Gateless Gate 24

187
Gateless Gate (Mumonkan, Wumenguan) #24
Fengxue: Equality and Differentiation

Personnel and Date

• FENGXUE Yanzhao (Fuketsu Enshô, 896-973, 14th gen), disciple of Nanyuan Huiyong
• an unnamed monastic
Date guess: ca. 961 (age 65, 10 years into being at new monastery)

Case

A monk asked Fengxue in all earnestness, “Both speech and silence are concerned with li ["subject" or "subjectivity"] and wei ["object" or "objectivity"]. How can we transcend them?” Fengxue said,

“I constantly think of Jaingnan in March,
where partridges are chirping among hundreds of fragrant blossoms.”

[NOTE: Fengxue quotes lines attributed (falsely?) to the poet Du Fu, [712-770])

Wumen's Comment

Fengxue's activity of mind is like lightning. He gains the road and immediately walks along. But why does he rest upon the tip of the ancient one's tongue and not cut it off? If you realize this deeply, a way will be found naturally. Just leave all words behind and say one phrase.

Wumen's Verse

Fengxue does not speak in his usual style;
Before he says anything, it is already manifested.
If you go chattering glibly,
You should be ashamed of yourself.

Seng-Chao's Death Poem (Aitken)

The four elements essentially have no master,
the five shadows are fundamentally empty;
the naked sword will sever my head
as though cutting the spring breeze.

(NOTE: "four elements" = earth, air, fire, water. "Five shadows" = the five skandhas)

Aitken's Comment

The Chinese terms here, li and wei, are set forth in a treatise on Buddhist philosophy attributed to the talented priest Sengzhao (384–414). The two terms refer to two ways of perceiving: li is the “fundamentally equal”; wei is the “subtly differentiated.” Sengzhao articulated li and wei, but he knew very well that ultimately they are not different.
"How can we transcend them?" In Zen Buddhism, dualistic teachings of form and emptiness, universal and particular, enlightenment and ignorance, can be very useful. But if they are reified as concepts, they take on a life of their own and are hard to shake off. How do you transcend the equality and differentiation? Heads are not always so useful.
The true Zen student is grounded in the fundamental place that is no other than subject-and-object. That is the place of transformation in the presence of flowers and birds, where a single verse wells up from unknown depths.

Zhongfeng's Comment (Cleary)

This monk's question was like a flood reaching the sky, engulfing everything in its waves. Fengxue could certainly go into water without drowning, but how could he do anything about being completely immersed?

Dahui's Verse (Cleary)

Suddenly going out the gate, first he sees the road;
As soon as he sets down his foot, he climbs into a boat.
The secret of spiritual immortals is truly worth preserving --
Even parent-child intimacy does not make transmission possible.

Fojian's Verse (Cleary)

In the shadows of the colored clouds, a spiritual immortal appears;
In his hand he holds a fan of scarlet gauze, screening his face.
It is urgently necessary to set your eyes on the immortal;
Don't gaze at the fan in the immortal's hand.

Cleary's Comment

"Speech and silence involve alienation and vagueness" "Speech," which also means ratiocinative thinking, involves alienation from inconceivable ultimate truth, while "silence," which also means unthinking, involves vagueness about what may or may not be implied or discerned. The question is how to relate to reality without falling into either extreme. The essential point is to transcend habitual thinking without compromising precise awareness.
Fengxue responds with a little bit of scenery, which symbolizes the direct experience of being-as-is or suchness. In its infinity, suchness is beyond speech and thought, yet the experience of suchness cannot be a dead silence, because it contains everything.

A Background Tale (Guo Gu)

As Fengxue worked as a gardener at Nanyuan's monastery, one day Nanyuan went to the garden to check out how he was doing. Holding his staff, Nanyuan asked “How do folks in the south discern this staff?”
Fengxue replied, “They think it’s something special. How do you discern it, Master?”
Nanyuan said, “With this staff, the patience of the unborn [is born]. In meeting circumstances, resort not to asking the teacher!”
Upon hearing that, Fengxue was greatly enlightened

