Gateless Gate 17

20
Gateless Gate (Mumonkan, Wumenguan) #17
The National Teacher's Three Calls

Personnel and Date

• NANYANG Huizhong (Nanyo Echu, 675?-775), 7th gen), disciple of Huineng (638-713)
• Danyuan Yingzhen (n.d.), Nanyang's attendant who became his dharma heir. (Their line died out after Danyuan.)
Date guess: ca. 765

Case

The national teacher called his attendant three times, and three times his attendant responded.
The national teacher said, "I thought I was standing alone with my back to you [Literally: “I thought I was obstinately rebellious against you”], but now I find that you are standing alone with your back to me."

Wumen's Comment

The national teacher called three times and his tongue dropped to the ground. The attendant responded three times, emitting the answer with light. The national teacher was old and lonely. He held the cow's head and forced it to eat grass. The attendant would have none of it; delicious food has little attraction for a man who has had enough to eat. Just tell me, where are they standing alone with their backs to each other? When the country is prosperous, persons of talent are esteemed; children of rich families are proud to eat plain food.

Wumen's Verse

We must carry an iron yoke with no hole,
It is not a slight matter, the curse is passed on to our descendants;
If you want to support the gate and sustain the house,
You must climb a mountain of swords with bare feet.

Aitken's Comment

Since the attendant was a veteran monk, the second call was fresh and new and so was the third call. He never became dulled by repetition because he was no longer oriented to sequence. Every impulse from the vernal universe was of interest to him.

Cleary's Comment

According to one way of interpretation, the metaphorical "disappointment" or "betrayal" in this case is the suggestion implicit in the calling and answering that "there is something," which seemingly could compromise the transcendence and freedom of Zen. By calling attention to this, the teacher counsels people not to become so attached to the framework of study that they lose the real Zen content. Another way of seeing the story is on the other side of the same coin: Zen masters have to teach their disciples not to chase their own imaginations; they have to teach them "nothing," as it were, so that they can unlearn the preconceived ideas that veil them from direct enlightenment. Yet another way to view the story is to see that the teacher was testing the assistant, to see if he had any hidden doubts that would make him vulnerable to being "hooked."

Guo Gu's Comment

You may think that it is your various problems in life that have brought you to practice, but it is actually your perfect buddha-nature that has brought you.
It is precisely Huizhong’s pointless calls and Danyuan’s selfless responses that make this case so wonderful — a splendid meeting of minds: "I thought I wronged you, but actually, it is you who have wronged me." This could be rendered, “How touching! You and I speak the same language. I throw you some construct, some garbage, and you throw it right back at me. Good job!” As a teacher, I must apologize to my students and to you, the reader. All the useless words I’ve passed on to you, creating more fabrications and constructs in order to teach you, amount to nothing really. But how will you respond? If someone calls you three times and does not say a single word, would you get frustrated or annoyed? A teacher has nothing particular he or she wants to say or do. Of course, having a teacher is quite helpful, especially when you encounter a difficulty or a problem that stems from vexations. The benefit of going for an interview is that in the teacher’s presence, not only do you see your own flaws and stupidity, you may actually feel the absurdity of the question — and that you do not have a problem at all. For most of you, if someone called you three times without saying a word, something would stir up within you. Danyuan was not disturbed at all. He was content; his practice was already ripe, and he had already come into his own. There were no vexations left. The best way to respond to the calls of life is with sincerity — a response that comes from your heart, that comes from your being. There is no need to mimic past Chan masters. There’s no need to put on a facade or mask for any act.

Low's Comment

If, as Buddha said, "Throughout Heaven and Earth I alone am the honored One," where do you come in? One response is to say the world is but a dream I am dreaming, which is fine for me but not so hot for you. To bring you into the picture some teachers introduce the "overself" or "cosmic consciousness": we are all part of one great mind. But if we invent a cosmic consciousness we simply complicate the question because we now have three in the equation, me, you, and cosmic consciousness. But let us not forget that when the monk asked Zhaozhou whether a dog has Buddha nature, Zhaozhou replied, "No!" Ask yourself, "Who am I?" or "What am I?" To enter into this question one must ask it in all of its concreteness, all of its thereness, or hereness. Are you something? Are you a sensation, an emotion, a thought? Obviously not; all of these come and go, but they come and go in reference to you. You will not find yourself even in the consciousness because each night you put consciousness on one side and go to sleep. So what are you? You are not nothing; nothing is a pure abstraction. So who or what are you? It is only through the door of yourself that you will come to the Other but this is not to say the Other is a projection or a dream; nor does it mean you are the dreamer.

