The stone man is crying.

[bloom]

That is all.





10000

:web:

[NMMNG]

1. Who is the stone man?

And why does he cry?

[bloom]

3. It's supposedly a traditional funeral ceremony chant

in the Zen Buddhist tradition. (according to a book I have).


It seemed appropriate considering what is going on in the world. I liked the mental image.

[greyl]

4. Tuttle?

Koan 27 of Zen Master Seung Sahn: The Stone Man Is Crying:
As a young monk, Zen Master Man Gong was asked, "The ten thousand dharmas return to the One. Where does the One return?" He could not answer this question, and for a long time it would not let him go. Then one day, he heard the sound of the temple bell, and got enlightenment. Overjoyed, and very confident, he went around from temple to temple, testing many Zen Masters and hitting them when they couldn't answer his questions. Eventually, he met Zen Master Kyong Ho at Ma Gok Sah Temple, who asked him, "This is a brush. This is paper. Are they the same or different?" Man Gong thought, "That's no problem, very easy," and replied "The paper is the brush, the brush is the paper." "Then I ask you: The paper and the brush come from where?" Man Gong shouted, "KATZ!" "Not good, not bad," Kyong Ho said, and asked several more questions, which Man Gong answered easily. Finally, Kyong Ho asked, "The traditional funeral ceremony chant says, 'The stone man is crying.' What does this mean?" Man Gong was stuck. He had never heard this kind of question before. His mind became tight, and all his pride vanished. Kyong Ho shouted at him, "You don't understand this meaning! How can you say, 'The brush is the paper, the paper is the brush'?" Man Gong bowed deeply and said, "I'm sorry. Please teach me." "A long time ago, a monk asked Zen Master Joju, 'Does a dog have Buddha nature?' Joju said, 'Mu.' Do you understand that?" "I don't know." Then Kyong Ho said, "Only go straight, don't know! OK?" For the next three years, Man Gong did very hard training, always keeping only don't-know. One day, he was sitting at Tong Do Sah's Absolute Bliss Zen Center. Again, he heard the sound of a bell and this time got complete enlightenment. He sent a letter to Kyong Ho that said, "Thank you very much for your great teaching. Now I understand: kimchee is hot, sugar is sweet." Zen Master Kyong Ho was very happy, and gave Dharma Transmission to Man Gong.

Seung Sahn (born 1927), The Whole World Is A Single Flower
365 Kong-ans for Everyday Life,
Charles E. Tuttle Co., Boston, 1992, pp. 22-23

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Numbers/27.html

[NMMNG]

5. It is very fitting for the current world condition

I have a feeling the Stone Man will be crying for some time.

[Pharaoh]

2. Yeah!

What she said.