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Shoyoroku - Case 33: Sansho's "Golden Scales" [1]
Sansho asked Seppo,
"When a fish with golden scales has passed through the net, what should
it get for food?"
Seppo said,
"I will tell you when you have passed through the net."
Sansho said,
"A great Zen master with 1500 disciples doesn't know how to speak."
Seppo said,
"The old monk is just too busy with temple affairs."
[1]: see case 49 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 34: Fuketsu's "Speck of Dust" [1]
Fuketsu, giving instruction, said,
"If one raises a speck of dust, the house and the nation prosper. If one
does not raise a speck of dust, they perish."
Setcho held up his staff and said,
"Is there anyone who lives and dies with this?"
[1]: see case 61 Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 35: Rakuho's Obeisance
Rakuho came to Kassan and without bowing stood facing him. Kassan said,
"A chicken dwells in the phoenix nest. It's not of the same class. Go away."
Rakuho said,
"I have come from far away, hearing much about you. Please, Master, I beg
you to guide me."
Kassan said,
"Before my eyes there is no you, and here there is no old monk [1]."
Rakuho shouted,
"Kaatz!"
Kassan said,
"Stop it, stop it. Don't be so careless and hasty. Clouds and the moon are
the same; valleys and mountains are different from each other. It is not
difficult to cut off the tongues of the people under heaven. But how can
you make a tongueless person speak?"
Rakuho said nothing. Kassan hit him. With this, Rakuho started to obey Kassan.
[1]: I.e., "I."
Shoyoroku - Case 36: Master Ba Is Ill [1]
Great Master Ba was seriously ill. The temple steward asked him,
"Master, how are you feeling these days?"
Great Master said,
"Sun-faced Buddha, Moon-faced Buddha."
[1]: see case 3 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 37: Isan's "Karma-Consciousness"
Isan asked Kyozan,
"Suppose a man asks you, saying, 'All living beings are tossed in a vast
karma-consciousness, and have no foundation to rely upon.' How would
you check him?"
Kyozan said,
"If such a monk appears, I call out to him, 'Mr. So-and-so!' When he turns
his head, instantly I say, 'What is this?' If he hesitates, then I say to
him, 'Not only is there a vast karma-consciousness, but also there is no
foundation to rely upon.'"
Isan said,
"Good."
Shoyoroku - Case 38: Rinzai's "True Person"
Rinzai instructed his assembly and said,
"There is one true person of no rank, always coming out and going in
through the gates of your face [1]. Beginners who have not yet witnessed
that, look! look!"
Then a monk came out and asked,
"What is the one true person of no rank?"
Rinzai descended from the rostrum and grabbed him. The monk hesitated.
Rinzai pushed him away and said,
"The true person of no rank -- what a shit-stick you are!"
[1]: I.e., sense organs such as eyes, nose, ears, tongue, etc.
Shoyoroku - Case 39: Joshu's "Wash Your Bowls" [1]
A monk asked Joshu,
"I have just entered this monastery. I beg you, Master, please give me
instructions."
Joshu asked,
"Have you eaten your rice gruel yet?"
The monk answered,
"Yes, I have."
Joshu said,
"Then wash your bowls."
[1]: see case 7 of Mumonkan.
Shoyoroku - Case 40: Unmon's "White and Black"
Unmon asked Kempo,
"May I ask for your answer [1]?"
Kempo said,
"Have you ever reached this old monk or not?"
Unmon said,
"If so, I must say I was too late."
Kempo said,
"Is that so? Is that so?"
Unmon said,
"I thought I was Marquis White, but I find that here is Marquise Black [2]."
[1]: A literal translation. It is possible to understand the word simply as
"instruction."
[2]: Marquis White and Marquise Black are noted thieves in Chinese folklore.
Marquise Black, a female thief, seems to have been the cleverer of the two.
Shoyoroku - Case 41: Rakuho at His Deathbed
When he was about to die, Rakuho addressed his assembly and said,
"I have one matter to ask you about. If you say 'yes' to this, you are
putting another head on your own. If you say 'no,' you are looking for life
by cutting off your head."
The head monk said,
"The green mountain always lifts up its legs; you don't need to carry a
lantern in the daylight." [1]
Rakuho said,
"What time is this to utter such a saying?"
A senior monk named Genjo stepped forward and said,
"Apart from these two ways, I beg you, Master, not to ask."
Rakuho said,
"That's not enough. Say some more."
