{"id":4346,"date":"2018-03-12T09:57:28","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T15:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?p=4346"},"modified":"2022-01-25T19:52:57","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T01:52:57","slug":"big-idea-big-stupid-big-realization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2018\/03\/big-idea-big-stupid-big-realization.html","title":{"rendered":"Big Idea, Big Stupid, Big Realization"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4349\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/88\/2018\/03\/rinzai-by-hakuin-129x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"129\" height=\"300\">In a letter written by Hakuin in 1734 (<em>Complete Plum Blossoms in a Thicket of Thorn, <\/em>\u201c187.\u00a0 To Layman Ishii\u201d), he makes a powerful point about our practice, colorfully stated, \u201cWhile you are engaged in practice, if anyone comes up and tries to teach you Zen, I want you to take a dipper of warm shit and throw it over [them].\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And \u201c\u2026to make something grow and develop, you must cut it back. To make something flourish, you must check its progress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Quite out of tune with our present cultural sentiments.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a talk I gave about this yesterday at the Nebraska Zen Center: <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-136482516\/big-idea-big-stupid-big-realization\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Big Idea, Big Stupid, Big Realization<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the talk, I retell one of the many examples that Hakuin gives that supports Hakuin\u2019s shit-throwing advice, the story of L\u00ednj\u00ec\u2019s Big Realization, based on my translation of <em>Record of Going Easy<\/em>, \u201cCase 86: L\u00ednj\u00ec\u2019s Big Realization.\u201d You\u2019ll find that below along with Hakuin\u2019s verse for L\u00ednj\u00ec (his painting of same character above).<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, the teacher\u00a0D\u00e0y\u00fa\u2019s name means \u201cBig Stupid.\u201d Also big idea, big stupid, and big realization in Chinese are d\u00e0y\u00ec, d\u00e0y\u00fa, d\u00e0w\u00f9 \u2013 so there\u2019s an almost-homonymal quality to these three key phrases.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the story:<\/p>\n<p>L\u00ednj\u00ec ask Hu\u00e1ngb\u00f2, \u201cWhat is the buddhadharma\u2019s really and truly great idea?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>B\u00f2 then struck.<\/p>\n<p>After three times, [L\u00ednj\u00ec] took leave of B\u00f2 [and went to see Day\u00fa].<\/p>\n<p>Y\u00fa ask. \u201cWhere are you coming from?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>J\u00ec said, \u201cComing from Hu\u00e1ngb\u00f2.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Y\u00fa said, \u201cWhat words and phrases did Hu\u00e1ngb\u00f2 have?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>J\u00ec \u00a0said, \u201cSomebody asked three times about the buddhadharma\u2019s really and truly great idea. Three times, suffered the stick. Don\u2019t know how I didn\u2019t get along.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Y\u00fa said, \u201cHu\u00e1ngb\u00f2\u2019s this way? Like an old grandmother\u2019s embrace. Still, you come and ask how you didn\u2019t get along.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With these words, J\u00ec arrived at great realization.<\/p>\n<p>From the Commentary:<\/p>\n<p>Afterwards, according the the original record, [J\u00ec] \u00a0said, \u201cSo actually, it turns out that there isn\u2019t much to the buddhadharma.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Y\u00fa said, \u201cThis bed-wetting ghost. Just now you asked how you didn\u2019t get along. Yet now you say there isn\u2019t much to the buddhadharma. How much is coming [at you]?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[Y\u00fa] grabbed [J\u00ec] and said, \u201cSpeak. Speak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>J\u00ec pressed into D\u00e0y\u00fa\u2019s side three times.<\/p>\n<p>[Y\u00fa said,] \u201cYour teacher is Hu\u00e1ngb\u00f2. I won\u2019t interfere with this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>[Later] B\u00f2 asked, \u201cCome and go, come and go. What have [you] achieved?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>J\u00ec said, \u201cOnly because of a grandmother\u2019s impatience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then [J\u00ec] told [B\u00f2] what [Y\u00fa] had said.<\/p>\n<p>B\u00f2 said, \u201cThis old man D\u00e0y\u00fa likes to blather. At once, [I\u2019d] given him a beating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>J\u00ec said, \u201cThat would be something to see. Strike now!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then J\u00ec \u00a0gave Hu\u00e1ngb\u00f2 one slap. B\u00f2 [then] cried out laughing and said, \u201cThis man\u2019s manner is upside down! Coming here to stroke the tiger\u2019s whiskers!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>J\u00ec then shout loudly.<\/p>\n<p>B\u00f2 said, \u201cAttendant, guide this man with upside down manners to the sangha hall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hakuin\u2019s verse (CPB 254-1):<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a son <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he was not filial,<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a monk <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">he broke the precepts.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He threw punches <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">at everyone he met,<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He shouted thunder at anyone he saw.<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A presence as <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pitiless as autumn frost,<\/span><br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sad such a man <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">had so many bad habits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>________________<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-4005 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/88\/2018\/01\/IMG_1797-2-131x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"131\" height=\"150\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a letter written by Hakuin in 1734 (Complete Plum Blossoms in a Thicket of Thorn, \u201c187.\u00a0 To Layman Ishii\u201d), he makes a powerful point about our practice, colorfully stated, \u201cWhile you are engaged in practice, if anyone comes up and tries to teach you Zen, I want you to take a dipper of warm [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - 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