Hi Chicks,
The center point of this Koan is a traditional image of Zen student and teacher. The student is like a chick about the be born, pecking from inside the shell. The mother hen pecks from outside. Only if they both peck in harmony, and at resonant times, will the egg crack open.
The POINTER says something like that the Path has no detours, is solitary and impossibly steep to climb. Yet, the Zen adept stands upon it on her own two feet. There is a Truth beyond words to speak, without anything apart to hear or see. Upon realizing so, you set even Buddhas and Ancestors free. Even the gods cannot offer you congratulatory flowers for realizing so, because there is no you to see or be seen, to give or receive. Likewise, there is no gate from which someone outside can spy on you inside. You work all day yet nothing to attain, you talk all day but only speak silence. In this "no inside outside, no give or receive, no see or be seen" peaceful realm, the hen-chick "breaks in and out" of the shell that has no inside or outside, thus nothing really to escape. Thus, it is like our old friend ... the Sword of Wisdom ... that "uncuts" pieces and "unkills" life.
The teacher also knows when to "lift up" in praise, and when to "put down" with criticism when using various expedient means to teach. However, truly, there is no "up and down" either.
In the CASE a student asked the teacher to peck and help the student break out of the egg. In other words, he requests, "Teacher, please say or do something to enlighten me." The teacher says something that may mean more or less, "If I do, will you then be alive or dead?" (Remember, no inside, no outside, no up or down ... no living ... no dead.) What the student says next is disagreed about by various commentators, but I take it to mean something like, "I had better come out enlightened, or I will look foolish." The teacher criticizes the student, "putting him down" with "you are really lost in the weeds (with that attitude)."
If one understands this "can't be broken into nor out of" then one immediately breaks out of the shell that separates inside from outside, me from you, into something divided.
The VERSE says something like every Buddha has their own way of teaching. In this case, the student's responsive preaching to the teacher got a put down (detraction) from the teacher, and a blow. The chick and hen were at odds, not in harmony, so could not break in-out together (of this no inside-outside egg).
Again, "to name and describe this is in vain" ... so really get a feel of this "no in out egg," and don't just understand intellectually. If so ... then you are out of the shell!
QUESTION: How to make an omelette with a egg with no inside or out? Please teach me the recipe. (REMEMBER: Don't look at other's responses before trying your own.)
.
.
Gassho, Mother Hen
stlah
The center point of this Koan is a traditional image of Zen student and teacher. The student is like a chick about the be born, pecking from inside the shell. The mother hen pecks from outside. Only if they both peck in harmony, and at resonant times, will the egg crack open.
The POINTER says something like that the Path has no detours, is solitary and impossibly steep to climb. Yet, the Zen adept stands upon it on her own two feet. There is a Truth beyond words to speak, without anything apart to hear or see. Upon realizing so, you set even Buddhas and Ancestors free. Even the gods cannot offer you congratulatory flowers for realizing so, because there is no you to see or be seen, to give or receive. Likewise, there is no gate from which someone outside can spy on you inside. You work all day yet nothing to attain, you talk all day but only speak silence. In this "no inside outside, no give or receive, no see or be seen" peaceful realm, the hen-chick "breaks in and out" of the shell that has no inside or outside, thus nothing really to escape. Thus, it is like our old friend ... the Sword of Wisdom ... that "uncuts" pieces and "unkills" life.
The teacher also knows when to "lift up" in praise, and when to "put down" with criticism when using various expedient means to teach. However, truly, there is no "up and down" either.
In the CASE a student asked the teacher to peck and help the student break out of the egg. In other words, he requests, "Teacher, please say or do something to enlighten me." The teacher says something that may mean more or less, "If I do, will you then be alive or dead?" (Remember, no inside, no outside, no up or down ... no living ... no dead.) What the student says next is disagreed about by various commentators, but I take it to mean something like, "I had better come out enlightened, or I will look foolish." The teacher criticizes the student, "putting him down" with "you are really lost in the weeds (with that attitude)."
If one understands this "can't be broken into nor out of" then one immediately breaks out of the shell that separates inside from outside, me from you, into something divided.
The VERSE says something like every Buddha has their own way of teaching. In this case, the student's responsive preaching to the teacher got a put down (detraction) from the teacher, and a blow. The chick and hen were at odds, not in harmony, so could not break in-out together (of this no inside-outside egg).
Again, "to name and describe this is in vain" ... so really get a feel of this "no in out egg," and don't just understand intellectually. If so ... then you are out of the shell!
QUESTION: How to make an omelette with a egg with no inside or out? Please teach me the recipe. (REMEMBER: Don't look at other's responses before trying your own.)
.
.
Gassho, Mother Hen
stlah
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