The Core
Reading: しょうようろく だいさんじゅうにそく きょうざんしんきょう / Shōyōroku Dai-sanjūni-soku Kyōzan Shinkyō
The Shoyoroku Case 32: Yangshan’s Mind and Environment is a koan in which Yangshan intentionally sets up the distinction of "subject (mind) and object (environment)" for a monk, and when the monk replies that "I do not see anything existing at all," Yangshan encourages him to examine himself further.
Usually, people say that "it teaches the state of enlightenment of absolute nothingness and non-discrimination, leaving behind the opposition of subject and object and emptying all things." However, in this dictionary, we define it as a practical lesson: "Even if a person believes that they have erased all objects, the illness of the self (the root of the subject) seeing 'there is nothing' still remains. Without stopping or staying in the state of emptiness, returning to the vivid reality of daily life and distinction and acting freely (the oneness of Kojo and Koge) is the true Way."
Q&A
- Q: Why did Yangshan instruct the monk who had emptied everything to "take your seat and put on your robe"?
- A: Because he warned against the sickness of withdrawing into the state of emptiness and giving up actions in reality, and he encouraged the monk to live by wearing concrete daily practice and actions upon himself while keeping the conviction of emptiness as his foundation.
