Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (87 page)

A monk asked, “During the era of the Hui Chang suppression, where were the good guardian deities?”

Huguo said, “An embarrassment in front of the temple gate.”
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A monk asked, “What is it when dripping water turns into ice?”

Huguo said, “An embarrassment when the sun comes out.”

YUNMEN WENYAN

YUNMEN WENYAN (864–949) was a disciple of both Muzhou Daoming and Xuefeng Yicun. Although he first attained realization under Muzhou, he is generally recognized as a Dharma heir of Xuefeng. He came from ancient Jiaxing (located midway between the modern cities of Shanghai and Hangzhou). As a young man, he first entered monastic life under a Vinaya master named Zhicheng. After serving as that teacher’s attendant for many years, Yunmen exhausted the teachings of the Vinaya and set off to study elsewhere. Eventually, he studied with Muzhou Daoming.

The
Wudeng Huiyuan
provides an account of Yunmen’s enlightenment under Zen master Muzhou.

When Muzhou heard Yunmen coming he closed the door to his room. Yunmen knocked on the door.

Muzhou said, “Who is it?”

Yunmen said, “It’s me.”

Muzhou said, “What do you want?”

Yunmen said, “I’m not clear about my life. I’d like the master to give me some instruction.”

Muzhou then opened the door and, taking a look at Yunmen, closed it again.

Yunmen knocked on the door in this manner three days in a row. On the third day when Muzhou opened the door, Yunmen stuck his foot in the doorway.

Muzhou grabbed Yunmen and yelled, “Speak! Speak!”

When Yunmen began to speak, Muzhou gave him a shove and said, “Too late!”

Muzhou then slammed the door, catching and breaking Yunmen’s foot. At that moment, Yunmen experienced enlightenment.

Muzhou directed Yunmen to go see Xuefeng. When Yunmen arrived at a village at the foot of Mt. Xue, he encountered a monk.

Yunmen asked him, “Are you going back up the mountain today?”

The monk said, “Yes.”

Yunmen said, “Please take a question to ask the abbot. But you mustn’t tell him it’s from someone else.”

The monk said, “Okay.”

Yunmen said, “When you go to the temple, wait until the moment when all the monks have assembled and the abbot has ascended the Dharma seat. Then step forward, grasp your hands, and say, ‘There’s an iron cangue on this old fellow’s head. Why not remove it?’”

The monk did as Yunmen instructed him.

When Xuefeng saw the monk act this way, he got down from the seat, grabbed the monk and said, “Speak! Speak!”

The monk couldn’t answer.

Xuefeng pushed him away and said, “It wasn’t your own speech.”

The monk said, “It was mine.”

Xuefeng called to his attendant, “Bring a rope and a stick” [to bind and beat the monk].

The monk said, “It wasn’t my question. It was from a monk in the village.”

Xuefeng said, “Everyone! Go to the village and welcome the worthy who will have five hundred disciples.”

The next day Yunmen came up to the monastery.

When Xuefeng saw him he said, “How is it that you’ve reached this place?”

Yunmen then bowed his head. In this manner did the affinity [between Xuefeng and Yunmen] come about.

On the day when Yunmen first entered the hall as abbot, the governor of Guangzhou attended in person and said to the master, “Your disciple asks for your valued teaching.”

Yunmen said, “There is nothing special to say. It is better if I don’t speak and thereby deceive you all. I’m sorry that I’ve already played the part of a wily old fox for all of you. If a man of clear vision were to suddenly see me now, I’d be the object of laughter. But if I can’t avoid it, then I’ll just ask you all, from the beginning, what’s the big deal? What are you lacking? I don’t have anything to say. There’s nothing to be seen. You have to break through to
this
on your own. And don’t ask silly questions. In my mind there’s just a dark fog. Tomorrow morning and the day after there are a lot of affairs going on here. If your disposition is to tarry here and not return to your usual lives, to look here and there at the gates and gardens built by the ancients, what point is there in all this? Do you want to understand? That’s just due to your own quagmire of delusion accumulated for endless eons. You hear someone expound on something and it puts a doubt in your mind, so you ask about Buddha and you ask about the ancestors, looking high and low, searching for a solution, getting caught up in things. This scheming mind is wide of the mark. It’s always caught up in words and phrases. Isn’t what you require the nonintentioned mind? Don’t be mistaken about this. There’s nothing more to say. Take care!”

Yunmen entered the hall to address the monks, saying, “Why are you all aimlessly coming here looking for something? I only know how to eat and shit. What use is there in explaining anything else?

“You’ve taken pilgrimages everywhere, studying Zen and inquiring about Tao. But I ask you, what have you all learned in those places? Let’s see it and check it out! In the midst of all this, what’s the master of your own house attained? You’ve trailed around behind some old fellows, grabbing something they have already chewed on and spit out, and then calling it your own. Then you say, ‘I understand Zen!’ or ‘I understand Tao!’ Even if you can recite the whole Buddhist canon, what will you do with it?

“The ancients didn’t know when enough was enough. They saw you scurrying around, and when they said ‘bodhi’ and ‘nirvana’ they covered you up and staked you down. Then when they saw you didn’t understand they said ‘no bodhi’ and ‘no nirvana.’ It should have been made clear from the start that this just goes around and around! Now you just keep looking for commentaries and explanations!

“You who act like this destroy our school. You’ve been going on like this endlessly, and where has it brought you to today?

“Back when I was making pilgrimages there was a group of people who gave me explanations. They were well intentioned. But one day I saw through what they were saying. They are a bunch of laughingstocks. If I live a few more years I’ll break the legs of those people who destroy our school! Nowadays there’re plenty of things to get mixed up with. Why don’t you go do them? What piece of dried shit are you looking for here?”

Yunmen then got down from the seat and drove the monks from the hall with his staff.
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Yunmen is remembered for his terse “one-word barriers.”