369. ZEN REMARKS

369. Mumon, in his comment on Case 35 of the Mumonkan, makes no attempt to dredge up the old ghost story. Mumon writes: 'When you realize what the real is, you will see ....' Pause to note Mumon's use of the word 'see' - perhaps we might here call to mind the role of 'seeing' in Wittgenstein's philosophical practice. What will we see? '... that we pass from one husk to another like travelers stopping for a night's lodging.' We might also recall the Hebrew scripture: 'In this house I am but a passing guest, a pilgrim and a wanderer like all my fathers'.

368. ZEN REMARKS

368. The question that Goso asks is not just a question of identity. It is much more in that it is a question that bears on real identity. The Zen practitioner is here being challenged to manifest his or her real identity. The sort of questions the practitioner must face are: 'What is real? Who am I really?'
   Scholarly concerns with the origin of Case 35 of the Mumonkan, the tracing of the koan to a Chinese ghost story, the re-telling of the story, the details of the story - these are so many red herrings.
   Goso asks : 'Which was the real Seijo?' In order to respond appropriately here, the practitioner must ask: 'Which is the real Seijo?'

367. ZEN REMARKS

367. The first thing to notice about Case 35 of the Mumonkan is that it is not about Seijo. In terms of the grammar that governs the language of the language-game of koan, the question that Goso asks is a question about the identity of the one who mediates on this koan. Everything necessary for working with, and responding to, Case 35, is contained in Goso's formulation. So: 'Which was the real Seijo? Was it her being, or the soul that separated from her being?' Notice the disjunctive choice: either this or that. 

366. ZEN REMARKS

366. Paradigm cases of how the koan language-game might be played can be found in such koan collections as the Mumonkan and the Hekiganroku. 
   As found in these classical collections, koans are presented without context. Yet knowledge of their context, some might think, would seem to be necessary. Consider the following case: 'Seijo's soul separated from her being. Which was the real Seijo?'
Commentators hasten to inform us that this koan has its origin in a Chinese ghost story and then tell us the story. But do we need to know all this?

365. ZEN REMARKS

365. Wittgenstein says: 'Language did not emerge from reasoning '.  The same can be said of the koan. Koan language did not - does not - emerge from reasoning. The Zen novice learns, and becomes proficient in, the language of koan by engaging in specific practices. He or she comes to understand and speak this language by joining in, by becoming a participant in, the language-game of koan. The learner learns by becoming a player in the game. This suggests a process of trial and error - like this, not like that. This in turn suggests a readiness to accept the tutelage of a master. 

364. ZEN REMARKS

364. Coming to rest in a deep interior silence is a beautiful experience. The temptation is to cling to what is so comforting, so restful. But the Way of the Awakened is without end and so we are challenged to step from the top of the hundred foot pole. 

363. ZEN REMARKS

363. Sengcan, the third Chinese ancestor, concludes his great enlightenment poem Xinxinming with the assertion 'Words! The Way is beyond language, for in it there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today'. This might suggest that words can be dispensed with and that the truly enlightened will always maintain a noble silence. Clearly Sengcan would not agree with such a suggestion as he uses words to point to that which lies beyond their reach.