Said Ummon, “You are not blind then?” Ummon now told him to approach, and the monk approached. Said Ummon, “You are not deaf then?” Finally, he said, “Do you understand?” “No, master”, being the reply, Ummon remarked, “You are not dumb then?” This made the monk grasp the point.
If this monk of Ummon's had any sort of understanding about Gensha, he would have kicked up the master's chair when he was told to make bows, and no more fussing would have been necessary. In the meantime let me ask you whether Ummon and Gensha both understood the problem in the same way, or not. I tell you that their understanding is directed to one point. That the ancient masters come out among us and make all kinds of contrivance is because they wish to see somebody bite their hook and be caught up. They thus make bitter remarks in order to have us see into the great event of this life.
My own master Goso (Wu-tsu, died 1104) had this to say: “Here is one who can talk well but has no understanding; here is another who understands but is unable to talk about it. When these two present themselves before you, how will you distinguish the one from the other? If you cannot make this discrimination, you cannot expect to free people from their bondage and attachment. But when you can, I will see to it that, as soon as you enter my gate, I put on a pair of sandals and run through the inside of your body several times even before you realize. In case, however, you fail to have an insight in this matter, what is the use of hunting around for an old bowl? Better be gone!”
Do you wish to know what is the ultimate meaning of these complications in regard to the blind, deaf, and dumb? Let us see what Seccho says about it.
Seccho's Remarks in Verse
Blind, deaf, dumb! [—Even before any word is uttered.—The three sense-organs are perfectly sound.—Already finished is one paragraph!]
Infinitely beyond the reach of imaginative contrivances! [—Where do you wish to hunt for it?—Is there anything here which permits your calculations?—What relationship have they after all?]
Above the heavens and below the heavens! [—Perfectly free is the working of Truth.—Thou hast said!]
How ludicrous! How disheartening! [—What is it that is so ludicrous, so disheartening?—Partly bright and partly dark.]
Li-lou does not know how to discriminate the right colour. [—Blind fellow!—A good craftsman leaves no trace. —Blind to the very core!]
How can Shih-k'uang recognize the mysterious tune? [—Deaf in his ears!—There is no way to appreciate the greatest merit.—Deaf to the very core!]
What life can compare with this?—Sitting alone quietly by the window, [—This is the way to go on.—Do not try to get your livelihood in a cave of ghosts.—Break up all at once this cask of coal tar!]
I observe the leaves fall and the flowers bloom as the seasons come and go. [—What season do you think it is now?—Do not regard this as doing-nothingness.—Today, morning is followed by evening; tomorrow, morning is followed by evening.]
Seccho now remarked: “Do you understand, or not?” [—“Repeated in the gatha.”]
An iron bar without a hole! [—Coming up with your own confession!—Too bad that he was released too easily,—“Then he struck.”]
Yengo's Comment on Seccho
“Blind, deaf, dumb!
Infinitely beyond the reach of imaginative contrivances!”
In this, Seccho has swept everything away for you what you see together with what you do not see, what you hear together with what you do not hear, and what you talk about together with what you cannot talk about. All these are completely brushed off, and you attain the life of the blind, deaf, and dumb. Here all your imaginations, contrivances and calculations are once for all put an end to, they are no more made use of this is where lies the highest point of Zen, this is where we have true blindness, true deafness, and true dumbness, each in its artless and effectless aspect.
“Above the heavens and below the heavens!
How ludicrous! how disheartening!”
Here Seccho lifts up with one hand and with the other puts down. Tell me what he finds to be ludicrous, what he finds to be disheartening. It is ludicrous that this dumb person is not after all dumb, that this deaf one is not after all deaf; it is disheartening that the one who is not at all blind is blind for all that, and that the one who is not at all deaf is deaf for all that.
“Li-lou does not know how to discriminate the right colour.”
When he is unable to discriminate between blue and yellow, red and white, he is certainly a blind man. He lived in the reign of the Emperor Huang. He is said to have been able to discern the point of a soft hair at a distance of one hundred steps. His eye-sight was extraordinary. When the Emperor Huang had a pleasure-trip to the River Chih, he dropped his precious jewel in the water and made Li fetch it up. But he failed. The Emperor made Ch'ih-kou search for it, but he also failed to locate it. Later Hsiang-wang was ordered to get it, and he got it. Hence:
“When Hsiang-wang goes down, the precious gem shines most brilliantly;
But where Li-lou walks about, the waves rise even to the sky.”
When we come up to these higher spheres, even the eyes of Li-lou are incapacitated to distinguish which is the right colour.
“How can Shih-kuang recognize the mysterious tune?”
Shih-kuang was son of Ching-kuang of Chin in the province of Chiang in the Chou dynasty. His other name was Tzu-yeh. He could thoroughly distinguish the five sounds and the six notes, he could even hear the ants fight on the other side of a hill. When Chin and Ch'u were at war, Shih-kuang could tell, by merely quietly playing on the strings of his lute, that the engagement would surely be unfavourable for Chu. In spite of his extraordinary sensitiveness, Seccho (Hsueh-t'ou) declares that he is unable to recognize the mysterious tune. After all, one who is not at all deaf is really deaf in his ears. The most exquisite note in the higher spheres is indeed beyond the ear of Shih-kuang. Says Seccho: “I am not going to be a Li-lou, nor to be a Shih-kuang, but what life can compare with this?—Sitting alone quietly by the window,
I observe the leaves fall, the flowers bloom as the seasons come and go.”
When one attains this stage of realization, seeing is no-seeing, hearing is no-hearing, preaching is no- preaching. When hungry one eats, when tired one sleeps. Let the leaves fall, let the flowers bloom as they like. When the leaves fall, I know it is the autumn; when the flowers bloom, I know it is the spring. Each season has its own features.
Having swept everything clean before you, Seccho now opens a passageway, saying: “Do you understand, or not?” He has done all he could for you, he is exhausted, only able to turn about and present to you this iron-bar without a hole. It is a most significant expression. Look and see with your own eyes! If you hesitate, you miss the mark for ever.
Yengo (Yuan-wu, the author of this commentary note) now raised his
VIII. THE TEN OXHERDING PICTURES.
Preliminary
The author of these “Ten Oxherding Pictures” is said to be a Zen master of the Sung Dynasty known as Kaku- an Shi-en (Kuo-an Shih-yuan) belonging to the Rinzai school. He is also the author of the poems and introductory words attached to the pictures. He was not however the first who attempted to illustrate by means of pictures stages of Zen discipline, for in his general preface to the pictures he refers to another Zen master called Seikyo (Ching-chu), probably a contemporary of his, who made use of the ox to explain his Zen teaching. But in Seikyo's
