November 1964

　　Originally offered: November 1st, 1964 | Modified October 27th, 2009 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

　　MODEL SUBJECT NO. 73

　　FROM THE BLUE CLIFF RECORDS

　　BASO”S FOUR PROPOSITIONS,

　　ONE HUNDRED NEGATIONS

　　November 1964

　　Engo”s Introductory Word

　　Introducing, he said: The true preaching of Dharma goes beyond preaching or not preaching (true preaching is not preaching). True listening to Dharma is not only a matter of listening or not (true listening is no listening). If the true word is beyond perception (true preaching is no preaching), it may be better not to speak. If true listening is something other than listening or not (true listening is not listening), it may be better not to speak.

　　However, to speak of Dharma without saying anything about it, and to listen to it without ideas about it are perfect ways to transmit right Dharma. This no-preaching and no-listening is all that is needed.

　　Well, you are in my monastery and listening to my words. But how can you avoid the difficulties to have perfect understanding of right Dharma by words

　　If you have the wisdom to get through these difficulties, I will introduce you to an example to ponder.

　　Notes by Reverend Suzuki on the above translation.

　　1. I gave a free but faithful rendering of the original text according to the instruction of my Master, Kishizawa Ian-rōshi.

　　Usually no is negative, but no at the same time is a stronger affirmative than yes. It means emancipation from yes and no. No word means right word under some circumstances, and at the same time, under other circumstances, it means that the connotation of the word should be denied. Saying no form, no color, should be understood in the same way.

　　2. Sentences in the parentheses are important parts which I translated literally.

　　3. At the same time, this no gives new life to dead Buddhist ivory-tower philosophy, and to rigid moral concepts and formal rituals. The constant practice of this no has been the history of Buddhism.

　　Main Subject

　　Attention! A monk asked the great teacher Ba-so: “I am not asking you about the Four (negative) Propositions, and the One Hundred Negations (of Nagarjuna). But please point out the intention of Bodhidharma”s coming to the West (China).

　　Ba-so said: Today I am very tired and I cannot explain it to you. Go get an answer from Chi-zo. The monk went to Chi-zo and asked him the same thing. Chi-zo said, “Why did you not ask the Great teacher

　　” The monk said, “I did, but he told me to come to you.” Chi-zo said, “Today I have a headache and cannot explain the matter to you. Go ask E-kai (Hyaku-jo). So the monk asked E-kai who said, “I do not have anything to answer in this realm.” The monk went back to Ba-so and told him the whole story. Ba-so said, “Chi-zo had a white head, and Hyaku-jo a black head.”

　　Notes by Reverend Suzuki on the above.

　　The Four Propositions and One Hundred Negations of Nargajuna are as follows:

　　1. Everything that is, does not come out from itself. (singularity)

　　2. Everything that is, does not come from something else. (plurality)

　　3. Everything that is, does not result from adding one thing to another. (existence)

　　4. Everything that is, does not come out from nothing. (non-existence)

　　About these propositions, four types of statements can be made: affirmative, negative, affirmative and negative, and the negation of both affirmative and negative. (4 x 4 = 16)

　　About these sixteen, three kinds of statements can be made: past, present, future. (16 x 3 = 48)

　　And about these forty-eight, there can be two aspects: the actual (the real), and the potential (the ideal). (2 x 48 = 96)

　　Together with the original four propositions there are 100 negative propositions. (96 + 4 = 100)

　　After all these efforts, still we cannot identify either ontological or phenom…

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