Baizhang's Water Bottle

Text

Baizhang wished to choose an abbot for Mount Gui. He called together the head monk and the assembly, placed a water bottle on the floor, and said, "Without calling this a water bottle, what do you call it?" The head monk said, "You can't call it a wooden peg." Then Baizhang asked Guishan. Guishan kicked over the water bottle and walked away. Baizhang smiled and said, "The head monk has lost the mountain." Guishan was appointed abbot of Mount Gui.

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Respondent
  Guishan Lingyou
• Speaker
  Baizhang Huaihai

Lineage: Nanyue line

By Baizhang Huaihai

• Hyakujo's Foxkoan
• A Day Without Work Is a Day Without Eatingsaying
• The Wild Fox Koandialogue
• A Day Without Workproverb
• The Pure Ruleproverb

From Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues

• My Mind Is Not at Peace
• Thinking of Not-Thinking
• Not Knowing Is Most Intimate
• The Boat Monk's Transmission
• The Sound of Bamboo
• Vast Emptiness, Nothing Holy
• Ordinary Mind Is the Way
• Nanquan Kills the Cat
• Wash Your Bowl
• The Oak Tree in the Garden

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Jingde Chuandenglu, Guishan chapter; Mumonkan Case 40

  Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues: Baizhang's Water Bottle