Teisho presented by Arno Hess on 18/02/2024 at the Pathway Zen Zenkai at Spring Hill, QLD, Australia.
Case
Whenever master Hyakujô delivered a sermon, an old man was always there listening with
the monks. When they left, he left too. One day, however, he remained behind. The master
asked him, “What man are you, standing in front of me?” The man replied, “Indeed, I am not
a man. In the past, in the time of Kashyapa Buddha, I lived on this mountain as a priest. On
one occasion a monk asked me, ‘Does a perfectly enlightened person fall under the law of
cause and effect or not?’ I answered, ‘He does not.’ Because of this answer, I fell into the state
of a fox for 500 lives. Now, I beg you, Master, please say a turning word on my behalf and
release me from the body of a fox.” Then he asked, “Does a perfectly enlightened person fall
under the law of cause and effect or not?” The master answered, “The law of cause and effect
cannot be obscured.” Upon hearing this, the old man immediately became deeply enlightened.
Making his bow, he said, “I have now been released from the old fox and will be behind the
mountain. I dare to make a request of the Master. Please perform my funeral as you would for
a deceased priest.”
The master had Inô strike the anvil with a gavel and announce to the monks that after
the meal there would be a funeral service for a deceased priest. The monks wondered, saying,
“All are healthy. No one is sick in the infirmary. What’s this all about?” After the meal, the
master led the monks to the foot of a rock behind the mountain and with his staff poked out
the dead body of a fox. He then performed the ceremony of cremation.
That evening the master ascended the rostrum in the hall and told the monks the story.
Ôbaku thereupon asked, “The man of old missed the turning word and fell to the state of a fox
for 500 lives. Suppose every time he answered he made no mistakes, what would happen
then?” The master said, “Just come nearer and I’ll tell you.” Ôbaku then went up to the
master and slapped him. The master clapped his hands and, laughing aloud, said, “I thought
the barbarian’s beard was red, but here is a barbarian with a red beard!”
Mumon’s Commentary
Not falling under the law of cause and effect – for what reason had he fallen into the state of a
fox? The law of cause and effect cannot be obscured – for what reason has he been released
from a fox’s body? If in regard to this you have the one eye, then you will understand that the
former Hyakujô enjoyed 500 lives of grace as a fox.
Verse
Not falling, not obscuring,
Two faces, one die.
Not obscuring, not falling,
A thousands mistakes, ten thousand mistakes.
