Ah, Edgar, you finally showed up.
Thank you ED. This is the same story that I have heard in Chinese.
The moral of the story is, "any personal opinion may hinder the journey
of others."
That's why many teachers in China only repeat phrases from the sutra.
And if you read the sutra, you actually find them to be like riddles or
koan.
jm
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On 5/20/2011 8:36 AM, Edgar Owen wrote:
Good story. Because Bill denies causation he is doomed to be
reincarnated as a fox for 500 lives!
Edgar
On May 20, 2011, at 10:56 AM, ED wrote:
Hyakujo's Fox
When Hyakujo Osho delivered a certain series of sermons, an old man
always followed the monks to the main hall and listened to him. When
the monks left the hall, the old man would also leave. One day,
however, he remained behind, and Hyakujo asked him, "Who are you,
standing here before me?"
The old man replied, "I am not a human being. In the old days of
Kashyapa Buddha, I was a head monk, living here on this mountain. One
day a student asked me, 'Does a man of enlightenment fall under the
yoke of causation or not?' I answered, 'No, he does not.'
Since then I have been doomed to undergo five hundred rebirths as a
fox. I beg you now to give the turning word to release me from my
life as a fox. Tell me, does a man of enlightenment fall under the
yoke of causation or not?"
Hyakujo answered, "He does not ignore causation."
No sooner had the old man heard these words than he was enlightened.
Making his bows, he said, "I am emancipated from my life as a fox. I
shall remain on this mountain. I have a favour to ask of you: would
you please bury my body as that of a dead monk."
Hyakujo had the director of the monks strike with the gavel and
inform everyone that after the midday meal there would be a funeral
service for a dead monk. The monks wondered at this, saying,
"Everyone is in good health; nobody is in the sick ward. What does
this mean?"
After the meal Hyakujo led the monks to the foot of a rock on the far
side of the mountain and with his staff poked out the dead body of a
fox and performed the ceremony of cremation.
That evening he ascended the rostrum and told the monks the whole
story. obaku thereupon asked him, "The old man gave the wrong answer
and was doomed to be a fox for five hundred rebirths. Now, suppose he
had given the right answer, what would have happened then?"
Hyakujo said, "You come here to me, and I will tell you."
Obaku went up to Hyakujo and boxed his ears. Hyakujo clapped his
hands with a laugh and exclaimed, "I was thinking that the barbarian
had a red beard, but now I see before me the red-bearded barbarian
himself."
http://oaks.nvg.org/gate-struggles.html#2
--- In [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>,
Jue Miao Jing Ming - 覺妙精明 <chan.jmjm@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Bill,
>
> Sorry to admit that I have not read any English book about Zen.
>
> Please send me something.
>
> Thank you,
> JM