Guo Gu's Comment

Words and silence do not hinder each other. But if you’re entangled by either, especially when you are caught up in your proliferation of words, ideas, and notions, you lose your way.
How do you respond to words and silence in life? Aren’t you wrapped up in ideas and words? As soon as the teacher asks you a question, such as, “What’s your understanding of Chan?” your mind starts to spin with answers, “It is this or that.” Some Zen people mimic earlier masters, giving a shout or slamming the floor or remaining silent. All of these responses are wrong. Words and language cannot describe reality; all expressions are constructs. Silence is not a better response, in case you thought it was.
Sengzhao used very Chinese notions to convey the Buddhist teaching in the way he understood it. Li refers to the li graph, the sixty-fourth hexagram of the Yijing — an ancient divination text. It symbolizes ultimate truth, transcendence, essence, and subjectivity. Wei means subtlety; it also refers to the manifold manifestations or functions of the li. “Li and wei” is a Chinese philosophical way of describing the world through opposites. Setting up li and wei as opposites here refers to words and silence as opposites. This way of framing things assumes that essence and appearance, root and branches, ultimate and conventional realities, words and silence, are separate from each other. Not getting caught up in this duality, Fengxue simply cites a famous poem.
Reminiscing about Jaingnan in March, where the partridges sing is where the hundred flowers emit fragrance. What do flowers do besides look pretty? They emit fragrance. What do birds do — not just partridges but any bird? Sing, call, and chirp. There is no self in there anywhere. The interesting thing about Fengxue’s reply is that he is not even using his own words. Everything is readily apparent and natural. In citing someone else’s poem that describes the workings of nature without self-reference, his own reply is absent of a subject.
"How can one penetrate and be free from both without error?” The problem has never been words or silence but the mistaken grasping of the natural functioning of our brain to divide self and others, words and silence, bondage and freedom, right and wrong as real. This is how things become unnatural to such a point that you have a problem with flowers emitting fragrance or you get annoyed when birds sing or you become distressed when challenged.

Vimalakirti Sutra Excerpt (Low)

The goddess said, “All words that you speak are of themselves awakening. Why? Because awakening is in all things.”
“But is not awakening to be free from greed, anger, and ignorance?” asked Sariputra.
The goddess replied, “To say that awakening is freedom from greed, anger, and ignorance is the teaching for the excessively proud. Those free of pride are taught that the very nature of greed, anger, and ignorance is itself awakening.”

Low's Comment

It is not uncommon for us to believe that in silence is wisdom. However, the questioner says that both forms, whether of speech or silence, transgress, or are both too much. How can we avoid this transgression?
“I often think of Konan in March; The partridge chirps among the scented flowers.” These words of an Chinese poet must have had a special place in Fengxue’s heart. But where was Fengxue when he answered in this way? If you can answer this question you will have answered Wumen’s question, “But why does Fengxue not avoid relying on the tongues of the ancients?”

Sekida's Comment

Both speech and silence are faulty in being ri or bi. Ri and bi are Buddhist terms meaning inward and outward action of the mind, respectively. Inward alone is faulty; outward alone is also faulty; speech is outward, silence is inward, and both are faulty; how can we be faultless? That is the monk’s question. This question is concerned with the problem of the real and the apparent, equality and difference, freedom and restriction, absolute samadhi and positive samadhi, and so forth.
I always remember the spring in Kōnan. Fengxue quoted these lines of a famous ancient poet. They were from a favorite poem of his, so he spontaneously recited them when the monk asked his question. Kōnan is a district stretching south of the Yangtze River, between Nanking and Payang Lake, famed for its beautiful scenery. Partridges sing. Partridges were the best loved songbirds of the people of the Kōnan district. Many poets composed verses about them. Fengxue himself was born in Hangchow in Chechiang Province, which is in Kōnan, and he must have loved the partridge’s song. The monk came asking Fengxue how to be above speech and silence, real and apparent, and so on. But Fengxue was not limited by the monk’s question; he simply kept himself in his own samadhi. Positive samadhi is, in a sense, outward, but when you are in samadhi you transcend inward and outward.

Tennyson, "Maud" excerpt (Senzaki)

Come into the garden, Maud,
For the black bat, night, has flown;
I am here at the gate alone;
And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad,
And the musk of the rose is blown.

Senzaki's Verse

Under the Sala trees, Buddha stretched out on his death bed and said to his disciples, “Those who say that the Tathagata enters into nirvana are not my disciples.
Yet those who say that the Tathagata does not enter into nirvana also are not my disciples.”
Like the last saying of a father to his beloved children,
Buddha emphasized these words of Zen.
It is not only a narrative of two-thousand-five-hundred-and-twenty years ago, but is also our concern this very day.
Look! The bushes outside this humble house stretch their young leaves, and the golden flowers are blooming here and there.
The spring breezes nurse gently the whole body of Tathagata, which does not come from anywhere and which does not depart to any place.

