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Hekiganroku - Case 81: Yakusan's "Look! The Arrow!"
A monk asked Yakusan,
"On the grassy plain there gather great and small deer. How can one shoot
the greatest deer of them all?"
Yakusan said,
"Look! The arrow!"
The monk threw himself on the floor. Yakusan said,
"Attendants! Carry this dead fellow out of here."
Thereupon, the monk ran away. Yakusan said,
"This fellow will keep playing with mud balls for ever and ever!"
(Setcho took up this story and said,
"He is alive for three steps, but he should die with the fifth step.")
Case 82: Dairyu and the "Dharma-Body"
A monk asked Dairyu,
"The phenomenal body perishes. What is the Dharma-body which remains solid?"
Dairyu said,
"The autumn foliage of the mountains spreads like brocade;
the water in the valley remains blue as indigo."
Hekiganroku - Case 83: The Old Buddha and a Pillar
Unmon, instructing the assembly, said,
"The old buddha and a pillar intersect each other. What number of
activity is that?"
On behalf of the assembly he said,
"Clouds gather over the South Mountain; rain falls on the North Mountain."
Hekiganroku - Case 84: Vimalakirti and "Not-Two"
Vimalakirti asked Manjusri,
"What does it mean that the Bodhisattva enters the Dharma-gate of Not-Two?"
Manjusri said,
"I see it like this: in all phenomena, there are neither words nor
explanations, neither presentations nor knowledge; it is beyond all
questions and answers. That is what I understand with 'to enter the
Dharma-gate of Not-Two'." ....
Then Manjusri asked Vimalakirti,
"All of us have finished giving our explanations. Now you should give your
explanation. What does it mean that the Bodhisattva enters the
Dharma-gate of Not-Two?"
(Setcho said, "What did Vimalakirti say?" Again he said, "Seen through!")
Case 85: Toho and the "Tiger"
A monk came to the hermit Toho and asked,
"What if you suddenly faced a tiger here?"
The hermit roared like a tiger. Thereupon the monk pretended to be frightened.
The hermit laughed loudly. The monk said,
"You old robber!"
The hermit said,
"What can you do to me?"
The monk said nothing further.
(Setcho said,
"They are certainly right, but these two evil robbers only know how to
steal a small bell while they stop their ears.")
Hekiganroku - Case 86: Unmon's "Bright Light"
Unmon, giving instruction, said,
"Everyone has his own bright light. When you look at it, you can't see it;
it is complete darkness. Now, what is your bright light?"
He himself answered on behalf of the monks,
"The kitchen and the entrance gate."
Again he said,
"It would be better not to have even the best things."
Hekiganroku - Case 87: Unmon's "Medicine and Disease"
Unmon, instructing the assembly, said,
"Medicine and disease correspond to each other. The whole earth is
medicine. What is your true self?"
Case 88: Gensha's "Three Diseases"
Gensha, instructing the assembly, said,
"All old masters said, 'Attend to the living beings and save them.'
Suppose you face three people with different diseases, how would you
attend to them? The blind person can't see, even if you take up a gavel
or raise a whisk. The deaf person can't hear, even if you speak beautiful
phrases. The dumb person can't speak, even if you ask him to speak up.
How would you attend to them? If you cannot attend to these people,
Buddhist Dharma has no true efficacy."
A monk asked Unmon about this. Unmon said, "Make a deep bow." The monk made a
deep bow and stood up. Unmon poked his staff at him. The monk retreated.
Unmon said, "So you are not blind." Further he said, "Come here." The monk
came closer to him. Unmon said, "So you are not deaf." Then he said,
"Have you understood?"
The monk said,
"No."
Unmon said,
"So you are not dumb."
With that, the monk came to an insight.
Hekiganroku - Case 89: Ungan's "Hands and Eyes"
Ungan asked Dogo,
"What does the Bodhisattva of the Great Mercy use so many hands and eyes for?"
Dogo answered,
"It is like a person in the middle of the night reaching with his hand behind
his head groping for his pillow."
Ungan said,
"I understood."
Dogo said,
"How did you understand it?"
Ungan said,
"The whole body is hands and eyes."
Dogo said,
"You said it very well. But you expressed only eight-tenths of it."
Ungan said,
"How would you say it, Elder Brother?"
Dogo said,
"The entire body is hands and eyes."
Hekiganroku - Case 90: Chimon and the "Prajna Wisdom"
A monk asked Chimon,
"What is the substance of Prajna Wisdom?"
Chimon said,
"The clam swallows the bright moon." [1]
The monk asked,
"What is the use of Prajna Wisdom?"
Chimon said,
"A female rabbit becomes pregnant." [2]
[1]: A Chinese metaphor expressing how a pearl is formed.
[2]: According to a Chinese legend, a female rabbit becomes pregnant when it
swallows the light of the full moon.