28Huguo's Three Embarrassments護國三懡

Introduction 示眾

不挂寸絲底人，正是裸形外道；不嚼粒米底漢，斷歸焦面鬼王。直饒聖處受生，未免竿頭險墮。還有掩羞處麼？

The man who wears not a single thread is just a naked heretic. The fellow who won't swallow a grain of rice ends up among the scorch-faced hungry ghosts. And even reborn in some holy place, you still won't dodge the fall from the top of the pole. So is there anywhere left to hide your shame?

僧問護國：「鶴立枯松時如何？」國云：「地下底一場懡㦬。」僧云：「滴水滴凍時如何？」國云：「日出後一場懡㦬。」僧云：「會昌沙汰時，護法善神向甚麼處去也？」國云：「三門頭兩箇一場懡㦬。」

A monk asked Huguo, "When the crane stands on the withered pine, what then?"
Huguo said, "On the ground below, a total embarrassment."
The monk said, "When the water freezes the instant it drips, what then?"
Huguo said, "Once the sun comes up, a total embarrassment."
The monk said, "During the Huichang purge, when they tore the temples down, where did the Dharma-protecting spirits go?"
Huguo said, "Those two at the gate, a total embarrassment."

Verse 頌

壯士稜稜鬢未秋，
男兒不憤不封侯。
翻思清白傳家客，
洗耳溪頭不飲牛。

The fighter is keen, his temples not yet gray;
a real man burns to win his rank and title.
But think of the one who kept the family name clean,
who washed his ears at the creek and wouldn't water his ox there.

Pointer

Huguo ("Protect the Country") is the master, and a monk keeps lobbing him gorgeous frozen images that monks love to pass off as awakening: a crane perched on a dead pine, water that ices over the instant it drips. Each time, Huguo answers with one word, embarrassment. The crane has to come down, the ice melts when the sun clears the ridge, the pose cannot hold itself up. Then comes the sharp question: during the Huichang persecution of 845 the emperor tore down Buddhist temples across China, so where were the Dharma-protecting guardian spirits when it mattered? Huguo points at the two carved guardian statues still flanking the temple gate, frozen and useless, the third embarrassment. Anything you prop up as holy and permanent either comes down on its own or stands there carved and helpless while the wrecking crew arrives. Which of your own poses is in that statue's position?