dialogue

Confirming Bassui's Awakening

Kōhō Kakumyō's Dharma Hall Talks

Nanbokuchō Period Japan

Traditionally attributed

Text

When the young Bassui Tokushō came to Kōhō and spoke of the doubt that had consumed him for years — the great doubt about the master of seeing and hearing — Kōhō pressed him with a series of questions. Bassui answered each without hesitation. At the end Kōhō said: 'What you have found cannot be taken from you. But do not mistake the finding for the end. What you have now is a clear eye. You still need to grow the feet to walk with it. Go. Walk with it. Come back when the feet are tired.' Bassui bowed and left without another word.

license: public_domain

Attribution

Lineage: Rinzai

By Koho Kakumyo

From Kōhō Kakumyō's Dharma Hall Talks

Sources

  • Heinrich Dumoulin (trans. James W. Heisig & Paul Knitter)

    Cf. Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History, Vol. 2, pp. 213–216; Bassui's biography in Mud and Water

    Kōhō Kakumyō's Dharma Hall Talks: Confirming Bassui's Awakening