Fuketsu's One Speck of Dust

Engo's commentary on the case

Fuketsu instructed the assembly, “If one speck of dust is established, the house and nation flourish. If one speck of dust is not established, the house and nation perish.” Tell me: is establishing one speck correct, or is not establishing it correct? At this point, the great function must appear before you. Therefore it is said, “Even if you recognize it before the words, you are still stuck in the shell and confused by the seal. Even if you comprehend it precisely beneath the phrase, you cannot avoid mad views at every turn.” Fuketsu was a venerable in the Rinzai line and directly used the provisions proper to the original share. “If one speck of dust is established, the house and nation flourish”: the old rustic furrows his brow. The intent is that establishing the nation and bringing peace to the land requires resourceful ministers and fierce generals. Only then does the qilin appear and the phoenix soar—auspicious signs of great peace.¹ How could people from a three-household village know such a matter? “If one speck of dust is not established, the house and nation perish”: wind blows briskly. Why does the old rustic come out singing? Precisely because the house and nation have perished. In the Dongshan line this is called the place of transformation. There is no buddha and no living being, no right and no wrong, no good and no bad. Sound, echo, track, and trace are cut off. Therefore it is said, “Though gold dust is precious, when it falls in the eye it becomes a cataract.” It is also said: Gold dust in the eye is a cataract; The jewel sewn in the robe is dust upon Dharma. If even one's own numinous capacity is not prized, Who are buddhas and patriarchs? Pierced seven times and eight, with spiritual powers and wondrous function, one does not regard these as extraordinary. Arriving here, cover your head with the patched robe and the ten thousand matters cease. At this time, this mountain monk understands nothing at all. If you further speak of mind and nature, mystery and wonder, none of it is useful. Why? His house naturally possesses a realm of immortals. Nansen instructed the assembly, “The seven hundred eminent monks at Huangmei were all people who understood the Buddha Dharma, but they did not obtain the robe and bowl. Only the workman Lu did not understand the Buddha Dharma; therefore he obtained the robe and bowl.”² He also said, “The buddhas of the three times do not know it exists; cats and white oxen instead know it exists.” The old rustic sometimes furrows his brow and sometimes sings. Tell me: how do you understand this? What eye does he possess that enables him to be this way? You must know that before the old rustic's gate there is another code of regulations. After Setchō had raised both sides, he raised his staff and said, “Is there any patch-robed monk who will live and die together with me?” At that time, if a real fellow had come forward and spoken one phrase, each reciprocally becoming host and guest, he would have spared old Setchō from pointing to his own chest afterward. Just now both sides were raised together. Here Setchō instead takes up only one side and releases the other, trimming the long and filling the short, abandoning the heavy and following the light. Therefore he says: “Let the old rustic keep his brows furrowed. For now, I plan to lay a mighty foundation for the house and nation. Where are the resourceful ministers and fierce generals now?” Setchō raised his staff and said, “Is there any patch-robed monk who will live and die together with me?” It is just as if he had said, “Are there any resourceful ministers and fierce generals?” He has swallowed everyone in a single mouthful. Therefore it is said, “The land is broad and people are few; those who meet are rare.” Is there anyone who knows him? Come forward, and I will bury you together in one pit. “For ten thousand miles, only he knows the clear wind”: this is precisely the place where Setchō points to his own chest.