[f109] See the Essay entitled “[Practical Methods of Zen Instruction].”
[f110] The lightning simile in the Kena-Upanished (IV. 30), as is supposed by some scholars, is not to depict the feeling of inexpressive awe as regards the nature of Brahman, but it illustrates the bursting out of enlightenment upon consciousness. “A—a—ah” is most significant here.
[f111] This is spread before the Buddha and on it the master performs his bowing ceremony, and its rolling up naturally means the end of a sermon.
[f112] Tou chi chia, meaning “the verse of mutual understanding” which takes place when the master’s mind and the disciple’s are merged in each other’s.
[f113] It was originally a mosquito driver, but now it is a symbol of religious authority. It has a short handle, a little over a foot long and a longer tuft of hair, usually a horse’s tail or a yak’s.
[f114] In the Chinese Notes I have added [six more such verses] which may further help the reader to gain an insight into the content of satori.
[f115] This is one of the most noted kō-an and generally given to the uninitiated as an eye-opener. When Jōshu was asked by a monk whether there was Buddha-Nature in the dog, the master answered “Mu!” (wu in Chinese), which literally means “no.” But as it is nowadays understood by the followers of Rinzai, it does not mean anything negative as the term may suggest to us ordinarily, it refers to something most assuredly positive, and the novice is told to find it out by himself, not depending upon others (aparapaccaya), as no explanation will be given nor is any possible. This kō-an is popularly known as “Jōshu’s Mu or Muji.” A kō-an is a theme or statement or question given to the Zen student for solution, which will lead him to a spiritual insight. The subject will be fully treated in the Second Series of the Essays in Zen Buddhism.
[f116] Another kō-an for beginners. A monk once asked Jōshu, “All things return to the One, but where does the One return?” to which the master answered, “When I was in the province of Seiju (Ts‘ing-chou), I had a monkish garment made which weighed seven kin (chin).
[f117] He is the founder of the modern Japanese Rinzai school of Zen. All the masters belonging to this school at present in Japan trace back their line of transmission to Hakuin.
[f118] Literally, “a great doubt”, but it does not mean that, as the term “doubt” is not understood here in its ordinary sense. It means a state of concentration brought to the highest pitch.