Teisho presented by Arno Hess on 18/09/2022 at the Pathway Zen Zenkai at Spring Hill, QLD, Australia.
Introduction
The clear mirror is on its stand: beauty and ugliness are spontaneously discerned.
The sword of Bakuya is in your hand: you kill and give life, according to the occasion.
Kan leaves, Ko comes; Ko comes, Kan leaves.
In death you gain life, in life you gain death.
Just say, if you are at this point, what then?
If you don’t have the eye to penetrate the barrier, or a place where you turn yourself around,
it’s obvious that at this point you don’t know what to do.
Just tell me, what is the eye that penetrates the barrier;
where is the place you turn yourself around?
I’ll show you an example, look!
Case
A monk asked Jôshû: “What is Jôshû?” Jôshû answered, “East gate, west gate, south gate,
north gate.”
Verse
With activity hidden in the phrase
He abruptly confronts him.
The diamond eye of perfect clarity,
Devoid of any dust:
East, west, south, and north – the gates face each other.
Even hammers, pounding endlessly, can’t blow them open.
