{"id":4836,"date":"2018-10-16T12:33:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T18:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/?p=4836"},"modified":"2022-01-25T19:44:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T01:44:04","slug":"that-other-story-about-iron-grindstone-liu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2018\/10\/that-other-story-about-iron-grindstone-liu.html","title":{"rendered":"That Other Story About Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
\u201cDragon Head Kannon\u201d (2008) by Mayumi Oda. Case 24, Blue Cliff Record. Iron Grindstone LiuThe Record of Empty Hall<\/em>,\u00a0 Case 67: Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa\u2019s Upside Down (1)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Raised: Z\u01d0h\u00fa asked Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa, \u201cFor a long time, I\u2019ve been favorably inclined to \u2018Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa.\u2019 Is there someone for whom this [name] would be suitable or not?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Grindstone said, \u201cI won\u2019t go there.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

H\u00fa said, \u201cTurn left, turn right.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Grindstone said, \u201cVenerable, is there someone who goes upside down?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

H\u00fa then struck. <\/span><\/p>\n

[X\u016bt\u00e1ng\u2019s] alternate saying for Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa: \u201cNot knowing, rely on meeting an outsider.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Hakuin said, \u201cWhere the darkness and the light do not reach, there is a good view.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Comment: <\/span><\/p>\n

Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa was a close disciple and successor of Gu\u012bsh\u0101n. Even though she was one of the few women to receive transmission in the good old days of Zen, she does not have an entry in the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp<\/em>. And despite all of her grinding away at the half-baked understanding of various (male) practitioners, there are just two known stories about her \u2013 this one and the better known \u201cGu\u012bsh\u0101n and Iron Grindstone Liu.\u201d that begins, \u201cOld cow, you\u2019ve come!\u201d<\/p>\n

See Melissa Blacker R\u014dshi\u2019s wonderful article in Lion\u2019s Roar<\/em> for the remainder of that case and her commentary \u2013\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Regarding the Grindstone,\u00a0Hakuin said, \u201cAfter considerable exertion, having broken through ten thousand miles of barriers, finally you come to the time when the six nations are cleared.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That is, Grindstone has not only realized the undivided heart but worked through post-kensh\u014d barriers to actualize in daily life so that peace reigned far and wide.<\/p>\n

In the present case, we have two wonderful adepts playing with the buddhadharma like it\u2019s hacky sack. Unfortunately, we also don\u2019t know much about the other character, Z\u01d0h\u00fa. We do know that in the <\/span>Record of the Transmission of the Lamp,<\/span><\/i> Z\u01d0h\u00fa is listed as a successor of N\u00e1nqu\u00e1n, a dharma brother of the Grindstone\u2019s teacher, Gu\u012bsh\u0101n. And this case is the one story included for\u00a0Z\u01d0h\u00fa. (2)<\/span><\/p>\n

Yu\u00e1nw\u00f9, however, in his commentary on the <\/span>Blue Cliff Record,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>has this: <\/span><\/p>\n

Z\u01d0h\u00fa set up a sign on his outside gate; on the sign were words saying, <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cZ\u01d0h\u00fa has a dog: above, he takes people\u2019s heads; in the middle, he takes people\u2019s loins; below, he takes people\u2019s legs. If you stop to talk to him, you\u2019ll lose your body and life.\u201d Whenever Z\u01d0h\u00fa saw a newcomer, he would immediately shout and say, \u2018Watch out for the dog!\u2019 As soon as the monk turned his head, Z\u01d0h\u00fa would immediately return to the abbot\u2019s room.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>(3)<\/p>\n

Watch out for the dog! Where\u2019d he go, where\u2019d he go?<\/span><\/p>\n

Z\u01d0h\u00fa had heard about the Grindstone\u2019s exploits and was favorably inclined, despite their different styles. While he was prone to slip away, the Grindstone ground away. Here, however, there is no mention of his warning sign for his dog. He just wonders if she thinks she\u2019s a fit person to carry such an awesome name. <\/span><\/p>\n

