BOOK OF EQUANIMITY - Case 55

[Jundo]

Case 54 never ends, and so we look to Case 55, Seppo the Rice Cook ...

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=...0water&f=false

As the father of a 13 year old son who is now increasingly convinced that he knows everything better than me (and sometimes he does!) ... and as someone getting older each day, frequently forgetting names and phone numbers and where I left my keys ... I can relate to poor ol' Tokusan and his smart ass student.

This case has a lot of ambiguity, and the few comments I have read by various teachers can be a bit 'eye of the beholder' on what it means. Tokusan is an old teacher who appears in his younger days in quite a few other Koans and stories. Did he really not "get it" until his student Ganto set him straight? Was there truly something different about Tokusan's Talk the next day, or did his students merely imagine so? Did Tokusan finally "understand the last word in Zen", or is there even such a "last word" (perhaps the "last word" to understand is that there is no "last word"?). Had the students excelled the Teacher, the Teacher excelled the students, or where they each just who they are?

The opening preamble and closing verse seems also a bit ambiguous on these questions, asking whether the "children" are equal to the parent of not, and whether the "last word" was understood or not.

Perhaps I take this Koan as a caution that students should not assume their excellence prematurely, but also that an old teacher should not be such an old dog that he or she is stagnant and closed to learning new tricks. There is no "last word" so everyone, young and old, must stay open to what is new and fresh.

I believe I have said too much on this Koan, old fool that I am. So, let me ask you:

- What is the "last word" of Zen?

- What do you think that Ganto whispered into Tokusan's ear?

- How do you take this story?

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Jishin]

This is a case of ordinary mind. Zen is nothing special.

A monk told Joshu, “I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me.”
Joshu asked, “Have you eaten your rice porridge?
The monk replied, “I have eaten.”
Joshu said, “Then you had better wash your bowl.”
At that moment the monk was enlightened.

The last word in Zen? Wash your bowl.

What was whispered? Wash your bowl.

How do I take the story? Wash your bowl.

Yesterday it was very hot where I live. The dogs love to swim with us, particularly when it's hot. But yesterday I did not feel like swimming. So I let them swim alone. They were very happy. Seemed like the right thing to do.

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Onkai]

Thank you, Jundo and Jishin.

Gassho,
Onkai
SatToday

[Eishuu]

This is what it said to me: Tokusan turning up to dinner before the gong is him not responding to what is actually happening around him but being driven by expectations and thoughts. To me 'the last word' suggests the last moment when words or thoughts are in control of our minds...when attachment to words and thoughts are dropped, things become simpler. There are still words and thoughts but maybe we are not driven by them and hold them lightly. So we turn up for dinner when the gong sounds; we act spontaneously. It reminds me of the phrases "In the seen, only the seen; in the heard, only the heard; in the sensed only the sensed" that the Buddha said to Bahiya in the Bahiya Sutra.

Gassho
Lucy
Sat today

[FaithMoon]

Maybe Seppo is stuck in the relative and his old buddy Ganto is employing some skillful means to help unstick him. Maybe the last word was Tokusan returning to his room without a word, but Seppo wasn't convinced.

[Geika]

My thinking has been like Lucy's on this.

Gassho,
Sat today

[Roland]

The answer to the three questions could be 'There is no last word in Zen'.

Is that too simple?

Gassho
Roland

#SatToday

[Toun]

Hmm..

It might be a "wordless" word in which all descriptions, expectations and definitions are dropped. A whisper can be very subtle.
Instead of engaging, grasping, and filling up his bowl, Tokusan quietly went to his room with nothing to say.

Gassho
Mike

Sat2day

[Meishin]

Tokusan made a mistake. Realizing his error, he returned to his room. That's the last word.

Whatever Ganto whispered in his ear, Tokusan let it go (desisted). That's the last word.

Then everybody got it. That's the last word too.

Gassho
Meishin
sat today

[TyZa]

I wanted to offer my own insight into this koan, but I will have to sit this one out. I don't know. I'll continue to contemplate it. Lucy and Meishin's views are helping me a little. I also appreciate Jishin's teaching above.

This is what it said to me: Tokusan turning up to dinner before the gong is him not responding to what is actually happening around him but being driven by expectations and thoughts. To me 'the last word' suggests the last moment when words or thoughts are in control of our minds...when attachment to words and thoughts are dropped, things become simpler. There are still words and thoughts but maybe we are not driven by them and hold them lightly. So we turn up for dinner when the gong sounds; we act spontaneously. It reminds me of the phrases "In the seen, only the seen; in the heard, only the heard; in the sensed only the sensed" that the Buddha said to Bahiya in the Bahiya Sutra.

