..续本文上一页ot escape life as we live it. Star-gazers are still walking on the solid earth.

　　What is Zen, then, when made accessible to everybody

　　 Joshu once asked a new monk:

　　"Have you ever been here before

　　"

　　The monk answered, "Yes, sir, I have".

　　Thereupon the master said, "Have a cup of tea".

　　Later on another monk came and he asked him the same question, "Have you ever been here

　　"

　　This time the answer was quite opposite. "I have never been here, sir".

　　The old master, however, answered just as before, "Have a cup of tea".

　　Afterwards the Inju (the managing monk of the monastery) asked the master, "Haw is it that you make the same offering of the cup of tea no matter what a monk”s reply is

　　"

　　The old master called out, "O Inju!" who at once replied, "Yes, master". Whereupon Joshu said, "Have a cup of tea".

　　Joshu (778-897) was one of the most astute Zen masters during the T”ang dynasty, and the development of Zen in China owes much to him. He died in his one hundred and twentieth year. Whatever utterances he made were like jewels that sparkled brightly. It was said of him, "His Zen shined upon his lips". A monk who was still a novice came to him and asked to be instructed in Zen.

　　Joshu said, "Have you had your breakfast yet

　　"

　　Replied the monk, "Yes, sir, I have had it already".

　　"If so, wash your dishes". This remark by the old master opened the novice”s eye to the truth of Zen.

　　One day Joshu was sweeping the ground when a monk asked him, "You are such a wise and holy master; tell me how it is that dust ever accumulates in your yard".

　　Said the master, "It comes from outside".

　　Another time he was asked, "Why does this holy place attracts dust

　　" To which he replied, "There another particle of dust!"

　　There was a famous stone bridge at Joshu”s monastery, which was one of the sights there. A stranger monk inquired of him, "I have for some time heard of your famous stone bridge, but I see no such thing here, only a plank".

　　Said Joshu, "You see a plank and do not see a stone bridge".

　　"Where then is the stone bridge

　　"

　　"You have just crossed it", was the prompt reply.

　　At another time when Joshu was asked about this same stone bridge, his answer was, "Horses pass it, people pass it, everybody passes it".

　　In these dialogues do we only see trivial talks about ordinary things of life and nature

　　 Is there nothing spiritual, conductive to the enlightenment of the religious soul

　　 Is Zen, then, too practical, too commonplace

　　 Is it too abrupt a descent from the height of transcendentalism to everyday things

　　 Well, it all depends on how you look at it. A stick of incense is burning on my desk. Is this a trivial affair

　　 An earthquake shakes the earth and the Mt. Fuji topples over. Is this a great event

　　 Yes, so long as the conception of space remains. But are we really living confined within the enclosure called space

　　 Zen could answer at once: "With the burning of the incense-stick the whole *triloka* burns. Within the Joshu”s cup of tea the mermaids are dancing". So long as one is conscious of space and time, Zen will keep the respectable distance from you; your holiday is ill-spent; your sleep is disturbed, and your whole life is a failure.

　　Read the following dialogue between Yisan and Kyozan. At the end of his summer”s sojourn Kyozan paid a visit to Yisan, who said, "I have not seen you this whole summer coming up this way; what have you been doing down there

　　"

　　Replied Kyozan, "Down there I have been tilling a piece of ground and finished sowing millet seeds".

　　Yisan said, "Then you have not wasted your summer".

　　It was now Kyozan”s turn to ask Yisan as to his doings during the last summer, and he asked, "How did you pass your summer

　　"

　　"One meal a day and a good sleep at night".

　　This brought out Kyozan comment, "Then you have not waste…

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