Blue Cliff Record, Case 8

At the end of the summer retreat Ts’ui Yen said to the community, “All summer long I’ve been talking to you brothers; look and see if my eyebrows are still there.”

Pao Fu said, “The thief’s heart is cowardly.”

Ch’ang Ch’ing said, “Grown.”

Yun Men said, “A barrier.”

Background and some Questions
Players in this koan are:

• Ts’ui Yen (Suigan)
• Pao Fu (Hafuku)
• Ch’ang Ch’ing (Chokei)
• Yun Men (Ummon)

All four are disciples of Xuefeng Yicun (Hsueh-feng I-ts’un) (Seppo).

Cleary says Ts’ui Yen was a successor of Hsueh Feng. But three others, Pao fu, Ch’ang Ch’ing and Yun Men are listed in the Lineage charts in Ferguson’s book as Xuefeng’s successors whereas Ts’ui Yen is not. In fact Ts’ui Yen does not appear at all in the entire Lineage Chart. Also, according to Cleary, hardly anything is known about Ts’ui Yen whereas Pao Fu and Ch’ang Ch’in appear in several koans and Yun Men went on to be the founder of a school or sect in his name, became quite famous in his own time, as well as ours, and appears in many koans.

The question therefore, is was Ts’ui Yen the teacher of the summer retreat when he speaks to the “community,” as he seems to be? It is significant that he doesn’t refer to the members of the community as students or disciples, but as “brothers.” (In Secrets it is “brethren.”) Sekida omits the pronoun altogether and translates “… I have talked to you…”

So, was he the leader/teacher of the Summer Retreat? And what role did Pao Fu, Ch’ang Ch’ing, and Yunmen play in the retreat?

Pao Fu calling Ts’ui Yen a thief supports the view that Ts’ui Yen was a teacher, for a teacher is often considered to be a thief, in the sense that one of the roles of the teacher is to “steal’ away the conceptions, as well as misconceptions of their students—indeed to steal away whatever it is the student holds on to. Cleary has Pao Fu say that the “thief’s heart is cowardly…”

Sekida has Pao Fu say , “He who commits theft has a guilty conscience.”

The internet version of the koan says, “The robber’s heart is terrified.”

So why would the teacher, if Ts’ui Yen is the teacher, be worried?

Did he indeed talk too much during the summer retreat? If he was the teacher it doesn’t matter how much he talks. If he was not the teacher than it becomes another matter. Teachers talk others listen. Talking by others is tolerated a bit, but too much talking is not.

So were his “brothers” commenting on Ts’ui Yen verbosity?

The three comments seem to be evaluative criticisms of Ts’ui Yen performance. Pa Fu’s comment can mean, “You didnt dare to challenge your students and left them with all their crap.”

Ch’ang Ch’ing’s one word comment, “grown” could mean, “Rather than lose your eyebrows you’ve grown massive bushes!” Which could mean he may have talked too much and managed not to say much of anything! Thereby, concurring with Pa Fu’s assessment.

Yunmen’s “barrier” is the most enigmatic of the three responses. What is the barrier? Ts’ui Yen’s lack of eyebrows? Ts’ui Yen’s massive growth of eyebrows? Ts’ui Yen’s concern with his own performance? In other words, did Ts’ui Yen’s ego get in the way of his teaching? Could this be the teaching of the koan? When teaching forget yourself. Forget your eyebrows. Forget how you’re doing. Forget how what you say or do will be received. Forget you’re teaching. Just be.

Shades of Dogen Zenji’s masterful “Genjo Koan.”

To study the Buddha Way is to study the self.
To study the Self is to forget the self.
To forget the Self is to be authenticated by the myriad things.
To be authenticated by the myriad things is to drop off
the mind-body of oneself and others.

So is Yunmen telling Ts’ui Yen that he failed to drop off the mind-body of himself and others? Thereby creating the barrier of his own self and not transmitting dharma, and so his bushy eyebrows?

Wattaya think?

***

At the end of the summer retreat Ts’ui Yen said to the community, “All summer long I’ve been talking to you brothers; look and see if my eyebrows are still there.”

Pao Fu said, “The thief’s heart is cowardly.”

Ch’ang Ch’ing said, “Grown.”

Yun Men said, “A barrier.”