Shôyôroku (Book of Equanimity) 46
CASE 46
Tokusan’s “Study Accomplished”
By
Yamada Kôun
Instruction:
The pure ground without an inch of grass for ten thousand miles still
deludes people;
The clear sky without a speck of could in eight directions still deceives
you.
Even if one removes a wedge by [driving in] another wedge,
It does not avoid sustaining emptiness by using emptiness.
Observe well a special method – a hammer upon the back of the head!
Case:
Great Master Tokusan Emmyô instructed his assembly and said, “If you
have exhausted to the end, you will realize right away that all buddhas in the
three worlds have stuck their mouths to the wall1. Yet there is still one person,
who is giving a great laugh. If you can recognize that person, your Zen study has
been accomplished.”
Verse:
Gathering in – holding fast the throat:
Winds polish, clouds wipe;
The water is cool, the sky is autumn.
Never say brocade-scaled fish has no good taste.
One hook of the moon fishes out the waters of the Sôrô River.
On the Instruction:
The pure ground without an inch of grass for ten thousand miles still
deludes people. The “pure ground without an inch of grass for ten thousand miles” would
seem like a desert. This is a reference to the world where there is not a single delusive thought.
It is referring to the world of emptiness. When we realize satori, we clearly realize the world of
1
I.e., they are unable to open their mouths.
Shôyôroku (Book of Equanimity) 46
emptiness. Most people are only aware of the phenomenal world. But when we clearly realize
our true self, the world of emptiness spreads out before us like “the pure ground without an
inch of grass for ten thousand miles.” These words are originally those of Tôzan Gohon Daishi
as found in Case 89 of the Book of Equanimity entitled “Tôzan’s No Grass.
Master Tozan addressed the assembly, saying, “It’s the beginning of autumn and at
summer’s end, my bothers, some of you will go east, and some west. But straightaway go to a
place where there is no grass for ten thousand miles.”
This is the world where there is “not a speck of cloud obstructing the view.” But here
the Instruction is saying that such a world “still deludes people” in the sense that they assume
that this is the real world. I always describe it in terms of my fraction in which the
denominator is the world of emptiness. When you experience kensho and realize this world,
you’re apt to believe that this is the only world and forget that there is also a numerator. You
think that there is only this world of emptiness. You must be very careful about this point. Just
because you have realized the world of the denominator, it doesn’t mean that the numerator
just disappears. Keizan Jôkin Zenji, the founding abbot of Sôjiji Temple, was practicing under
Tettsū Gikai Zenji when he realized this world of not a single thing. He then used the
expression “a black ball passing through pitch-black darkness” to describe the world of
emptiness. This is all very fine as a description of the world of satori. He had clearly realized
the world of emptiness. But then his master said, “Not enough, say more.” It was only half.
That is all right in describing the world of the denominator, but he has forgotten the world of
the numerator. Even though you have realized kensho, you wash your face and eat your
breakfast in the morning. It’s right there, even though it might be empty. This is the world of
“emptiness is no other than form.” But people tend to forget this and get stuck in emptiness.
That’s a major error. It’s of course important to clearly realize that world of emptiness. But
then there are cases where people only have a half-baked experience and have some mental
idea of emptiness. Having realized emptiness, what aspect of your life changes? When you get
up you eat your breakfast. Having clearly realized you must practice another thirty or forty
years before you can say something about Zen. All of you must be very careful about this point.
It might seem to be an unnecessary concern but all of you should reflect seriously on this
matter, asking, “how is it with me?” “Am I putting on a knowing face when I really don’t know?”
In other words, it’s a matter of truly realizing that world; this is known as the “pure land”
(jôchi). But if you assume that’s all, this will deceive you. Let me continue the story about
Keizan Zenji. Gikai told him “not enough, say more!” Finally Keizan said, “When I see rice, I
eat it. When I see tea, I drink it.” With these words he was finally approved by his master. We
must not forget this point. This is what this line of the Verse is driving at.
The clear sky without a speck of could in eight directions still deceives
you. This is saying much the same thing. There is not a speck of cloud in the blue sky. The
Verse is warning us not to be deceived by that emptiness. This, too, is a reference to the world
of the denominator in my fraction, the world of emptiness, which is likely to trip us up if we’re
2
Shôyôroku (Book of Equanimity) 46
not careful. One of the ancient Zen masters was Hôju Zenji. One day a monk asked him, “How
is it for you when there is not a single cloud?” The master replied, “Even the blue sky must
receive a blow from my stick.” Even that perfectly clear sky must receive a swat from the stick.
As long as we are clinging to that blue sky, it is not yet the real thing. I have written those
words on the kyosaku lying on the altar in the zendo.
Bashô’s Shujô, Case 44 of the Gateless Gate deals with this matter:
Master Bashô said to his disciples, “If you have a shujô, I will give it to you. If you have
no shujô, I will take it away from you.”
