Three Pounds of Hemp

Text

A monk asked Dongshan Shouchu, "What is Buddha?" Dongshan said, "Three pounds of hemp." Xuedou's verse: Three pounds of hemp— the word is straight, the meaning is deep. High and low together discuss this, but the one who knows is rare. The clouds over the valley stream are white, the moon on the mountain peak is bright. Whose hand brings forth the bright pearl? Who recognizes the bright pearl?

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Dongshan Shouchu

Lineage: Nanyue line

By Dongshan Shouchu

• Meeting Fayandialogue
• Tozan's Three Blowskoan
• Tozan's Three Poundskoan
• Who Is He?koan
• Three Pounds of Flaxdialogue

From Blue Cliff Record

• Tianhuang's Bowl Washing
• The Rhinoceros Fan
• Don't Think
• The Condolence Visit
• The Seamless Tower
• Alive or Dead in Sitting
• All Sounds Are Buddha-Sound
• All Three Bodies of Buddha
• End-of-Summer Address
• Daguang's Laughing

Sources

• contentZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

  Zen project editorial

  Blue Cliff Record, Case 12; Mumonkan, Case 18

  Blue Cliff Record: Three Pounds of Hemp