Nothing Within, Nothing Without

Text

Deshan came to the dharma hall and said, "Tonight I will not answer any questions. Anyone who asks a question gets thirty blows of the stick." A monk came forward and bowed. Deshan immediately struck him. The monk said, "I haven't even asked a question yet. Why do you hit me?" Deshan said, "Where are you from?" The monk said, "From Silla." Deshan said, "Before you even boarded the ship, you already deserved thirty blows."

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Deshan Xuanjian

Lineage: Qingyuan line

By Deshan Xuanjian

• Tokusan Holds His Bowlkoan
• Blow Out The Candlekoan
• Thirty Blowssaying
• Burning the Commentariesproverb
• Thirty Blowsproverb

From Blue Cliff Record

• Body Exposed in the Golden Wind
• The Seamless Monument
• A Flower in a Dream
• Verse on Case 1: Bodhidharma's Vast Emptiness
• Verse on Case 6: Yunmen's Every Day Is a Good Day
• Verse on Case 14: Yunmen's Appropriate Statement
• Blue Cliff Record (Bìyán Lù)

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Blue Cliff Record, Deshan's thirty blows

  Blue Cliff Record: Nothing Within, Nothing Without