Gateless Gate 11

71
Gateless Gate (Mumonkan, Wumenguan) #11
Dogen's 300 #281
Zhoazhou Examines the Hermits

Personnel

• ZHAOZHOU Congshen (Joshu Jushin, 778-897, 10th gen), disciple of Nanquan.
• Two unnamed hermits (or, possibly, the same one twice)

Case

Zhaozhou went to a hermit's hut and asked, "Anybody in? Anybody in?"
The hermit thrust up his fist.
Zhaozhou said, "The water is too shallow for a ship to anchor." Thereupon he left.
Again he went to a hermit's hut and asked, "Anybody in? Anybody in?"
The hermit, too, thrust up his fist.
Zhaozhou said, "Freely you give, freely you take away. Freely you kill, freely you give life." He made a profound bow.

Wumen's Comment

Each hermit thrust up his fist the same way. Why is one accepted and the other rejected? Tell me, what is the cause of the confusion? If on this point you can say a turning word, then you can see that Zhaozhou's tongue has no bone. Now he raises up, now he thrusts down in perfect freedom. But though this is so, it is also true that Zhaozhou himself has been seen through by the two hermits. Furthermore, if you can say that there is a distinction of superiority and inferiority between the two hermits, you have not yet the eye of realization. Neither have you the eye of realization if you say there is no distinction of superiority and inferiority between them.

Wumen's Verse

The eye is a shooting star,
The activity like lightning;
A sword that kills,
A sword that gives life.

Related Tale (Aitken)

Zhaozhou went to Jiashan’s monastery and entered the Dharma Hall with his staff in his hand.
Jiashan asked, “What’s the staff for?”
Zhaozhou said, “To test the depth of the water.”
Jiashan said, “There isn’t a drop of water here. What can you test?”
Zhaozhou leaned on his staff and went away.
[Aitken: No doubt chuckling, “Quite right, quite right!” as he walked away.]

Aitken's Comment

“The water is too shallow for a ship to anchor.” What’s happening here? It was indeed abuse, but it was abuse beyond aspersion. Zhaozhou was scolding the Buddha on the monk’s altar, as well as the monk himself.
“Freely you give, freely you take away, freely you kill, freely you give life.” Yes, it was praise, but it transcended commendation. The Old Master was really mumbling to himself, I think. Your task is to overhear him after all this time.
The core of the complication, if any, is that Zhaozhou really didn’t approve one and not the other. Both held up their fists in the same way, and Zhaozhou’s teishō came out one way the first time and another way the second. The fact is that Zhaozhou is free to expound point A in his putdown and point B in his praise. He is like an image of the Buddha Śākyamuni ticking off the categories of the Four Noble Truths. He is like a bamboo grove that clatters when the wind comes up and is silent when the wind dies down.
There are important overtones to this case that relate to everyday life. When you make a presentation and it is put down, what is your response? When you make a presentation and it is praised, how do you react? How do you view the critic? As you become emotionally mature you can handle praise or blame with equanimity.
In this case avatars of the Buddha are seeing through one another. To see through others is to breathe in their own inspiration. To allow others to see through you is to inspire them in turn. You meet avatars of the Buddha at every turn.

Yun-An's Comment (Cleary)

"A ship cannot moor where the water is shallow" -- there are echoes in the words. "Can concede, can deny," and a bow -- there are barbs concealed in the statement. Old Zhaozhou may be said to have used all of his magical powers; the recluses were skillfully able to sit there and observe the outcome. Now there are those without autonomy, orphan souls who do not have the ye to penetrate the barrier: They just compare gain and loss, not only missing the point of the ancients but also burying their own selves. When you see with clear eyes, how can you suppress a laugh? Do you understand the point? Highly refined pure gold shouldn't change color.

Tongxuan's Comment (Cleary)

The two recluses keep the ultimate treasure hidden in their chests, waiting for the right people. Zhaozhou, moreover, is an ocean-faring merchant; rare are those who know the appropriate price.

