禅Masters

Ruiyan Shiyan

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Ruiyan Shiyan

Unknown – c. 932

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Ruiyan Shiyan was a Chan master known for the unusual practice of calling out to himself every day, "Master!" and answering, "Yes?" Then he would say, "Are you awake?" and answer, "Yes, yes!" Then, "Don't be fooled by others, any day, any time." "No, no!" This practice of self-interrogation became a famous koan (Mumonkan case 12) that explores the nature of self-awareness and the relationship between the calling and the called.

Ruiyan's practice raises the question: who is calling, and who is answering? Is there a true self that can be addressed, or is the dialogue itself the entirety of what we are? This koan has been contemplated by practitioners for a thousand years as an investigation into the most fundamental question of human existence—the nature of the self that asks "Who am I?"

Names

dharma · enRuiyan Shiyan
alias · enJui-yen Shih-yen
alias · enZuigan Shigen

Teachers

Students

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Teachings

  • koanZuigan Calls His Own Master

    Mumonkan Case 12

    Zuigan called out to himself every day: "Master." Then he answered himself: "Yes, sir." And after that he added: "Become sober." Again he answered: "Yes, sir." "And after that," he continued, "do not be deceived by others." "Yes, sir; yes, sir," he answered. Mumon’s comment: Old Zuigan sells out and buys himself. He is opening a puppet show. He uses one mask to call "Master" and another that answers the master. Another mask says "Sober up" and another, "Do not be cheated by others." If anyone clings to any of his masks, he is mistaken, yet if he imitates Zuigan, he will make himself fox-like. Some Zen students do not realize the true man in a mask Because they recognize ego-soul. Ego-soul is the seed of birth and death, And foolish people call it the true man.

    tr. Nyogen Senzaki, Paul Reps, 1934

    Commentator: Wumen Huikai, Speaker: Ruiyan Shiyan

  • dialogueMaster! Are You Awake?

    Every day Ruiyan would call out to himself, "Master!" and answer, "Yes?" Then he would say, "Are you awake?" and answer, "Yes, yes!" "From now on, don't be fooled by others, any day, any time." "No, no!"

    Speaker: Ruiyan Shiyan

Master Record Sources

Image: Wikimedia Commons: The Magna Charta of the Reforestation Movement in China(Joseph Bailie).jpg · Public Domain / CC (Wikimedia)