Genjo said,
"I cannot say it fully."
Rakuho said,
"I don't care whether or not you can say it fully."
Genjo said,
"I feel just like an attendant who has nothing to respond to his master." [2]
That evening, Rakuho called Genjo to him and said,
"Your response today had something quite reasonable. You have to realize
what our late master [3] said,
'There are no dharmas before the eyes,
Yet consciousness is before the eyes.
IT is not the Dharma before the eyes,
IT cannot be reached by eyes and ears.'
Which phrase is the guest? Which phrase is the host? If you can sort them
out, I will transmit the bowl and robe to you."
Genjo said,
"I don't understand."
Rakuho said,
"You must understand."
Genjo said,
"I really don't understand."
Rakuho uttered a kaatz and said,
"Miserable, miserable!"
[Another] monk asked,
"What would you like to say, Master?"
Rakuho said,
"The boat of compassion is not rowed over pure waves. It's been wasted
labor releasing wooden geese down the precipitous strait [4]."
[1]: Most probably a saying formed by Rakuho himself.
[2]: Apparently an idiomatic expression meaning, "I can't describe it in words."
[3]: Rinzai or Kassan.
[4]: It was a custom that the boat rushing down the stream through a gorge
released pieces of wood ahead as a warning so that a possible crash with
the boat coming upstream could be avoided. These wooden chips were
called "wooden geese."
Shoyoroku - Case 42: Nanyo and the Water Jug
A monk asked National Teacher Chu of Nanyo,
"What is the essential body [1] of Vairocana Buddha [2]?"
National Teacher said,
"Pass me that water jug."
The monk passed him the water jug. National Teacher said,
"Put it back where it was."
The monk asked again,
"What is the essential body of Vairocana Buddha?"
National Teacher said,
"The old Buddha is long gone."
[1]: The so-called "Dharma-body" or dharmakaya.
[2]: The principal Buddha.
Shoyoroku - Case 43: Razan's "Appearing and Disappearing"
Razan asked Ganto,
"What if things appear and disappear without ceasing?"
Ganto scolded him saying,
"Who appears and disappears?"
Shoyoroku - Case 44: Koyo's "Suparnin"
A monk asked Master Ho of Koyo,
"The great dragon has emerged from the ocean, calming heaven and earth. How
will you treat him when he suddenly appears before you?"
Master Ho said,
"Suparnin [1], the king of birds, absorbs the entire universe. Who can
stick his head within him?"
The monk said,
"But how about when he does appear?"
Ho said,
"It is like a falcon catching a pigeon. If you don't realize it, you will
learn the truth through the 'inspection before the balcony.' [2]"
The monk said,
"If so, then I'll fold my hands on my chest and retreat three steps."
Ho said,
"You black tortoise under the Sumeru altar. [3] Don't wait to be struck on
the forehead again and get hurt."
[1]: A giant bird that eats even dragons.
[2]: A reference to a story in which Heigenkun Chosho, the brother of the king
of Cho and a wealthy landlord with 3,000 dependents, built a grand palace
with a balcony that overlooked the main road. One day a crippled person
was passing by and one of the concubines saw him and laughed. The crippled
person was angered and demanded Heigenkun her head. Heigenkun presented
the head of an executed convict as the head of the concubine. His
dependents knew of his deception, lost faith in their master and gradually
all left him. His fortunes declined, so at last he cut off the head of
the concubine and presented it for the crippled person to inspect. After
that the dependents returned and his fortunes were restored. The story is
an allusion to the fact that you can never hide away the real truth.
[3]: A reference to one of the four carved figures, representing black
tortoises, underneath the Sumeru altar (with the Buddha statue). It is
used here as a symbol of someone who has lost the freedom of movement.
Shoyoroku - Case 45: Four Phrases from the Engaku Sutra
The Engaku [1] Sutra says:
"At all times, you do not raise the delusive mind.
When there are all kinds of illusory thoughts, you do not extinguish them.
Dwelling in the delusory state of mind, you do not add understanding.
Where there is no understanding, you do not distinguish the truth."
[1]: "Engaku" means the perfect awakening of Buddha.
Shoyoroku - Case 46: Tokusan's "Study Accomplished"
Great Master Tokusan Emmyo instructed his assembly and said,
"If you have exhausted to the end, you will realize right away that all
buddhas in the three worlds have stuck their mouths to the wall [1].
Yet there is still one person ­ he is giving a great laugh. If you can
recognize that person, you have accomplished your study."