Sekida's Comment

   The National Teacher wanted to transmit the Lamp of the Dharma, and he had marked out his attendant as his successor. This calling was by way of a final test. "Danyuan," called the teacher. "Yes, sir!" the attendant responded, and kneeling at the doorway of his master's room, he mad obeisance. "Oh, you are here. All right, go back to your room." No sooner had the attendant returned to his room than the master called again, "Danyuan!" "Yes, sir!" Once more the attendant came to the teacher's room, knelt, and bowed. As before, the master merely told him to return to his room. Immediately, however, the teacher called again, "Danyuan!" For the third time the attendant came, knelt, and bowed.
   What does all this calling and coming and going mean? Calling and responding: nothing comes between. Pure cognition is effected. Danyuan heard the teacher's calling and answered with the responding samadhi. The second time and the third time he did not change.
   I long feared that I was betraying you. I had long feared that because of my poor instruction, you were not making good progress in zazen practice.
   But really it was you who were betraying me. The meaning of kofu ("betraying") is to act against the teacher's instruction. But the National Teacher is here using the word as the certification of Danyuan's passing the last test. In Zen the disciple is expected to progress further than the teacher. A Zen proverb says, "When your view is the same as your teacher's, you destroy half your teacher's merit; when your view surpasses your teacher's, you are worthy to succeed him."

Senzaki's Comment

When a Zen teacher calls the name of his disciple, he means to knock at the inner door of the student's buddha-nature. If the teacher had only everyday business in mind, he would not have called a second time. He might say, "Bring me a cup of tea," or "Give me my cloak, as I feel chilly." In Zen, neither master nor disciple should waste time, materials, words, or thought. If Danyuan had no Zen, the teacher might have hit him before calling a second time. If it had been merely ordinary business between them, it would have been dealt with before the second call. In this koan, the teacher is an old man, and wants to make sure of the attainment of his disciple, like an old woman who checks the lock on the door two or three times before she leaves the house. Danyuan, the disciple, joins the teacher's efforts, and answers his calls again and again. Is it not a beautiful picture of beloved ons? If you want to learn Zen, you must understand how to give in.

Shibayama's Comment

The meaning of the poem is that a young lady repeatedly calls out to her maidservant, "Oh, Shogyoku, Shogyoku!" and keeps on talking aloud to the servant -- not, however, because she has any particular business to discuss with the maid; her sole wish is that her lover, who happens to be near, may recognize her voice and know she is there. By calling to his attendant, Master Nanyang is trying to accomplish quite a different objective. The attendant Danyuan, however, read his teacher's mind. Quite innocently he answered "Yes, Master," and did not seem to be the least bit disturbed. This is calling with no-mind; answering with no-mind. No-mind is responding to no-mind in lucid Oneness. Even if a thought of discrimination moves, then subject and object are thousands of miles apart. This mystery of Oneness can be achieved only by actual training, where discipline is at once satori. If I call out "Danyuan!" I have already committed the transgression of giving a false name to the unnamable. And if you answer "Yes, Master" to my calling a false name, you have certainly transgressed against me. This transgression of the father and the son in Oneness beautifully depicts the characteristic of Master Nanyang's Zen.

Old Poem (Shibayama)

Repeatedly she calls out, "Oh, Shogyoku!"
It is for no other purpose
Than that her lover
May recognize her voice.

Old Master's Poem (Shibayama)

A mirror reflects candle lights in the Golden Palace.
A mountain responds to the temple bell in the moonlight.

Yamada Koun's Comment

The national teacher is showing that everything is independent and alone, in a dn with the whole universe. He means, "I though I was standing alone in the whole universe with you lost behind me, but now I find that you are standing alone in the whole universe and that I am lost behind you." With this the national teacher is recognizing the attendant's realization of the essential world. He is saying, "I recognize that you have realized you are standing alone in the whole universe, just as I am." When one thing or person manfests itself on the stage, there can be nothing else. Everything and every person is completely solitary.

