38Linji Washing His Feet勘辨

趙州行脚時參師，遇師洗脚次，州便問：「如何是祖師西來意？」師云：「恰值老僧洗脚。」州近前作聽勢，師云：「更要第二杓惡水潑在。」州便下去。

Zhaozhou, traveling on foot, came to study with Linji and found him washing his feet. He asked, "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West?"

Linji said, "You've caught this old monk washing his feet."

Zhaozhou stepped closer, cupping his ear as if straining to hear.

Linji said, "You want a second ladle of dirty water thrown on you?"

Zhaozhou walked off.

Pointer

Zhaozhou is a heavyweight in his own right, the master of the famous "Mu," so this is two champions sizing each other up, not a pupil meeting a teacher. "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West" is the stock enormous question, Bodhidharma being the monk who carried Chan from India to China, so the line really means "what is the whole point of all this," and people asked it fishing for something grand. Linji will not perform: he is washing his feet, and that is the answer, no cosmic secret, just this, the foot-water in front of you. Zhaozhou cups his ear as if the reply were too deep to catch, needling him. Linji's "second ladle of dirty water" is the volley back, I already handed you the plain truth, you want me to slop more on you? Zhaozhou just walks off, and between two of this rank the absence of a declared winner is its own kind of draw. The same question gets a stick in case 43.