Blue Cliff Record Case 2, The Ultimate Path Is without Difficulty

At that time a certain monk asked, “Since you do not abide within clarity, what do you preserve?”

Chao-chou replied, “I don’t know either.”

The monk said, “Since you don’t know, Teacher, why do you nevertheless say that you do not abide within clarity?”

Chao-chou said, “It is enough to ask about the matter; bow and withdraw.”

Reflections
This is the second koan of the Blue Cliff Record. The words “picking and choosing” or variations of this koan also appear later on in the Record in koans 57, 58, and 59.
Here they are.

57
A monk asked Chao-chou, “‘The Ultimate Path has no difficulties—just avoid picking and choosing.’ What is not picking and choosing?”

Chao-chou said, “‘In the heavens and on earth I alone am the Honored One.’”

The monk said, “This is still picking and choosing.”

Chao-chou said, “Stupid oaf! Where is the picking and choosing?” The monk was speechless.

58
A monk asked Chao-chou, “‘The Ultimate Path has no difficulties—just avoid picking and choosing’—isn’t this a cliché for people of these times?”

Chao-chou said, “Once someone asked me, and I really couldn’t explain for five years.”

59
A monk asked Chao-chou, “ ‘The Ultimate Path has no difficulties—just avoid picking and choosing. As soon as there are words and speech, this is picking and choosing.’ So how do you help people, Teacher?”

Chao-chou said, “Why don’t you quote this saying in full?” The monk said, “I only remember up to here.”

Chao-chou said, “It’s like this: ‘The Ultimate Path has no difficulties—just avoid picking and choosing.’”

I did a careful search of the koans involving Chao-chou that Dogen Zengi discusses in his Mana Shobogenzo, and Eihei Koroku. There are sixteen Chao-chou koans in the Mana Shobogenzo and forty-five in the Eihei Koroku. Dogen completely ignores all of the koans in which Chao-chou teaches picking and choosing. I find this amazing, considering there are four such koans in the Blue Cliff Record. Amazing, because we know that Dogen revered the Blue Cliff koans. He only discovered the Record in the last days of his trip to China and spent the entire night, prior to his departure for Japan, copying the one hundred koans and commentary of the Blue Cliff Record. And so it is a mystery to me that Dogen did not work with these koans and write about them in his major works.

Nevertheless, we will work with them here. The key words to the teaching of the koan are found in Jianzhi Sengcan’s poem, “On Trust in the Heart.”

The Perfect Way is only difficult
For those who pick and choose.
Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear.

As I have already quoted, variations of the koan appear four times in the Blue Cliff Record: Cases 2, 57, 58, and 59. I will deal with the present Case 2.

In his teaching to the assembly Chao-chou says, “This is picking and choosing, this is clarity (or enlightenment).”

And he says that he “…doesn’t abide in clarity or enlightenment.” (Is he then saying he abides in picking and choosing?) And he asked the monks if they “preserve” anything?
One of the monks challenges Chao-chou and asks him what he himself “preserves” since he doesn’t abide in clarity?

The question can also have within it the supposition that Chao-chou “abides in picking and choosing.”

In response, Chao-chou says “I don’t know either.”

How is this to be read?

Is Chao-chou saying he knows neither picking and choosing, or clarity, or enlightenment?

Is “I don’t know” or not-knowing Chao-chou’s answer?

Is he saying he neither abides in the place of discrimination (picking and choosing) or the place of enlightenment (not choosing, therefore, clarity)—instead, he abides in the place of not-knowing?

The monk misses the third possibility of not-knowing. He again asks Chao-chou about clarity—enlightenment, or not choosing and Chao-chou’s dismisses the monk and his questions.

The Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record has some beautiful quotes by Hakuin and Tenkei.

From Tenkei, on “clarity.”
Clarity refers to the realm of enlightenment. Old Joshu does not remain within delusion or enlightenment, ordinary or holy. Do you preserve anything is a teacher’s “fishing word.” He talks about not remaining in clarity as a place where there are no traces, speaking of it as if there actually were something there, showing a seam to hook a student’s gap. This is what is called a Zen master’s manipulation of emptiness.

Hakuin on “clarity.”
Since you do not remain within clarity—If you abide in clarity, you need to preserve it, but if you do not remain in clarity, there’s nothing to preserve, is there? Since you don’t know—Here we can see this monk has no eyes. Why do you say you do not remain in clarity—Greedily gazing at the moon in the sky, he loses the pearl in the palm of his hand. You’ve posed the question—Isn’t that just like Joshu! “You’re a persistent fellow! When you’ve had enough fooling around, scram!” This is scary verbal Zen: “Setting his strategy in motion from within his tent, he assures victory a thousand miles away.”

Finally, Tenkei on the “Way.”
The way implies passage; it means that asses pass, horses pass, all beings equally pass without obstruction. But what is the supreme way spoken of here? Humans and angels are vertical, animals are horizontal, mountains are high, oceans are wide; east, west, south, north, the highway to the capital, the unique straight open road to the ultimate, the single path to the gate of nirvana taken by the blessed ones of the ten directions; there is no other way at all.

I think there are three key phrases or words in this koan: