Case 4 - Te Shan Carrying His Bundle
When
Te Shan arrived at Kuei
Shan, he carried his bundle with him into the teaching hall, where he
crossed
from east to west and from west to east. He looked around and said,
“There's
nothing, no one.” Then he went out.
Hsueh
Tou added the comment,
“Completely exposed.”
But
when Te Shan got to the
monastery gate, he said, “Still I shouldn't be so
coarse.” So he reentered [the
hall] with full ceremony to meet [Kuei Shan]. As Kuei Shan sat there,
Te Shan
held up his sitting mat and said, “Teacher!” Kuei
Shan reached for his whisk,
whereupon Te Shan shouted, shook out his sleeves, and left. Hsueh Tou
added the
comment,
“Completely
exposed.” Te
Shan turned his back on the teaching hall, put on his straw sandals,
and
departed.
That
evening Kuei Shan asked
the head monk, “Where is that newcomer who just
came?”
The
head monk answered, “At
that time he turned his back on the teaching hall, put on his straw
sandals,
and departed.”
Kuei
Shan said, “Hereafter
that lad will go to the summit of a solitary peak, build himself a
grass hut,
and go on scolding the Buddhas and reviling the Patriarchs.”
Hsueh Tou added
the comment, “He adds frost to snow.”
Reflections
Reflecting
on this koan had brought up lots of questions.
What
is Te Shan’s “bundle?”
Is
it his bundle of commentaries on the Diamond
Sutra? Or his travel bundle of
robes, begging bowl, and razor?
Probably
can’t be his commentaries because he had already
burned them before going to Kuei Shan’s.
Is
there a difference between Hsueh Tou’s first and
second “completely exposed?”
Who
is exposed Te Shan or Kuei Shan?
Or
is it a “what” rather than a
“who” that is exposed?
If
so, “what” is exposed?
What
about Yuan Wu’s imagery of the cat and leopard? Who
is the cat? Who is the leopard? Or do they possibly change places?
Sekida
comes down on the side of the bundle being a
“pilgrim’s bundle.” And he has Te Shan
saying “Mu, Mu.”
Does mu add another dimension to the
koan? Picture the scene. Te Shan comes to Kuei Shan’s
monastery. Te Shan,
backpack over his shoulders, enters the zendo. It is full of monks. Te
Shan
walks from one side to the zendo to the other, back and forth, back and
forth.
And he says. Mu, or Empty, or There’s nothing here, or,
there’s nobody here.
Was he looking for a place to sit and couldn’t find one? So
he leaves the
zendo. He gets to the monastery gate and thinks better of his haste. He
hadn’t
after all done his greeting bows to the Master of the temple, Kuei
Shan. Great
disrespect. So he returns to do so.
He
returns goes directly to Kuei Shan, takes his zagu out
of his sleeve holds it up prior to placing it down on the floor for
bows, says,
“Teacher.” And in that instant Kuei Shan waves his
hossu at Te Shan, and
simultaneously with the wave Te Shan shouts a
“Katsu,” folds his zagu, instead
of bowing, he turns around and leaves the zendo for good.
Later
Kuei Shan asks his attendant, “Who was that masked
man?”
So
what is Te Shan all about? Is
there a cocky confidence to Te Shan? Is he
saying This ain’t the place for me. There’s nothing
I can learn here. And mind
you, on the first go around he completely ignores the Master of the
temple,
Kuei Shan, exhibiting great disrespect.
And
what about Hsueh Tou’s “completely
exposed,” or “seen
through?” What is seen through? What is exposed?
Here
are some possibilities.
Te
Shan
Kuei
Shan
Both
Neither
Which
reminds me of the famous zen syllogism for
emptiness:
A
B
Ab
Neither
A or B
So
is Te Shan talking about Kuei Shan’s place being an
expression of emptiness? Is his comment not an insult but an expression
of the
highest admiration? If so why does he leave? Why does he enter the
zendo with
his backpack still on his back? Was there no intention to stay to begin
with?
Why does he ignore Kuei Shan the first time around? All of which points
once
again to derogation.
Then
there’s the matter of the images of frost and snow.
What is the meaning of the frost on top of snow? Is Te Shan the frost
and Kuei
Shan the snow?
Is
Hsueh Tau saying that Te Shan surpasses the attainment
of Kuei Shan?
Lots
of great stuff in this koan. Lots to mull about.
Lots to chew upon. Enjoy.
When
Te Shan arrived at Kuei
Shan, he carried his bundle with him into the teaching hall, where he
crossed
from east to west and from west to east. He looked around and said,
“There's
nothing, no one.” Then he went out.
Hsueh
Tou added the comment,
“Completely exposed.”
But
when Te Shan got to the
monastery gate, he said, “Still I shouldn't be so
coarse.” So he reentered [the
hall] with full ceremony to meet [Kuei Shan]. As Kuei Shan sat there,
Te Shan
held up his sitting mat and said, “Teacher!” Kuei
Shan reached for his whisk,
whereupon Te Shan shouted, shook out his sleeves, and left. Hsueh Tou
added the
comment,
“Completely
exposed.” Te
Shan turned his back on the teaching hall, put on his straw sandals,
and
departed.
That
evening Kuei Shan asked
the head monk, “Where is that newcomer who just
came?”
The
head monk answered, “At
that time he turned his back on the teaching hall, put on his straw
sandals,
and departed.”
Kuei
Shan said, “Hereafter
that lad will go to the summit of a solitary peak, build himself a
grass hut,
and go on scolding the Buddhas and reviling the Patriarchs.”
Hsueh Tou added
the comment, “He adds frost to snow.”