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Shoyoroku - Case 1: The World-Honored One [1] Ascends to the Rostrum [2]
One day, the World-Honored One ascended to the rostrum. Manjusri struck the
table with the gavel and said,
"Contemplate clearly the Dharma of the Dharma-King! The Dharma of
the Dharma-King is like this."
Thereupon, the World-Honored One descended from the rostrum.
[1]: i.e. the Buddha.
[2]: see case 92 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 2: Bodhidharma's "Vast and Void" [1]
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.
[1]: see case 1 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 3: The Indian King Invites the Patriarch
A king of Eastern India invited the twenty-seventh patriarch, Prajna Tara,
for a meal. The king asked,
"Why don't you recite sutras?"
The patriarch said,
"The poor way [1] does not stay in the world of subject when breathing in,
and has nothing to do with the world of objects when breathing out. I am
always reciting the suchness-sutra in millions and millions of volumes."
[1]: i.e., "I."
Shoyoroku - Case 4: The World-Honored One Points to the Ground
When the World-Honored One was walking with his assembly, he pointed to the
ground with his hand and said,
"This place is good for building a temple."
Indra [1] took a stalk of grass and stuck it in the ground and said,
"The temple has been built."
The World-Honored One smiled.
[1]: Exactly: Sakra Devendra. The lord god of the Trayastrimasa Heaven.
Shoyoroku - Case 5: Seigen's "Price of Rice"
A monk asked Seigen,
"What is the essence of Buddhism?"
Seigen said,
"What is the price of rice in Roryo?"
Shoyoroku - Case 6: Master Ba's "White and Black" [1]
A monk asked Great Master Ba,
"Apart from the Four Phrases, beyond one hundred Negations, please
tell me directly, Master, the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from
the West."
Master Ba said,
"I am tired today, I can't explain it to you. Go and ask Chizo."
The monk asked Chizo about it. Chizo said,
"Why don't you ask our master?"
The monk said,
"He told me to ask you."
Chizo said,
"I have a headache today, I can't explain it to you. Go and ask Brother Kai."
The monk asked Brother Kai about it. Kai said,
"I don't understand nothing about that question."
The monk told Great Master Ba about it. Great Master said,
"Chizo's head is white, Kai's head is black."
[1]: see case 73 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 7: Yakusan Ascends the Rostrum
Yakusan had not ascended the rostrum for a long time. The temple steward said,
"All the assembly has been wishing for instruction for a long time. Please,
Master, give your assembly a sermon."
Yakusan had the bell rung. The assembly gathered. Yakusan ascended the rostrum
and sat there for a while. Then he descended and returned to his room. The
temple steward followed him and asked,
"You said a while ago that you would give the assembly a sermon. Why
didn't you speak even a word?"
Yakusan said,
"For sutras, there are sutra specialists; for sastras [1], there are
sastra specialists. Why do you have doubts about this old monk [2] ?"
[1]: Books on Buddhist doctrines, written by ancient Buddhist philosophers.
[2]: i.e. Yakusan.
Shoyoroku - Case 8: Hyakujo and the Fox [1]
Whenever Master Hyakujo delivered a sermon, an old man was always there
listening with the monks. When they left, he left too. One day, however, he
remained behind. Hyakujo asked him,
"What man are you, standing there?"
The old man replied,
"In the past, in the time of Kashyapa Buddha, I lived on this mountain as a
Zen priest. Once a monk came and asked me, 'Does a perfectly enlightened
person fall under the law of cause and effect or not?' I said to him,
'He does not.' Because of this answer, I fell into the state of a fox for
500 lives. Now, I beg you, Master, please say a turning word."
Hyakujo said,
"The law of cause and effect cannot be obscured."
Upon hearing this, the old man became greatly enlightened.
[1]: see case 2 of Mumonkan.
Shoyoroku - Case 9: Nansen Kills a Cat [1]
Once the monks of the eastern and western Zen halls in Nansen's temple were
quarrelling about a cat. As he saw this, Nansen held up the cat and said,
"You monks! If one of you can say a word, I will not slay the cat."
No one could answer. Nansen cut the cat in two. Nansen told Joshu what had
happened, and asked him for his view. Joshu thereupon took his sandals, put
them upon his head and went away. Nansen said,
"If you had been there, I could have spared the cat."
