BODHISATTVAS:
Most koans are put in the form of one or more questions. When the koan is in the form of a statement, you must ask yourself why the master made such a statement. You cannot squeeze out the answer by thinking about the koan. Simply concentrate your whole being upon it. This is the proper way to work on the koan.
This koan is expressed here only partially; the entire dialogue is as follows: A monk asked Kyogen, " Without using either relative or absolute terms, please tell me why Bodhiddharma came to China from India." Kyogen answered, "You are hanging from a tree by your teeth over a precipice and your hands grasp no branch and your feet rest on no limb, and you must answer the question. If you do not answer, you are a dismal student of Zen, but if you answer, you fall from the tree and lose your life."
Mumon ties to make a long story short, and makes the matter confusing. Kyogen here is not giving his opinion about Zen. If he were, he would have to use a relative term. He is not pointing at Zen through postulation, because if he were, he would have to use an absolute term. He addresses through his question the very being of the monk, the questioner himself.
Why does the monk have to worry about Bodhidarma? The blue-eyed Indian passed from the world a long time ago. It does not matter whether Bodhidharma came from the West to the East, or from the East to the West.
The concern of the moment for this monk is to realize Zen, nay, even to forget the term Zen, but to see his own true self the moment he acts.
("Case Five, Kyogen's Man in a Tree", by Nyogen Senzaki)
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου