Friday, July 16, 2010

Baizhang Was A Very Bad Man



That Baizhang was a very bad man.

Since I met his wild fox

My eyes are open day and night,

Fixed on the wheel

That follows the foot

Of the ox that draws the cart.

If you're fond of sleepy dreaming, beware!

One look at this red-tailed devil

And the Age of Miracles

Is at an end.

"Cause and effect are very clear, and not a personal matter."


"Baizhang's Fox" is Case #2 in the seminal koan collection Mumonkan. It has been widely studied and commented on by many Zenists through the ages, but no more thoroughly or cogently, I think, than by Master Dogen. In addition to the famous essay in his Shobogenzo, he spoke in reference to it on six occasions in the chronicle of his dharma talks, Eihei Koroku. This poem was born while reading one of these, Dharma Hall Discourse #94 (pg. 135, Dogen's Extensive Record, trans. Leighton & Okumura.) Cause and effect are indeed not a personal matter, the Universe plays no favorites. If this were not so, gods and demons would crowd the landscape, leaving nowhere to even put one's foot down!

The wheel that follows the foot of the ox that draws the famous cart is from the opening passage of the Dhammapada, the Pali text that was the very first Buddhist text I ever laid eyes on, an image that has stayed with me all my life.

This fine looking fox comes from the Flicker Hive Mind site. To see more of their great photo selection, check 'em out at:

4 comments:

Harry said...

"Cause and effect are indeed not a personal matter, the Universe plays no favorites."

Hiya,

Isn't that a somewhat limited Universe?

You can pick your nose,
And you can pick your friends,
But you can't pick your friends nose... as the saying goes.

Presumably your friend can't stop you picking your own nose for you.

Regards,

Harry.

Uku said...

Baizhang was Batman!

Nice poem, thanks for sharing!

Barry said...

Of course, we make the universe personal by attachment/aversion to the constant stream of impulses, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, etc. Thus, we remain tangled in cause and effect, thinking that we are special.

But if we let go of our fox nature, then the age of miracles indeed comes to an end.

Harry said...

Hi Barry,

"But if we let go of our fox nature, then the age of miracles indeed comes to an end."

Who takes up 'the letting go of our fox nature'? Could it be done without our 'fox nature'?

Before considering it an age, the time of miracles is inexhaustible; when else could they realise us?

'Taking up' and 'letting go' are both causes which simultaneously have real effects; 'turning the wheel while being turned by the wheel'. In this way even a lowly fox can be rendered to manifest a buddha.

Regards,

Harry.