The Lamp That Needs No Oil

Text

When Manorhita was about to transmit the Dharma, Haklenayaśas asked: 'I understand that you carry a lamp. But I see no oil and no flame. How does it burn?' Manorhita said: 'All the lamps in the world need oil and flame. This lamp is lit by neither.' Haklenayaśas said: 'Then how do I light it?' Manorhita said: 'It is already lit. It lit itself before you were born.' Keizan's verse: Before oil was pressed from seeds, / before the flame learned to burn— / that light was already everywhere. / Who turned it on?

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Manorhita

Lineage: Indian Patriarchs

From Denkoroku

• The Robe That Never Wears Out
• The Fragrance Without a Flower
• The Mind That Is Like Space
• The Auspicious Cloud
• The Wine Jar and the Dharma
• The Star That Does Not Move
• Entering the Gate as a Householder
• The Vow of Pārśva
• The Debate That Ended Without Debate
• Meeting Nāgārjuna

Sources

• contentZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

  Zen project editorial

  Denkoroku, Case 23

  Denkoroku: The Lamp That Needs No Oil