Goso said, “For example, it’s just like a great cow passing through a latticed window. Her head, horns, and four legs have passed through. Why is it that her tail can’t pass through?”
If in regard to this you are able to turn yourself upside down, attain one single eye, and utter a turning word, you will be able to repay the four obligations above and help the living beings of the three realms below. If you are still unable to do this, reflect again on the tail; then you will be able to grasp it for the first time.
If it passes through, it will fall into a ditch;
If it turns back, it will be destroyed.
This tiny little tail—
What a strange and marvelous thing it is!
This koan is one of the eight which Hakuin Zenji selected as the most difficult. With it, we must thoroughly scrub off the grime that clings to us. After we have finished this purification, we will be able to become the true Dharma body itself. We know, of course, that this is nothing other than Mu or the primal face.
As to the people in the koan, I have already told you about Master Goso in Case 36. He also appeared in the previous koan. I would like to point out again that Goso does not mean fifth patriarch but is the name of Master Hōen.
What does the cow mean? There are many interpretations of just what kind of animal is being referred to—an ordinary cow, a buffalo, or a water buffalo. But that is beside the point. I think all of you can easily see that it is another name for our essential nature. So in this koan Mu is appearing in the guise of a cow.
What does the window mean? Literally, of course, it is the latticed window of the cow shed. But here it means the three realms, the three delusive worlds of sensuous desire, form, and no-form. Living creatures who are dwelling in these worlds have not yet realized their own essential nature, the world of oneness. They are bound by dualistic ideas and thoughts, such as subject and object, delusion and enlightenment, saints and ordinary beings, good and bad, right and wrong, and are unable to free themselves from these traps.
Now, what do you think the head, horns, and four legs mean? They are all the knowledge and experience we have acquired since birth. In other words, they are the concepts, philosophies, ethics, and even the theories of Zen, which cling a posteriori to our essential nature. “The head, horns, and four legs have passed through the window” means that all concepts and ideas and the like which were adhering to our true nature have been totally eliminated.
Now the cow has freed herself from the delusive realms. She has realized that every concept produced by thinking is totally void. She has realized the essential world which, in the example of my fraction, is the world of the denominator.
But Goso says that the tail cannot pass through. Why not? It’s unreasonable that a small thing should not be able to pass through an opening when a big thing can. It’s absurd! But according to our practical common sense, every koan contains an absurdity, more or less. “Why” is Master Hōen’s favorite word. It is a characteristic of his Zen teaching. He uses it to push his disciples to the great doubt, and in resolving it they penetrate the essential world.
Why can the tiny tail not pass through the window? Because its existence still remains. After we have realized that all phenomenal things are empty, what remains as existence? There is simply standing up or sitting down, drinking, eating, writing, reading, laughing, crying, and so forth, or the fraction itself.
“If in regard to this you are able to turn yourself upside down, attain one single eye, and utter a turning word, you will be able to repay the four obligations above and help the living beings of the three realms below. If you are still unable to do this, reflect again on the tail; then you will be able to grasp it for the first time.”
In order to grasp true realization, we must destroy and overturn the practical world, which is based on the dualistic opposition of subject and object. In Zen training this is called killing self-consciousness. When we have wiped it out, all of a sudden a great new life appears. Then, for the first time, we can recognize the world of empty oneness which cannot be seen by our two physical eyes. It can only be seen by the single mind’s eye—the eye of satori.
“And utter a turning word.” As I told you before, a turning word means a word or phrase that has the power to transform a person who is deluded into a man of enlightenment. However difficult the koans or problems we encounter may be, once the eye of satori opens perfectly for us, we will be able to solve them all naturally and utter the turning word spontaneously.
“You will be able to repay the four obligations above.” In Buddhism it is said that there are four grave obligations we ought to repay: to our parents, to all living beings in the world, to our sovereign, and to the three treasures (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha).
To repay these four obligations is our most important duty. It is because of them that we are able to live our lives in safety and peace and, having a right knowledge of the purpose of life, endeavor to actualize it. The most authentic way of repaying these four obligations is to realize our true self. Once we attain self-realization, this duty becomes very easy and natural.
“And help the living beings of the three realms below.” As I said before, the three realms are the delusive worlds of sensuous desire, form, and no-form. The world of no-form is the formless world of spirit only. The living creatures in these three realms are all suffering from the endless cycle of causation. But once we realize our true self, we recognize that all creatures in these realms are living within our own self. Then a strong aspiration arises naturally from the depths of our heart to save them all, no matter what the cost.
Mumon ends his commentary by saying that if you have not yet come to this stage, you must continue to reflect on the cow’s tail and do your best to grasp it.
If it passes through, it will fall into a ditch;
If it turns back, it will be destroyed.
This tiny little tail—
What a strange and marvelous thing it is!
The first line, “If it passes through, it will fall into a ditch,” means that when you sweep away all delusive thoughts and realize the empty-limitless denominator, you are likely to fall into the world of emptiness. It is quite difficult to get out of this ditch.
“If it turns back, it will be destroyed” means that if you become separated from the essential world and return to the ordinary delusive world, your true life will be destroyed.
“This tiny little tail—what a strange and marvelous thing it is!” What a mysterious thing our essential nature is! It is beyond all thought, beyond any description or explanation! And the only way to get hold of it is by direct experience.