As if changing places, Grindstone tries to slip away, being a person of neither yes or no \u2013 \u201cI won\u2019t go there.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Z\u01d0h\u00fa then goes cha cha cha<\/em>, turning to the right, and turning to the left. <\/span><\/p>\n

The dialogue, you may remember, began with Z\u01d0h\u00fa wondering, \u201cIs there someone who \u2026\u201d and Grindstone now shares her wondering \u2013 you can go left and right but are you someone who can go upside down? In other words, are you upside down in this world of upside down views? So, just to be clear, are you right side up? <\/span><\/p>\n

Pow.\u00a0Z\u01d0h\u00fa strikes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s the story. <\/span>Yu\u00e1nw\u00f9, though, uses this as an example of someone raising an interpretation, missing the point, and getting hit.<\/span> He sees Grindstone\u2019s <\/span>\u201cVenerable, is there someone who goes upside down?\u201d as a the-horse-already-left-the-barn interpretation and even has H\u00fa hitting her before<\/em> she finished speaking.<\/span><\/p>\n

I say, baloney! If Grindstone\u2019s words were interpretive, then\u00a0Z\u01d0h\u00fa too missed the mark. If they\u2019re both wrong, then everytime words are spoken by anyone, a clear-eyed person would just strike. Muttering along as he does, <\/span>Yu\u00e1nw\u00f9\u2019s name is right there, clear as day, on the same indictment as Grindstone and\u00a0Z\u01d0h\u00fa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

X\u016bt\u00e1ng\u00a0and Hakuin both see the point here to be about practicing don\u2019t know mind in our daily life encounters, in this case with an outsider \u2013 a woman adept in male dominated Zen. \u201cWhere the darkness and the light do not reach, there is a good view.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So although this case is complete, the implications roll on and on. <\/span><\/p>\n

How do you relate? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(1) \u201cEmpty Hall is\u00a0X\u016bt\u00e1ng<\/span>. For more about him, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(2)\u00a0Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, <\/span><\/i>Whitfield, V3, p. 58. This story also appears in commentary to the\u00a0<\/span>Book of Serenity<\/span><\/i>, trs, Thomas Cleary, p. 253. <\/span><\/p>\n

(2)\u00a0Blue Cliff Record<\/span><\/i>, trs, Thomas and J.C. Cleary, p. 529.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

D\u014dsh\u014d Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teacheswith his wife, Tetsugan Zummach Osho. D\u014dsh\u014d also teaches with the\u00a0Vine of Obstacles: Online Support for Zen Training<\/a>,\u00a0an internet-based Zen community. D\u014dsh\u014d received dharma transmission from Dainin Katagiri R\u014dshi and inka sh\u014dmei from James My\u014dun Ford R\u014dshi in the Harada-Yasutani lineage. He is the author\u00a0of\u00a0Keep Me In Your Heart a While: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raised: Z\u01d0h\u00fa asked Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa, \u201cFor a long time, I\u2019ve been favorably inclined to \u2018Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa.\u2019 Is there someone for whom this [name] would be suitable or not?\u201d Grindstone said, \u201cI won\u2019t go there.\u201d H\u00fa said, \u201cTurn left, turn right.\u201d Grindstone said, \u201cVenerable, is there someone who goes upside down?\u201d H\u00fa then struck. […]<\/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":[129,165,21,162],"class_list":["post-4836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hakuin","tag-iron-grindstone-liu","tag-koan-zen","tag-melissa-blacker"],"yoast_head":"\nThat Other Story About Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Raised: Z\u01d0h\u00fa asked Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa, \u201cFor a long time, I\u2019ve been favorably inclined to \u2018Iron Grindstone Li\u00fa.\u2019 Is there someone for whom this would be\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/wildfoxzen\/2018\/10\/that-other-story-about-iron-grindstone-liu.html\" \/>\n<meta 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