Neither Male Nor Female

Text

The monk Guanxi came to test Moshan. He asked, "What is the mountain?" Moshan said, "Its peak does not reveal itself." Guanxi asked, "Who is the person on the mountain?" Moshan said, "Neither male nor female in form." Guanxi shouted, "Why doesn't it transform!" Moshan said, "It is not a god, it is not a demon—what would it transform into?" At this, Guanxi submitted and became her student, serving as her garden keeper for three years.

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Moshan Liaoran

Lineage: Caodong

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, Moshan chapter

  Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues: Neither Male Nor Female