43Longya's Meaning from the West勘辨

龍牙問：「如何是祖師西來意？」師云：「與我過禪板來。」牙便過禪板與師，師接得便打。牙云：「打即任打，要且無祖師意。」牙後到翠微問：「如何是祖師西來意？」微云：「與我過蒲團來。」牙便過蒲團與翠微，翠微接得便打。牙云：「打即任打，要且無祖師意。」牙住院，後有僧入室請益，云：「和尚行脚時參二尊宿因緣，還肯他也無？」牙云：「肯即深肯，要且無祖師意。」

Longya asked, "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?"

Linji said, "Hand me that meditation board."

Longya passed it to him. Linji took it and struck him.

Longya said, "Strike me if you like. Still, there is no meaning to Bodhidharma's coming from the West."

Later Longya came to Cuiwei and asked, "What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?"

Cuiwei said, "Hand me that cushion."

Longya passed it to him. Cuiwei took it and struck him.

Longya said, "Strike me if you like. Still, there is no meaning to Bodhidharma's coming from the West."

Years later, when Longya had a monastery of his own, a monk entered his room for instruction and asked, "Master, in your traveling days you put those two old teachers to the test. Did you grant that they had it?"

Longya said, "Grant it? I grant it deeply. Still, there is no meaning to Bodhidharma's coming from the West."

Pointer

Bodhidharma is the Indian monk credited with carrying Chan to China, so "what is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West" became shorthand for "what is the deepest point of all this," the same giant question Zhaozhou aimed at Linji in case 38. Longya goes around lobbing it at famous teachers, and rather than answer, both Linji and Cuiwei just grab whatever is at hand and whack him with it. Longya's verdict each time: fine hit, but you still did not answer me, there is no "meaning" there. The needle is his last line, years later, running his own monastery: he grants that the old teachers were deeply right, and in the same breath holds that there is no meaning to find. That is the trap folded into his original question. It expects a thing, a meaning you can be handed and carry off, when the entire move is that there is no such thing to hand over, which is precisely what their sticks were telling him.