[Original Text of the Koan]
At times, Venerable Zhenjing would abruptly call to his attendant, “Bring the old master here.” The attendant would unroll the portrait of Chan Master Nan. Zhenjing would place his hand on his forehead and say, “Were it not for this old master, how could I be as I am?” He would then furrow his brow for a long while before instructing the attendant to put it away. He did this again and again.
Whenever Venerable Qian’an Yuan saw the portrait of Chan Master Nan, tears would fall.
Whenever the master received seasonal fresh fruit, he would first make offerings to the Buddha and to Yuanwu, and only then would he dare taste it. He said to those around him, “Without the Buddha and the old master, how could I be as I am?”
[The Elder’s Marginal Note]
How profound! The grace of the Buddha and the master is exceedingly difficult to repay!
[Sawing Apart the Steelyard Weight]
This koan presents three examples of those who did not forget their masters’ kindness. “The portrait of Chan Master Nan” refers to a portrait of Chan Master Huanglong Huinan. At that time there were no cameras; portraits depended entirely on artists’ techniques of realistic depiction. Venerable Zhenjing and Venerable Qian’an Yuan were both disciples of Chan Master Huanglong Huinan.
Venerable Zhenjing instructed his attendant, “Go and bring the old master here.” The attendant then unfolded the portrait of Chan Master Nan for him to see.
Facing the portrait, Zhenjing patted his forehead and sighed for a long while: “If I had not encountered this old master in this life, how could I be as I am? (Had I not met the old master, this life would have passed in vain.)” He then instructed the attendant to store the portrait carefully. Zhenjing often did this. Now listen to these words: “Bring the old master here.”
Such a manner of speaking sounds quite improper—is that respect for one’s master? You must understand that respect lies in the heart, not in one’s words. Nowadays there are also those who imitate Dongshi’s frown or copy the gait learned at Handan. They too seek to imitate the ancients in rebuking the Buddha and reviling the patriarchs, yet their minds are wild and confused. Even when the ancients said, “Beat him to death and feed him to the dogs,” not a trace of disorder arose in their minds, and their reverence remained wholly unaffected. Let me ask people today: when you imitate Dongshi’s frown, does your reverence still remain? When you copy the gait learned at Handan, is your mind still free of confusion? If so, I permit you to pass judgment. If not, a day will come when you must swallow iron pellets!
Whenever Venerable Qian’an Yuan saw the portrait of Chan Master Huanglong Huinan, he would weep. It is not easy to awaken to one’s original nature!
Each year, whenever Chan Master Dahui Zonggao received fresh fruit, he would first make offerings to the Buddha and to his master, Chan Master Yuanwu Keqin, before daring to eat any himself.
The Elder praised them: “How profound! The grace of the Buddha and the master is exceedingly difficult to repay!” The kindness of one’s parents nurtures one’s life for several decades; yet the grace of the Buddha and the master inspires the wisdom-life of the Dharma body, enabling one to break through deluded attachments and transcend the world. The grace of the Buddha and the master is so vast, boundless beyond all bounds—how could it ever be repaid?
Even if this body were ground into motes of dust, it would still be difficult to repay even one ten-thousandth of the grace of the Buddha and the master!
