【24】Liu Tiemo’s Sharp and Steep Edge

Pointer: Standing atop the highest peak, even demons and outsiders cannot know you; moving along the deepest ocean floor, even the Buddha-eye cannot see you. Even if your eyes are like shooting stars and your responsive activity like lightning, you still cannot avoid the divine turtle dragging its tail. What should one do upon reaching this point? Let us examine it.

【24】Case:

Liu Tiemo came to Weishan. 【Not easy to approach. This old woman does not keep to her proper place.】

Weishan said, “Old cow, you have come?” 【A hit! Probing with the pole, stirring the grass. Where do you see anything aberrant?】

Tiemo said, “Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the monk go?” 【The arrow never misses. Tang beats the drum; Silla dances. Letting go is too swift; drawing back is too slow.】

Weishan threw himself down and lay there. 【Right in the middle! From where do you see Weishan? Who would know that beyond the distant mist and waves there are other fine designs?】

Tiemo immediately left. 【Too far. She acted upon seeing the opportunity.】

Liu Tiemo was a nun.

Like striking a spark from a stone, like a flash of lightning: the moment one deliberates, one loses one’s body and life. When the Chan Way reaches its vital point, where is there room for so many complications? When adepts meet, it is like seeing a horn over a wall and knowing it is an ox, or seeing smoke beyond a mountain and knowing there is fire. Press them, and they move; hold them down, and they turn. Weishan said: “After this old monk has lived out his hundred years, I shall become a water buffalo in the household of a donor at the foot of the mountain, with five characters written beneath its left flank: ‘Monk So-and-so of Weishan.’ Now, at just such a time, would calling it ‘Monk of Weishan’ be correct, or would calling it ‘water buffalo’ be correct?” When people nowadays are questioned about this, they are sure to be unable to explain it.

Liu Tiemo had long practiced under a master. Her responsive edge was sharp and steep, and people called her Liu Tiemo. She built a hut ten li from Weishan. One day she went to visit Weishan. Seeing her arrive, Weishan said, “Old cow, you have come?” Tiemo said, “Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the monk go?” Weishan immediately threw himself down and lay there. Tiemo immediately left.

Look at them: it seems just like ordinary conversation, yet it is neither Chan nor the Way. Can you understand it as being about nothing? Mount Tai was thousands of li away from Weishan. Why, then, did Liu Tiemo invite Weishan to the feast? Tell me, what was her intent? This old woman understood Weishan’s words: thread coming and thread going, one letting go and one drawing in, reciprocally answering each other in song. It was like two mirrors facing each other, with no image to be seen.

Each responsive move matched the other; every phrase corresponded. People nowadays cannot turn back even after three exchanges. This old woman could hide nothing from him. This was not the discriminating view of conventional truth. Like a bright mirror set upon its stand, like a bright pearl held in the palm: when a Hu comes, a Hu appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears. They knew of the matter that goes beyond, and therefore were thus.

Nowadays people persist in taking it as a matter of nothing. Chan Master Dayan, the Fourth Patriarch, said, “Do not treat what is as something as though it were nothing; often, affairs arise from what is taken as nothing.” If you penetrate it through practice, you will see that they spoke just as ordinary people speak. Most people are obstructed by words and therefore do not understand. Only one who knows the sound can understand them. For example, Qianfeng addressed the assembly, saying, “Raise one; you cannot raise two.

Let go of one move, and you fall into the second.” Yunmen stepped forth from the assembly and said, “Yesterday a monk came from Tiantai and then went on to Nanyue.” Qianfeng said, “Today the steward of provisions will not receive the general invitation.” Look at these two: when letting go, both let go; when drawing in, both draw in. In the Weiyang school this is called, “When the wind stirs the dust and grass in the realm, thoroughly investigate their traces.” It is also called “a phrase separated by the body”: the meaning communicates, but the words are apart. At this point, one must turn left and turn right; only then is one an adept.