[1]: I.e., they are unable to open their mouths.
Shoyoroku - Case 47: Joshu's "Oak Tree in the Garden" [1]
A monk asked Joshu,
"What is the meaning of the patriarch's coming from the West?"
Joshu said,
"The oak tree there in the garden."
[1]: see case 37 of Mumonkan.
Shoyoroku - Case 48: Vimalakirti's "Not-Two" [1]
Vimalakirti asked Manjusri,
"What does it mean that the Bodhisattva enters the Dharma-gate of Not-Two?"
Manjusri said,
"I see it like this: in all phenomena, there are neither words nor
explanations, neither presentations nor knowledge; it is beyond all
questions and answers. That is what I understand with 'to enter the
Dharma-gate of Not-Two'."
Then Manjusri asked Vimalakirti,
"All of us have finished giving our explanations. Now you should give your
explanation. What does it mean that the Bodhisattva enters the
Dharma-gate of Not-Two?"
Vimalakirti remained silent.
[1]: see case 84 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 49: Tozan and the Memorial Service
When Tozan held a memorial service for Ungan before his portrait, he mentioned
the episode with the portrait [1]. A monk came forward and asked,
"When Ungan said, 'Just this!' what did that mean?"
Tozan said,
"At that time, I almost misunderstood my master's meaning."
The monk said,
"I wonder whether or not Ungan really knew that IT is."
Tozan said,
"If he did not know that it is, how could he say like that? If he knew that
it is, how did he dare say like that?"
[1]: Tozan was still a young monk under Ungan. One day, when he was leaving his
master, he asked Ungan, "After your passing, if I am asked by someone
whether I have your portrait, what should I answer?" Ungan was silent for
a while and then said, "Just this."
Shoyoroku - Case 50: Seppo's "What Is This?" [1]
When Seppo was living in a hermitage, two monks came to pay their respects.
When he saw them coming, Seppo thrust open the gate of his hermitage with his
hands, jumped out, and said,
"What is this?"
The monks also said,
"What is this?"
Seppo hung his head and retired into his hermitage.
Later, the monks came to Ganto. He asked them,
"Where have you come from?"
The monks said,
"From Reinan."
Ganto said,
"Did you ever visit Seppo?"
The monks said,
"Yes, we visited him."
Ganto said,
"What did he say?"
The monks related what had happened. Ganto said,
"What else did he say?"
The monks said,
"Not a word; he hung his head and retired into his hermitage."
Ganto said,
"Oh, how I regret now that in those days I did not tell him the last word!
If I had told it to him, no one under heaven could do anything against him."
At the end of the summer practice period the monks came back to this
conversation and asked him about its meaning. Ganto said,
"Why didn't you ask me about it sooner?"
The monks said,
"We could not dare to ask you about it."
Ganto said,
"Seppo was born on the same stem as I, but he will not die on the same
stem. If you want to know the last word, it is just this."
[1]: see case 51 of Hekiganroku.
Shoyoroku - Case 51: Hogen's "Boat or Land"
Hogen asked Senior Monk Kaku,
"Did you come by boat or by land?"
Kaku said,
"By boat."
Hogen said,
"Where is the boat?"
Kaku said,
"The boat is on the river."
After Kaku had withdrawn, Hogen asked a monk nearby,
"You tell me, did that monk who was here just now have the eye or not?"
Shoyoroku - Case 52: Sozan's "Dharma-body"
Sozan asked Elder Toku,
"'The true Dharma-body of Buddha is like the empty sky. It manifests its
form corresponding to things -- just like the moon on the water.' [1]
How do you explain the principle of this corresponding?"
Toku said,
"It is like a donkey looking into a well."
Sozan said,
"You put it in a nice way, but you were able to say only eighty percent."
Toku said,
"How about you, Master?"
Sozan said,
"It is like a well looking at a donkey."
[1]: A quotation from a sutra.
Shoyoroku - Case 53: Obaku's "Drinkers" [1]
Obaku instructed the assembly and said,
"You are all drinkers of lees. If you continue to go on your Way like this,
where will the 'Today' [2] be? Do you know that in this great empire of
Tang there is no Zen master?"
Now a monk came forward and said,
"What would you say to the fact that in various places there are people who
accept students and direct their assemblies?"
Obaku said,
"I don't say that there is no Zen; I only say that there is no master."
[1]: see case 11 of Hekiganroku.
[2]: The world of nirvana.