Cleary's Comment

The meaning of being a hermit in the context of Zen Buddhism is multifold. A Zen hermit is not someone who wants to avoid the problems of the world and drops out of society. In Zen, hermits were illuminated graduates of Zen schools who isolated themselves for a period of time in order to develop their transcendental insight and practical knowledge in preparation for reentering the ordinary human world in a state of balance. To be complete Zen masters, they needed to be effective communicators; yet they also needed to be free from personal nostalgia for the human condition. When fully prepared, they would contribute knowledge genuinely beyond the fluctuating and vulnerable subjectivity of ordinary human psychology all of its anxieties and wishful thinking. A Zen "hermit" has attained nirvana and is thus inwardly beyond the world. Their "seclusion" was often more symbolic than real, a reference to their psychological independence. Zhaozhou's question asks the hermits whether their nirvana is deep enough to empower them to go on the "living road" of objective reality.
One perspective is the ineffability of the absolute: Nothing at all can really describe either nirvana or the immediate experience of suchness. This perspective is called "holding still." The second perspective is the interconnectedness of everything is a cosmic web of Life. The hermit's first hold everything in its empty grip, because everything is in its place in one indivisible whole. This perspective is called "letting go." Whichever perspective you are absorbed in, it is crucial to be able to go back and forth freely in order to attain both ultimate liberation and objective compassion.

Guo Gu's Comment

You know exactly that Zhaozhou is asking if you have realized what is most important to a practitioner: Have you realized who you are? For one who has had an awakening, practice is not over and self-grasping is not completely gone. No. Continued practice is necessary because self-attachment will reemerge.
What is the difference between the first monk and the second monk? What is the difference? Meditate on that like this: Where is the flaw? Where is the error? And pushing this even further: Why did the two hermits see through Zhaozhou? The way to try to get a handle on this case is to keep questioning it. If you meditate like this, you will generate the sense of great questioning. This is the generosity of Wumen. He forces you to have nowhere to advance, nowhere to retreat.
In your own life, why is it that in one situation one response is accepted, and in another, the same response is rejected? Are you killing opportunities in your life? Or are you experiencing them to bring your wisdom to life? Why is it that when you respond to one thing, to one person it is helpful but to another it is not so helpful? The way to understand this case is to apply it to yourself. The single most important thing is your buddha-nature, your potential to be awakened.
External circumstances, appearances, your internal judgments and notions — all are like the fist that is held up by the hermit. Is your boat able to dock? Or is it perhaps so big there is nowhere it can dock? Are you able to see that these situations are both favorable conditions that kill your ignorance and opportunities to give life to your wisdom? Take a look at responses that you receive in daily life and your own reactions to them. If you are unable to use the opportunities in life as practice, then ask yourself, “Why is it that although both monks had the same response, one monk’s was accepted and the other was rejected?” “Why is it so, why?” Or next time you have vexations, ask yourself, “Is there? Is there?” Let these questions exhaust themselves until you have nowhere to go, nowhere to dock.

Low's Comment

It is impossible to live life without making judgment. All the time one asks oneself whether it would be better to do one thing rather than another. The problem is, however, that we tend to raise our judgments to the status of the absolute -- to presume that good and bad exist independently of each other. This koan is about what it means to go beyond good and bad, what it means to get beyond all contraries. What is at issue is getting beyond the opposites, not abandoning them.
People react to situations not so much according to their spiritual maturity as according to their temperament. It is a mistake to believe Zen training produces people who never react with heat. The bite in this koan comes from the question: if "the Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences," what is Zhaozhou doing displaying preferences? Why does he say good in the first case and bad in the second? Put as baldly as possible the problem is how can one be two? How can one be good-bad?

Sekida's Comment

"Anybody in?" asks "Is there a constant state of mindfulness?" Each hermit raised his fist to demonstrate constant mindfulness. "Too shallow": Speaking from the point of view of possible improvement, one's condition always remains shallow. Recognizing one's shallowness is important. "Free...": The second hermit is free in every way because he is in a state of constant mindfulness, which isthe only true freedom.

Senzaki's Comment

Zhaozhou saw vividly what the monk had, before he asked, but wanted to make sure. The monk raised his fist in the manner commonly adopted by the Zen teachers of the time. "Too shallow": Zhaozhou knew that the monk raised his fist impersonally, but he was disgusted with the conventional manner of Zen teachers, and could not help but complain at the sight of the fist. But the mind of the monk was no puddle, no matter what Zhaozhou said. Its waters may have appeared to be merely rippling, yet every wavelet echoed the surges of the great ocean. A few days later, Zhaozhou visits the monk again, asks the same question, and gets the same raised fist. Even if the Buddha confronted him, this monk would have raised his fist. If Bodhidharma visited him one hundred times, the monk would do the same each time. He would not be copying the conventional manner of Zen teachers, but would simply be creating his own Zen from the essence of mind; to each question he would be giving a fresh and original answer, without hesitating. He is the creator. He is the master. Thus Zhaozhou bows and praises.

Verse by Anonymous Old Zen Master (Shibayama)

Whether to call it crazy or rude
I leave it to someone else to judge.
Peach blossoms are by nature pink;
Pear blossoms by nature white.

Verse by Another Anonymous Zen Master (Shibayama)

The spring breeze in a tree
Has two different faces.
A southward branch looks warm,
A northward branch looks cool.

Shibayama's Comment

A fist held up, just that -- splendid indeed! A fist is a fist through and through. Here is no room for discrimination. When you can really see through this fist, then Zhaozhou's remarks, and his Zen, will naturally be clear to you. Zhaozhou's superficially contradictory and haphazard remarks in fact issued from his utterly free and creative Zen life.

Yamada's Comment

Zhaozhou asks, "Anybody in?" -- meaning Buddha nature or essential nature, which is our true self. When Zhaozhou tells the first monk, "The water is too shallow for a ship to anchor," he must have cast a glance at the hermit's face to see his response to this abuse. If the hermit showed any sign of having been offended or irritated even a little by the words of scorn, his Zen practice must have been shallow indeed. If his consciousness was as steady and immovable as the fist itself, his face would not have shown even a trace of irritation. When Zhaozhou tells the second monk, "Freely you give, freely you take away; freely you kill, freely you give life," he again cast a glance at the hermit's face. If the hermit showed even the slightest sign of pleasure at this words, Zhaozhou would have discovered the degree of the hermit's state of consciousness. When you sit with this koan, you must enter as far as possible into the state of consciousness of each hermit as well as that of Zhaozhou. Then you will grasp what was going on between them. Perhaps one day you will be able to see through all three of them.

Daido Loori's Comment (Dogen's 300)

In visiting these two hermits, it would appear on the surface that Zhaozhou approves the understanding of one and disapproves the understanding of the other, but do not be misled by appearances. We should thoroughly investigate this fist. After all, a fist is a fist. Can it be said that there is a distinction of superior or inferior between two fists being held up?
How then can Zhaozhou see the true nature of these two hermits who both hold up their fists in the same manner? If you can truly see into the fist, they you will see not only into the hermits but into you yourself and Zhaozho as well.
If you say that one hermit is superior to the other, they you have missed it. If, on the other hand, you say that there is no difference between the two hermits, this too is a hundred miles from the truth of this koan. Leap clear of sameness or difference and you will enter directly into Zhaozhou's heart.

Daido's Interjections

Zhaozhou called on a hermit and said, "Are you there? Are you there?"
   (Anybody home? He wants to know if the hermit is alive or dead.)
The hermit held up his fist.
   (Outstanding! But say, what does it mean?)
Zhaozhou said, "The water is too shallow here. It's not a place to anchor a vessel."
   (There are echoes in these words that still reverberate to this day.)
Then he went away. Later Zhaozhou called on another hermit and said, "Are you there? Are you there?"
   (Again, are you alive or are you dead?)
The hermit held up his fist.
   (Outstanding! But what does it mean?)
Zhaozhou said, "You have the power to give and take away, to kill and to give life."
   (Tread carefully here, there are thorns in the mud.)
He bowed and went away.

Daido's Verse

The fist contains the myriad things;
the myriad things contain the fist.
When words and ideas fade,
the light is evident.

Hotetsu's Verse

Two hermits -- what is the difference?
Their sameness is their difference.
Dissolving the illusion of "sameness" and "difference"
Into just this! just fist! just thist.

Illustration by Mark T. Morse

Appendix: Alternate Translations

Case

Zhaozhou went to a hermit's hut and asked, "Anybody in? Anybody in?" The hermit thrust up his fist. Zhaozhou said, "The water is too shallow for a ship to anchor." Thereupon he left. Again he went to a hermit's hut and asked, "Anybody in? Anybody in?" The hermit, too, thrust up his fist. Zhaozhou said, "Freely you give, freely you take away. Freely you kill, freely you give life." He made a profound bow.

