Just Clarity, No Holiness
Record of Going Easy, Case 2, in Brief
Emperor Wǔ of Liáng asked Bodhidharma, “What is the highest meaning of the holy truth?”
Bodhidharma said, “Just clarity, no holiness.”
The Emperor asked, “Who is this person facing me?”
Bodhidharma said, “Don’t know.”
The Emperor was not pleased. Bodhidharma crossed the river, arrived at Shǎolín, and sat facing a wall for nine years.
In Case 1: “The World-Honored One Ascends the Seat,” we met the Buddha and Manjushri. In the present case, we meet Bodhidharma and Emperor Wǔ. The incident that is front-and-center here is a key moment in the transmission of the Zen tradition to China. The fact that it almost certainly did not happen (in the historical sense) highlights just how important it is today.
As in the previous case, Zen lore and reality are all mixed up - like it’s hard to get ahold of anything, right?
The version of the story about Bodhidharma meeting the Emperor that’s told here in The Record of Going Easy cuts off the pre-story in order to get right to the key points. Tiāntóng’s and Wànsōng’s listeners, though, would have known the whole story. But you might not, so here it is:
When the aged Indian monk, Bodhidharma, arrived in China in about 528 CE, he went to meet Emperor Wǔ who was already famous for his wholehearted support of the buddhadharma. The part about Emperor Wǔ is thought by people who think about such things to be really real.
The Emperor spoke to him as follows: “Since I’ve assumed the throne I’ve built temples and written commentaries, plus I’ve brought about the ordination of an incalculable number of monastics. What merit does this have?”
Bodhidharma replied, “No merit whatsoever.”
The emperor then asked, “Why does this have no merit?”
Bodhidharma said, “These are matters of small consequence in the affairs of humans and gods that are caused by outflows. It’s like shadows chasing form, although it’s there, it’s not real.”
The emperor then asked, “What is genuine merit?”
Bodhidharma said, “Pure wisdom of sublime perfection, experiencing one’s solitary emptiness, seeking nothing in the world.”
No merit. Matters of small consequence. Pure wisdom. Solitary emptiness. Seeking nothing.
If so, you (like the old Emperor) might wonder, “What about the holy truth of suffering, the holy truth of the cause of suffering, the holy truth of cessation, and the holy truth of the path of cessation (aka, the four holy truths)?”
Wànsōng commented, saying,
Although Emperor Wǔ did not accord, he still raised a singular question.
You might get a chisel and dig into it.
Everywhere, to this day, they open the hall for a dharma talk and still say,
‘Dragons and elephants on the dharma seat in this assembly,
look for the highest meaning!’”
Bodhidharma said, “Just clarity, no holiness.”
What? If there is just clarity and no holy truths or holy persons, then who are you, old sage, and what are you doing?
Bodhidharma said, “Don’t know.”
For work in the room with a Zen teacher (and, of course, throughout the day and night), “Just clarity, no holiness” and “Don’t know” are two vital points. Don’t think that you know all about vast clarity and no holiness! Or that you don’t. “Just clarity, no holiness” and “Don’t know” are not somethings to talk about (despite my poor example), but truth to be demonstrated beyond holy and profane, knowing and not-knowing, speech and silence.
The Emperor didn’t get it. Who can blame him? And so Bodhidharma went north and crossed the river, so far away that he was outside the Emperor’s locus of control. He then found a cave near a thriving Shǎolín monastic community and sat facing a wall for nine years. Or as Wànsōng wryly put it,
“And then there’s the issue of nine years of dullness.”
What the heck was he doing? After all, he’d risked life and limb at a very advanced age to come from India to China on a boat. The journey took three years (with some stops), to do what?
Because he was sitting facing the wall, people peeking into the cave thought he was doing some really deep absorption (aka, “dhyana” in Sanskrit, pronounced “chan” in Chinese, “zen” in Japanese), so later the historians said he was the founder of the Zen School.
Subsequently, Zen masters, like Shīmén, Rújìng, and Dōgen, scoffed at that. Only half-baked fakers would do a one-sided absorption practice, because that’s just one of many practices - dead and dry without wisdom. In their view, Bodhidharma was just transmitting the Buddha Mind, so they objected to what they were doing being called “Zen.” Not that they were opposed absorption, just that they wouldn’t stop there.
Although their opposition to calling what we do “Zen,” didn’t catch on, nevertheless, you can call us Zen, or the Buddha Mind School, or the One Mind School, or the Don’t Know Mind School. Just don’t call us late for breakfast, because breakfast comes first. And that’s really the essence of Zen. Dogen even said so (Eihei koroku, 306).
Thankfully, after breakfast, there is this:
Tiāntóng’s Verse
“Just clarity, no holiness.” To come to this crucial point is very difficult. Gaining - swinging an ax without violating the nose. Losing - dropping the rice pot yet not turning their head. Empty and cool, sitting at Shaolin. In complete silence, raising the upright truth. The clear autumn moon moves like a frosty disk. River of light - the handle of the Big Dipper dangles in the night. The robe and bowl handed on to descendants. Hereafter, people and gods have the makings for medicine and disease.
Perhaps the lines in the above verse that most need explication are the two about gaining and losing. In ancient times, you see, someone had a speck of dirt on their nose the size of the wing of a fly. Strangely, they asked a craftsman who was skilled with an ax to remove it. The craftsman closed their eyes and swung away, just missing the person’s nose. But the breeze caused by the swinging ax cleared the dirt and left the nose. That’s gaining.
Also in ancient times, someone saw someone else drop a pot of rice (when everyone was hungry and that was no small thing). The someone who dropped the pot didn’t turn their head, but just continued working. Hopefully, they were working away saving what could be saved and cleaning up the mess. The someone watching was impressed and recommended that the person who dropped the pot become a dharma practitioner. That’s losing.
Gaining, losing, silent, and luminously complete.
Now it’s up to each of us to make that which has been handed to us either a medicine or a disease.
Next week, I’ll post “The Shockingly Direct Path of Zen: A Conversation with Meido Moore Roshi.” And after our two-week summer break, I’ll post the full case with the introduction, capping phrases, and commentaries, probably titled, “Just Clarity, No Holiness”: Record of Going Easy, Case 2, in Full.”
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