Shigong Huicang [W-G: Shih-kung Hui-ts’ang / J: Sekkyo Ezo]

                One day after Shigong Huicang had been training for a while, Mazu Daoyi visited him while he was at work in the kitchen.  “What are you doing?” the master asked.

                “I am tending an ox,” Shigong informed him.

                “Are you now?  How do you attend to this ox?”

                “If it strays from the path, I pull it back by the nose without a moment’s delay.”

                “That is certainly how to attend to it,” Mazu admitted.

[Shigong Huicang – Zen Masters of China: 146-48]

Panshan Baoji [W-G: P’an-shan Pao-chi / J: Banzan Hoshaku]

                  Panshan Baoji was walking through a market, and, as he passed the butcher’s stall, he happened to overhear a woman speaking. “I must prepare a meal for a very special guest,” she told the butcher.  “Please show me the very best piece of meat you have for sale here.”

                “All the wares I have for sale here are the best,” the butcher replied.  “You can’t find one piece which is not the best.”

                Hearing these words, Panshan came to awakening.

                Later he would explain: “You can’t seek it from others.  No one can show it to you.”

[Panshan Baoji – Zen Masters of China: 144-45]

Guizong Zhichang [W-G: Kuei-tsung Chih-ch’ang / J: Kisu Chijo]

                 A student of the sutras once visited Guizong Zhichang while he was working the soil in the garden with a hoe.  Just as the student drew near, he saw Guizong use the hoe to cut a snake in half, killing it in violation of the Buddhist precept not to take any form of life.

                “I’d heard that Guizong was a crude and ill-mannered man, but I didn’t believe it until now,” the student remarked.

                “Is it you or I who’s crude or refined?” Guizong asked.

                “What do you mean by ‘crude’?” the student asked.

                Guizong held the hoe upright.

                “And in that case, what do you mean by ‘refined’?” the student asked.

                Guizong made a motion as if cutting a snake in half.

                “And yet,” the student said, “if you had allowed it, it would have gone away on its own.”

                “If I’d allowed it to go away on its own, how would you have seen me chop the snake in two?”

[Guizong Zhichang – Zen Masters of China: 143-44]

Dazhu Huihai [W-G: Tai-chu Hui-hai / J: Daiju Ekai]

                One day an expert in the Vinaya (the rules governing the conduct of the members of the sangha) asked Dazhu Huihai, “When one seeks to follow the Dao, is there a particular manner in which he should behave?”

                “There is,” Dazhu said. 

                “Please tell me about it,” the other requested.

                “When one is hungry, one eats; when one is tired, one sleeps.”

                “But everyone does that,” the Vinaya master complained.  “Your behavior isn’t different from that of commoners.”

                “They’re not the same at all,” Dazhu said.

                “In what way are they different?”

                “When most people eat, they don’t just eat; their minds are preoccupied with a thousand different fantasies.  When they sleep, they don’t just sleep; their minds are filled with any number of idle thoughts.”

[Dazhu Huihai – Zen Masters of China: 142-43]

Xingshan Weikuan [W-G: Hsing-shan Wei-k’uan / J: Kozen Ikan]

                 A monk asked Xingshan Weikuan, “Where can I find Dao [the Way]?”

                “It’s right before us.”

                “Then why don’t I see it?”

                “Because of your ego.”

                “If I am unable to see it because of my ego, can you see it?”

                “As long as there is you or I, the Dao can’t be seen.”

                “So when there’s no you or I, can it be seen then?”

                “If there’s no you or I, who is there to see?”

[Xingshan Weikuan – Zen Masters of China: 141-42]