The shujô or staff means satori. “If you are holding on to anything like enlightenment,
I will give you a smack with my stick. If you have no satori, I will take it away from you. I’ll
have no shujô (i.e. satori) in my place. This is the same as beating the blue sky. If you are
sticking to views of emptiness, I will steal them away. Otherwise, it is not the authentic
experience.
Even if one removes a wedge by [driving in] another wedge,
It does not avoid sustaining emptiness by using emptiness. The first wedge
means illusion, all the delusive thoughts and ideas. Another wedge is used to drive out that
first wedge. That second wedge is emptiness, the world of not a single thing. It is used to take
away the world of the numerator. Most people tend to cling to the world of phenomena. For
there are only a few people who are familiar with the essential world. And for the sake of those
people who believe that the world of phenomena, the world of the numerator is the only world,
that must be stolen away. There is no way other than to bring them to a realization of the world
of the denominator. This is what is meant by removing a wedge by driving in another wedge.
But if we realize that world of emptiness, we are apt to get caught up in ideas of emptiness.
There are even cases of people painting some picture or image of the world of emptiness
without having actually realized it. Even if that wedge is used to eliminate those ideas, it
cannot avoid sustaining that emptiness. This is my personal interpretation of this line,
although there are not many commentators who see it in this way. When I examine the teisho
of various masters on this koan, they interpret this line as meaning that the emptiness is
pushed out, which is the same as using the wedge to remove the wedge. That would mean using
emptiness to remove emptiness. But the original Chinese character does not have the meaning
of removing, it has the meaning of supporting or sustaining. The emptiness means the fact of
emptiness that we realize. It is thus a matter of removing any concept of emptiness and
sustaining the fact of emptiness. This is how I see this line. There is the expression “falling into
emptiness,” which is a reference to the “sickness of satori.” Then there are cases of people who
have not really realized, but have snatched up this or that Zen saying and then carry on as if
they were king of the world. This is also a case of Zen sickness. In order to wipe out that illness,
it’s necessary to rob them of views of emptiness. Only then can they truly realize emptiness and
thus “sustain” true emptiness.
Observe well a special method – a hammer upon the back of the head! In
3
Shôyôroku (Book of Equanimity) 46
other words, when leading others in practice and in making others aware that they are
suffering from such a “satori sickness,” it’s necessary to “give them a hit on the head” without
saying a word. That is only possible for a “person of great strength.” He or she wants somehow
to bring students to a realization of the true fact. This is what is meant here by “a hammer on
the back of the head.” An example of such skillful means will be given now in the Main Case.
On the Case:
Great Master Tokusan Emmyô instructed his assembly and said, “If you
have exhausted to the end, you will realize right away that all buddhas in the
three worlds have stuck their mouths to the wall.” The Tokusan Emmyô Zenji in this
koan is not the same Tokusan who usually appears in other koans. That other Tokusan was
Tokusan Zen’in Zenji, a dharma successor of Baso Dôitsu Zenji in the Tang period. He was
originally known as Sôin Zenji and it was he who first founded the temple known as Tokusan
Zen’in. But during the persecution of Buddhism known as the Eshô-Sata in Japanese, the Tang
Emperor Wusong persecuted Buddhism, forcing tens of thousands of Buddhist monks and nuns
to return to lay life and burning down countless temples. The aforementioned Tokusan Zen’in
Temple was also burned down during that calamity. But the succeeding Emperor Xuansong
was, conversely, a great supporter of Buddhism, initiating a revival of Buddhism in China. The
Tokusan Zen’in Temple was subsequently rebuilt during his reign. And then the famous
Tokusan Senkan Zenji was invited to reside and teach there. The Tokusan appearing in this
present koan was fourth in a line of succession going back to that original Tokusan. Evidently
all the masters living at that temple received the same name of Tokusan. The name Tokusan
Emmyô Zenji was bestowed on him by the emperor when the Zen master passed away. He
himself was a disciple of Unmon Daishi. I should mention here that it was evidently this
Tokusan who originally came up with the three phrases that are usually attributed to Unmon.
This is recounted in Banshô Rôjin’s comments to this koan.
Those expressions are:
1.
The box and its lid.
2.
Cutting off all delusions
3.
Waves following waves
Banshô Rôjin says that those who attribute these words to Unmon have not examined
things sufficiently.
The words “exhausted to the end” means to take away everything. This is no other
than the “pure ground without an inch of grass for ten thousand miles” mentioned in the
Instruction. You take everything away so that nothing can be said. This is the world of
emptiness, where all thoughts and concepts have been stolen away. It is the world where even
Shakyamuni or Bodhidharma cannot utter a word. For to say something would be like a
scratch on that perfect surface. It cannot be expressed in words. It is the world where you have
died the great death, where words have been completely wiped away. Case 84 of the Blue Cliff
4
Shôyôroku (Book of Equanimity) 46
Record concerns the Dharma Gate of Nonduality, which is a reference to oneness. In that koan
the Bodhisattva Manjusri visits Layman Vimalakirti, where a discussion ensues.