Aitken: Chao-chou went to a hermit's cottage and asked, "Anybody in? Anbody in?" The hermit lifted up is fist. Chao-chou said, "The water is too shallow for a ship to anchor." And he left. Again he went to a hermit's cottage and asked, "Anybody in? Anbody in?" This hermit too lifted up his fist. Chao-chou said, "Freely you give, freely you take away, freely you kill, freely you give life." And he made a full bow.

Cleary: Zhaozhou went to where a hermit was staying and asked, "Is there? Is there?" The hermit held up a fist. Zhaozhou said, "A ship cannot moor where the water is shallow." Then he left. Zhaozhou also went to where another hermit was staying and asked, "Is there? Is there?" That hermit also raised a fist. Zhaozhou said, "Can concede, can deny, can kill, can enliven." Then he bowed.

Guo Gu: Zhaozhou went to a hermit's place and asked, "Is there? Is there?" The hermit held up his fist. Zhaozhou said, "Shallow water is not a place to dock a big ship." And he left. Zhaozhou went to another hermit's place and asked, "Is there? Is there?" The hermit also held up his fist. Zhaozhou said, "Able to give and able to take; capable of killing and capable of saving." He made obeisance.

Hinton: Master Visitation-Land stopped at a shrine-master's hut and called out: "Anyone there? Presence? Any Presence there?" The shrine-master simply held up his fist. "You can't anchor a boat in water this shallow," said Land. Then he left. Later he returned to the shrine-master's hut and again called out: "Anyone there? Presence? Any Presence there?" Once more the shrine-master simply held up his fist. "Ah you -- you can offer up and steal away, put to death and bring to life," said Land. Then he bowed reverently.

Low: Joshu went to a hermit's hut and called, "Is anyone at home? Is anyone at home?" The hermit thrust up his fist. Joshu said, "The water is too shallow to anchor here," and went away. He went to another hermit's hut and cried out, "Is anyone at home? Is anyone at home?" The hermit thrust up a fist. Joshu said, "Freely you give, freely you take away. Freely you bestow life, freely you destroy," and made a profound bow.

Sekida: Joshu went to a hermit's cottage and asked, "Is the master in? Is the master in?" The hermit raised his fist. Joshu said, "The water is too shallow to anchor here," and he went away. Coming to another hermit's cottage, he asked again, "Is the master in? Is the master in?" This hermit, too, raised his fist. Joshu said, "Free to give, free to take, free to kill, free to save," and he made a deep bow.

Senzaki: One day, Joshu visited a place where a monk had retired to meditate in solitude, and asked him, "What have you now?" The monk raised his fist. Joshu left, remarking, "Ships cannot anchor where the water is too shallow." A few days later, Joshu went again to visit the monk, making the same abrupt query. The monk repeated his surly gesture in response. Joshu said, "He can give, he can take. He can kill, he can save." And he bowed to the monk.

Shibayama: Joshu came to a hermit and asked, "Are you in? Are you in?" The hermit held up his fist. "The water is too shallow to anchor a vessel," said Joshu. He then came to another hermit and called out, "Are you in? Are you in?" This hermit also held up his fist. "You are free either to give or to take away, either to kill or to give life," said Joshu, bowing to him.

Verse

The eye is a shooting star, /The activity like lightning; /A sword that kills, /A sword that gives life.

Aitken: Eye like a shooting star; /activity like lightning; /the sword that kills; /the sword that gives life.

Cleary: Eyes like shooting stars. /Mind like flashing lightning; /The sword that kills, /The sword that gives life.

Guo Gu: Eyes like shooting stars, /Conditions like lightning. /The blade that kills; /The sword that brings life.

Hinton: Buddha-deep shooting-star eye, /lightning-flash loom of origins: /blade that puts people to death, /sword that brings people to life.

Low: His eye a shooting star, /He moves like lightning. /A death dealer, /A life-giving sword.

Sekida: The eye like a shooting star, /The spirit like lightning; /A death-dealing blade, /A life-giving sword.

Senzaki: The light of his eye is like a comet, /His Zen activity is like ligtning. /The sword that kills /May also save!

Shibayama: His eye is a shooting star, /His spirit is lightning. /A sword to kill, /A sword to give life.