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Case 41: Joshu's "Great Death"
Joshu asked Tosu,
"What is it if a man who has died a great Death comes back to life?"
Tosu said,
"I don't allow walking about in the night. Come in the daylight."
Hekiganroku - Case 42: Ho Koji's "Beautiful Snow"
Ho Koji [1] was leaving Yakusan. The latter ordered ten of his Zen students
to see Koji off at the temple gate. Koji pointed to the falling snow in the
air and said,
"Beautiful snow-flakes! -- they don't fall on any other place."
At that time there was a student named Zen, who said,
"Where then do they fall?"
Koji gave him a slap. Zen said,
"Koji, don't be so rough."
Koji said,
"If you name yourself Zen student in such a condition, Old En [2] will
never release you!"
Zen said,
"What then would you say, Koji?"
Koji slapped him again and said,
"You see with your eyes but you are just like a blind man. You speak with
your mouth, but you are just like a dumb man."
(Setcho added his comment, "At the first words, I immediately would have
made a snowball and threw it against him.")
[1]: Koji is an honorific for a lay practitioner of Buddhism.
[2]: Usually named Emma-Daio (the King of hell Emma). He is supposed to be the
fearful judge at the entrance of the realm of the dead.
Case 43: Tozan's "Cold and Heat"
A monk asked Tozan,
"When cold and heat come, how should one avoid them?"
Tozan said,
"Why not go to a place where there is neither cold nor heat?"
The monk said,
"What kind of place is it where there is neither cold nor heat?"
Tozan said,
"When it is cold, the cold kills you; when it is hot, the heat kills you."
Hekiganroku - Case 44: Kasan's "Beat the Drum"
Kasan, giving instruction, said,
"Practicing and learning -- it is called 'hearing' (mon);
completing learning -- it is called 'being next [to the fact]' (rin).
When you have passed through these two, it is called 'true passing'
(shinka). "
A monk stepped forward and asked,
"What is the 'true passing'?"
Kasan said,
"Beat the drum."
He asked again,
"What is the true Reality?"
Kasan said,
"Beat the drum."
He asked again,
"I do not ask about the sentence, 'Mind itself is Buddha.'[1]
[But] What does 'Neither Mind nor Buddha'[2] mean?"
Kasan said,
"Beat the drum."
He asked once more,
"When someone who knows the ultimate Truth comes, how should we receive him?"
Kasan said,
"Beat the drum!"
[1]: Cf. Case 30 in the Mumonkan.
[2]: Cf. Case 33 in the Mumonkan.
Hekiganroku - Case 45: Joshu's "Cloth Robe"
A monk asked Joshu,
"The ten thousand Dharmas [1] come down to one.
What does the one come down to?"
Joshu said,
"When I was living in the Province of Sei, I made a cloth robe.
It weighed seven pounds."
[1]: The word "Dharma" means here "phenomenon". "Ten thousand Dharmas" means,
therefore, "all things that exist in the world of phenomena".
Hekiganroku - Case 46: Kyosei and the Raindrops
Kyosei asked a monk,
"What is that sound outside?"
The monk said,
"That is the sound of raindrops."
Kyosei said,
"People live in a topsy-turvy world. They lose themselves in delusion about
themselves and only pursue [outside] objects."
The monk said,
"What about you, Master?"
Kyosei said,
"I was on the brink of losing myself in such delusions about myself."
The monk said,
"What do you mean, 'on the brink of losing myself in such delusions
about myself'?"
Kyosei said,
"To break through [into the world of Essence] may be easy. But to express
fully the bare substance is difficult."
Hekiganroku - Case 47: Unmon's "Six"
A monk asked Unmon,
"What is the Dharma-body [1]?"
Unmon said,
"The six [2] can't grasp it."
[1]: (same note as Case 39) The body of the ultimate Truth (Jap. hoshin, sk.
dharmakaya) or one of the three bodies of Buddha.
[2]: The "Six" means "six roots" (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, consciousness),
"six objects" (color, voice, odor, taste, touch, phenomenon), and/or
"six functions" (see, hear, smell, taste, feel, know). Or it could be
any other "six"-ness.
CASE 48: Tea at Shokei Temple
Minister Ô [1] visited Shokei Temple, where he offered tea. The senior monk
Ro took up the kettle to serve Myosho [2]. But Ro overturned the kettle
[over the tea hearth]. The minister saw this and asked the senior monk,
"What is there under the tea hearth?"
Ro said,
"Deities holding up the hearth [3]."
The minister said,
"If they are deities holding up the hearth, why did they overturn the
kettle?"
Ro said,
"Thousand days of good service -- all is lost in one morning."
The minister flourished his sleeves and went out.
Myosho said,
"Elder Ro, you have eaten plenty of rice in Shokei Temple, and yet
you are simply a [useless] stump in the field."
Ro said,
"What would you have said, Master?"
Myosho said,
"These non-human beings [4] wreaked havoc."
(Setcho said, "At that moment I would have kicked over the tea hearth.")
[1]: Minister Ô was a patron of Shokei Temple.
[2]: Myosho was senior to Ro. He was the abbot of the neighboring temple
and was apparently invited to the tea too.
[3]: The legs of the tea hearth were shaped like demi-gods.
[4]: I.e., the "deities who hold up the hearth".
Hekiganroku - Case 49: Sansho's "Net"
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[1] is just too busy with temple affairs."
[1]: I.e., "I"
Hekiganroku - Case 50: Unmon and the "Dust-Dust Samadhi"
A monk asked Unmon,
"What is the dust-dust samadhi [1] ?"
Unmon said,
"Rice in the bowl, water in the pail."
[1]: The word "dust" comes from the expression "six dust particles", which
means the same thing as the "six objects" (cf. note to Case 47).