[Buddha-l] Tozan's blue mountain and white cloud
BCarral
benitocd at yahoo.es
Thu Apr 17 00:16:59 MDT 2008
Dear Buddha-L denizens,
I'm rereading _Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind_ and I have
found the following passage:
Tozan [Tung-shan], a famous Zen master,
said, "The blue mountain is the father of the
white cloud. The white cloud is the son of the
blue mountain. All day long they depend on each
other, without being dependent on each other.
The white cloud is always the white cloud. The
blue mountain is always the blue mountain."
Then I have been looking for some reference to these
words and I have found a passage in an English partial
translation of the _Chih Yueh Lu_ (Charles Luk, _Ch'an
and Zen Teaching Volume 2,_ p. 147):
A monk asked the master: "What is the blue
mountain which is father of the white clouds?"
The master replied: "That which is not
luxuriant."
The monk asked: "What is the white cloud
which is son of the blue mountain?"
The master replied: "That which does not
distingish between east and west."
The monk asked: "What is the white cloud
which is clinging (to and dependent on the
mountain) all the time?"
The master replied: "That which cannot
stray."
The monk asked: "What is the blue mountain
which does not know anything?"
The master replied: "That which doest not
look at anything."
Now my question is: Where did Suzuki roshi take
Tung-shan's words? Could they be his own interpretation
of the above dialogue or there is some other source for
this teaching?
I'm delivering a commentary on _Zen Mind, Beginner's
Mind_ and I would appreaciate any info on this topic.
Thank you and best wishes,
Ben
--
BCarral
Asturias, Spain
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