Gateless Gate 13, Book of Serenity 55

90
Gateless Gate (Mumonkan, Wumenguan) #13
Book of Serenity (Shoyoroku, Congrong Lu) #55
Deshan Carries His Bowls

Personnel

• DESHAN Xuanjian (Tokusan Senkan, 782-865, 11th gen), disciple of Longtan Chongxin
• XUEFENG Yicun (Seppo Gison, 822-908, 12th gen), disciple of Deshan
• YANTOU Quanhuo (Ganto Zenkatsu, 828-87, 12th gen), disciple of Deshan
Date: 862 (Xuefeng was about 40 [Aitken]; making Deshan about 80)

Wansong's Preface

Ice is colder than water. Blue derives from indigo. When one's viewpoint excels that of the teacher, one is ready for transmission. If the children who are raised are not equal to their parents, the family will decline in a single generation. Tell: Who is the one who snatches up the father's function?

Case [boldface = in GG, not BOS; (italics) = in BOS, not GG]

(Xuefeng came to Deshan and became in charge of cooking food. One day, the lunch was late.)
One day Deshan came down to the hall carrying his bowls.
Xuefeng asked him, “Old Master, the bell has not yet rung nor the drum sounded. Where are you going with your bowls?”
Deshan immediately went back to his room.
Xuefeng told this to Yantou.
Yantou said, “Great Deshan though he is, he has not yet realized the last phrase.”
Hearing of this, Deshan sent his attendant to summon Yantou and then asked him, “Don't you approve of this old monk?”
Yantou secretly whispered his intention.
Deshan remained silent.
Sure enough, the next day when Deshan ascended the rostrum, his talk was quite different from usual.
Yantou went to the front of the Zen hall and rubbing his hands together, laughed loudly and said, “Wonderful! How happy I am that our Old Man has realized the last phrase. From now on he'll be subject to no one on earth.”

Wumen's Comment

As for the last phrase, neither Yantou nor Deshan have ever heard it, even in a dream. When I examine this point, I find they are just puppets on a shelf.

Wumen's Verse

If you grasp the first phrase,
You will realize the last phrase.
The last phrase and the first phrase,
These are not one phrase.

Hongzhi's Verse

The last phrase – did you understand it or not?
Father Deshan and his son are terribly unclear.
In the assembly there is a guest from south of the River (Yangtze):
Don’t sing the song of partridges in front of him.

(Note: The partridge represents the region south of the Yangtze River [Kônan Region]. The people from that area were said to become awfully homesick whenever they heard the song of their home birds. Xuefeng originally comes from the Province of Sen, south of the River.)

Deshan's Prequel (Guo Gu)

Deshan was called “Diamond Zhou” because his commentaries on the Diamond Sūtra, the Vajracchedikā, were so learned. Chan Buddhism at this time was just a budding regional movement in south and west China, but it was causing a lot of ruckus in the whole Buddhist community. Deshan was originally a sūtra commentator; he went down south with a satchel full of his commentaries on the Diamond Sūtra. He was ready to teach those Chan practitioners what Buddhism was all about. When he came to a southern town after a long day’s travel, he went to a small street stand. A small, gray-haired elderly woman was there selling desserts. Desserts in Chinese are called dianxin, which literally means “delighting the heart-mind.” When Deshan asked for some dianxin, the elderly woman asked, “You’re not from around here, are you?”
Deshan answered, “No, I’m from the north, where people are educated.”
The woman responded, “What is that you’re carrying?”
He replied, “You wouldn’t understand, old lady; it’s my commentary to the Diamond Sūtra.”
She went on, “Oh, so many scrolls, so heavy. I have a question about this sūtra. The Diamond Sūtra says that the heart-mind cannot be attained in the past, present, or future. It is ungraspable. With regard to this dianxin, which one of your heart-minds wants it? If you can say something, you get a free dessert to delight your heart-mind.”
Deshan just stood there, dumbfounded, ashamed. He decided to burn his commentary. He felt that if an old woman in this town could defeat him, of what use was this commentary with all of its words? Then he thought that there must be a Chan master in this town. So he asked the old woman about it. She named Chan master Longtan, who later became Deshan’s master. To pick up the story from here, see GG28

