98Tianping's Two Wrongs

Introduction 垂示

一夏嘮嘮打葛藤，幾乎絆倒五湖僧。金剛寶劍當頭截，始覺從來百不能。且道：作麼生是金剛寶劍？眨上眉毛，試請露鋒鋩看。

A whole summer of chatter, spinning out the tangled vines. It nearly tripped up every monk in the land. Then the diamond sword comes straight down and cuts it clean, and only then do you see you never could do a thing. So tell me, what is the diamond sword? Lift an eyebrow. Go on, show me its edge.

天平和尚行脚時參西院，常云：「莫道會佛法，覓箇舉話人也無。」一日，西院遙見，召云：「從漪！」平舉頭。西院云：「錯！」平行三兩步。西院又云：「錯！」平近前。西院云：「適來這兩錯，是西院錯，是西院錯，是上座錯？」平云：「從漪錯。」西院云：「錯！」平休去。西院云：「且在這裏過夏，待共上座商量這兩錯。」平當時便行。後住院，謂眾云：「我當初行脚時，被業風吹，到思明長老處，連下兩錯，更留我過夏，待共我商量。我不道恁麼時錯，我發足向南方去時，早知道錯了也。」

Back when Tianping was still traveling on foot, he went to study with Xiyuan. He liked to say, "Don't tell me anyone understands the Buddhist teaching. You couldn't find one person who can even bring up a story right."

One day Xiyuan caught sight of him across the hall and called out, "Congyi!"

Tianping looked up.

Xiyuan said, "Wrong!"

Tianping took two or three steps.

Xiyuan said again, "Wrong!"

Tianping came up close.

Xiyuan said, "Those two 'wrongs' just now: was that me being wrong, or you being wrong?"

Tianping said, "It was me, Congyi, who was wrong."

Xiyuan said, "Wrong!"

Tianping let it drop.

Xiyuan said, "Stay here for the summer. I want to go over those two 'wrongs' with you."

But Tianping left on the spot.

Later, when he had a temple of his own, he told his monks: "When I first set out, the wind of karma blew me to Elder Siming. Twice he hit me with 'Wrong!' Then he wanted me to stay the summer and go over it with him. I'm not saying I was wrong back then. The moment I started south, I already knew the whole thing was wrong."

Verse 頌

禪家流，
愛輕薄，
滿肚參來用不著。
堪悲堪笑天平老，
却謂當初悔行脚。
錯錯，
西院清風頓銷鑠。

Zen types
love to play it light.
Bellies stuffed with study, and none of it any use.
Pity and a laugh, this old Tianping,
saying he wished he'd never hit the road.
Wrong! Wrong!
Xiyuan's clean wind blows it all away.

Pointer

Tianping is a cocky young monk on his walking tour of teachers, going around announcing that nobody really gets it. Xiyuan, also called Elder Siming, decides to find out. He simply calls Tianping's name, and the moment Tianping turns his head, fires off "Wrong!", then does it again, with no reason given. The trap is that Tianping immediately starts trying to locate the mistake and pin the error on someone, when the whole move was to catch him in the act of reacting, not to open a debate about who erred. He bolts rather than stay and look at what just happened, and years later, running his own temple, he is still defending himself, still proving he was right to leave. That is the case quietly nailing him: the second "wrong" is for the flight and the lifelong excuse. The verse's verdict is that all his book-learning was dead weight and Xiyuan cleared it with two words.