The Blind Ass

Text

Sansheng asked Linji, "What is the meaning of the First Patriarch's coming from the West?" Linji said, "If he had any meaning, he could not even save himself." Sansheng said, "If he had no meaning, how did the Second Patriarch attain the Dharma?" Linji said, "Attaining is not attaining." Sansheng said, "If that is so, what is the meaning of your teaching for the past thirty years?" Linji said, "This blind ass!"

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Sansheng Huiran
• Respondent
  Linji Yixuan

Lineage: Linji

By Sansheng Huiran

• The Golden Fish Through the Netdialogue

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

  Linji Lu, Sansheng exchange on the blind ass

  Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues: The Blind Ass