Blue Cliff Record 39

151
Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku, Biyan Lu) #39
Yunmen's "Kayakuran"

Personnel

• YUNMEN Wenyan (Ummon Bunen, 864-949, 13th gen), disciple of Xuefeng
• An unnamed monk

Yuanwu's Introduction (Sato)

One who can act freely “on the road”[1] is like a tiger that has climbed to the mountains;
One who flows along with worldly logic is like a monkey in a cage.
If you wish to know the truth of Buddha nature, you must take notice of timings and causes.
If you wish to let pure gold shine that has been refined a hundred times,
It must be done with the furnace and bellows of a true master.
But tell me, when the great function is revealed, what can be taken to test it?

[1] From Linji's saying, "Being on the road, you do not go away from your home."

Case (Sato)

A monk asked Yunmen, “What is the pure and clear Dharma-body?”[2]
Yunmen said, “Flowering hedge [Kayakuran][3].”
The monk said, “How is it when one grasps it that way?”
Yunmen said, “A golden-haired lion.”

[2] i.e., dharmakaya, which, along with sambogakaya and nirmanakaya, are the three bodies of Buddha. Dharmakaya is the body of ultimate truth. Or "What is the pure body of reality?" (Cleary).
[3] Sato notes Kayakuran is specifically, the flower fence around an outhouse latrine. Sekida says it is the fence around a flower garden.

Xuedou's Verse (Sato, italics Cleary)

Flowering hedge: Don't take it so lightly!

A flowering hedge; don't be fatheaded!

The pointer is on the scale arm, not on the measuring pan.

The marks are on the balance arm, not in the scale pan.

“When one grasps it that way”– what a foolish thing to say!

"So that's it!" misses the point;

A golden-haired lion: You adepts, look!

The golden-haired lion -- everyone look!

KOAN INDEX
Hotetsu's Verses on Koans