From this month’s second Zen maxim in Japanese site of Rinzai-Obaku Zen.
A laywoman who had long provided a hermitage and supported the practice of a Zen monk decided to test the fruits of his training.
She instructed a young woman who served meals to embrace the monk and ask him how he felt at that moment.
The monk replied with the words of the Zen phrase that forms the title:
“Like a withered tree leaning against a cold rock, feeling no warmth throughout the winter.”
Hearing this, the laywoman drove the monk away and burned down the hermitage, so the story goes.
No matter how closely one believes oneself to have approached the truth of the world,
to ignore the undeniable emotions that are part of being human is to return everything to square one.
In this attitude, we may also glimpse the same root that leads to the unchecked excesses of science and technology when reason alone is given priority.
枯木倚寒巌 三冬無暖気 (こぼくかんがんによりさんとうだんきなし)
臨黄ネットの今月のふたつ目の禅語から。
ある修行僧に長年庵を与え、修行を支えていた檀家の婦人が、その成果を試そうとしました。
給仕に来ていた若い女性に命じ、僧に抱きつかせ、その時の心境を問わせてみたのです。
僧の答えは、表題の禅語のとおりでした。
「枯れ木が冷たい岩に寄りかかり、冬中、暖かさを感じることもありません」
それを聞いた婦人は、僧を追い出し、庵を焼き払ったといいます。
この世の真理にいくら迫ったつもりでも、
否定しえない人間的な情動を無視してしまっては、すべては元の木阿弥です。
そこには、理のみを優先させた末に歯止めを失う、
科学技術の暴走とも通じる根が見えてきます。
Pērā i te rākau kua maroke e whakawhirinaki ana ki te toka makariri
Hei tā te kōrero tuarua o te marama i te wāhanga Hapani o te Rinzai-Obaku Zen.
I tētahi wā, i tautoko tētahi wahine nō te hunga tautoko i tētahi moke Zen,
ā, i hoatu e ia he whare noho hei āwhina i tana whakangungu mō ngā tau maha.
I tētahi rā, ka hiahia ia ki te whakamātau i ngā hua o taua whakangungu.
Ka whakahau ia i tētahi wahine rangatahi e mahi kai ana kia awhi i te moke,
ā, kia pātai atu ki a ia he aha ōna kare ā-roto i taua wā tonu.
Ko te whakautu a te moke he kōrero nō te whakataukī Zen o te taitara:
“Pērā i te rākau kua maroke e whakawhirinaki ana ki te toka makariri,
kāore he mahana e rangona ana i te roanga o te takurua.”
Ka rangona tēnei e te wahine, ka panaia atu te moke,
ā, ka tahuna hoki te whare noho, e ai ki te kōrero tuku iho.
Ahakoa te tata o te tangata ki ngā pono o te ao e whakapono ai ia,
mēnā ka whakakāhoretia ngā kare ā-roto e kore e taea te whakakore i te tangata,
ka hoki anō ngā mea katoa ki te tīmatanga.
I konei hoki ka kitea te pūtake e rite ana ki te ngaronga o te ārai,
ina whakanuia rawatia te whakaaro tōtika anake, pēnei i ngā mahi hē o te pūtaiao me te hangarau.