Tokusan made a mistake. Realizing his error, he returned to his room. That's the last word.

Whatever Ganto whispered in his ear, Tokusan let it go (desisted). That's the last word.

Then everybody got it. That's the last word too.

Gassho,
Tyler

SatToday

[Jakuden]

Maybe Tokusan just realized that he was an old fool. Maybe Ganto whispered "the gong has rung and the drum has sounded." Maybe Tokusan just twirled a flower and smiled at Seppo as his talk the next day.

Gassho,
Jakuden
SatToday

Adding a P.S. : I guess my feeling was that the "last word" was agreed by all in the story to be just the continuation of the dharma, passed from teacher to student and then transmitted to the one who will succeed him, forming a never-ending circle.

[Tairin]

Adding a P.S. : I guess my feeling was that the "last word" was agreed by all in the story to be just the continuation of the dharma, passed from teacher to student and then transmitted to the one who will succeed him, forming a never-ending circle.

Hi Jakuden

If I understand your point then I think this is close to where I've ended up with this koan. There is no "last word" in Zen. There is no end point. It is a continuum. When Tokusan went to his room, apparently after being "bested", he may have lost sight of this. Ganto's whisper reminded him that there is no "besting" that Seppo could administer. Tokusan's talk at the Dharma Hall the next day, apparently full of joy and energy, reflects his understanding that the event was Seppo was just a moment in that continuum and certainly not an end.

Gassho
Warren
Sat today

[Hoseki]

Gassho

Adam
Sattoday


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shurin]

Still thinking.

Gassho,
Shurin
Sat today

[Risho]

- What is the "last word" of Zen?

- What do you think that Ganto whispered into Tokusan's ear?

- How do you take this story?

I think of the "last word" of zen like anything in life. It's like Dogen's "ceaseless practice". The last word is just continual practice.

Surpassing the teacher is an interesting concept. I don't think it means that the student is better; rather, I think it refers to internalizing the practice. A teacher can only teach from their perspective. A student can parrot the teacher and sound like an expert at Buddhism, and throw out this and that quote, but I think surpassing the teacher means going beyond all of that. It means really and thoroughly having a practice. We each experience life from our own vantage point. Practice is about how we express it, how it expresses us. Like with everything, that probably takes many years -- but in programming, life, once we have done it enough, have experienced and learned from mistakes we start to do things more from an "art" side if that makes sense. When you first learn something, it's very structured, but once the basics become ingrained, then that's where it is more fluid and true expression happens.

I feel that this is the way a student surpasses the teacher, but practicing the practice genuinely, without faking it, just letting be.

I like the ambiguity of this koan; I think what you think that Ganto whispers is a mirror into one's practice. For example, you may think that Ganto told this teacher, "hey stop resting on your laurels. You used to be passionate about this, but now you are just repeating the same old stuff and it's not keeping the monks motivated." Or maybe Ganto said, "this guy is a real know it all; you need to bring your A-game". I don't know.

I think that the roles of Teacher and Student can be fluid. I think we learn from each other all of the time. Even after years of doing something, I think it can be easy to become trapped in a way of doing things. "Gutei's Finger" comes to mind. Whenever someone would ask Gutei a question about zen or life, etc, he'd raise his finger. Some young monk heard about this, and he started doing it. So he basically looks wise superficially, but he was still young in his practice. So in the end, Gutei asks the kid something, the kid raises his finger in his habitual way, and Gutei cuts it off! Then the young monk asks Gutei what he would do, and he raises his finger! I love this type of Zen humor, but aside from that, I think it's easy to respond in auto-pilot instead of responding out of a natural, un-prescribed mode. I think this koan isn't something we solve, I think it's something that keeps us humble to not stop practicing to never really settle into some perceived understanding. Life flows, life is not stagnant. Different situations call for different responses, etc.

If we respond with habit instead of actively engaging with life, we are missing it. It's like when we have conversations with someone that we feel such and such about. I often times wait to talk rather than listen and respond to the reality of what's going on. Those types of prejudices and nonsense cause a lot of trouble that, if I paid more attention, would not be the victim of so often.

Anyway enough rambling from me.

Gassho,

Risho
-sattoday