A traveling monk asked an old woman the road to Taizan, a popular temple supposed to give wisdom to the one who worships there. The old woman said: “Go straight ahead.” When the monk proceeded a few steps, she said to herself: “He also is a common church-goer.”
Someone told this incident to Joshu, who said: “Wait until I investigate.” The next day he went and asked the same question, and the old woman gave the same answer.
Joshu remarked: “I have investigated that old woman.”
Mumon’s comment: The old woman understood how war is planned, but she did not know how spies sneak in behind her tent. Old Joshu played the spy’s work and turned the tables on her, but he was not an able general. Both had their faults. Now I want to ask you: What was the point of Joshu’s investigating the old woman?
When the question is common
The answer is also common.
When the question is sand in a bowl of boiled rice
The answer is a stick in the soft mud.
A philosopher asked Buddha: “Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me truth?”
The Buddha kept silence.
The philosopher bowed and thanked the Buddha, saying: “With your loving kindness I have cleared away my delusions and entered the true path.”
After the philosopher had gone, Ananda asked the Buddha what he had attained.
The Buddha replied: “A good horse runs even at the shadow of the whip.”
Mumon’s comment: Ananda was the disciple of the Buddha. Even so, his opinion did not surpass that of outsiders. I want to ask you monks: How much difference is there between disciples and outsiders?
To tread the sharp edge of a sword,
To run on smooth-frozen ice,
One needs no footsteps to follow.
Walk over the cliffs with hands free.
A monk asked Baso: “What is Buddha?”
Baso said: “This mind is not Buddha.”
Mumon’s comment: If anyone understands this, he is a graduate of Zen.
If you meet a fencing-master on the road, you may give him your sword,
If you meet a poet, you may offer him your poem.
When you meet others, say only a part of what you intend.
Never give the whole thing at once.
Nansen said: “Mind is not Buddha. Learning is not the path.”
Mumon’s comment: Nansen was getting old and forgot to be ashamed. He spoke out with bad breath and exposed the scandal of his own home. However, there are few who appreciate his kindness.
When the sky is clear the sun appears,
When the earth is parched rain will fall.
He opened his heart fully and spoke out,
But it was useless to talk to pigs and fish.
“Seijo, the Chinese girl,” observed Goso, “had two souls, one always sick at home and the other in the city, a married woman with two children. Which was the true soul?”
Mumon’s comment: When one understands this, he will know it is possible to come out from one shell and enter another, as if one were stopping at a transient lodging house. But if he cannot understand, when his time comes and his four elements separate, he will be just like a crab dipped in boiling water, struggling with many hands and legs. In such a predicament he may say: “Mumon did not tell me where to go!” but it will be too late then.
The moon above the clouds is the same moon,
The mountains and rivers below are all different.
Each is happy in its unity and variety.
This is one, this is two.