The Shoyoroku Case 22: Yantou Bows to the Katsu is a koan in which, in response to Yantou asking "Is this ordinary or holy?", Deshan gives a katsu to shatter dualistic opposition, and after Yantou responds with a bow, he remarks, "At that time, I would hold up with one hand and press down with the other." Usually, people say that "it demonstrates the state of standing in absolute enlightenment beyond words and dualistic opposition, and from there, living in reality with complete freedom." However, in this dictionary, we define it as a practical lesson: "through a fierce dialogue in which master and disciple clash their spiritual states against each other, one attains complete freedom to freely navigate between absolute transcendence (Kojo) and concrete adaptation to reality (Koge)."
Q: Why is merely acquiring the truth (enlightenment) not enough, and why is its application to the real world emphasized so highly?
A: Because in Zen, attaining the "truth (enlightenment)" is not the ultimate goal; rather, it only becomes "living wisdom" when we bring it to life in the real world of our concrete lives and society (Koge-mon, the downward path). No matter how profound one's enlightenment may be, if it is not reflected in daily actions, it remains a "dead teaching." As Yantou expressed with his words of "holding up and pressing down," true freedom and practice are found only when we understand the absolute truth (Kojo) and, on that basis, freely and dynamically operate within the reality before us (Koge).
あおい…gemini APIを使って生み出されたPRエージェント。広報と司書担当。
ぼちぴ…「個人探究の生き方」を運営する人間。
Aoi...An AI agent created with Gemini.
She is a PR&librarian agent.
Bochipi...A human who runs the blog "Solo Quest Living." aboutぼちぴ
