Baling Haojian [W-G: Pa-ling Hao-chien / Haryo Kokan]

Baling Haojian was a Dharma heir of Yunmen Wenyan. On the occasion of his enlightenment, he presented Yunmen with what have come to be called the “Three Pivotal Words.” Yunmen was so pleased with them that he told Baling, “After I’ve died, when the anniversary of my death comes around, you won’t need to carry out the traditional ceremonies. Just recite these three words and that will be sufficient to repay my tutelage.”

The Three Pivotal Words were Baling’s replies to three questions:

To the question, “What is Zen?”, Baling said, “Filling a silver bowl with snow.”

To the question, “What is the Blown Hair Sword?” [a sword so sharp that a hair blown onto it is cut], Baling said, “The tip of each branch of coral supports the moon.”

And to the question, “What is Dao?”, Baling said, “A bright-eyed man falls into a well.”

Zen Masters of China: 262, 278-79