Once rode an iron horse into a fortified city, 【A battle-hardened adept, a frontier general, with the seven implements upon his person.】

An imperial edict descends, proclaiming the six kingdoms at peace. 【A dog carries the pardon decree in its mouth. The Son of Heaven within the realm. Yet what can be done when the seas are calm and the rivers clear?】

Still gripping a golden whip, he asks a returning traveler, 【What news is this? One staff supported by two people; they invite one another to go together and return together.】

Who walks with him along the imperial street late at night? 【You go toward Xiaoxiang; I go toward Qin. Tell me, what are they walking for?】

Xuedou’s verse is regarded in all quarters as the ultimate standard. Among the hundred verses, this one possesses the most complete underlying logic. Its excellence lies in its intimate and lucid rendering of the case.

“Once rode an iron horse into a fortified city” praises Liu Tiemo’s coming in just this way.

“An imperial edict descends, proclaiming the six kingdoms at peace” praises Weishan’s questioning in just this way.

“Still gripping a golden whip, he asks a returning traveler” praises Tiemo’s words: “Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the monk go?”

“Who walks with him along the imperial street late at night?” praises Weishan’s immediately throwing himself down and lying there, and Tiemo’s immediately leaving.

Xuedou possessed such talent: at urgent points he versified urgently, and at leisurely points he versified leisurely. Fengxue also took up this case, in the same spirit as Xuedou. All quarters praise this verse: “Standing atop the highest peak, even demons and outsiders cannot know you; moving along the deepest ocean floor, even the Buddha-eye cannot see you.” Look at it: one threw himself down and lay there; the other immediately left. Had they circled about further, neither would have found the way.

The finest meaning in Xuedou’s verse is “Once rode an iron horse into a fortified city.” If they had not attained and realized the same thing, how could they have been thus? Tell me, what meaning did they attain? Have you not seen a monk ask Fengxue, “What was Weishan’s intent in saying, ‘Old cow, you have come?’” Fengxue said, “In the depths of white clouds, a golden dragon leaps.

” The monk said, “What was Liu Tiemo’s intent in saying, ‘Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the monk go?’” Fengxue said, “Within the heart of blue waves, a jade rabbit starts in alarm.” The monk said, “Weishan then assumed a reclining posture. What was his intent?” Fengxue said, “In his old age, idle and at ease on a day with nothing to do, he sleeps leisurely, lying high before green mountains.” This meaning, too, accords with Xuedou’s.

【Yongshou Tongzi】: Teacher, what does “often, affairs arise from what is taken as nothing” mean?

【Lvm】: Because in “persisting in taking it as a matter of nothing,” he has already created an affair.

【Yongshou Tongzi】: Only when one understands the divine turtle dragging its tail does one know of the matter that goes beyond.

【Xiao Dong】: Congratulations, senior brother, on receiving an invitation to the great communal feast at Mount Tai. Are you going or not?

【Yongshou Tongzi】: The lamp has gone out and people are quiet; this is just the time for reading at night.

【Lvm】: Fine line! Fine line!

【Yongshou Tongzi】: Teacher, when I read at night, I do not eat a late-night snack.

【Lvm】: Just do not let the late-night snack eat you.

【Yongshou Tongzi】: Oh no, I have been swallowed by an apple. Senior Brother Ermao, save me!

【Sudhana】: Ha ha—have another pear!

【Xinming】: What does “letting go is too swift; drawing back is too slow” mean?

【lvm】: Weishan lets go; Liu Tiemo draws back.

Weishan said, “Old cow, you have come?”—it arrives right before one’s eyes at once; is that not “swift”?

Tiemo said, “Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the monk go?”—Weishan and Mount Tai are separated by thousands of li; is that not “slow”?

【Xinming】: Why use the word “too”? It should not be derogatory, should it?

【Lvm】: No one said it was derogatory.

【Yongshou Tongzi】: Is it meant to convey an expansive, sweeping momentum?

It seems that compilers of Chan masters’ recorded sayings favored this style: the writing is lively, the actions exaggerated. Is this meant to have the effect of the staff and shout?

【lvm】: Then let us compare the prompting remarks and inserted comments:

Yuanwu’s prompting remarks say: “This old woman understood Weishan’s words: thread coming and thread going, one letting go and one drawing in, reciprocally answering each other in song. It was like two mirrors facing each other, with no image to be seen. Each responsive move matched the other; every phrase corresponded. People nowadays cannot turn back even after three exchanges. This old woman could hide nothing from him. This was not the discriminating view of conventional truth. Like a bright mirror set upon its stand, like a bright pearl held in the palm: when a Hu comes, a Hu appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears. They knew of the matter that goes beyond, and therefore were thus.”

