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I hope you will find this post as grist for your dharma-reflection mill. You see, a<\/span>\u00a0couple things\u00a0that have to do with the teacher-student relationship have come up in my translation work, and I\u2019d like to share them with you.<\/p>\n The first is a line from\u00a0T\u014dngxu\u00e1n<\/span><\/i> One Hundred Questions<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(\u901a\u7384\u767e\u554f), \u201cQuestion 54: What Phrase Is Most Wonderful?\u201d The text features three C\u00e1od\u00f2ng (Japanese, \u201cS\u014dt\u014d\u201d) teachers from the Thirteenth Century \u2013 T\u014dngxu\u00e1n (Going Through the Mystery) asks the questions; W\u00e0ns\u014dng (Ten Thousand Pines) gives a brief, usually four or five character, response; and L\u00ednqu\u00e1n (Forest Spring) adds a verse. Right now, I\u2019d like to focus on this one line:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cZen flows with diligent care in subtlety of critical examination.\u201d (1)<\/span><\/p>\n What I\u2019ve translated as \u201ccritical examination\u201d (\u53c3\u8a73, Japanese, \u201csansh\u014d\u201d) is \u201cto take part in\u201d and \u201cdetailed, complete, thorough.\u201d As a binomial, \u201cto examine thoroughly [with nondiscursive thought]\u201d or \u201ccollate and examine critically (texts, etc.).\u201d Further, sansh\u014d refers to sanzen (\u53c3\u79aa), \u201cto thoroughly penetrate with meditative insight<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u2026 under the guidance of a Zen master.\u201d\u00a0(3)<\/p>\n To paraphrase this line of Forest Spring: the truth and embodiment of Zen flows within the heartfelt work and refinement while teacher and student are engaged in nondual dharma introspection.<\/p>\n The second passage I\u2019d like to share is a bit longer and comes from\u00a0Record of Going Easy<\/em>, \u201cCase 53: Hu\u00e1ngb\u00f2\u2019s Offspring Slurp Dregs.\u201d Below, I\u2019ll f<\/span>irst cite the k\u014dan and then give you the selection from the commentary I\u2019d like to highlight:<\/p>\n Hu\u00e1ngb\u00f2 addressed the assembly saying, \u201cYou people are gobblers of dregs.\u00a0<\/span>Wandering by foot like this, where is today?\u00a0<\/span>You should know that in all of China, there are no Zen teachers!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A monk then came forward and asked, \u201cWhat about all those who, in many places, lead followers \u2013 what do they do?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n B\u00f2 said, \u201cI didn\u2019t say no Zen, only no teachers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Excerpt from the commentary:<\/p>\n Duke Huan of Qi read a book above the main hall. Wheelwright<\/span> Pi\u0101n planed a wheel below the main hall.\u00a0Pi\u0101n looked up and asked, \u201cMay I ask the Duke, what are you reading?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Duke said, \u201cThe sayings of Confucius.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [Pi\u0101n] said, \u201cIs Confucius alive?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Duke said, \u201cAlready dead.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [Pi\u0101n] said, \u201cThen my lord is reading the dregs of an ancient.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Duke said, \u201cWhen I, the Duke, read a book, and a wheelwright inserts a comment, then they must explain. If they cannot explain, they die.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Pi\u0101n said, \u201cI, your servant, look at it in light of my work. When I plane a wheel slowly and gently then it is agreeable and not hard. When I plane a wheel swiftly, it is painstaking and not agreeable. When I plane a wheel neither slowly nor swiftly, then I get it in hand and heart. My mouth cannot express how. It comes from within each repetition. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI, your servant, cannot teach it to my child. My child cannot receive it from me. Therefore, I\u2019ve been going at it for seventy years, growing old planing wheels. The ancients who have died cannot transmit. That being the case, lord, you are reading the dregs of an ancient.\u201d (3)<\/span><\/p>\n Click here for a talk, \u201cWe Are The Future Of Our Ancestors,\u201d<\/a> that includes some comments to this passage using the Cleary translation \u2013 the above is hot off the translation block.<\/p>\n (1) Translation by the author.<\/p>\n (2) Sources here are\u00a0MDGB Chinese Dictionary<\/em><\/a> and the Digital Dictionary of Buddhism<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n (3) See Book of Serenity: One Hundred Zen Dialogues<\/em>, trs., Thomas Cleary, p. 223-224, for another rendering. What I have translated as \u201cIt comes from within each repetition,\u201d Cleary has as \u201cThere is an art to it\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n D\u014dsh\u014d Port began practicing Zen in 1977 and now co-teaches at the\u00a0Nebraska Zen Center\u00a0<\/a>with his wife, Tetsugan Zummach \u014csh\u014d. 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. D\u014dsh\u014d\u2019s translation and commentary on\u00a0The Record of Empty Hall<\/em>\u00a0is due out in early 2021 (Shambhala). He is also 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":" I hope you will find this post as grist for your dharma-reflection mill. You see, a\u00a0couple things\u00a0that have to do with the teacher-student relationship have come up in my translation work, and I\u2019d like to share them with you. The first is a line from\u00a0T\u014dngxu\u00e1n One Hundred Questions\u00a0(\u901a\u7384\u767e\u554f), \u201cQuestion 54: What Phrase Is Most Wonderful?\u201d […]<\/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":[243,240,237,34,69],"class_list":["post-5910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-caodong","tag-dokusan","tag-sanzen","tag-soto-zen-buddhism","tag-teacher-student-relationship"],"yoast_head":"\n
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