Immediate Sequel (Guo Gu)

After Yantou exclaimed, "This old man does have the last word. From now on, no one in the world will be able to cope with him," Xuefeng was much disturbed. Xuefeng went to Deshan requesting an interview. He thought he would confess to the master, but little did he know that Deshan was sitting there waiting. So Xuefeng bowed, and just as he was about to open his mouth, Deshan grabbed the stick and wham!
This caused more angst in Xuefeng, “Why did you hit me?”
Deshan asked, “Why did you come here?”
Xuefeng replied, “I came here for a question.”
Deshan replied, “That’s a mistake!”
Xuefeng held that in his heart. For years, even after Deshan passed away, he had not resolved this sense of questioning where was he wrong. Xuefeng's years of wrestling with his wonderful great doubt shaped his maturation into a great Zen master.

Xuefeng and Yantou's Later Sequel (Aitken)

[When Xuefeng and Yantou were on pilgrimage together] the two monks stayed overnight in the village of Ao-shan, where they were snowbound for several days. Yantou spent much of his time sleeping, but Xuefeng sat up all day and most of each night doing zazen.
During one of his waking moments Yantou said, “What are you doing, sitting there all day long like a mad deity by the road?”
Xuefeng pointed to his chest and said, “I am not yet peaceful here.”
Yantou said, “What kind of experiences have you had in the past? Tell me, and I will examine them for you.”
So Xuefeng told him about a realization of emptiness he had with the teacher Yen-kuan (Enkan), and about an awakening he had upon reading the verse Dongshan Liangjie had written on his own enlightenment:

He is the same as me,
Yet I am not he.

“On still another occasion,” Xuefeng said, “I asked our teacher Deshan whether or not I could share the same experiences as our ancestors, and he gave me a blow with his stick. “It was,” he said, “as though I were a bucket whose bottom suddenly dropped out.”
With this Yantou gave a shout and scolded him, saying, “Don’t you know that what enters from the gate cannot be the treasure of the house? If you want to propagate the Great Teaching, it must flow point by point from within your own breast to cover heaven and earth. Only then will it be the action of someone with spiritual power.”
At that instant, Hsüeh-feng suddenly had realization and cried loudly, “Today, for the first time, Ao-shan has become enlightened!”

Aitken's Comment

One might expect Deshan to say, as head of the temple, "The meal is late. You know our schedule is tight. When we have to wait for the meal, that means the time for the monks to rest is shortened, and they need their rest. So it's important that we have our meals on time." But he said no such thing. He just turned and went back to his room. This is the first noteworthy point of the case. As he turned around and headed back, he gave a silent teaching. Then Yantou brings up "the last word." What is the last word? When Deshan asked Yantou about this, Yantou "whispered his intention." What about Yantou's whisper? Can you fathom it? Suppose you were in the assembly the next day when Yantou exclaims "From now on, no one under heaven can outdo him!" How would you answer Yantou's implicit challenge?

Bao-En's Comment (Cleary)

If you accept unrealities and take in echoes, you miss Deshan. If you suppress the strong and help the weak, you bury Yantou. I tell you frankly, for an example of the proverb, "When the teacher is excellent, the apprentices are strong," credit goes to Deshan and his disciples Xuefeng and Yantou.

Youke's Comment (Cleary)

Those who conceal an army to fight by night do not see Deshan. Those who attack occupied territory by day can hardly know Yantou. What they dob't realize is that the battle commander picks fights by day, the watch commander patrols the camp by night.

Keizan's Comment (Cleary)

Deshan just accepts the flow, being as is. Yantou and Xuefeng scatter rubbish in the eye; playing at being adept, they turn out inept.

Cleary's Comment

Part of the function of the koan's structure is to arouse doubt in the mind of the onlooker, in order to examine the doubt, the doubter, and the doubting. Some say Yantou was provoking an incident in order to help Xuefeng wake up. The "first word" and "last word" refer to samsara and nirvana, or the relative and the absolute, or responsibility and freedom. A genuine understanding of either implies an understanding of both.

Guo Gu's Comment

Xuefeng didn’t know that practitioners “left no trace” behind their actions. But here, there were a lot of traces left in Xuefeng’s mind. He still held on to what had happened. When Yantou heard this, wanting to help his dharma brother, he set up a trap for him. Deshan found out from Yantou what his intentions were, and the next day his talk deviated from his norm. Yantou pretended to be delighted and exclaimed, “Deshan does have the last word after all!” This caused a big commotion. For whom? For Xuefeng.
In practice you have to come to your own understanding of things. You have to know yourself through and through. No words or concepts will help you to do this. You must let go of them to truly understand that you are endowed with the precious gem of wisdom. How do you bring this wisdom to life? If you merely mimic others, you become like a puppet on strings — you are not your own master. If you try to have the last word, you yourself will never know “the word.” Turn your light around and shine it within. Everything that you do or say or think as a practitioner should genuinely come from yourself. Yantou planted a seed in Xuefeng that blossomed into a powerful enlightenment. That’s a beautiful thing that Chan masters do. Their sole task is not to answer their students’ questions conceptually but to instill deep within them the desire to find their own answer to things — to illuminate their own minds and see their own self-nature. Don’t try to have the last word. Right and wrong create vexations. If you have vexations, you are already wrong, already in bondage. Don’t inject your self-grasping into the tasks you do.

Low's Comment

Later, when the two were traveling, Yantou would say to Xuefeng, "What comes in by the front door is not the treasure of the house." This in its way is a key to this koan. Picture Deshan with his bowl, Xuefeng challenging him, and Deshan turning back to his room. What is Xuefeng up to? Is he just being egoistic and rude? Is he thoughtless, or is he challenging Deshan, "Hey, show me your Zen"? What was in Deshan's mind when he returned to his room? Would he have controlled resentful thoughts, kept his mind aloof, and have refused to be moved by Xuefeng? Or would he have flowed out love and compassion toward Xuefeng, hoping in this way to help him overcome his ignorance? What would you have done? No one walked back to Deshan's room. Who, or what, is this no one? Then, in the second act, Xuefeng tells Yantou what happened. Was he bragging, saying the he caught the old man out? Yantou seems to think so and comments that Deshan doesn't know the last word. Why does Yantou side with Xuefeng? What is the last word of Zen? How is it that a renowned teacher such as Deshan does not know it? We have lost the real word, the live word, and so live in a twilight world. Words bring worlds into being -- so what brings words into being? How could we name that? One must say the last word without opening the mouth, and to know this word one must have already gone beyond anything. Then in the final act Deshan gives a talk like no other, and Yantou declares that he has truly grasped the last word of Zen. What was the talk that so pleased Yantou? Did Deshan give a talk?

Sekida's Comment

The last word. There are four wisdoms: Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom, Universal Nature Wisdom, Marvelous Observing Wisdom, and Perfecting of Action Wisdom. When you first attain realization, the first, Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom, appears. This is the fundamental wisdom. Usually, however, this wisdom is still dim. As you make progress, polishing the other three wisdoms, this Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom becomes ever more brilliant. That final state of great brilliance is the ultimate fulfillment of subtle enlightenment. Of course, it scarcely needs to be said that these wisdoms are simply names for aspects of actual experience. There are gradations in the development of these wisdoms, from which comes the idea of first and last.

