Gateless Gate 34

Gateless Gate (Mumonkan, Wumenguan) #34
Knowing Is Not the Way

Personnel

• NANQUAN Puyuan (Nansen Fugan, 748-835, 9th gen), disciple of Mazu

Case

Nanquan said, “Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the Way.”

Wumen's Comment

It should be said of Nanquan that he has grown old and knows no shame. Just opening his stinking mouth he exposed the disgrace of his own household. There are very few, however, who are grateful for his kindness.

Wumen's Verse

When the sky clears, the sun appears;
When the rain falls, the earth is wet.
With all one’s heart, one has preached everything,
But I fear nobody can believe it.

Longer Version from Record of Zhaozhou

Zhaozhou asked Nanquan, "'Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the Dao.' Is this faulty?"
Nanquan said, "Yes, it is."
Zhaozhou said, "Where does the fault lie? Please, Master, tell me."
Nanquan said, "Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the Dao."

Background: from Zen Teachings of Huangbo

There is only the One Mind and not a particle of anything else on which to lay hold, for this Mind is the Buddha. If you students of the Way do not awaken to this Mind substance, you will overlay Mind with conceptual thought, you will seek the Buddha outside yourselves, and you will remain attached to forms, pious practices and so on, all of which are harmful and not at all the way to supreme knowledge.

Background: from Dogen

Mind is no other than mountains, rivers, and the great wide Earth, the sun and the moon and the stars. At just this moment, what is it that appears directly in front of you? When we say "mountains, rivers, and Earth" we do not merely mean the mountains, rivers, and Earth where you are standing. There are various kinds of mountains such as Great Sumeru and Small Sumeru; some mountains extend widely, so rise up steeply. A billion worlds and innumerable lands can be found in a mountain. There are mountains suspended in form; there are mountains suspended in emptiness.

Aitken's Comment

Mind, Buddha, wisdom, the Dao -- all these are briars, faulty expressions that can lead us astray, yet eminently useful in guiding us if we are prepared for them. Most of us aren't ready, unfortunately, so even the best of the old teachers created confusion. Mind is not Buddha, but Buddha or anything else comes forth as essential mind itself.

Background: from Record of Nanquan (Cleary)

The Way is the Great Way without obstacles; subtle action free from passion is inherently complete. Only thus do you attain freedom in all domains of activity. Therefore we speak of acting without attachment to objects in all domains of activity, and we also refer to absorption in unlimited action, manifesting physical forms everywhere. Just because it is unknown to others, this function has no tracks and does not belong to the realms of perception or cognition. Truth is realized spontaneously, subtle functions are fulfilled spontaneously. The Great Way is formless, truth is beyond comparison. Therefore they do not belong to perception or cognition.

Cleary's Comment

All reference to the absolute is by nature relative. Zen teaching masters can only hint at reality and demonstrate means of perceiving it, but the actual experience of insight is up to the individual. Nanquan's statement of the limitations of human understanding is actually intended to clear the way for insight into a much more subtle experience of reality. Wumen's verse invites us into the experience left unspoken by the ancient master, and reiterates his concern that we take it up for ourselves.

Guo Gu's Comment

“The mind is not buddha. Wisdom is not the way.” There is no awakening, and I have nothing to give you. This case is not even a koan — it’s just an old man complaining about his teacher for being a blabbermouth.
When I say, “There is nothing to seek—no enlightenment, no samādhi, no special realization that I or any master can offer,” do you believe me? Now, this may not help the meditation center pay the rent and other bills; however, it is the truth. My words put Chan and other spiritual teachers out of business.
Why is it that there is no buddha way or no wisdom, no buddhahood to attain, to realize? Chan masters have not made this up. It is because of your sense of lack that you seek. The heart of the matter is, no matter how often the scriptures or Chan masters tell you that there’s nothing to attain, nothing to get rid of, few actually take it to heart. Chan masters state the obvious. Existing in every moment of your waking and sleeping life is your buddha-nature. It is never separate or independent; it animates every moment wonderfully, dynamically, freely. This is the very reason you’re able to have wandering thoughts and not be stuck with them.

Low's Comment

Buddha is mind, Buddha is not mind, mind is not mind, Buddha is not Buddha. What is going on here? Each of these answers is appropriate to the moment, but they do not differ basically from one another. Buddha did not teach the truth, but the way to the truth. He said when one has reached the other shore then this teaching should be abandoned. Nanquan's "Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the Way" is Zhaozhou's "Mu!"

Sekida's Comment

Nanquan means that mind is not what you think it is; the Buddha is not as you think him to be. This is another version of Mazu's "No mind, no Buddha." Mazu was Nanquan's teach and they developed a similar way of thinking. Nanquan elsewhere says that when a Buddha appears, words come into existence, and consequently we become attached to them. Nanquan once said, "The Great Way knows no wise or foolish person, no saint or sinner." Therefore, wisdom cannot cover the Way, and knowledge and reason fall short of the Way.

