Case 18 - National Teacher Chung’s Seamless Monument
Emperor
Su Tsung asked
National Teacher Hui Chung, “After you die, what will you
need?”
The
National Teacher said,
“Build a seamless monument for me.”
The
Emperor said, “Please
tell me, Master, what the monument would look like?”
The
National Teacher was
silent for a long time; then he asked, “Do you
understand?”
The
Emperor said “I don't
understand”
The
National Teacher said, I
have a disciple to whom I have transmitted the Teaching, Tan Yuan, who
is well
versed in this matter. Please summon him and ask him about
it.”
After
the National Teacher
passed on, the Emperor summoned Tan Yuan and asked him what the meaning
of this
was. Tan Yuan said,
South
of Hsiang, north of T'an;
(Hsueh Tou added the comment, “A
single hand
does not make random sound.”)
In
between there's gold sufficient to a nation.
(Hsueh Tou added the comment,
“A rough-hewn staff.”)
Beneath
the shadowless tree,
the community ferryboat;
(Hsueh Tou added the comment,
“The sea is calm, the rivers are
clear.”)
Within
the crystal palace,
there's no one who knows.”
(Hsueh Tou added the comment,
“He has raised it up.”)
Notes
and Reflections
Definition
of the word “seam.”
Seam.
n. 1. a. A line or junction formed by sewing
together two pieces of material along their margins. b. A similar line,
ridge,
or groove made by fitting, joining, or lapping together two sections
along
their edges. c. A suture. d. A scar.
2.
Any line across a surface, as a crack, fissure, or
wrinkle. 3. A thin layer or stratum, as of coal or rock. —v.
seamed, seaming,
seams. —tr. 1. To put together with or as with a seam. 2. To
mark with a
groove, wrinkle, scar, or other seamlike line. —intr. To
crack open; become
fissured or furrowed.
So
a seam can be seen as that which connects two pieces,
or that which separates two pieces. It could be a demarcation point
between two
pieces. A seam has the function of connection and separation at the
same time.
Therefore “seamless” neither connects nor
separates.
With
this in mind, it seems (pardon the pun) the National
Teacher Hui Chung asks for a monument which neither connects nor
separates. Or
is one and not two. Or is not one not two. Is he asking for an empty
tomb?
Empty so that they could put his body in it? Or is he saying he
doesn’t want
anything? That he doesn’t want a monument. That he
doesn’t want any fanfare
made at his burial. This last suggestion seems unlikely, though,
because
according to the commentary in the text of the Record, the student, Tan
Yuan, whom
the National Teacher asked the Emperor to summon to the court, was
critical of
Hui Chung’s enjoyment of the benefits associated with
royalty—of being
“addicted to fame and fortune, and for liking the company of
people.” On the
other hand, the next sentences of the koan point to this
‘empty’ direction.
The
Emperor said, “Please
tell me, Master, what the monument would look like?”
The
National Teacher was
silent for a long time; then he asked, “Do you
understand?”
The
silence, it seems to me, is another metaphor for the
seamless monument. Silence is a metaphor for emptiness. Of nothing
there.
The
Emperor said, “I don’t
understand.”
He
didn’t know what National Teacher Hui Chung is talking
about. So the National Teacher tells him to fetch his disciple, Tan
Yuan for he
is “well versed in this matter.”
What
is “this matter?”
It
is interesting that the koan then skips to the death
of the National Teacher. What happened? Was Tan Yuan summoned to court?
If so,
why didn’t he come? Because of his criticism of Hui Chung?
Was the exchange of
the koan made at the deathbed of Hui Chung? And why did the emperor
wait for
the death of the National Teacher before summoning Tan Yuan? Why
didn’t he call
Tan Yuan immediately so that he could be with his teacher before his
death?
Well,
at any rate, finally Tan Yuan made his reluctant
appearance before the Emperor who asked him what the hell was his
teacher
talking about? What is a seamless monument? Why didn’t he
answer my question
but just stood dumb with his mouth shut tight? And Tan Yuan recites a
poem:
South
of Hsiang, north of
Tan
In
between there’s gold
sufficient to a nation.
