Roso Faces the Wall

Banshō's commentary on the case

Zen Master Baoyun of Mount Roso in Chizhou faced the wall whenever he saw a monk come. Since Bodhidharma's nine years, no one had again carried out this command. Let those everywhere who ask about buddhas and ancestors, above and below, all recognize a little pain and itch. Nansen was Roso's fellow student. Seeing that Roso did not move at another's needle or awl, he gave a collateral note and explained him through: “I regularly tell him, ‘Take responsibility before the empty kalpa; understand before a buddha appears in the world.’ Still he does not obtain even one person or half a person.” His intention seems to open one thread, but in fact he took the place of Roso's attendant and transmitted the teaching. He also said, “Going on like that, he will continue until the year of the donkey.” His intention seems to criticize Roso for being too solitary and severe, but in fact he praised his entrustment face to face.¹ Have you not heard: “Even if one explains it ten parts out of ten, how could that compare with personally arriving once?” Thus Vulture Peak resembles drawing the moon, and Caoqi pointing to the moon. How could either compare with Roso opening his robe and meeting face to face inside the Crystal Palace, in the Hall of Broad Cold? Hofuku saw an opening in Nansen and Roso and asked Changqing, “In Roso's case, where is the protocol that Nansen spoke of him this way?” Banshō says: how did Hofuku produce the two words “the protocol”? Unless one can distinguish spring and autumn on a branch before it sprouts, it is difficult to frame this question. Changqing replied, “One who withdraws himself and yields to another is one in ten thousand.” Banshō says: how bright the ancients' eyes were. Xuanjue said, “Was Nansen speaking in concert, or speaking disapproval?” Banshō says: half covering and half concealing—he cannot be deceived by one dot. Zhi of Suigan said, “Why labor like this?” Banshō says: already he has raised a model and drawn a pattern. Zhi also said, “If a monk came, what would he see?” Banshō says: I still suspect too little remains. Again he said, “Knowing the time is good.” Banshō says: if it were Tao Yuanming, he would knit his brows and return. Zhi also said, “I would not act that way. Before the embryo is complete, one cannot understand. If you understand, I will break your waist with a blow.” Banshō says: for whom does the abbot intend that staff? Razan said, “Had Old Master Wang seen him then, he should have given him five fire-scoops across the back, because Roso knew how to release but not gather in.” Banshō says: rising before dawn at the fifth watch, he finds a night traveler already there. Gensha said, “Had I seen him then, I too would have given him five fire-scoops.” Banshō says: disturbing the spring wind, they still do not stop. Xi of Yunju said, “Razan and Gensha both spoke this way. Were their reasons the same, or did they differ?” Banshō says: together, ten fire-scoops. Xi also said, “If you can distinguish them, I permit that your Buddha-Dharma has somewhere to go.” Banshō says: a fine place to give five fire-scoops. Good people, look. Nansen disparages Roso this way; Changqing instead says this is precisely withdrawing oneself and yielding to another. Roso cuts off the checkpoint; Razan instead says he knew release but not gathering in. All of them spread a net before the fish and draw a bow after the thief has passed. Look further: what different direction does Tendō take? Long ago the second imperial son-in-law Tushan was traveling to take office in the southern capital. Passing Daming in Cizhou, he entered the hall to rejoice in its merit and saw a monk sitting facing the wall. The consort said, “One fine bland fellow.” Master Quan said, “Within blandness there is flavor.”⁴ Water's nature is originally bland. Add tea or honey, and sweetness and bitterness arise. Nature too is tranquil and bland; divide it into delusion and awakening, and ordinary and sacred are established. Though we say, “Within blandness there is flavor,” this is the flavor of no flavor. Its flavor is constant, subtly surpassing feeling and predication. The graph “feeling” follows heart; “predicate” follows speech. Here the road of words is cut off and the place of mental operation extinguished. Hōgen said, “When principle is exhausted, feeling and predication are forgotten. How could any analogy equal it?” The “Valley Spirit Never Dies” chapter of the Daodejing says, “The gate of the mysterious female is called the root of heaven and earth. Continuous, as though existing.” It also says, “I do not know whose child it is; it appears before the Lord.”⁵ For patch-robed monks, “continuous, as though existing” means it cannot be cut off altogether. “Before the Lord's image” means before the empty kalpa, before a buddha appeared in the world. “Stolid as a fool—the Way is prized” covertly uses Setchō's saying “The Way is prized in being like a fool.” He versified: Rain passes, clouds congeal, dawn half opens; several peaks, painted blue, rise lofty. Subhuti did not know to sit inside the crag and provoked heavenly flowers to stir the earth. This versifies Subhuti sitting in repose and the Lord of Heaven raining flowers. Here Roso could not spare himself trouble and provoked Nansen, Gensha, and a band of old fellows to inspect him. This is precisely jade carved with patterns losing its purity. It does not equal a pearl in the abyss lending beauty of itself.³ Lu Ji's “Rhapsody on Literature” in the Book of Jin says, “A stone conceals jade and the mountain shines; water holds a pearl and the river is beautiful.” Jade concealed in stone is carved open by Nansen and his band; a pearl held in water is strained out by Gensha and his band. Fortunately, ten parts of bracing air clearly polish away the heat of autumn; nevertheless one idle cloud far off divides sky and water. Banshō has never faced a wall. What protocol does this band of you come seeking? He answered in their place: “We hear Tendō explain the old cases in verse.”