Senzaki's Comment

Deshan should have waited for the signal before entering the dining room. Thus, the old master "got the goat" of the cook. The cook should have considered his own rule-breaking -- delaying the dinner -- before criticizing his teacher. Because his Zen was green, he was not master of his mind; he could not see both sides of the wrong. Xuefeng told Yantou about this. Xuefeng still thought he was right and the master was wrong. If Yantou had blamed Xuefeng he would have had to have heard a noisy argument, so he switched the blame to the master. The aim of Zen is to attain peacefulness, not to settle a matter of right or wrong. Deshan hears about, calls in Yantou, who whispered to his teacher that what he had said was in hopes of enlightening his brother monk. Deshan said nothing. You see how gently the master listened to the tale-teller, and how naturally he asked Yantou about it, and how easily and freely he listened to the whisperer, just nodding to him. The next day, Deshan gave an entirely different kind of talk. What kind of lecture do you think the master gave? To work on this koan you must watch your step minute after minute. In your home, in your community, and in your world, you must polish and practice your own Zen. Do not blame the law-breakers until you examine yourself as to whether you are a law-breaker or not. If you know that there is no ego to be supported, you can easily and gracefully give in. Most of the time you gain by giving in, and you lose by persisting. There is no such thing called "ultimate truth" outside your everyday life.

Shibayama's Comment

Deshan was a great and most capable Zen Master. Why did he quite naively turn back to his room without saying a word? Here we have to enter into Deshan's heart. Granting that he committed a blunder by coming down to the dining room before the mealtime was announced, there has to be his Zen at work here, worthy of a great Zen Master. There is no stink of Zen. He lives with no pretension, no affectation. His transcendental purity is like that of an infant. Listening to Xuefeng's report, Yantou felt sorry for Xuefeng, who did not realize his inability to appreciate Deshan's Zen at work. He attempted to inspire his good friend. He resorted to extreme measures, saying Deshan had not yet grasped the last word of Zen. Yantou was well aware that old Deshan was a truly accomplished Master. The koan here gets very intricate. For Xuefeng and the rest of the monks at Deshan's monastery, "The last word of Zen" now stands in front of them as a barrier they must break through. The great question here for everybody is whether the world-famous old Deshan had not in fact grasped the last word of Zen. Consequently, another question is "What is this last word of Zen?" Also it has to be asked whether there is really a so-called last word in Zen or not. What was the secret Yantou whispered? With this question Zen deprives a student not only of all his knowledge and intellect but even of the last smack of Zen. It will open up for him a true Zen vista, pure, lucid, immaculate and simple. Yantou ran a grand play, carrying around "the last word of Zen" until the end and demanding that Xuefeng and the rest of the monks break through this barrier. How will you respond to Yantou's call? How will you express appreciation for his efforts in producing such a grand play? If you are unable to greet him properly you have missed the point of the koan altogether. Here your concrete grasp of the koan based on your own training and experience is required.

Yamada's Comment

Deshan said nothing and quietly returned to his room. What a splendid state of mind! Deshan was not aware of it himself, but he had matured wonderfully with age. Can you appreciate it? Xuefeng was not able to. Here was Deshan unconsciously showing him the supreme world of Zen by his action. Similarly, Mahakashyapa realized what Shakyamuni really meant when he twirled a flower in front of the assembled monks.
The last word. Literally, the last word would seem to mean the highest state of consciousness in Zen. Yantou's device was to prod Xuefeng, who was lingering along the way, by making him wonder whether there might be a last word. What is it? He must strive to achieve it in deeper realization. The last word is that which is spoken without using lips and tongue. It has no meaning. It is nothing.
Yantou's exclamation after Deshan's "different" talk. Yantou was still trying to incite Xuefeng to deeper realization, but in spite of all these efforts, Xuefeng was not able to attain it at that time. It was some years later that Xuefeng finally came to great enlightenment under Yantou's guidance.

