Báizhàng’s Fox

二　百丈野狐 

Case 2: Báizhàng’s Fox 

百丈和尚、凡參次、有一老人常隨衆聽法。

While Chán Master Báizhàng was giving a certain series of dharma talks, an old man always followed the monks to the main hall and listened to him.

衆人退、老人亦退。

When the monks left the hall, the old man would also leave.

忽一日不退。師遂問、面前立者復是何人。

One day, however, he stayed behind, and Master Báizhàng asked him, “Who are you, standing here before me?”

老人云、諾。

The old man replied.

某甲非人也。

“I am not a human being.

於過去迦葉佛時曾住此山。

In the distant past, in the time of Kàsyapa Buddha, I was the Master, living here on this mountain.

因學人問、大修行底人還落因果也無。

One day a student asked me, ‘does an enlightened person fall into samsara (the realm of cause and effect?’)

某甲對云、不落因果。

I answered, ‘No, they are not subject to cause and effect.’

五百生墮野狐身。

Because of this answer, I have been reborn as a fox for five hundred generations.

今請、和尚代一轉語貴脱野狐。

I implore you now to give a turning word and release me from this foxes body.”

遂問、大修行底人、還落因果也無。

Finally, the old monk asked Báizhàng “Does an enlightened man fall into the realm of cause and effect?”

師云、不昧因果。

Báizhàng answered, “Cause and effect are clear.”

老人於言下大悟。

No sooner had the old man heard these words than he was enlightened.

作禮云、某甲、已脱野狐身住在山後。

The old monk immediately attained enlightenment and while making his bows, said, “I am now free of this fox’s body which can be found in a cave on the other side of this mountain.”

敢告和尚。 乞、依亡僧事例。

“I have a favor to ask of you: would you please bury my body as that of a dead monk.”

師、令維那白槌告衆、食後送亡僧。

Báizhàng had the temple director strike the gavel and announce to the assembly that after the midday meal there would be a funeral service for a dead monk.

大衆言議、一衆皆安、涅槃堂又無人病。何故如是。

The monks wondered aloud, “Everyone is in good health; nobody is in the sick ward. What does this mean?”

食後只見師領衆至山後嵒下、以杖挑出一死野狐、乃依火葬。

After the meal Báizhàng led the monks to a cave on the far side of the mountain and with his staff poked out the dead body of a fox and performed the ceremony of cremation.

師、至晩上堂、擧前因縁。

That evening he ascended the rostrum and told the monks the whole story.

黄蘗便問、古人錯祗對一轉語、墮五百生野狐身、轉轉不錯合作箇甚麼。

Huángbò Xīyùn thereupon asked him, “This old monk made one word mistake and was doomed to be a fox for five hundred generations. Suppose he had given the right answer, what would have happened then?”

師云、近前來與伊道。

Master Báizhàng said, “Come closer here to me, and I will tell you.”

黄蘗遂近前、與師一掌。

Reverend Huángbò went up to Chán Master Báizhàng and slapped him across the face.

師拍手笑云、將謂、胡鬚赤。 更有赤鬚胡。

Venerable Báizhàng clapped his hands with a laugh and exclaimed, “I thought that the barbarian had a red beard but now I see that the barbarian’s beard is red.”

Master Wúmén’s Comment

無門曰、不落因果、爲甚墮野狐。

Not falling under causation: how could this make the monk a fox?

不昧因果、爲甚脱野狐。

Not ignoring causation: how could this make the old man emancipated?

若向者裏著得一隻眼、便知得前百丈贏得風流五百生。

If you come to understand this, you will realize how old Báizhàng would have enjoyed five hundred rebirths as a fox.

頌曰 Master Wúmén’s Verse

不落不昧       

not falling, nor darkening:

兩采一賽       

two faces of the same coin.

不昧不落       

not darkening, nor falling:

千錯萬錯       

ten thousand errors, a million mistakes.

Seung Sahn’s Commentary: This story is very interesting; however, Báizhàng’s speech is not correct. He said, “Cause and effect are clear,” but how could the fox lose his fox’s body and get Enlightenment upon hearing these words?


I have a big question: does it mean additionally that everyone will lose their human body when they get Enlightenment? If this is so, they will become what kind of being? A God, a Buddha, or what? Not darkening, not falling: A thousand mistakes, ten thousand mistakes.