Vimalakirti asked Manjusri, ”What is the Bodhisattva's entering the Dharma Gate of
Nonduality?” Manjusri said, ”In my opinion, in all things, not to speak, not to explain, not to
show and not to perceive. To go beyond all questioning or answering. This is entering the
Dharma Gate of Non-Duality.” At this point, Manjusri asked Vimalakirti, ”Each of us has
finished speaking. Now it is your turn to speak. What is the Bodhisattva’s entering the Dharma
Gate of Nonduality?”
It is said that Vimalakirti just sat still. One commentator said his “silence is like
thunder.” This “having exhausted to the end” (Japanese: kyûjin shisaru) is the same world.
When you have reached that place where not a word can be said, then “you will realize right
away that all buddhas in the three worlds have stuck their mouths to the wall.” In other words,
neither Shakyamuni nor Bodhidharma can say a word. To say they have “stuck their mouths to
the wall” means it is as if their mouths were attached to the wall with a nail or something, and
they are hanging from the wall, unable to say a thing! There’s nothing they can say. They’re
just like salted salmon hung up on the wall, unable to say a world. What happens then?
Yet there is still one person, who is giving a great laugh. What is he laughing
about? Maybe he’s laughing at Shakyamuni and Bodhidharma hanging from the wall unable to
utter a word. He then continues:
If you can recognize that person, your Zen study has been accomplished.
You have to realize who that laughing person is. This is how I see this statement. Bassui Zenji
posed the question, “Who is it that hears? (kiku tei kore nani mono zo). Who is it that laughs? If
you can realize that person, then “your Zen study has been accomplished.” One possible way of
seeing this is, that if you can realize that state of consciousness expressed here as “giving a
great laugh”,” if you can realize that world in which neither Shakyamuni nor Bodhidharma can
utter a word, then “your Zen study has been accomplished.” That is a possible interpretation
but I feel it’s a little tepid. I feel it’s a matter of realizing the one who is laughing. He wants you
to realize that one, in other words, realize your true self. And if you do so, then “your Zen study
has been accomplished.” Then there is nothing more to say. This is nothing other than “that
leisurely person of the Tao, who is beyond philosophy.”
On the Verse:
Gathering in--- holding fast the throat: The word translated here as “gathering
in” is shû in the original. This is the same as saying “the ten thousand things return to one.” All
phenomena are one. This “gathering in” (shû) is that world. But where does that “one” go to?
Have you exhausted that to the end?” This is the world of not a single thing.
Holding fast the throat: He takes you by the lapels and holds down your throat.
With these words of Tokusan, even Shakyamuni and Bodhidharma have their throats held fast,
and are unable to utter a word. This is said in reference to “all buddhas in the three worlds
5
Shôyôroku (Book of Equanimity) 46
have stuck their mouths to the wall.”
Winds polish, clouds wipe.
The water is cool, the sky is autumn. The wind sweeps the sky clean of clouds,
and nothing remains. It’s like cleaning a pane of glass. And what emerges from that spotless
clarity, that emptiness? The scenery of autumn, where everything has been cleaned away,
whether it be illusion, enlightenment, delusion or emptiness. Even lofty views of dharma or
Buddha, all such august sounding things, have been swept away without a trace. When the
practice is incomplete there is still that “heat” of ego remaining. But when that heat is
completely done away with, “the water is cool.” The word “autumn” is often used in Zen texts to
express the world of satori. It is a cool and bracing world, where there is not a single thing.
Never say brocade-scaled fish has no good taste. Such a fish is not a mere
goldfish but more like a big sea bream. This, too, is an expression for the person who has
completely realized his or her true nature. It is the person who has “exhausted it to the end”
and who “gives a great laugh.” Such a great fish lives at the bottom of a deep pool.
One hook of the moon fishes out the waters of the Sôrô River.
Such a completely realized person has neither illusion nor enlightenment, neither
delusion nor emptiness, neither dharma views nor Buddha views. All “heat” of ego has
disappeared. It might seem like such a person has no “flavor.” Such a “fish” might seem to have
no taste, no matter how it’s served up. But the verse says that we should never say it has no
good taste! The more you chew, the more the flavor comes out. To say that the hook of the moon
fishes out the waters is the same as “exhausted to the end.” It is the world where all delusions
have been done away with. The Sôrô River is a reference to a poem by the poet Qu Yuan,
although it must not necessarily be that particular water body. At any rate, the new moon is
reflected in the water. Its shape is just like that of a fishhook. You can think of it here as
expressing an autumnal scene. The new moon of autumn is reflected in the clear waters. In
other words, there are no longer any thoughts and concepts sticking. And such a flavor is
without compare? In the end, you can only summon up your own image to appreciate it. Just
that new moon reflected in the still and clear waters. I would like you all to somehow realize
and appreciate that world. This koan is lacking any complexities, but it is a deep koan.
6