Wick's Comment

In his youth as a teacher, Deshan was renowned for being quick with a heavy stick -- yet here he just returns to his room without saying a word. Why is that? Yantou brings up the idea of a "last word." What is the last word of Zen? Do you ever reach the last word? If you say the last word, I can say something else -- and that becomes the last word. Of course, the last word may not be a word at all! Deshan calls for Yantou, who whispers his intention. What did he whisper and why was Deshan satisfied? Deshan's next talk is different. What was different about this talk? So the last word, is it understood or not? If you understand it, what do you understand? If you see clearly into it, there's nothing to understand, and no one to understand it. But if you don't understand it, you're only half a person. Paraphrasing Deshan himself from earlier in his career: If you say you understand it, I give you thirty blows. If you say you don't, I give you thirty blows. So what is it?

Gatha from the Diamond Sutra

A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
a flash of lightening in a summer cloud,
a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream:
So you should view this fleeting world.

Charlie Pokorny's Verse

Xuefeng, the Rice Cook

Hey Deshan! “What? Huh?”
No trace of those lofty heights.
Emptiness is taught for the stuck and staid.
A toothless tiger yawns on the high seat.

Sturmer's Verse

Just like a raft
sparkling with phosphorus
the middle word came
in the middle of the night.
All poetry and prose
unfolded from then on.
But the darkness kept to itself
the first word (and the last).

Hotetsu's Verse

Deshan, deep student of the Diamond (his beginning, his first word)
Burner of all his notes (no further words on that!)
At last becomes himself the Diamond.
In this fleeting world he comes --
   an ancient man
   bowls in hand
   no bell rung
   no drum struck
In this phantom dreamland he goes --
   an ancient man
   bowls in hand
   bereft of clue
   bereft of luck.

Appendix: Alternate Translations

Case

(Xuefeng came to Deshan and became in charge of cooking food. One day, the lunch was late.) One day Deshan came down to the hall carrying his bowls. Xuefeng asked him, “Old Master, the bell has not yet rung nor the drum sounded. Where are you going with your bowls?” Deshan immediately went back to his room. Xuefeng told this to Yantou. Yantou said, “Great Deshan though he is, he has not yet realized the last phrase.” Hearing of this, Deshan sent his attendant to summon Yantou and then asked him, “Don't you approve of this old monk?” Yantou secretly whispered his intention. Deshan remained silent. Sure enough, the next day when Deshan ascended the rostrum, his talk was quite different from usual. Yantou went to the front of the Zen hall and rubbing his hands together, laughed loudly and said, “Wonderful! How happy I am that our Old Man has realized the last phrase. From now on he'll be subject to no one on earth.”

GG:

Aitken: Te-shan one day descended to the dining hall, bowls in hand. Hsueh-feng asked him, "Where are you going with your bowls in hand, Old Teacher? The bell has not rung, and the drum has not sounded." Te-shan turned and went back to his room. Hsueh-feng brought up this matter with Yen-t'ou. Yen-t'ou said, "Te-shan, great as he is, does not yet know the last word." Hearing about this, Te-shan sent for Yen-t'ou and asked, "Don't you approve of this old monk?" Yen-t'ou whispered his meaning. Te-shan said nothing further. Next day, when Te-shan took the high seat before his assembly, his presentation was very different from usual. Yen-t'ou came to the fornt of the hall, rubbing his hands and laughing ludly, saying, "How delightful! Our Old Boss has got hold of the last word. From now on, no one under heaven can outdo him!"

Cleary: One day Zen master Deshan left the hall with his bowl in hand. He met Xuefeng, who asked him, "The bell and drum announcing the mealtime have not yet been sounded; where are you going with your bowl?" Deshan immediately returned to his room. Xuefeng told Yantou about this. Yantou said, "Even the great Deshan does not know the last word." Hearing of this, Deshan had an assistant summon Yantou, whom he asked, "You don't agree with me?" Yantou secrtetly revealed his intention, and Deshan dropped the subject. The next day Deshan gave a lecture that turned out to be very different from usual. Yantou went to the front of the communal hall, where he clapped and laughed, saying, "How fortuante the old fellow understands the last word! After this no one in the owrld will be able to do anything to him."

