Carrying the Blow Forward

Text

Xinghua Cunjiang received the seal of Linji Yixuan through the blow of the stick. After Linji's death, a student came to Xinghua and said: 'Linji hit people to teach them. But Linji is gone. Who will do the hitting now?' Xinghua said: 'I will.' The student said: 'What gives you the right?' Xinghua struck him once with his staff. The student said: 'That is just copying Linji. It is not real.' Xinghua said: 'Correct. Come back when you find the difference between a copy and the original.' He turned and walked away. Later Xinghua said in the assembly: 'Do not think the blow is a method for teaching. The blow is not a method. It is what happens when there is nothing between the teacher and the student — no words, no distance, no delay.'

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Xinghua Cunjiang

Lineage: Linji

By Xinghua Cunjiang

• The Living Word and the Dead Worddialogue

Sources

• contentZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

  Zen project editorial

  Zutangji, section on Xinghua Cunjiang; Linji lu, afterword tradition; after Albert Welter's scholarship on Linji school transmission

  Zutangji (Patriarchs' Hall Collection): Carrying the Blow Forward