Senzaki's Comment

Do you remember what Buddha said in the Diamond Sutra? He said, "A bodhisattva who retains the thought of an ego, a person, a being, or a soul is no more a bodhisattva." This case shows the true path of a bodhisattva: "Mind is not Buddha. Wisdom is not the Path." This mind is Buddha and no other, but one who clings to words and postulates an idea of it is far away from the Path. If you meditate on emptiness, you can never empty your mind. If you aim to enter samadhi, you will never reach it. Buddhist wisdom comes directly from one's own buddha-nature. It is not like so-called knowledge, which is merely the psychological result of human experiences. We Buddhists do not discourage ourselves from learning things and accumulating knowledge. We can have as much worldly knowledge as we need, in dealing with the world in a dualistic way. We do not forget, howerver, that we have our own home which is, from the first, perfect and self-sufficient.

Shibayama's Comment

Though these are very important terms for expressing the fundamental Truth of Zen, such words as "mind," "Buddha," "wisdom," and "Dao" are only names temporarily give to the "ever unnameable 'it.'" An old Zen Master therefore warns us, "Be sure to detach yourself from all your clingings. Be sure not to attach yourself to nonclinging either. Names and words are nothing but the result of discriminating intellection. The Truth has been revealed in full in its as-it-is-ness in the past, and so it is revealed in its as-it-is-ness. When you live the Truth as it is, your True Self works freely; it is the peace and freedom of the one who has transcended the distinction of subject and object, yes and no. "Mind is not Buddha; wisdom is not Dao," is the statement flowing out of Master Nanquan's great compassion.

Yamada's Comment

When Nanquan was asked by Zhaozhou "What is the Way?" Nanquan replied, "The ordinary mind is the Way" (GG19). When asked by a monk, "What is the truth that has not been preached?" Nanquan answered, "This is not mind; this is not Buddha; this is not a thing" (GG27). Nanquan's teacher, Mazu, was asked by a monk, "What is Buddha?" and the reply was, "No mind, no Buddha" (GG33). When Nanquan says, "Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the Way," he is trying to exterminate the delusive pictures in our brain which are attached to the fact. From the essential point of view, when we say "Buddha," the whole universe is Buddha. Nothing remains outside of Buddha. When we say "mind," the whole universe is mind. Nothing remains outside of it. It is the same with "knowing" and "Way." From the Zen point of view, the words Buddha, mind, knowing, and Way are nothing other than Mu, the sound of one hand clapping, just sitting or counting breaths.

Hotetsu's Verse

Buddha, Dao, knowing, mind.
Not a one of them is another.
Mind is only mind. Buddha is only Buddha. This is only this.
So how could you be somewhere else?

Appendix: Alternate Translations

Case

Nanquan said, “Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the Way.”

Aitken: Nan-ch’üan said, “Mind is not Buddha; wisdom is not the Tao.”

Cleary: Nanquan said, "Mind is not Buddha, knowledge is not the Way."

Guo Gu: Nanquan said, “The mind is not buddha. Wisdom is not the way.”

Hinton: Wellspring-South Mountain said: “Mind isn’t Buddha, and wisdom isn’t Way.”

Low: Nansen said, “Mind is not the Buddha; knowing is not the Way.”

Sekida: Nansen said, “Mind is not the Buddha; reason is not the Way.”

Senzaki: Nansen said, “Mind is not Buddha. Wisdom is not the Path.”

Shibayama: Nansen said, “Mind is not Buddha; wisdom is not Tao.”

Verse

When the sky clears, the sun appears; /When the rain falls, the earth is wet. /With all one’s heart, one has preached everything, /But I fear nobody can believe it.

Aitken: The sky clears, the sun shines brightly; /rain falls, the earth gets wet. /He fully opens his heart and expounds the whole secret; /but I fear he is little appreciated.

Cleary: When the sky clears, the sun emerges; /When it rains, the ground gets wet. /He wholeheartedly told it all, /Only fearing incomplete faith.

Guo Gu: The sky clears, the sun emerges; /The rain falls, the ground is wet. /Exhausting his sentiments, he explains everything. /Yet I’m still afraid people won’t believe him.

Hinton: When skies clear, the sun appears. /When rain falls, the earth’s moist. /Things seen become sincerity felt: /he says it all. Still, is that enough?

Low and Sekida: The sky clears, the sun shines bright; /The rain falls, the earth gets wet. /He opens his heart and expounds the whole secret. /But I fear he is little appreciated.

Senzaki: When the sky clears, the sun appears, /When the earth is parched, rain will fall. /He opened his heart and spoke out fully, /But it was useless to talk to pigs and fish.

Shibayama: The sky is clear and the sun appears; /Rain falls and the earth is moistened. /Without restraint he has explained everything, /Yet how few are able to grasp it!