Comparison Cases

GG #4: Huo-an said, "Why has the western barbarian no beard?"
GG #12: Every day Master Ruiyan used to call to himself, "Master!" and would answer, "Yes!" Again he would call "Thoroughly awake! Thoroughly awake!" and he would answer, "Yes! Yes!" "Don't be deceived by others, andy day or any time." "No! No!"

Hotetsu's Verse

Calling calls and stands alone, complete.
Answering answers and stands alone, complete.
Thus do you and I, each other's attendant, each other's master,
Disappear into solitary completeness.

Appendix: Alternate Translations

Case

The national teacher called his attendant three times, and three times his attendant responded. The national teacher said, "I thought I was standing alone with my back to you [Literally: “I thought I was obstinately rebellious against you”], but now I find that you are standing alone with your back to me."

Aitken: Chung Kuo-shih called his attendant three times, and three times his attendant responded. Kuo-shih said, "I was about to say that I was ungrateful to you. But the fact is that you are ungrateful to me."

Cleary: The National Teacher called his assistant three times, and three times the assistant responded. The National Teacher said, "I had thought I was disappointing you. Actually it is you who are disappointing me."

Guo Gu: The national teacher called his attendant three times, and each time the attendant responded. The national teacher said, "I thought I wronged you, but actually it is you who have wronged me."

Hinton: Nation-teacher Prajna-Devotion called three times to his attending monk, and three times the attending monk answered. "I was about to say that I've turned my back on you," said Prajna-Devotion. "But it's you -- from the very beginning of things, it's you who've turned your back on me!"

Low: The National teacher called his attendant three times, and the attendant responded three times. The National teacher mourned, "I have always been afraid I was letting you down, but in fact it was you who were letting me down."

Sekida: The National Teacher called his attendant three times, and three times the attendant responded. The National Teacher said, "I long feared that I was betraying you, but really it was you who were betraying me."

Senzaki: Chu Kokushi [Note: Kokushi means "National Teacher," or teacher of the emperor. The teacher in this case is Nan'yo Echu (Chu, abbreviated. Ch.: Nanyang Huizhong), a Dharma successor of Eno (Ch.: Huineng), the Sixth Ancestor] teacher of the emperor, called Oshin, his attendant. Oshin answered, "Yes." To test him, the master called again, "Oshin." Oshin replied, "Yes." Once again Chu Kokushi called, "Oshin." And, once again, Oshin replied, "Yes." Chu Kokushi then said, "I guess I ought to apologize to you, but really you should apologize to me."

Shibayama: The National Teacher called to his attendant three times, and the attendant answered three times. The National Teacher said, "I thought I had transgressed against you, but you too had transgressed against me."

Verse

We must carry an iron yoke with no hole, /It is not a slight matter, the curse is passed on to our descendants; /If you want to support the gate and sustain the house, /You must climb a mountain of swords with bare feet.

Aitken: You must wear an iron cangue with no hole; /this curse passes to descendants, no trivial matter. /If you want to support the gate and sustain the house, /you must climb a mountain of swords with bare feet.

Cleary: The iron stocks have no opening, yet he wants the man to put them on: /The burden extends to descendants, not to be lightly dismissed. /If you want to be able to uphold the school, /You must go on to climb a sword mountain in your bare feet.

Guo Gu: He makes people wear iron fetters with no openings, /Incriminating his descendants so none can be at ease. /If you want to prop open our gate and support the family, /You must climb barefoot up the mountain of knives.

Hinton: A master's burden is like iron prison-stocks without holes: /bequeathed to descendants, it renders idlesness impossible. /If you want to support our house, prop up gates and doors, it's /simple enough: go barefoot, scale mountains of daggers.

Low and Sekida: He carried an iron yoke with no hole /And left a curse to trouble his descendants. /If you want to hold up the gate and the doors, /You must climb a mountain of swords with bare feet.

Senzaki: When the iron yoke has no hole for the head, /The prisoner and the descendants are in double trouble. /If you want to hold up the gate and the door of a falling house /(You must climb a mountains of swords with bare feet.)

Shibayama: An iron collar with no hole, he has to wear it. /It's no easy matter, the trouble passes on to his descendants. /If you want to support the gate and sustain the house, /You must climb a mountain of swords with bare feet.