1. The first question is, “Not falling, not darkening.” Are they the same or different?

2. Why did Huángbò hit his teacher (Báizhàng)?

3. Huángbò hit Báizhàng and then laughed and said, “I thought that the barbarian had a red beard but now I see that the barbarian’s beard is red.” What does this mean?

4. Báizhàng’s speech is not correct. He said, “Cause and effect are clear,” but how could the fox lose his fox’s body and get Enlightenment upon hearing these words?

Commentary

Báizhàng Huáihái (720-814) was a Chinese Chán Master during the Tang Dynasty. He was a dharma heir of Mazu Dàoyī. Báizhàng’s Dharma Heirs include Huángbò and Línjì. Traditional Chán mythology holds Báizhàng established an early set of rules for Chán monastic discipline, the Pure Rules of Huáihái (Chinese: 百丈清規; pinyin: Báizhàng qīngguī); famous for the saying “A day without work, is a day without eating” (一日不做一日不食). The Chán Monasteries were communal communities of monks who farmed and ran their own cottage industries; consequently, these actions allowed them to survive the Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution more than other sects which relied heavily on donations. The rules are used today in many Zen monasteries, but in reality these rules developed much later in Chán history, and are agreed by the monks Taixu and Hsuyún. 

This kōan was considered by Zen Master Hakuin (1686-1769) a nantō kōan, (a question that is difficult to enter.) The story deals with cause and effect (karma in Buddhism), the power of language, reincarnation, and the folklore elements involved the role of the fox in Chinese mythology.

The fox is representative of the Western image of a ‘black cat’ or perhaps a witch or sorcerer. They are considered sly and sneaky and also represent bad omens for the common population. There is also a close correlation between the concepts of karma and those of re-birth or reincarnation. The resulting insight into both of these questions is the fundamental issue within this kōan.

The kōan tells the story of an old man who, after falsely assuming that an enlightened person is not subject to the laws of cause and effect, was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred generations. The fox who appears as the Old Man attends the dharma talks given by Zen Master Báizhàng; eventually the Master confronts him and asks who he is. He explains that he was once Master on this mountain and has been living as a fox for five hundred generations and requests a “turning word,” a phrase intended to prompt one to realization, to be freed from his animal body. After Báizhàng tells him “cause and effect are clear,” the old man confirms that he has been released from his wild fox body and asks to be given a monk's funeral rites. Later, when Báizhàng’s disciple Huángbò asked what would have happened had the monk not denied cause and effect, Báizhàng tells Huángbò to come close so he can answer his question; then Huángbò steps forward and slaps Báizhàng, realizing that Báizhàng had intended to strike him with his stick. Báizhàng laughs approvingly and compares Huángbò to the Indian monk and Zen patriarch Bodhidharma.

Traditionally, interpretations since the time of the Wúménguān have stressed the non-duality of the two understandings of karma expressed within the case. Dōgen, regarded by Sōtō adherents as the founder of their practice, recast the kōan in the later part of his life as an affirmation of the fundamental importance of acknowledging cause and effect. The significance of this debate goes to fundamental issues in Buddhist thought, especially the meaning of enlightenment with respect to cause and effect.

The point of the kōan is that for the ordinary person the two conflicting views of karma are between being subject to cause and effect or not being subject to cause and effect; furthermore, most people imagine that we can be free from cause and effect and that this exists outside of the actual essence of karma. Karma exists on two levels in reality, there is fixed karma and then there is changeable karma; perhaps another analogy could be that they function as two sides of the same coin. An example of fixed karma for me would be that I was born a male in the United States in 1957. I live in a Western Society and certain societal issues because of this can work both for and against me and none of these fundamental facts can be changed. Say for example I wanted to become Korean, I could study the culture, the language, the social mores and I could even move there, however I would still be an American Male who was born in 1957. Conversely, perhaps I was born into a poor family with few resources, the traditional view of karma in the Eastern Cultures of India and China would say that because of my birth into this situation or ‘caste’ I will be destined to live a poor life. One of the fundamental insights of the Buddha was that these types of restrictions are only made by our thinking. If we awaken to our true nature we see clearly the oneness of cause and effect or karma, and realize that the two sides of karma are in fact one, additionally we realize that cause and effect are functioning outside of our true nature. Thus we can see that cause and effect are clear. Notice that this statement neither confirms nor negates the initial question, and this is the fundamental insight of the Buddha. The rest is for you to discover.