13. A Phrase of Enlightenment before Mounting the Platform!

 

一片白雲海上來

畿條綠水岩前過

 

A bit of cloud is rising on the sea;

Tributaries of a blue river are flowing,

Circling, and embracing the rocks!

 

If somebody asks me the meaning of dharma, I'll give him a shower of chujangja strikes as well as a good yell. If he is free to do as he pleases, and if he is unrestrained by my strikes, he is sure to be fit for life for hundreds of millions of years to come.

 

As everyone of you well knows, life is not easy; it is very tough indeed. Nevertheless, there is one believer who makes an offering on each payday of a 100kg sack of rice, and he never mentions his reason for doing so. He had been doing this for a very long time when I came upon him by chance one day, and asked him about his offering.

"How can you come here and offer one hundred kilograms of rice every month, although you have to finance the schooling of your children and make ends meet?"

To my question, he responded briefly but impressively:

"I do it out of my simple wish. My wish is to see many toins emerge from this monastery and brighten the world with the force of the truth of Buddhist doctrine."

Really great! His belief is very deep and very high. This is why every one of you here studying the road of the Buddhists with the  aid of offerings from such devout believers need to be resolute once again.

All the Buddhas and preceding toins emphasized the meaning of accepting offerings from believers, saying,

"A Buddhist priest who hasn't been enlightened will find it hard to squeeze rice water from a grain of rice."

This shows how difficult it is to be offered meals.

 

In former times, a layman believer brought a bar of gold, hearing that a certain Buddhist monk was well advanced in his search for the truth of Buddha. He called on the monk and offered him the bar of gold, saying,

"Sŏnim, spend this gold for me, will you?"

The sŏnim, pondering for quite a while, refused to accept it, saying,

"I can't. I'm not able to smelt this gold, so I can't accept it."

"Then where should I go?"

"There's a sŏnim studying in the cave across the stream. Go offer it to him."

So the visiting believer went to the cave and gave the gold to the Buddhist, saying,

"This is my wish. Spend it for me."

The monk accepted it with grace. With it, he made provisions, sewed himself a new robe, and spent the rest of it on items to suit his convenience. A few years later, he departed from the world.

After a considerable passage of time, the monk who had refused to accept the offer of  gold from the devout believer came to pass by the believer's village. At that time, there was an ox in the yard;  the visiting sŏnim saw that was his toban (道伴), his study companion from the cave.  His toban had turned into an ox, and had come to the believer's house to pay the debt he owed him, paying for the gold he had spent. Seeing the ox, the cave-dwelling monk said,

"Are you still smelting the gold?"

Then the ox voiced the beastly sound of "ooong!" and unclothed the animal.

This is not a laughing matter. This is a matter to ponder. The one monk thought that to accept the offering of gold was beyond his capability because he was unable to 'smelt' it; whereas the other monk  accepted the offering of gold, thinking that he was able to 'smelt' it, and thus used up all the gold.

Why had the other monk turned into an ox, and hearing his companion say, "Are you still smelting gold?", been able to unclothe himself? This episode aptly displays the a show of force that the monks endeavored to demonstrate; we must learn from this. One who is empowered to 'smelt' things deserves to accept the gold ingots and use them up, but one who is lacking in the power to 'smelt' things owes the believers who offer things. Thus, a grain of rice and a drop of rice water are a debts to him who has accepted them.

 

The end of the winter retreat is only ten or so days away. You have been practicing meditation, aided by the kongyang  (供養), pujana, contributions from the believers. I want all of you to think about whether or not you have been studying hard enough to pay off the debt you owe. If not, I want you to send away all apprehension, illusion, and sense of distinction to the winds of Haeundae Beach and study extra hard for the remaining period of the retreat. In this way, you will become a true lover of truth.

  

In modern times in Korea, Zen Master Kyŏnghŏ heralded modern Zen Buddhism, in which four great Zen masters, Hyewŏl, Man'gong, Ch'imun (枕雲), and Hanam (漢岩) succeeded Master Kyŏnghŏ.

Mankong endorsed Kobong (高峰) and Kŏmo (金烏), who assumed the role of upholders of good knowledge before and after the Emancipation from Japanese repression in 1945.

Let me recall an episode from the time of  Master Kobong. When Kobong was about to mount the platform, Priest Kŏmo caught up with him and grabbed his changsam (長衫) (official robe), saying, "Say one word before mounting the platform." This made it difficult for him to deliver his sermon.

When asked to utter a word, you must belt out something without hesitation, like lightning. But Zen Master Kobong tried to get him to let go of the robe, saying,

"Let go of my changsam."

"Utter a word before mounting the platform." Kŏmo insisted.

"Let me go."

"Please utter a word."

"Please let go." There was a real scene.

 

Twenty or so years ago, Hyanggok, mentioning this episode, asked me,

"If you had been in the position of Priest Kobong, what would you have said, if asked to 'utter a word before mounting the platform'?"

"Ouch!"

Belting out a shrill shout, Hyanggok scolded me, saying,

"If you were to utter that word with such vehemence, you would make the whole citizenship of Pusan blind!"

I said, "It's wholly my fault, master."

Then he said, "No, not your fault. It's mine."

 

Do you understand?

 

In order to understand the atmosphere as well as the degree of enlightenment, you need to understand the conversation betweeen Hyanggok and this discourser. Then you will understand the tradition of Hyanggok.

 

[The third of January,1991]

 

>>> Return Home