VIII. No ox, no man
The eighth picture is just an empty circle, the circle that has
been the frame for the first seven pictures. Pictures three through
seven are all concerned with the realm between "thinking I" and the
attainment of the essence of this picture, which is sunyata or
emptiness. In this picture there is no subject and no object; the
man and the ox have both disappeared. But there is also no idea of
negating the existence of the man or the ox. All opposites dissolve
into the ground of being. In our school we call this the attainment
of first enlightenment. But as long as we have any
conceptualizations about what enlightenment might be like, or
notions about ourselves as unusual men or women, its attainment
remains a thousand miles away.
This is the mind that Te Shan found when he traveled to south China
to check out the Ch'an teachers. On the road he met an old woman
selling rice cakes and she said to him, "I see that you are a
student of the Diamond Sutra. If you can answer one question for me
I'll give you free all of the rice cakes that you want, but if you
cannot answer me then you are a fraud and must go away." He said to
her, "I am the master of the Diamond Sutra. Ask me anything that
you like."
She asked him, "The Diamond Sutra says that past mind is not
attainable, future mind is not attainable, and present mind is not
attainable. If this is true then what kind of mind will you use to
eat your rice cakes?" He was stuck and had no idea how to reply. Te
Shan was a great scholar and thought that he was going to come
south and expose the Ch'an masters as fakers. But instead some old
woman had "hit" him. And he had no idea how to answer or what to
do. We are told that he wandered aimlessly until he found the
residence of Ch'an Master Lung Tan. They talked long into the night
and we might imagine how Te Shan was trying to justify himself to
the Master who listened patiently. Finally when Te Shan's mind was
completely stuck and he was totally frustrated, Lung Tan said to
him, "Why don't you take the hut at the end of the path and get
some rest."
Te Shan went out into the night and discovered that it was pitch
black. He went back into the Master's hut and said, "I can't see
anything outside."
The Master said, "No problem. Wait here."
Lung Tan lit a candle and handed it to Te Shan. Just as Te Shan was
about to take his first step into the darkness, Lung Tan blew out
the candle.
PA! Everything became completely open and Te Shan attained this
mind without subject, without object, not empty, not full - an
experience of unbounded openness. In our school we call this
"without like this." Please note that pictures three through eight
all are illustrative of the attainment of this first enlightenment
experience, which the Heart Sutra calls nirvana. For most of us,
connecting in this way with the ground of our being requires a long
seasoning process involving years of diligent practice.
But this is still only the eighth picture.
IX. Returning to the source
In the ninth picture there is no man, but a beautiful landscape
returns. White clouds pass in front of blue mountains; spring comes
and the grass grows by itself; trees grow up and water flows down.
This picture means that everything in this universe is already
completely expressing its inherent Buddha nature. And our sense
organs are capable of revealing this truth to us moment by
moment.
What we see, smell, hear, taste, and touch is the complete truth.
The Heart Sutra names this state anuttara samyak sambodhi, perfect
unexcelled truth. In our school we call this condition "only like
this." Buddha sat under the tree in a samadhi of unbounded
openness, perceived the particularity of the morning star and
attained this mind, which we call original enlightenment. That is
the essence of the ninth picture.
X. In town with helping hands
But one last step remains. Our school especially emphasizes the
tenth picture throughout our entire training. In the last picture
the man appears again, but now he is older, bald and a little
heavy. He is usually shown in the middle of the city with children
all around, and he is like Hotei, passing out dharma presents to
these baby bodhisattvas.
This is final enlightenment and it is not special in the way that
most of us conceive when we begin our Zen journey. This picture
teaches us that we are to return to the existential world. But we
return with a simple, clear and unattached mind that focuses on
perceiving our correct relationship and correct situation in each
moment. If we practice unceasingly with that intention then our
actions will become generous, spontaneous, creative, effortless,
and compassionate. This is the true meaning of Zen and it is the
same as Nam Cheon's everyday mind or Taoism's wu wei (not doing).
Our school calls this condition "just like this."
I'll conclude as I began, with another story about my son. Last
year at Easter was the first time that he understood what a holiday
was, and he had a grand old time. My wife is really into holiday
celebrations, so she had presents for the kids and she hid eggs all
around the yard and in the house. It was the first time that he had
experienced anything like this, so his eyes were as big as saucers
all morning. In the afternoon I noticed him in his room, playing
with his new toys and singing to himself. As I listened closely I
heard that he was singing to himself over and over, "Thank you,
rabbit. Thank you, rabbit." He had this completely open, generous
kind of mind. And that is the meaning of the tenth picture and the
essential meaning of Zen - "just like this" moment by moment for
ten thousand years we must try, try, try to keep this clear,
generous, and open bodhisattva spirit.
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