Yuanwu’s inserted comment says: “The arrow never misses. Tang beats the drum; Silla dances. Letting go is too swift; drawing back is too slow.”

“This old woman could hide nothing from him. This was not the discriminating view of conventional truth. Like a bright mirror set upon its stand, like a bright pearl held in the palm: when a Hu comes, a Hu appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears. They knew of the matter that goes beyond”—this is “the arrow never misses.”

“This old woman understood Weishan’s words: thread coming and thread going, one letting go and one drawing in, reciprocally answering each other in song. It was like two mirrors facing each other, with no image to be seen. Each responsive move matched the other; every phrase corresponded.”

Weishan’s letting go—“Old cow, you have come?”—is “Tang beats the drum.”

Liu Tiemo’s drawing in—“Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the monk go?”—is “Silla dances.”

As people today would understand it, it would be a dialogue like this: “Letting go is it; there is nothing else.” “Understood.” Yet if one spoke in this way, would that not be precisely, “Do not treat what is as something as though it were nothing; often, affairs arise from what is taken as nothing”? Look at these two ancient people: they laid out this true meaning completely, leaving not the slightest trace.

Once this is understood, look again at “letting go is too swift; drawing back is too slow.” Where is there any praise or blame? It has an altogether different flavor.

Appendix: An Annotated Explanation from Arsenal of the Chan School:

〖Original Text of the Koan〗

After awakening, Yuanwu resided at Zhaojue. An elder asked about “Liu Tiemo’s exchange with Weishan” and “Xuedou’s Verse on Walking on the Imperial Street,” saying, “What is the meaning of this?” Yuanwu said, “Even if this old monk practiced for another forty years, I still would not reach Xuedou’s level.” The elder sighed and said, “If the monk of Zhaojue speaks thus, how much more so the rest of us!”

〖The Weighing Stone of the Annotated Explanation〗

Later, Chan Master Yuanwu served as abbot of Zhaojue Monastery. An elder raised the case of “Liu Tiemo’s exchange with Weishan” together with “Xuedou’s Verse on Walking on the Imperial Street” and asked what it meant. This is Case Twenty-Four of Xuedou’s Verses on Ancient Cases:

【Twenty-Four】Case:

Liu Tiemo came to Weishan.

Guishan said, “Old cow, you have come.”

Liu Tiemao said, “Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the Reverend be going?”

Guishan threw himself down and lay there. Tiemao then left.

Xuedou’s “Song of the Imperial Street”:”

Once he rode an iron horse into a heavily fortified city; when the imperial edict came down, word spread that the six states were pacified. Still holding a golden whip, he asks the returning traveler: Deep in the night, with whom does he walk along the imperial street?

“Once he rode an iron horse into a heavily fortified city”—Liu Tiemao arrives at Guishan.

“When the imperial edict came down, word spread that the six states were pacified”—“Old cow, you have come.”

“Still holding a golden whip, he asks the returning traveler”—“Tomorrow there will be a great communal feast at Mount Tai. Will the Reverend be going?”

“Deep in the night, with whom does he walk along the imperial street?”—Guishan threw himself down and lay there. Tiemao then left.

The verse is interwoven with the koan in every strand. Chan Master Yuanwu said: “Among the hundred verses, this one has the most coherent reasoning. Its subtlety is supreme: it fits the case closely and brings it out with clarity.” In The Blue Cliff Record, Chan Master Yuanwu expounds this encounter with the utmost fullness.

Now, when an elder asked him about this, Yuanwu did not answer with words from The Blue Cliff Record. Instead, he said, “Even if this old monk were to continue investigating for forty years, I still would not reach Xuedou’s level.”

If he truly could not reach Xuedou’s level, how could he have explained Xuedou’s verse so fully? Why did he say this? Take note: “continue investigating for forty years”! Investigating is precisely practice.

The Way lies in awakening, not in practice! This elder had not understood Chan Master Yuanwu’s meaning. Thinking that Yuanwu truly did not know, he sighed and said: “Even the renowned Reverend Zhaojue says this—how much more so other people!” He always felt that there must be some further profundity here. Since that was so, he should honestly “continue investigating for forty years.”