Dharma Master Chih saw Dharma Master Yuan on the street of butchers and asked, "Do you see the butchers slaughtering the sheep?"
Dharma Master Yuan said, "My eyes are not blind. How could I not see them?"
Dharma Master Chih said, "Master Yuan, you are saying you see it!"
Master Yuan said, "You're seeing it on top of seeing it!"
Commentary
This passage comes from the "Bodhidharma Anthology," a collection of texts that are thought to contain the actual words of Bodhidharma and his students. These texts were uncovered about 100 years ago at the Dunhuang cave complex in Western China.
This particular story comes from Record II, which, because of its colloquial nature, is believed by scholars to be an accurate represenation of the words of these very early Zen practitioners. Not much is known about Chih and Yuan; they are thought to have been direct students of Bodhidharma and Yuan seems to rival Hui K'o in his attainment. Chih may have been a student of Yuan's.
The Vinaya, or monastic code, prohibits monks from witnessing "wicked things" and the butchering of sheep is listed in the first twelve wicked things.
These two worthies are not talking about witnessing and wickedness, however. They are using the Vinaya as a playground for present mind.
Source: The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen, by Jeffrey Broughton
Photo by Ben Piven