Guo Gu: One day Deshan left the hall carrying his eating bowl. Xuefeng said, "The bell and drum have not sounded yet; where are you taking your bowl, old man?" Deshan heard it and returned to the abbott's quarter. Xuefeng described this to Yantou. Yantou said, "Deshan, who is supposedly great, does not understand the last word." When Deshan heard about this, he sent his attendant to fetch Yantou and asked him, "So you don't approve of me?" Yantou secretly whispered his intentions to Deshan. Deshan heard it and left it at that. The next day when Deshan went up to the teacher's seat, sure enough, the way he taught was not the same as usual. In front of the monks' hall, Yantou clapped his hands and laughed loudly. He said, "This old man does have the last word. From now on, no one in the world will be able to cope with him."

Hinton: One day, Abbott Mirror-Sight Mountain nestled his bowls in hand and started downstairs toward the dining hall. On the way, he encountered Snow-Peak Mountain, the cook, and Snow-Peak spoke up: "Old man! No bell announced mealtime, no drum called: where are you going with those bowls?" Mirror-Sight returned to his rooms. Later, Snow-Peak told Crag-Summit what had happened, and Crag said: "Even with all his disciples great and small, Mirror-Sight hasn't understood all the way through to the last ever utterance." When he heard about this, Mirror-Sight Mountain sent his attendant to summon Crag-Summit. Crag arrived, and Mirror-Sight asked: "So you don't approve of this old monk?" Secretly, without a word, Crag-Summit said what he thought. Mirror-Sight gave in and walked away. But the next day, when he took his seat before the sangha, he was through and through transformed. Nothing like what he was before. Dashing out front in the Dharma Hall, clapping his hands together and laughing wildly, Crag-Summit called out: "It's amazing, old man! You've done it, understood all the way to the last ever utterance! In all beneath heaven, there's no one can help you now!"

Low: One day Tokusan went to the dining room carrying his bowls. Seppo, the head cook, asked, "What are you doing here with your bowls? The bell has not rung, nor has the drum been struck." Tokusan turned and went back to his room. Seppo told Ganto about this, and Ganto concluded, "Tokusan is well known as a great teacher, but even so he doesn't know the last word of Zen." Tokusan heard about this remark and sent his attendant to fetch Ganto. "Do you approve of my teaching?" he asked. Ganto whispered to Tokusan. Tokusan was silent. The next day Tokusan ascended the rostrum as usual but this time his teisho was quite different. Ganto, going to the front of the hall, clapped his hands and laughed loudly, saying, "Congratulations! The old man has got the last word! From now on, nobody will be able to take the rise out of him!"

Sekida: One day Tokusan went down toward the dining room, holding his bowls. Seppo met him and asked, "Where are you off to with your bowls? The bell has not rung, and the drum has not sounded." Tokusan turned and went back to his room. Seppo mentioned this to Ganto, who remarked, "Tokusan is renowned, but he does not know the last word." Tokusan heard about this remark and sent his attendant to fetch Ganto. "You do not approve of me?" he asked. Ganto whispered his meaning. Tokusan said nothing at the time, but the next day he ascended the rostrum, and behold! he was very different from usual! Ganto, going toward the front of the hall, clapped his hands and laughed loudly, saying, "Congratulations! Our old man has got hold of the last word! From now on, nobody in this whole country can outdo him!"

Senzaki: Tokusan went to the dining room from the meditation hall, holding his bowls. Seppo was on duty as the cook-monk. When he saw Tokusan he said, "The dinner drun has not yet been struck. Where are you going with your bowls?" Tokusan turned and went back to his room. Later, Seppo told Ganto about this. Ganto said, "Old Tokusan does not understand ultimate truth." Tokusan heard about this, and asked Ganto to come to him. "I have heard," he said, "that you do not approved of my Zen." Ganto whispered something to his teacher. Tokusan said nothing. The next day Tokusan gave an entirely different kind of talk to his monks. Ganto laughed and clapped his hands, saying, "I see our old man understands ultimate truth indeed. None in China can surpass him."

