On the day following the incident of the flying geese,[5.21] to which reference was made elsewhere, Baso appeared in the preaching hall and was about to speak before a congregation, when Hyakujo came forward and began to roll up the matting.[f111] Baso without protesting came down from his seat and returned to his own room. He then called Hyakujo and asked him why he rolled up the matting before he uttered a word.
“Yesterday you twisted my nose,” replied Hyakujo, “and it was quite painful.”
“Where,” said Baso, “was your thought wandering then?”
“It is not painful any more to-day, master.” How differently he behaves now! When his nose was pinched, he was quite an ignoramus in the secrets of Zen. He is now a golden-haired lion, he is master of himself, and acts so freely as if he owned the world, pushing away even his own master far into the background.
There is no doubt that satori goes deep into the very root of individuality. The change achieved thereby is quite remarkable, as we see in the examples above cited.
VI
Some masters have left in the form of verse known as “Ge” (gāthā) what they perceived or felt at the time when their mental eye was opened. The verse has the special name of “Tōki-no-ge”[f112][5.22] and from the following translations the reader may draw his own conclusions as to the nature and content of a satori so highly prized by the Zen followers. But there is one thing to which I like to call his attention, which is that the contents of these gāthās are so varied and dissimilar as far as their literary and intelligible sense is concerned that one may be at a loss how to make a comparison of these divers exclamations. Being sometimes merely descriptive verses of the feelings of the author at the moment of satori, analysis is impossible unless the critic himself has once experienced them in his own inner life. Nevertheless these verses will be of interest to the psychological students of Buddhist mysticism even as merely emotional utterances of the supreme moment.
The following is by Chōkei (Chang-ching, died 932) whose eye was opened when he was rolling up the screen:
“How deluded I was! How deluded, indeed!
Lift up the screen, and come see the world!