Senzaki's Comment

In condensed form, the monk’s question is, “Without speech, without silence, how can you express the truth?”
“I always remember springtime in Southern China..." Thus the master invited the troubled monk across the great river, and there let him forget his disturbing preoccupation; lost in the coolness of a moonlit night. In Japan we say that a poet can visit all the famous places while sitting in his own room. The master, however, did not mean to interest the monk in geography, as of course you already know. But it is doubtful whether the monk followed the master’s meaning. Suppose I quote to you from Tennyson's "Maud." Now, you are not in Europe! Neither are you in Asia or America. This is my way, this evening, to express Zen without speech, without silence.

Shibayama's Comment

Because of the fundamental activity of equality or oneness in Reality, everything returns to the Self, or One. This is called ri (separateness). This fundamental activity of equality in the Truth of the universe freely works and develops in infinitely different ways, in accordance with varied situations and circumstances of differentiation. This creatively free working is called bi (subtle, mysterious). Although it acts in infinitely varied situations of differentiation, yet it is fundamentally pure and undivided. Its working is therefore always creative, subtle, profound, mysterious, and knows no contradiction. The Truth of the universe, or the Reality of Dharma, once it is expressed in words becomes bi, that is, phenomena. If it is expressed by silence it comes under ri, which is fundamental equality, unification. In other words, if you are in “silence” you are committed to equality, harmony; if you speak, you are committed to differentiation. Thus “‘both speaking and silence are concerned with ri-bi relativity.”
The monk is asking, “How can we live a truly free life that comes under neither differentiation nor oneness, that is committed neither to fundamental equality nor to phenomena, that is concerned neither with speaking nor with silence?” Needless to say, the questioning monk is not asking for logical or intellectual explanations, but is seeking the Zen solution based on Fengxue's own experience as a Zen Master. The core of this koan lies here. If one speaks, he is concerned with bi and commits himself to relativistic differentiation. If he remains silent, he is concerned with ri and commits himself to relativistic equality. This contradiction can never be solved in our ordinary domain of intellect.
How fondly I remember...” Fengxue is saying, "Look and behold! This is how I am free and nontransgressing!” Fengxue presented right before the monk the fact of his nontransgressing Zen at work. Capable students must be able to grasp immediately the wonder of Fengxue's free and nontransgressing Zen through this presentation. When one completely forgets himself in the beauty of spring, and the self, the world, and everything are transcended and not a thought is moving, is there any such distinction as speaking and silence, ri and bi? It is just the beauty of spring through and through: there is no room at all for any discrimination. That beauty, as it is, is the whole of Master Fengxue's life. In his pure speaking, just as it is, we should see the wonderful demonstration of his Zen at work, where he transcends the dualistic distinction of transgression and nontransgression and freely makes use of speaking and silence, ri and bi.

Yamada's Comment

“To enter is ri, to come out is mi. When we enter ri, the dust of the outer world has no place to adhere. When we come out to mi, the inner mind has nothing to do with it” (Sengzhao). Literally, ri means separate and mi means minute or extremely subtle. These terms could be understood to mean that if we separate from the phenomenal world and enter into the inner world, that is called ri. When we come out of the inner world, that is called mi. Alternatively, it could simply be that ri means the subject or consciousness, and mi means the object or outer world. In either case speech is of mi, the phenomenal world, and silence is of ri, separated from the phenomenal world.
Both speech and silence are connected with subject and object — in other words, with the dualistic world. The monk in this case knew that as long as we are confined to the world of dualistic concepts, we cannot free ourselves from the sufferings of the six evil realms.
Ordinary people think that subject and object are in opposition. We should know that subject and object are intrinsically one. This is the most fundamental point of Buddhist teaching. It is the true satori of Zen. To intuit, experience, and realize this fact is the main reason for doing zazen.
If you realize clearly that subject and object are one, you may say either that there is only the subject in the whole universe without any object whatsoever ("In heaven above and earth below, there is only I, alone and sacred"), or that there is only object without any subject ("No I"). But these are the same.
The monk seems to be saying that if you have a tiny bit of a concept or picture in your mind, you fall into the dualistic world of subject and object. If you have nothing in your consciousness, you are like a dead man, totally useless. How can we be free from lapsing into this dualistic pitfall? In Fengxue’s consciousness there is neither subject nor object, neither “only I, alone and sacred” nor “no I.” He is completely free from ri and mi and speech and silence. What is important is that we all attain great enlightenment by Fuketsu’s answer.

