Daitokokushi’s kōan to Emperor Hanazono

Tim Pallis

Muhen no sakkyo jita gōtan o hedatesu

Jussei kokon shiju to nen o hanarezu

Hvert menneske er denne sandhed - så hvad er denne sandhed?

Muhen: No limit, no border,

Sakkyo: Circumstances, place

Jita: Subject/object , self/other

Gōtan: A hair of a rabbit

Hedatesu: Not separated

Jussei: at every place

Kokon: At any time, ancient past to the present

Shiju: Constantly, continually, all the time

To: This

Nen: One thought instant

Hanarezu: Not apart from

Chisan’s translation:

There is no border

In that place of self/other,

Which is beyond any separation.

From the ancient past to the present

We have never been separated from it

By one thought instant.

Kennet Kraft’s translation:

We are facing each other all day long,

Yet we have never met.

We have been separated for thousands of eons,

Yet we have not been separated for even an instant.

Tim Taigu’s translation:

There is no border

In this place of self/other,

Not separated by a hair of a rabbit.

At every place,

From the ancient past to the present

We have never been apart from it

By one thought instant.

Følgende "capping phrases" dækker denne kōan. De er alle taget fra Victor Sōgen Hori's værk Zen Sand. The Book of Capping Phrases for Kōan

Practice. University of Hawai'i Press 2003.

5.264

Tekimem shōsoku nashi

Face to face and nothing to say.

4.582

Mani hatzu o irezu

You can’t even insert a hair between.

4.506

Banpō ichinyo.

The thousand things in themselves are one.

10.300

Zentō ni wa ittai to toki,

Shari ni wa fudō to toku

Outwardly he says, “All are one,”

Privately he says, “They’re not the same.”

7.346

Tōsho o hanarezu tsune ni tannem.

Not apart from right here, always clear.

7.463

Meigetsu roka kimi mizukara miyo

You must see for your self the reed flowers in the moonlight.

7.464

Meigetsu roka ta ni shikazu

Bright moon and white reed flowers do not resemble each other.

7.495

Roji yuki ni tatsu, dooshoku ni arazu.

When a heron stands in the snow, its colors are not the same.

8.107

Ginwan ni yuki o mori, meigetsu ni ro o kakusu.

Put snow in a silver bowl, hide a heron in the light of the moon.

10.76

Kaijuu no ushi ka kissureba,

Ekijuu no uma hara haru.

When the cows of Huai-chou eat grain,

The stomachs of horses i I-chou swell.

10.413

Hakuro shatei ni tachi,

Roka aitai shite hiraku

White herons stand on the sandy beach,

White reed flowers open against each other.

21+16

Sabetsu naki no byōdō

wa buppō ni junzezu,

Aku byōdō nuru ga yue ni,

Byōdō naki no sabetsu wa buppō ni junzezu,

Aku sabetsu naru ga yue ni.

Equality without discrimination is not the Buddha-dharma - it is bad equality.

Discrimination without equality is not the Buddha-dharma – it is bad discrimination.

8.150

Gōri mo sa areba, tenchi haruka ni hedataru.

If you allow even a hair’s difference, then heaven and earth are split far apart. (Sengchan: Faith in Mind)

8.202

Jita funi ayamatte ninga o shōzu

Self and other are not two, in error, we create “they” and “I”.

8.223

Shinkyō ichinyo motsuga funi

Mind and its surrounding are one, things and self are not two.

8.225

Shinge mohō manmuku seizan

Outside of mind there are no things, but eyes are filled with blue

mountains.

8.296

Teimo juujuu shuban mujin.

Indra’s net, reflections of reflections, selves and others, without end.

8.430

Ryoodan onajikarazu roji yuki ni tatsu.

The too are not the same – a heron standing in the snow.

10.193

Zajoo ni roosoo naku,

Mokuzen ni jari nashi.

On my seat there is no old monk, (me)

Before my eyes there is no teacher. (you)

12.100

Noburu toki wa hokkai ni mirin shi,

Osamuru toki wa shihatsu (goohatsu) mo rissetzu (sonsezu).

Expanded, it fills the entire Dharma universe;

Contracted, there’s no room for even a single hair to stand.

14.1

Aioote aimite ka-ka shite warai,

Yubi o kusshi koobe o motagureba tsuki hanten.

We meet and recognize each other laughing, “Ha-ha!”

A rare moment to raise our faces to the moon above!

14.69

En’oo o shuuushutsu shite kimi ga miru ni makasu,

Kinshin o totte hiro ni doyo suru koto nakare.

The mandarin ducks that I’ve embroidered I will let you see,

But the golden needle that made them, do not give to another.

14.133+14.134

Gansoo kakazu I takai kana,

Moshi tansei o tsukureba ni ni dashikitaru.

Mu ichi motsu chuu mujinzoo,

Hana ari tsuki ari rootai ari.

How high was his mind before his sheet of unpainted silk,

But when he applied colors, he fell into dualism.

“There is not one thing” is an infinite storehouse,

With flowers, the moon, and tall towers.

14.189

Kei-kei sokujaku sureba sunawachi mumyoo,

Tada kono mumyoo moto kore doo.

The slightest contact is at once ignorance,

But ignorance is fundamentally the Way.

14.597

Himoku to naru koto o eba nanzo shi o ji sen,

En’oo to naran koto o negatte sen o urayamazu.

If I could be paired fish with you, I would not begrudge even death.

Let us become mandarin ducks and we will not envy even the immortals.

14.632

Hokkai nanzo katsute jita o tou,

Kenmon chikaku ganshuu no hana.

In the Dharma world, do you ask about self and other?

Seeing, hearing, knowing, and feeling are flowers in the eye.

14.736

Roji yuki ni tatsu dooshoku ni arazu,

Meigetsu roka ta ni shikazu.

The heron standing in the snow is not similar to it in color,

Bright moon and (white) reed flowers do not resemble each other.

18.2

Gahoo nikuu no ken deigoku o gekisai shi,

Konji nahen no kattokei o toodan su.

Destroy that mud hell they call “self and object, both empty.”

Stamp out that dead-end rabbit ally called “the here-and-now.”