Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (88 page)

A monk asked, “What is Zen?”

Yunmen said, “Yes.”

The monk said, “What is Tao?”

Yunmen said, “Attain.”

A monk asked, “If one’s parents won’t allow it then one can’t leave home. How can one leave home?”

Yunmen said, “Shallow.”

The monk said, “I don’t understand.”

Yunmen said, “Deep.”

Yunmen said to the congregation, “Every day you come and go, asking endless questions. If you were crossing a river how would you do so?”

A longtime resident of the monastery responded, “Step.”

Yunmen was highly pleased with this answer.

Yunmen said, “A true person of the Way can speak fire without burning his mouth. He can speak all day without moving his lips and teeth or uttering a word. The entire day he just wears his clothes and eats his food, but never comes in contact with a single grain of rice or thread of cloth.

“When we speak in this fashion it is just the manner of our school. It must be set forth like this to be realized. But if you meet a true patch-robed monk of our school and try to reveal the essence through words, it will be a waste of time and effort. Even if you get some great understanding by means of a single word you are still just dozing.”

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of ‘All dharmas are the Buddhadharma’?”

Yunmen said, “Country grannies crowd the road.”

The monk said, “I don’t understand.”

Yunmen said, “Not only you. Many others don’t understand.”

A monk asked, “How should one act during every hour of the day such that the ancestors are not betrayed?”

Yunmen said, “Give up your effort.”

The monk said, “How should I give up my effort?”

Yunmen said, “Give up the words you just uttered.”

Zen master Yunmen once took his staff and struck a pillar in the hall, saying, “Are the three vehicles and twelve divisions of scripture talking?”

He then answered himself, saying, “No, they’re not talking.”

Then he shouted, “Bah! A wild fox spirit!”

A monk asked, “What does the master mean?”

Yunmen said, “Mr. Zhang drinks the wine and Mr. Li gets drunk.”

Yunmen’s influence as a teacher is demonstrated by the many stories transmitted about him in the classic Zen texts. The first Song dynasty emperor, Tai Zu, posthumously honored Yunmen with a name that is nearly a eulogy: “Zen Master Great Compassionate Cloud Delivering Truth Vast Clarity.”

CUIYAN LINGCAN, “YONGMING”

CUIYAN LINGCAN (n.d.) was a disciple of Xuefeng Yicun. He came from ancient Anji (southwest of Xuzhou in modern Zhejiang Province). He lived and taught at Mt. Cuiyan in Mingzhou. One of the foremost students of Xuefeng, he attracted a large congregation of students from throughout China.

A monk said, “Without words, I ask the master to speak.”

Cuiyan said, “Go in shame to the tea hall!”

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the National Teacher’s three calls to his attendant?”

Cuiyan said, “What point is there in looking up to or down at other people?”

Cuiyan is most often remembered for this exchange with his fellow students when he was the head monk in Xuefeng’s congregation.

At the end of the summer practice period Cuiyan addressed the other monks, saying: “Throughout the summer I’ve been speaking to you about everything under the sun. Now I ask, do I still have eyebrows?”