One day, while talking to his monks, San-shen said:
— When a student comes, I go out to meet him without the intention of helping him.
His brother, Hsin-hua, heard this remark and said:
— When a student comes, I don’t always go out to meet him, but if I do go out, I will definitely help him.
NEGEN: Lin Chi, the great Zen master of the Tang Dynasty, left the world on January 10, 867. Before he died, he said: “After I leave, don’t destroy my Zen. Keep the teaching among yourselves." San-shen, one of his disciples, asked: “Who should destroy your Zen?” “If someone asks you what Zen is,” asked Lin-chi, “what would you say?” San-shen shouted: “Hey!” The teacher was satisfied with the answer and remarked: “Who would have thought that my Zen would be destroyed by this blind donkey?” - with these words he died.
Buddhism uses negative words to express reality. This is the only way to avoid confusion in words. When Lin-chi asked not to destroy his Zen, he postulated his Zen in a dual way, so San-shen joined him in this way of expression. And again, when the teacher wanted to see with his own eyes how it would live, San-shen clearly showed it to him, and the monks who gathered there witnessed the immortality of their beloved master. Lin-ji's last words were a negative expression of praise.
Zen is not a thing that can be given by a teacher to a student. The wind can blow out the flame of a candle, but when favorable conditions arise, it will flare again, giving the same light as before. After that, won't it be the same continuous flame? San-shen was not the only person who received Lin-chi's Zen, but he was brave enough to demonstrate it in front of the dying teacher. And Zen became his.
Regarding the koan of this story, we know that the best help in Zen is “not to help.” Many sects of various religions set as their goal to help people, not realizing that excessive help interferes with the internal growth of both those who are “helped” and their own. Just as sunlight fills a garden, so San-shen met the student without any thoughts of help. What a marvelous disposition of calm loving kindness!
Hsin-hua expressed his Zen positively, not in contradiction to San-shen's Zen, but supporting it from the opposite point of view. Positivity without negativity can be dangerous. Negativity without positivity leads to lethargy. Hsin-hua probably intended to keep the reins of control over the “blind donkey,” but I say: “Here, brother, watch your every step. For there is an abyss before you!”
GENRO: One brother says no, the other says yes. Thus, they continue their father’s work, improving and perfecting it.
The Yellow River flows thousands of miles north, then turns east and flows continuously. No matter how it bends and turns, Its waters flow from the spring on Mount Kunlun.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru