Kōrin's “Sitting Long Becomes Weariness”

Engo's commentary on the case

Kōrin said, “Sitting long becomes weariness.” Do you understand? If so, warfare ceases atop every blade of grass. If not, bow your head and await judgment. The ancients traveled on foot, formed friendships, and selected companions on the same road, parting grass to observe the wind. At the time Unmon's teaching flourished in the far south. Kōrin deliberately left Sichuan. Contemporary with Ehu and Kyōsei, he first studied at Baozi in Hunan and later joined Unmon, serving as attendant for eighteen years. There he personally attained and personally heard. Though he awakened late, he was a person of great capacity. Unmon regularly called only, “Attendant Yuan!” The moment Kōrin answered, Unmon asked, “What is it?” Kōrin offered phrases, displayed interpretations, and manipulated his spirit, never according. One day Kōrin suddenly said, “I understand.” Unmon said, “Why not speak it beyond?” Kōrin remained another three years. Many of Unmon's great discriminations in the room were displayed for Attendant Yuan. Whatever Unmon said, Kōrin received it. Later Kōrin returned to Sichuan. He first lived at Crystal Palace in Daojiang, then at Kōrin on Qingcheng. Chimon came from Zhejiang specifically to bow to him and later became Setchō's teacher. Though Unmon met countless people, Kōrin's branch flourished most in that generation. Kōrin taught in Sichuan for forty years and died at eighty. He once said, “Only after forty years did I make one piece.” He instructed the assembly: “A pilgrim seeking teachers must travel with eyes, distinguish black-robed and white, and see shallow from deep. First establish resolve. When old Śākyamuni was cultivating causes, every word and thought was the establishment of resolve.” A monk asked, “What is the single lamp inside the room?” Kōrin said, “Three people testify that a turtle is a softshell turtle.”² Another asked, “What is the affair beneath the patch robe?” Kōrin said, “In the twelfth month, fire burns the mountain.” Since antiquity there have been many replies about the patriarch's intent. Kōrin's “Sitting long becomes weariness” alone sits and cuts off every tongue beneath heaven. It leaves no place for calculation or doctrine. The monk asks, “What is the patriarch's intent in coming from the west?” Kōrin says, “Sitting long becomes weariness.” Words without flavor, a phrase without flavor: flavorless talk stops every mouth and leaves nowhere to breathe. If you want to see, see directly. If not, above all do not construct an explanation. Kōrin had met an expert, so he possessed Unmon's methods and the pattern of the three phrases. Many misunderstand: “Bodhidharma came from the west and faced a wall for nine years; wasn't that sitting long and becoming weary?” What handle does that provide? They do not see the ancient's great freedom. His feet stood on solid ground, without so much Buddhist knowledge and doctrine. He responded as the occasion required: “Dharma proceeds according to Dharma; the Dharma banner is established wherever one stands.” Setchō fans the fire with the wind and points out one or half a person from the side. Setchō acts directly like sparks from stone or lightning, pressing it out and letting you see. You must understand the moment you hear it raised. Only a child within Kōrin's house could speak this way. Understand directly and it is unquestionably extraordinary: One, two—thousands and tens of thousands. Remove the halter; unload the burden from the horns. Clean and free, unstained by birth and death, unbound by interpretations of sacred and ordinary. Above there is nothing to look up to; below, the self is cut off. Each is just like Kōrin's snowflake.⁴ Why stop at thousands and tens of thousands? Every person on earth is like this; earlier and later buddhas are all like this. But interpret within the words and you resemble Zihu meaning to strike Liu the Iron Grindstone. In truth, the moment it is raised, strike with the sound. Zihu studied with Nansen and was a fellow student of Jōshū and Cen the Tiger. At the time the nun Ryū Tetsuma—“Iron Grindstone Liu”—had built a hermitage beneath Isan. No one in the communities could handle her. One day Zihu deliberately visited. “Is this Iron Grindstone Liu?” “I do not presume.” “Do you turn left or right?” “Reverend, do not turn things upside down.” Zihu struck as her voice sounded.⁵ The monk asks Kōrin for the patriarch's intent; Kōrin says, “Sitting long becomes weariness.” Understand this way and, whether you turn left or right, it follows behind. Tell me: what is Setchō's intent in versifying so? Best to have nothing to do. Try to raise it and see.