May 10, 2007...9:14 pm
Chan Master Zhaozhou or Joshu - Zen Poems, Sayings and Koans
Zhàozhōu Cōngshěn (Chinese: 趙州從諗; Wade-Giles: Chao-chou Ts’ung-shen; Japanese: Jōshū Jūshin) (778–897), was a Chán (Zen) Buddhist master especially known for his “paradoxical statements and strange deeds”.
Zhaozhou became ordained as a monk at an early age. At the age of 18, he met Nánquán Pǔyuàn (南泉普願 748–835; J: Nansen Fugan), a successor of Mǎzǔ Dàoyī (709–788; J. Baso Do-itsu), and eventually received the Dharma from him. When Nanquan asked Zhaozhou the koan “What is the Way?”, the two had a dialogue, at the height of which Zhaozhou attained enlightenment. Zhaozhou continued to practice under Nanquan until the latter’s death.
Subsequently, Zhaozhou began to travel throughout China, visiting the prominent Chan masters of the time before finally, at the age of eighty, settling in Guānyīnyuàn (観音院), a ruined temple in northern China. Here, for the next 40 years, he taught a small group of monks.
Zhaozhou is sometimes touted as the greatest Chan master of Tang dynasty China during a time when its hegemony was disintegrating as more and more regional military governors (jiédùshǐ) began to assert their power. Zhaozhou’s lineage died out quickly due to the many wars and frequent purges of Buddhism in China at the time, and cannot be documented beyond the year 1000.
Many koans in both the Blue Cliff Record and The Gateless Gate concern Zhaozhou, with twelve cases in the former and five in the latter being attributed to him. He is, however, probably best known for the first koan in The Gateless Gate:
A monk asked Chao-chou, “Has the dog Buddha-nature or not?” Chao-chou said, “Wu.
Who is Zhaozhou?
I know what I don’t know.
I don’t know what I know.
I am what I am not.
I am not what I am.
How is it to be Zhaozhou?
A visitor who was very impressed by the fame of the
great Zen
Master Zhaozhou approached him with great reverence and
asked,
“What is it like to be like you—at the very point of
absolute
immediacy?”
Zhaozhou replied, “Pissing is a small thing to do and
I have to do it myself.”
Things happen
A monk asked Joshu, “What is the meaning of
Bodidharma’s coming to China?” Joshu said,
“The oak tree in the front garden.”
A monk asked Zhaozhou, “What is the living meaning of Zen?.”
Zhaozhou said,
“The cypress tree in the courtyard.”
All things are related
A monk asked Chao-chou, “Has the oak tree Buddha nature?”
Chao-chou said, “Yes, it has.”
The monk said, “When does the oak tree attain Buddhahood?”
Chao-chou said, “Wait until the great universe collapses.”
The monk said, “When does the universe collapse?”
Chao-chou said, “Wait until the oak tree attains Buddhahood.
Words are like the wind
When Koko went to see Hogen, he was asked
where he had been most recently.
“With Joshu,” Koko answered.
Hogen said, “I have heard about Joshu and the oak tree;
itsn’t this so?”
Koko said, “It is not so!”
Hogen said, “But everyone says that when a monk asked about
the meaning of
Bodidharma’s coming from the West, Joshu answered,
‘The oak tree in the front garden.’
How can you say it was not so?”
Koko said, “My master said nothing of the kind!
Please do not insult the late master.”
Hogen said, “Truly, you are a lion’s cub!”
Mumon’s Verse for Chao-chou’s Oak Tree, Case 37
Words cannot express things;
Speech does not convey the spirit.
Swayed by words, one is lost;
Blocked by phrases, one is bewildered.
The stone bridge
A monk challenged Zhaozhou, “I’ve been hearing about
Zhaozhou’s stone bridge for a long time. Now that I’m here,
all I see is this log.”
Zhaoahou said, “You see the log, but you don’t see the stone
bridge.”
The monk asked, “What is the stone bridge?”
Zhaozhou said, “It lets donkeys cross; it lets horses
cross.”
Where does the essence of all return?
A monk asked Zhaozhou, “The myriad things
return to one.
Where does the one return to?”
Zhaozhou said, “When I was in
Jing Zhao, I made a cloth shirt. It weighed seven
pounds.”
Everyday Life is the Path
Joshu asked Nansen: `What is the path?’
Nansen said: `Everyday life is the path.’
Joshu asked: `Can it be studied?’
Nansen said: `If you try to study, you will be far away
from it.’
Joshu asked: `If I do not study, how can I know it is
the path?’
Nansen said: `The path does not belong to the perception
world, neither does it belong to the nonperception world.
Cognition is a delusion and noncognition is senseless. If
you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself
in the same freedom as sky. You name it neither good nor
not-good.’
At these words Joshu was enlightened.
Mumon’s Comment: Nansen could met Joshu’s frozen
doubts at once when Joshu asked his questions. I doubt that
if Joshu reached the point that Nansen did. He needed thirty
more years of study.
Be life
In spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest
moon;
In the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter snow will
accompany you.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
Any season is a good season for you.
Does a dog have Buddha nature?
A monk asked Joshu: `Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?’
Joshu answered: “Mu”
Mumon’s comments: To come to enlightenment, you have to pass
the barrier of the patriarchs. It always comes after your
way is blocked. If you do not pass the barrier, you are
entangled, clinging to grass. You ask, what is a barrier? It
is this word: Mu.
This is barrier of meditation. If you pass it, you will see
Joushu, and work with all the patriarchs. The hair of your
eyebrows entangled with theirs, and see with the same eyes,
and hear with the same ears. Is this not good? Wouldn’t you
like to pass the barrier?
To pass the barrier, you must work with every bone, with
every hair follicle, to answer this question. What is Mu?
Think on it all day and all night. It is not the word
meaning nothing. Do not think of existence.To pass this
barrier, it will be like eating a hot iron, that you cannot
spit out. When you reach enlightenment, your previous
thoughts disappear. As the ripening of fruit, your knowledge
of things, and external knowledge come together. It is like
mute who has dreamt a dream, because he knows it, but cannot
speak of it.
When you know this, your self is crushed, and you can move
heaven and earth. You are like a warrior (General Guan) with
a sharpened sword. If Buddha stands in your way, cut him
down, and if a patriarch obstructs your way, kill him. Thus
will you be free of samsara, and enter any world.
Does a dog have Buddha nature?
This is the greatest question of all.
If you say yes or no,
You lose your own Buddha-nature.
Words are meaningless and devoid of reality
When Koko went to see Hogen, he was asked where he
had been most recently.
“With Joshu,” Koko answered.
Hogen said, “I have heard about Joshu and the oak tree;
itsn’t this so?”
Koko said, “It is not so!”
Hogen said, “But everyone says that when a monk asked about
the meaning of
Bodidharma’s coming from the West, Joshu answered,
‘The oak tree in the front garden.’
How can you say it was not so?”
Koko said, “My master said nothing of the kind!
Please do not insult the late master.”
Hogen said, “Truly, you are a lion’s cub!”
A Master is not a Master
The cock crows in the early morning;
Sadly I see as I rise how worn out I am;
I haven’t a belt or a shirt.
Just the semblance of a robe.
My loincloth has no seat, my pants no opening–
On my head are three or five pecks of gray ashes.
Originally I intended to practice to help save others;
Who would have suspected that instead I would become a fool!
Joshu
Quote
The Buddha and all sentient beings are nothing but expressions of the one mind. There is nothing else.
Huang Po
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