Hotetsu's Verse Hotetsu's Verses on Koans

How can I show you the silence inside our speech?
The words our silence speaks?
As we stroll this gray sidewalk, light rain falling,
Evening bending toward night.

Appendix: Alternate Translations

Case

A monk asked Fengxue in all earnestness, “Both speech and silence are concerned with li ["subject" or "subjectivity"] and wei ["object" or "objectivity"]. How can we transcend them?” Fengxue said, “I constantly think of Jaingnan in March, /where partridges are chirping among hundreds of fragrant blossoms.” [Originally a verse by the poet Du Fu (712-770)]

Aitken: A monk asked the priest Feng-hsueh, "Speech and silence are concerned with equality and differentiation. How can I transcend equality and differentiaion?" Feng-hsueh said, "I always think of Chiang-nan in March; /partridges chirp among the many fragrant flowers."

Cleary: Master Fengxue was asked by a monk, "'Speech and silence involve alienation and vagueness' -- how does one get through without transgression?" Fengxue said, "I always remember South of the Lake in springtime, the hundred flowers fragrant where the partridges call."

Guo Gu: A monk asked Fengxue, "Words and silence imply li and wei. How can one penetrate and be free from both without error?" Fengxue replied: "Reminiscing about Jaingnan in March, /Where the partridges sing /Is where the hundred flowers emit fragrance."

Hinton: A monk asked Wind-Source Mountain: "Word or silence -- either way you cross over into it all broken between Presence and Absence, the differentiated and the undifferentiated. How do I avoid that transgression altogether? Master Wind-Source replied: "I always remember, south of the river, that third month: mountain-partridge calling out, hundred-blossom scents.

Low: A monk asked Fuketsu, "Both speech and silence transgress; how can we avoid this transgression?" Fuketsu said, "I often think of Konan in March; The partridge chirps among the scented flowers."

Sekida: A monk asked Fuketsu, "Both speech and silence are faulty in being ri or bi. How can we escapt these faults?" Fuketsu said, "I always remember the spring in Konan, /Where the partridges sing; /How fragrant the countless flowers!"

Senzaki: A monk said to Fuketsu, "Speech becomes less and less until it reaches the limit, which is called ri, yet it is unable to express reality. Silence becomes deeper and deeper until it reaches the limit, which is called bi, yet it is not able to express reality. There must be a way to express reality beyond both ri and bi. Will you please show me the way?" Fuketsu said, "I always remember sprintime in Southern Chine -- the birds singing among innumerable kinds of fragrant flowers."

Shibayama: A monk once asked Master Fuketsu, "Both speaking and silence are concerned with ri-bi relativity. How can we be free and nontransgressing?" Fuketsu said, "How fondly I remember Konan in March! /The partridges are calling, and the flowers are fragrant."

Verse

Fengxue does not speak in his usual style; /Before he says anything, it is already manifested. /If you go chattering glibly, /You should be ashamed of yourself.

Aitken: It was not a verse of elegant tone! /Before speaking, it's already expressed; /if you go on chattering glibly, /you'll find yourself at a loss.

Cleary: He doesn't reveal a stylish phrase; /It's already imparted before speaking. /If you step forward chattering, /I know you are really at a loss.

Guo Gu: With unrefined words of no backbone /He imparts the meaning before it was even spoken. /The more you ramble on, /The more you lose your way.

Hinton: Remark revealing nothing of our wind-and-bone nature, you offer ancient insight without a word. /Forge ahead, mouth a yammer of chitter-chatter, and you're tangled in vast nets of bewilderment.

Low: He did not use a refined phrase; /Before speaking he had already made the point. /If Fuketsu had gone on talking and chattering, /The monk would not have got "it."

Sekida: He does not use a refined phrase; /Before speaking, he has already handed it over. /If you chatter on and on, /You will find you have lost your way.

Senzaki: Without revealing his own understanding, /He offered another's words, not his to give. /Had he chattered on and on, /His listers would have been embarrassed.

Shibayama: He used no high-flown words; /Before the mouth is opened, "it" is revealed. /If you keep on chattering glibly, /Know you will never get "it."