Shibayama: Tokusan one day came down to the dining room carrying his bowls. Seppo said, "Old Master, the bell has not run and the drum has not yet been struck. Where are you going with your bowls?" Tokusan at once turned back to his room. Seppo told this incident to Ganto, who remarked, "Great Master though he is, Tokusan has not yet grasped the last word of Zen." Hearing of it, Tokusan sent his attendant to call Ganto in, and asked, "Do you not approve of me?" Ganto whispered his reply to him. Tokusan was satisfied and silent. The next day Tokusan appeared on the rostrum. Sure enough, his talk was different from the usual ones. Ganto came in front of the monastery, laughed heartily, clapping his hands, and said, "What a great joy it is! The old Master has now grasped the last word of Zen. From now on nobody in the world can ever make light of him."

BOS:

Cleary: When Xuefeng was at Deshan working as rice cook, one day the meal was late: Deshan came to the teaching hall holding his bowl. Xuefent said, "Old man, the bell hasn't rung yet, the drum hasn't sounded -- where are you going with your bowl?" Deshan immediately returned to his room. Xuefeng reported this to Yantou: Yantou said, "Even Deshan, so great, doe not understand the last word." Deshan had his attendant summon Yantou, and asked him, "You don't agree with me?" Yantou then expressed what he meant. Deshan then stopped. The next day when Deshan went up into the hall to speak it was not the same as usual: Yantou clapped and laughed and said, "Happily the old guy understands the last word. Hereafter no one in the world will be able to have any effect on him."

Wick: Attention! Seppo served as cook while at Tokusan's monastery. One day the meal was late. Tokusan arrived at the Dharma hall holding his bowls. Seppo remarked, "Old fellow, the gong has not yet rung. The drum has not yet sounded. So where are you going with the bowls?" At that, Tokusan returned to his quarters. Seppo told Ganto about this, and Ganto remarked, "As you might expect, Tokusan does not yet understand the last word." Hearing of this Tokusan called an attendant to summon Ganto, and asked, "Don't you approve of this old monk?" Ganto whispered his intended meaning, whereupon Tokusan desisted. The next day, when he went to the Dharma hall to speak, Tokusan was not the same as usual. Rubbing his hands and laughing, Ganto cried, "Luckily, the old fellow has understood the last word. From now on, no one under heaven will be able to prevail over him."

Wumen's Verse

If you grasp the first phrase, /You will realize the last phrase. /The last phrase and the first phrase, /These are not one phrase.

Aitken: When you realize the first word, /you understand the last; /the first and the last -- /as to this, it is not one word.

Cleary: If you know the first word, /Then you understand the last word; /The last and the first -- /Are they not this one word?

Guo Gu: If you recognize the first word, /Then you will know the last word. /Last and first /Are not the word.

Hinton: If you fathom the first ever utterance, /you understand the last ever utterance, /no doubt. But first ever and last ever: /they're never this one utterance itself.

Low: To know the first word /Is to know the last; /But neither the first nor the last /Is a word.

Sekida: If you realize the first, /You master the last. /The first and the last /Are not one word.

Senzaki: Whoever understands the first truth /Should understand the ultimate truth. /The last and the first, /Are they not the same?

Shibayama: If you understand the first word of Zen /You will know the last word. /The last word or the first word -- /"It" is not a word.

Hongzhi's Verse

The last phrase – did you understand it or not? /Father Deshan and his son are terribly unclear. /In the assembly there is a guest from south of the River (Yangtze): /Don’t sing the song of partridges in front of him.

Cleary: The last word -- understand? No? /Deshan the father and his sons are exceedingly indistinct. /In the assembly there is also a traveler from south of the river -- /Don't sing of the partridges in front of people.

Wick: The last word: understood or not? /Tokusan, father and sons, are exceedingly abstruse. /Within the group there's a guest from Konan. /Don't sing the partridge's song before men.