Case 22 - Hsueh Feng’s Turtle-Nosed Snake
Hsueh
Feng taught the
assembly saying, “On South Mountain there’s a
turtle-nosed snake. All of you
people must take a good look.”
Ch’ang
Ch’ing said, “In the
hall today there certainly are people who are losing their bodies and
their
lives.”
A
monk related this to Hsuan
Sha. Hsuan Sha said, “It takes Elder Brother Leng
(Ch’ang Ch’ing) to be like
this. Nevertheless, I am not this way.”
The
monk asked, “What about
you, Teacher?”
Hsuan
Sha said, “Why make use
of ‘South Mountain’?”
Yun
men took his staff and
threw it down in front of Hsueh Feng, making a gesture of fright
Reflections
The
most important player of this koan is the
turtle-nosed snake. What is a turtle-nosed snake? And what does the
turtle-nosed snake represent? Obviously, a venomous snake, when
threatened, can
be an instrument of death. And the turtle-nosed snake in China was
considered
to be the most venomous of snakes. South Mountain was near Hsueh
Feng’s
monastery.
So
what is Hsueh Feng saying to us?
Everybody
should take a good look at the
turtle-nosed snake that resides on the nearby mountain.
Everybody
must handle this turtle-nosed snake—be
bitten by it—and die.
That’s
the teaching of the koan. It is important
that we die in order to realize our true selves. There’s
nothing new here.
Jesus said it. We must take up our cross and die, then can we be
reborn.
In
Zen this is called the Great Death. The Great
Death is necessary if we are to realize the enlightened heart within
our heart.
The host within the host.
The
snake is the death. The Great Death. The snake
is the Dragon Gate. The Dragon Gate is the most dangerous place in the
ocean of
life and death. Fish must swim through this place. Many manage to get
to this
gate—make a dash to swim through the mad swirling waters and
do not make it.
They are sucked down by the strong whirlpool, dragged to the bottom and
drown.
Many approach the Dragon Gate and turn back. They are too frightened to
try.
The few who do thrust themselves into the swirling vortex of the
waters, make
it through the gate, and emerge on the other side, are transformed into
dragons.
This
is exactly what happens in zazen. Zazen is the
dragon-gate. When you begin to sit you are a mere sardine. But a strong
zazen
experience can transform you into a dragon.
The
process of transformation is death—the Great
Death.
Death
to the old fishself.
Rebirth
to the mighty dragon.
The
turtle-nosed snake rears
its venomous head in many guises throughout koan literature.
It
is Pai Chang’s “tiger,”
Chao-chou’s
“Drinking tea,”
Lin-chi’s
“Mui,”—the person
of no-rank.
It
is Great Master Ma’s
“Sun-face
Buddha—Moon-face
Buddha.”
It
is Bankei’s “Unborn,”
It
is Dongshan’s “Three
pounds of flax.”
It
is Un Men’s “Dried piece
of shit.”
It
is the pebble that strikes
bamboo and causes enlightenment.
It
is that moment when you
see and feel and know, not only in your heart and mind—but in
every cell of
your body—you know!
The
turtle-nosed snake is the
instrument of death!
The
turtle-nosed snake is
death!
The
turtle-nosed snake is
life!
The
turtle-nosed snake is
enlightenment itself!
The
turtle-nosed snake is the
counting of breaths.
The
turtle-nosed snake is
zazen.
The turtle-nosed snake is wrestling with your koan.
The
turtle-nosed snake is
chanting the sutras.
The
turtle-nosed snake is the
Tara manta.
The
turtle-nosed snake is
Avalokiteshvara.
The
turtle-nosed snake is
Buddha.
You
are the turtle-nosed
snake.
Ch’ang
Ch’ing said, “In the
hall today there certainly are people who are losing their bodies and
their
lives.”
Of
course!
When
you do zazen.
You
are dying.
You
are giving up your opinions, your
preconceptions, your belief-systems.
You are giving everything up.
Whatever
it is that you have, you drop.
You
drop Zen Buddhism.
You
drop zazen itself.
You
drop Koan study.
What
is Koan study? Whatever it is, whether it is
Hakuin’s “method,” or Bernie’s
“method,” or even Mui’s
“method.”
Whatever it is
you drop it.
You
drop the Four Noble Truths.
You
drop the Three Treasures.
You
drop the Twelve-Fold Chain of Causation.
Do
you see where you are?
Smack
in the heart of the Heart Sutra!
Not
born, not destroyed.
Not
stained, not pure.
Neither
waxing nor waning.
…
Not
sensation, nor
perception, reaction
nor consciousness.
No
eye, ear, nose, tongue,
body, mind.
No
color, sound, smell,
taste, touch, thing.
No
realm of sight, no realm
of consciousness.
No
ignorance, no end to
ignorance.
No
old age and death.
No
cessation of old age and
death.
No
suffering, no cause or end
to suffering.
No
path, no wisdom, and no
gain.
This
is the Great Death.
South
Mountain is irrelevant. It just happened to be
there at the time of the koan incident. It could happen here in
Oakland.
The
crucial precondition of transformation is
death—the Great Death.
How
many of you are willing to smash through the
Dragon Gate?
How
many of you are willing to drop your
convictions?
Your
preconceptions?
Your
ideas of right and wrong?
Your
belief-systems?
Your
theologies?
Psychologies?
Political
parties?
Economic
theories?
Whatever
it may be?
How
many of you are willing to drop the teachings of
Shakyamuni Buddha?
How
many of you are willing to drop the teachings of
Jesus Christ?
Of
the Christian Church you belong to?
Of
the teachings of the Jewish Prophets?
Of
whatever religious belief system you treasure?
Shakyamuni
said, “No views!”
No
ands ifs or buts.
Give
up all views, then you will see!
Shakyamuni
himself had to give up the views that he
had. He had to give up the four holy truths, the eightfold path,
etcetera. etcetera,
etcetera. Back again to the Heart Sutra.
No
path no wisdom and no
gain.
None
of the teachings of Shakyamuni worth a damn!
Give them all up and die! All of the koan study—useless. Some
of you have
suffered with Margaret and me through years of koan study. Useless! A
complete
waste of time! The very words I am speaking, right now, that you are
hearing—useless. Better I shut up. My eyebrows are thick and
knotty.
Better
you stop up your ears and not listen.
My
words may be a venomous snake, spitting poison.
Hsueh
Feng said, “On South
Mountain there’s a turtle-nosed snake. All of you people must
have a good
look.”
Ch’ang
Ch’ing said, “In the
hall today there are people who are losing their bodies and their
lives.”
A
monk related this to Hsuan
Sha. Hsuan Sha said, “Ch’ang Ch’ing is
like this. I am not.”
The
monk asked, “What about
you, Teacher?”
Hsuan
Sha said, “Why ‘South
Mountain’?”
Yun
men took his stick and
threw it down in front of Hsueh Feng (making a gesture of fright).