Case 6 - Yun Men's Every Day is a Good Day
Yun Men said, “I don't ask
you about before the fifteenth day; try to say something about after
the
fifteenth day.”
Yun
Men himself answered for
everyone, “Every day is a good day.”
6.
Hoffman translation
Master
Unmon said, “About
the fifteen days before [i.e. before enlightenment] I do not ask you.
Now that
fifteen days have passed, come, say something.” Nobody
answered. Unmon himself
said, “Every day is a good day.”
Background
Yunmen
Wenyan (864-949). First studied under Muzhou
Daoming. He had to knock on Muzhou’s door for three days
before Muzhou opened
it.
Muzhou
then grabbed Yunmen and shouted, “Speak! Speak!”
Yunmen hesitated. Muzhou shouted, “Good for
nothing!” and slammed the door on
Yunmen’s leg. Yunmen screamed in pain, but at that moment was
enlightened.
However, he was crippled for life.
After
studying with Muzhou for several years, Muzhou told
Yunmen to go study with Hsuehfeng. And eventually he became
Hsuehfeng’s dharma
heir.
Whao! What a character this Muchow is! His story is that, as a kid he felt destined to become a zen monk when he saw a group of monks and felt a close affinity to them. He felt that he had known these monks for some time. So he left home and went to a monastery to study.
He
was quite forbidding. He had a fierce face was graced
with seven pockmarks. He began by studying the Vinaya, later the
Sutras, and
then found Huangbo with whom he studied. Eventually, he became chief
monk at
Huangbo’s and later one of Huangbo’s dharma heirs.
His
teaching style as you heard from the encounter with
Yunmen was quite severe. Whenever anyone wanted to see him and knocked
on his
door he would shout “Nobody home! Go away!”
There’s
also another side to Muchow. At one time during
the turmoil of a rebellion in China he went home to live and take care
of his
mother. In order to support her he made straw sandals. He placed a pair
of his
sandals on the city gate to advertise them. A rebel force then was
entering the
city. The leader of the rebels saw the sandals and went to pick them up
but
they wouldn’t move. They were fixed like stone. The leader
became frightened.
He thought there is someone holy living in this city. We’d
better not enter and
so the rebels went away.
Muchow
also was instrumental in Linchi’s enlightenment.
He was head monk at Huangbo’s when Linchi came to the
monastery. Muchow was
impressed with Linchi’s ardor. So he asked him how long
he’d been at the
monastery. Linchi told him, “Three years.”
“Well,”
said Muchow, “have you gone to interview with
Master Huangbo yet?”
“No,”
said Linchi, “I don’t know what to say to
him.”
And
so, Muchow set him up. He told Linchi to ask Huangbo
what the essential meaning of Buddhism is. Linchi did and before he
could
finish a sentence Huangbo hit him and threw him out of the room.
He
went back to Muchow and told him that he wasn’t able
to even get ten words out when Huangbo hit him and threw him out.
Muchow told
him not to worry and to go back. And so Linchi did, three times! Each
time
Huangbo hit him and threw him out. Finally, Linchi had enough and told
Muchow
that he was skipping out. “OK,” said, Muchow
“but first you have to go see
Master Huangbo and say goodbye.”
Before
Linchi got to Huangbo, Muchow did and pleaded with
Huangbo to go easy. “He’s a good guy,” he
said. “He’ll go far in the dharma.”
So
Linchi entered the interview room and asked permission
to leave. Huangbo very graciously said that he didn’t need
permission. Just go.
But if you really want to understand what’s what
you’d better go to Gao’an
Monastery and practice with Master Dayu.
Linchi
did. And he told Dayu all about Huangbo’s hits and
shouts and being thrown out of the room three times. Dayu said,
“You fathead!
You don’t realize that Huangbo was giving you the straight
answer to your
question with his actions.” And Linchi got it. I wonder how
many here get it?
Then
Linchi returned to Huangbo and eventually became one
of Huangbo’ s dharma heirs and became one of the greatest
Zen
Masters of the Tang Dynasty—indeed of all time. And
he became the
patriarch of the Linchi or
Rinzai School of Buddhism.
And
so this is the Muchow of our present koan. This is
the spiritual father of the crippled Yunmen. And Yunmen became one of
Muchow’s
successors in the dharma. But he wasn’t a dharma heir. He
later studied with
Xuefeng, at Muchow’s suggestion I may add, and became
Xuefeng’s dharma heir.
Yunmen
was known for his simple, often one word, even one
syllable answers. They became known as Yunmen’s one-word
barriers. He also had
the habit of asking questions of his sangha and provided the answers
himself as
he does in this koan.
Reflections
The
Hoffman’s translation suggests that the space between
the fifteen and sixteenth days is the space of enlightenment.
Like
the space between inhalation and exhalation.
But
Yunmen’s answer suggests there is no difference
between before and after enlightenment.
That
there is no difference between inhalation and
exhalation—inbreath and outbreath.
But
is this so?
No
difference?
With
the inbreath the lungs inflate with air which then
converts to oxygen and streams to the heart and then reaches every cell
of the
body. At least it does so when everything works. If you have pulmonary
fibrosis
you need a little help.
With
the outbreath the lungs let go of used air,
releasing poisonous carbon dioxide into the environment. When enough of
it
gathers we have green house gases and poor air quality and ozone layer
and
global warming and so forth.
Inbreath contains oxygen. Outbreath contains carbon dioxide.
Inbreath brings life. Outbreath brings death.
So
there seems to be a difference between in and out
breath. And I suppose there also is a difference between before and
after
enlightenment. Between the fifteenth and sixteenth day.
Sekida
says that the days before the fifteenth day are
1.
The days before today.
2.
The days before you were born.
3.
The days before your enlightenment.
4.
The days before your coming out of absolute samadhi.
But
he says nothing about the days after enlightenment.
Tenkei
points out that the fifteenth/sixteenth days are
the midpoint of the month.
Everything
in this koan seems to point to the midpoint. Everything seems to
suggest that
the midpoint is the turningpoint. The place where you place the
fulcrum. The
place where change happens. The place where you find yourself as Dante
did “Nel mezzo del cami’n
di nostra vita.” At
the midpoint of the journey of our life.
The
place sought by the koan so many of you have worked on: What
is the essence or root of this very moment?
And
those of you who have successfully found that moment found what Yunmen
is
talking about. That every moment is the midpoint moment. And that no
moment is
the midpoint moment. Because there is no moment. Because every moment
is every
moment. Because every day is the fifteenth day. Because every day is
the
sixteenth day. Because every day is every day. Therefore everyday is a
good
day.
And
what is a good day? Some of you may know that Margaret as a physican
assistant
specialized working with AIDS patients. She was asked by the Albany
Medical
Center of New York to found and develop and be the first medical
provider of
the AIDS Center at Kingston, New York. One day after work at home she
told me
something one of her patients told her. As you know, there is the
farewell
saying, “Have a great day.” Margaret said this to
one of her patients. She
replied, “Margaret, every day above ground is a great
day.”
Yun
Men said, “I don't ask you about before the fifteenth
day; try to say something about after the fifteenth day.”
Yun
Men himself answered for everyone, “Every day is a
good day.”