..续本文上一页is one of the first things to point out here that while YŸn-men, who really is one of the greatest figures in all of zen, had a very profound enlightenment experience, his teacher didn”t think that that was enough. Mr. Reginald Blyth, the haiku translator and the person, really, who taught Aitken Roshi about zen in prison during the war with Japan, compared YŸn-men to Goethe or Shakespeare in his culture. He thought of him as one of those figures who transcends national culture. But even so, after his enlightenment, he had to go and keep working at it.

　　He arrived at HsŸeh-feng”s place and said, "What is Buddha

　　" and HsŸeh-feng said, "Stop talking in your sleep." And YŸn-men then bowed and he lived there for three years.

　　One day HsŸeh-feng asked him, "What is your perception

　　" YŸn-men said, "My view doesn”t differ in the slightest from that of all sages since antiquity."

　　For twenty years Ling-shu JŸ-min did not appoint a head monk. He used to say, "Now my head monk was born today." And all that time he had his head monk”s quarters vacant.

　　Then he would say, "My head monk is tending oxen" like a young boy in the fields.

　　Then later he would say, "My head monk is travelling around on pilgrimage."

　　Suddenly, one day he ordered the bell to be struck for everyone to assemble so that people could receive the head monk at the gate. The congregation was rather dubious about this, but YŸn-men actually arrived (a ragged man with a limp). Ling-shu immediately invited him into the head monk”s quarters to unpack his bundle.

　　Ling-shu JŸ-min was an unusual person.

　　One day the local lord was going to mobilize his army and didn”t go to the monastery personally to ask the master to determine whether conditions were favorable or not. Ling-shu didn”t want to be part of any of this.

　　Either way, you know, there”s just no good advice you can give sometimes when somebody”s planning war.

　　He knew this before hand and sat down and died.

　　The lord arrived and said angrily, "Since when was the master sick

　　"

　　The attendant said, "The master hadn”t been sick. He had just entrusted a box to me which he ordered me to present to your majesty when you arrived.

　　The Lord of Kwangtung opened the box and took out a card which said, "The eye of humans and devas. A living buddha is the head monk in the hall."

　　Then the Lord of Kwangtung calmed down, dismissed his soldiers, and invited YŸn-men to lead the monastery.

　　I tell you that story to indicate some of the twists and turns of the dharma and some of the mysterious nature of the dharma. I think the most mysterious thing is not Ling-shu”s wonderful foreknowledge, but YŸn-men actually breaking his leg and finding that an opportunity for enlightenment. So that circumstances that are harsh, as well as benign, can be awakening devices for us.

　　To take off on this theme. . . The tradition of Buddhism started we assume around the time of Shakyamuni, and very much emphasized renunciation at first. If you read old Buddhist texts, or if you study Buddhism in Asia, you can”t avoid the awareness of the importance of renunciation as an issue in Buddhism. I sometimes think of this as the foundation. This is the ordeal quality that comes with any great learning. That you will have to give up something if you want to practice the dharma well. If you want to become enlightened. In the initial traditions of Buddhism this was a very literal thing. The idea was you couldn”t really become enlightened or have a happy life without giving up everything, without living uncertainty, and certainly as a celibate person begging enough food for one day and no more. And each day going out begging and if you didn”t get the food, you went hungry. So that was really the idea of renoun…

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