[1]: see case 14 of Mumonkan and cases 63 and 64 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 10: An Old Woman near Taizan [1]
There was an old woman on the way to Taizan. Whenever a monk asked her how to
get to Taizan, she would answer, "Go straight on." After the monk had gone a
few steps, she would say, "This good and naïve fellow goes off that way, too."
Later a monk told Joshu about this. Joshu said,
"Wait a bit. I will go and see through her for you."
He went and asked the same question. The next day, Joshu ascended the rostrum
and said,
"I have seen through the old woman for you."
[1]: see case 31 of Mumonkan.
Shoyoroku - Case 11: Unmon's "Two Diseases"
Great Master Unmon said,
"When the light does not penetrate, there are two diseases. Everything is
unclear and things hang before you: this is one disease. Even after you
have realized the emptiness of all things, somehow you feel as if there were
still something there. This shows that the light has not yet penetrated
thoroughly.
Also there are two diseases concerning the Dharma-body. You have reached the
Dharma-body, but you remain attached to the Dharma and cannot extinguish your
own view; therefore you lead a corrupt life around the Dharma-body: this is
one disease. Suppose you have truly penetrated to the end, if you give up
further efforts, it will not do. You examine yourself minutely and say you
have no flaw: this is nothing but a disease."
Shoyoroku - Case 12: Jizo Plants the Rice Field
Jizo asked Shuzanshu,
"Where have you come from?"
Shuzanshu said,
"I have come from the South."
Jizo said,
"How is Buddhism in the South these days?"
Shuzanshu said,
"There is much lively discussion."
Jizo said,
"How could that match with our planting the rice field here and making
rice-balls to eat?"
Shuzanshu said,
"How could you then save the beings of the Three Worlds?"
Jizo said,
"What do you call 'the Three Worlds'?"
Shoyoroku - Case 13: Rinzai's "Blind Donkey"
When Rinzai was about to die, he entrusted Sansho with his Dharma and said,
"After my passing, do not destroy my treasury of the Eye of the true
Dharma [1]."
Sansho said,
"How would I dare destroy your treasury of the Eye of the true Dharma?"
Rinzai said,
"If someone asks you about it, how will you answer?"
Sansho instantly shouted his Kaatz. Rinzai said,
"Who knows that my treasury of the Eye of the true Dharma has been
destroyed by this blind donkey?"
[1]: Originally: shobogenzo.
Shoyoroku - Case 14: Attendant Kaku Offers Tea
Attendant Kaku asked Tokusan,
"Where have all the past saints gone?"
Tokusan said,
"What? What?"
Kaku said,
"I gave the command for an excellent horse like a flying dragon to spring
forth, but there came out only a lame tortoise."
Tokusan was silent. The next day, when Tokusan came out of the bath, Kaku
served him tea. Tokusan passed his hand gently over Kaku's back. Kaku said,
"This old fellow has gotten a glimpse for the first time."
Again, Tokusan was silent.
Shoyoroku - Case 15: Kyozan Thrusts His Hoe into the Ground
Isan asked Kyozan,
"Where have you come from?"
Kyozan said,
"From the rice field."
Isan said,
"How many people are there in the rice field?"
Kyozan thrust his hoe into the ground and stood with his hands folded on his
chest. Isan said,
"There are a great number of people cutting thatch on the South Mountain."
Kyozan took up his hoe and left immediately.
Shoyoroku - Case 16: Mayoku Shook the Ring-Staff [1]
Mayoku, with his ring-staff in hand, came to Shokei. He circled Shokei's dais
three times, shook the ring-staff and stood there bolt upright. Shokei said,
"Right, right!"
Mayoku then came to Nansen. He circled Nansen's dais three times, shook the
ring-staff and stood there bolt upright. Nansen said,
"Not right, not right!"
Then, Mayoku said,
"Master Shokei said, 'Right, right!' Why, Master, do you say, 'Not right,
not right!'?"
Nansen said,
"With Shokei it is right, but with you it is not right. This is nothing
but a whirling of the wind. In the end, it will perish."
[1]: see case 31 of Hekiganroku.