[FN#236] Etsu-wa-bun-ko.

The history of Zen is full of the anecdotes that show Zen priests were the lords of their bodies.  Here we quote a single example by way of illustration:  Ta Hwui (Dai-ye), once having had a boil on his hip, sent for a doctor, who told him that it was fatal, that he must not sit in Meditation as usual.  Then Ta Hwui said to the physician:  “I must sit in Meditation with all my might during my remaining days, for if your diagnosis be not mistaken, I shall die before long.”  He sat day and night in constant Meditation, quite forgetful of his boil, which was broken and gone by itself.[FN#237]

[FN#237] Sho-bo-gen-zo-zui-mon-ki, by Do-gen.

4.  The Third Step in the Mental Training.

To be the lord of mind is more essential to Enlightenment, which, in a sense, is the clearing away of illusions, the putting out of mean desires and passions, and the awakening of the innermost wisdom.  He alone can attain to real happiness who has perfect control over his passions tending to disturb the equilibrium of his mind.  Such passions as anger, hatred, jealousy, sorrow, worry, grudge, and fear always untune one’s mood and break the harmony of one’s mind.  They poison one’s body, not in a figurative, but in a literal sense of the word.  Obnoxious passions once aroused never fail to bring about the physiological change in the nerves, in the organs, and eventually in the whole constitution, and leave those injurious impressions that make one more liable to passions of similar nature.

We do not mean, however, that we ought to be cold and passionless, as the most ancient Hinayanists were used to be.  Such an attitude has been blamed by Zen masters.  “What is the best way of living for us monks?” asked a monk to Yun Ku (Un-go), who replied:  “You had better live among mountains.”  Then the monk bowed politely to the teacher, who questioned:  “How did you understand me?” “Monks, as I understood,” answered the man, “ought to keep their hearts as immovable as mountains, not being moved either by good or by evil, either by birth or by death, either by prosperity or by adversity.”  Hereupon Yun Ku struck the monk with his stick and said:  “You forsake the Way of the old sages, and will bring my followers to perdition!” Then, turning to another monk, inquired:  “How did you understand me?” “Monks, as I understand,” replied the man, “ought to shut their eyes to attractive sights and close their ears to musical notes.”  “You, too,” exclaimed Yun Ka, “forsake the Way of the old sages, and will bring my followers to perdition!” An old woman, to quote another example repeatedly told by Zen masters, used to give food and clothing to a monk for a score of years.  One day she instructed a young girl to embrace and ask him:  “How do you feel now?” “A lifeless tree,” replied the monk coolly, “stands on cold rock.  There is no warmth, as if in the coldest season of the year.”  The matron, being told of this, observed:  “Oh that I have made offerings to such a vulgar fellow for twenty years!” She forced the monk to leave the temple and reduced it to ashes.[FN#238]