Beneath
the shadowless tree,
the
community ferryboat;
within
the crystal palace,
there’s
no one who knows.
Katsuki
Sekida, in his notes on the koan, says that the
first line of the poem is equivalent to saying South of the North Pole
and
North of the South Pole. In other words the entire boundaries of the
earth.
Hsiang and Tan are two rivers. One North, one South, and they mark the
boundaries
of China, and in between the rivers you can find all the gold you need
to run
the nation. Gold, according to Sekida, is Chan which at that time was
the most
prominent of the three religions: Ch’an, Confucianism, and
Taoism. Supporting
evidence of this is the fact that Hui Chung was the National Teacher
and a
favorite at court. There was a lot of jealousy about the deference he
received
from the Emperor from monks and priests of the other two religions,
especially
since Confucianism and Taoism were both indigenous Chinese religions,
whereas
Buddhism was an imported barbarian religion.
The
third line of the poem contains the shadowless tree
and the ferryboat.
Beneath
the shadowless tree,
the
community ferryboat;
The
ferryboat, says Sekida, is used to carry people
across to the other side. Sound familiar? Is this a reference to the
mantra of
the “Heart Sutra?”
Gate,
Gate, Paragate,
Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha.
The
shadowless tree, according to Sekida, symbolizes
eternity.
So
one can say that the Chan which existed in China in
those days changed people’s lives forever. This is what the
mantra of the Heart
Sutra declaims. This is a mantra of transformation. This is a mantra of
the
transcendental. That which moves from the relative to the absolute.
That which
transforms form into emptiness. That which is seamless.
Again
we are in the “Heart Sutra.” Transcending or
transformation is not transcending or transformation. One does not
change from
being a ‘bad’ person to being a
‘good’ person. One does not become better.
There is no better for there is no other side. There is no getting from
here to
there for there is no there—there is only here. And there is
no ferryboat!
Transformation in Zen is not transformation. Again the “Heart
Sutra.”
No
old age or death,
no
suffering,
no
cause, or end to
suffering.
No
path,
no
wisdom,
no
gain.
No
mind,
no
thing,
no
Buddha
and
no transformation.
Nothing
happens on this no path. No transformation but
everything is different. And everything is the same. You all know the
old
cliché about the beginning Zen student who sees mountains as
mountains, rivers
as rivers, roses as roses, and stars as stars. Later, as she progresses
in her
practice, and begins to experience some insights, she realizes that
mountains
are not mountains, rivers are not rivers, roses are not roses, and
stars are
not stars. But finally, when she is enlightened, she knows and sees
mountains
as mountains, rivers as rivers, roses as roses, and stars as stars. But
the
third stage and the first stage are not the same! The third stage is
completely
different. For in the first stage you are in the state of Duhkha. The
second
stage is transitional and leads to transformation— o
enlightenment. The third
stage is the stage of redemption. It is like the first stage, but it is
Duhkha
redeemed. It is Paradise Reborn.
So
the poem could be telling us that the seamless
monument that National Teacher Hui Chung wants is simply Chan.
Emperor
Su Tsung asked
National Teacher Hui Chung, “After you die, what will you
need?”
The
National Teacher said,
“Build a seamless monument for me.”
The
Emperor said, “Please
tell me, Master, what the monument would look like?”
The
National Teacher was
silent for a long time; then he asked, “Do you
understand?”
The
Emperor said “I don't
understand”
The
National Teacher said, I
have a disciple to whom I have transmitted the Teaching, Tan Yuan, who
is well
versed in this matter. Please summon him and ask him about
it.”
After
the National Teacher
passed on, the Emperor summoned Tan Yuan and asked him what the meaning
of this
was. Tan Yuan said,
South
of Hsiang, north of
T'an;
In
between there's gold
sufficient to a nation.
Beneath
the shadowless tree,
the community ferryboat;
Within
the crystal palace,