Don't-Know Mind (eBook)

FromChapter 1: Ma-Tsu's Four Words and One Hundred Negations Canthis matter of Zen be explained or not? Canthis matter of Zen be understood or not? Ifyou say that it can be explained and understood, thenyou are attaching to words and concepts and missthe basic fact. On the other hand, if you sayit cannot be understood, then how can the ZenDharma be taught to all beings? Whatcan you do? Lookclearly! Acrow's head is black. Acrane's head is white. Akong-an(Jap.,koan) is a phrase from a Buddhist scripture or an episode from the life of anancient Zen master that points to the nature of ultimate reality. Paradoxicalin nature, kong-ans cannot be comprehended by the rational mind and requirethat one make a leap beyond conceptual thought to another level ofunderstanding. ''Four Words and One Hundred Negations'' is an old Zen story andkong-an that appears both in TheBlue Cliff Record andTheBook of Serenity (twoimportant collections of kong-ans accompanied by commentaries). This is how itgoes: A monk asked Great Master Ma, ''Please, Master, going beyond the 'four wordsand one hundred negations,' directly point out to me the meaning of the comingfrom the West.'' Master Ma said, ''I'm tired today and can't explain to you. Goask Chih-tsang.'' When the monk asked Chih-tsang, Chih-tsang said, ''Why didn'tyou ask the Master? '' The monk replied, ''The Master had me come ask you.''Tsang told him, ''I have a headache today. I can't explain to you. Go ask ElderBrother Hai.'' So the monk then asked Elder Brother Hai (also known asPai-chang). Hai said, ''At this point, all the more I don't understand.'' Whenthe monk related this to Great Master Ma, Master Ma said, ''Tsang's head iswhite, Hai's head is black.'' Before examining the case (kong-ans are often referred to as ''cases'' becausethe term originally referred to legal cases that constituted precedents), Iwant to say a little about the cast of characters. The three monks named herehave a strong connection not only to the Chinese Zen tradition, but also to theKorean Zen tradition. Of these three, a lot has been written about Great MasterMa, whose full name is Ma-tsu Tao-i (Jap., Baso Doitsu, Kor., Ma Jo). There isalso a fair amount about Zen Master Pai-chang (Jap., Hyakujo, Kor., Baek Jang).But there is little written about Chih-tsang of His-t'ang (Jap., Jizo, Kor., JiJang). Chih-tsang, who was born in 735 CE, became a novice monk and began following ateacher when he was eight years old. When he was twenty-five, he took fullmonk's precepts. Later, hearing about the Zen teaching that Great Master Ma-tsuwas giving in the mountains, Chih-tsang went to be his student and eventuallybecame his successor. Ma-tsu was well known and had hundreds of students, but only 139 earned hispermission to teach and start Zen groups in different parts of China. Amongthose 139, Chih-tsang, Pai-chang, and Nan-ch'uan (Jap., Nansen, Kor., NamCheon) were considered the greatest. When Ma-tsu died, the monks in hisassembly asked Chih-tsang to teach in Ma-tsu's place. He taught for many yearsbefore passing away in 814. A few other stories about Chih-tsang have survived. One tells of the timeMa-tsu sent him to take a letter to the national teacher at the capital. WhenChih-tsang got there, the national teacher asked him, ''What kind of teachingis Ma-tsu giving these days?'' Chih-tsang, without opening his mouth, walked from the east side of the hall tothe west side, then stood still. The national...