,
“After all, it is not valuable.”
The monk said,
“What if there is a tail, but no head?”
Kyuho said,
“Being complacent, yet having no power.”
The monk said,
“What if the head matches the tail?”
Kyuho said,
“The descendants will prosper, but it is not known in the room.”
Hyakujo, the Chinese Zen master, used to labor with his pupils even at the age of eighty, trimming the gardens, cleaning the grounds, and pruning the trees.
The pupils felt sorry to see the old teacher working so hard, but they knew he would not listen to their advice to stop, so they hid away his tools. Read the rest of this entry »
Sitting quietly, doing nothing,
Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.
Emperor Bu of Ryo asked Great Master Bodhidharma,
“What is the highest meaning of the holy reality?”
Bodhidharma replied,
“Vast and void, no holiness.”
The emperor said,
“Who are you in front of me?”
Bodhidharma said,
“I don’t know.”
The emperor did not match him.
Finally, Bodhidharma crossed the Yangtse River and came to the Shorin Temple.
There he sat for nine years, facing the wall.
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.
Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.
One day Banzan was walking through a market. He overheard a customer say to the butcher, “Give me the best piece of meat you have.” “Everything in my shop is the best,” replied the butcher. “You can not find any piece of meat that is not the best.” At these words, Banzan was enlightened.
One day as Manjusri stood outside the gate, the Buddha called to him, “Manjusri, Manjusri, why do you not enter?” Manjusri replied, “I do not see myself as outside. Why enter?”
Sekiso lived and taught on the Southern Mountain, and Kankei lived and taught on the Northern Mountain. One day, a monk came from the Northern Monastery to the Southern Monastery in search of teaching. Read the rest of this entry »
Zen master:
Kankei,
Sekiso
Once upon a time, Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, went to an assemblage of Buddhas. By the time he arrived, all had departed except for the Buddha Sakyamuni and one girl. She was seated in a place of highest honor, deep in meditation. Manjusri asked the Buddha how it was possible for a mere girl to attain a depth of mediation that even he could not attain. The Buddha said, “Bring her out of meditation and ask her yourself.” Read the rest of this entry »
