Once in the ancient days of the World-Honored One, Manjusri went to the place where Buddhas were assembled and found that all the Buddhas were departing for their original dwelling places. Only a young woman remained, sitting in samadhi close to Shakyamuni Buddha’s throne. Manjusri asked the Buddha, “Why can that woman be near the Buddha’s throne while I cannot?”
The Buddha said, “Just awaken her and raise her up out of samadhi and ask her yourself.”
Manjusri walked around the woman three times, snapped his fingers once, took her up to the Brahman heaven, and exerted all his supernatural powers, but he could not bring her out of samadhi.
The World-Honored One said, “Even a hundred or a thousand Manjusris would not be able to bring her out of samadhi. Down below, past twelve hundred million lands as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, is the Bodhisattva Mōmyō. He will be able to arouse her from her samadhi.”
Instantly the Bodhisattva Mōmyō emerged out of the earth and made a bow to the World-Honored One, who then gave his command. The Bodhisattva went before the woman and snapped his fingers once. At this, the woman came out of samadhi.
Old Shakya plays a country drama on stage, but people of shallow realization cannot appreciate it. Just tell me: Manjusri is the teacher of the Seven Buddhas; why can’t he bring the woman out of her samadhi while Mōmyō, who is a bodhisattva in the beginning stage, can? If you can grasp this completely, you will realize that surging delusive consciousness is nothing other than the greatest samadhi.
One can awaken her, the other cannot;
Both have their own freedom.
A god-mask here and a devil-mask there;
Even in failure, an elegant performance.
The story of this koan can be read in The Sutra of the Collected Essentials of All Buddhas, though here it is modified.
Long ago in the land of Tennō Tathagata, which is not in our galaxy, a conference was held, and many Buddhas gathered to attend the meeting. What was the agenda? No doubt it centered around the eternal problem that Buddhas and great bodhisattvas are always pondering: What shall we do to make all living beings attain the highest Way and accomplish the Buddha-body? For all Buddhas, of every time and place, there is no other aim to their works.
Because this conference was for Buddhas, bodhisattvas were not qualified to participate. Just as the conference finished, Bodhisattva Manjusri came to visit Shakyamuni Buddha, who was in attendance. All the Buddhas were leaving for their own Buddha-lands. Manjusri saw a young woman there, sitting in samadhi close to the Buddha’s throne.
In ancient times in India it was believed that a woman was too sinful to accomplish Buddhahood. This thinking had a deep influence on the Japanese after Buddhism came to Japan. A strong bias against women was prevalent there for a long time, from the Heian era down to the end of the Tokugawa period. In accord with the tradition in those days, Manjusri was surprised to see a woman sitting in samadhi very close to Buddha’s seat. He asked Shakyamuni, “How is it that a woman can get near Buddha’s throne while I’m not permitted to?”
Shakyamuni Buddha said, “Wake the woman from her samadhi and ask her yourself.”
So Manjusri walked around her three times, snapped his fingers, and practiced all his supernatural powers on her but was unable to bring her out of her deep samadhi. Seeing this, Shakyamuni Buddha said, “Even a hundred or a thousand Manjusris are unable to arouse this woman out of her samadhi. Down below, past twelve-hundred million countries as innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, is a bodhisattva called Mōmyō. He will be able to awake this woman from her profound absorption.”
Thereupon Mōmyō emerged out of the earth and bowed to the World-Honored One, who gave him the order. Mōmyō went before the woman, snapped his fingers once, and brought the woman out of her samadhi.
The point of this koan, as Mumon points out in his commentary, is the question: Why is it that Manjusri, who is a bodhisattva of the highest degree, cannot bring the woman out of her samadhi, while Mōmyō, who is a bodhisattva of a lower degree, can do it easily?
Manjusri, a bodhisattva of the highest degree, is called the teacher of the Seven Buddhas. How is it that a bodhisattva can be the teacher of Buddhas? It is because he is a symbol of Prajña, the wisdom of the essential world (also called the world of complete emptiness or the world of absolute equality). This world is nothing other than what is realized in the enlightenment of all Buddhas. Thus Manjusri is called the teacher of Buddhas. Also, in Manjusri’s world there is neither subject nor object, neither standing up nor sitting down, neither getting in nor getting out.
Mōmyō, on the other hand, is a bodhisattva of a lower degree who investigates the world of phenomena. He is the symbol of the world of absolute difference. In his world, we can freely stand up or sit down, get in or out, and so on.
Now, for those who have not yet opened the eye of self-realization, it will be difficult to catch the point of this koan. Therefore I will add a little explanation.
Everything in the world has two aspects, one essential and the other phenomenal. In the former, everything is empty. It has no form, no color, no weight, no height. From this aspect, therefore, everything is equal. In the latter, everything is the only thing in the whole universe having color, weight, and height. From this aspect all things are completely different. All this remains the same as far as living beings are concerned. We human beings have two aspects, one essential and one phenomenal. Absolute equality and absolute difference are two aspects of one being.
The most important point is that these two aspects are intrinsically one. For the sake of expediency, we explain them as two, but from the beginning they are one.
We may say, therefore, that everything has form and no form, everything has color and no color. In the same way, it is true that when we walk we do not take a step, and when we talk do not move our lips and tongue in the slightest!
I mentioned before that Manjusri is the symbol of the wisdom of the essential world and that Mōmyō, whose name literally means unenlightened, is the symbol of the world of differences. These clues are the key to solving the riddle of this koan.
“Old Shakya plays a country drama on stage, but people of shallow realization cannot appreciate it. Just tell me: Manjusri is the teacher of the Seven Buddhas; why can’t he bring the woman out of her samadhi while Mōmyō, who is a bodhisattva in the beginning stage, can? If you can grasp this completely, you will realize that surging delusive consciousness is nothing other than the greatest samadhi.”
Shakyamuni Buddha puts a country drama on stage. It is rather difficult to understand, and half-enlightened Zen people will find its meaning almost impossible to grasp.
Mumon says, “Now I will ask you a question. Manjusri is very wise. He is the teacher of the Seven Buddhas.”
There are, of course, innumerable Buddhas from the beginningless past. From among them, present-day Buddhism worships seven in particular as its ancestors. The names and the order of the six preceding Shakyamuni Buddha are given in Case 22. Why is it that Manjusri, who is their teacher and the symbol of the wisdom of Buddha, cannot arouse the woman out of her samadhi?
As a bodhisattva, Mōmyō is just a beginner. In the complicated classification of the stages of a bodhisattva, he has attained only the first of fifty-two steps. He was able to bring this woman out of her samadhi very easily, however. Why? If you can grasp the “why” of this dilemma completely, you will find that even while you are in the midst of surging delusive thoughts, you are in the royal samadhi of enlightenment. While working in tumult, you are in the center of deep silence.
One can awaken her, the other cannot;
Both have their own freedom.
A god-mask here and a devil-mask there;
Even in failure, an elegant performance.
Both Manjusri and Mōmyō have their respective freedoms. When Manjusri failed to awaken the woman, he was free not to awaken her. When Mōmyō succeeded in waking her, he was free to wake her. For a horse, it is freedom to gallop. For a snake, it is freedom to crawl, not gallop. But it is still freedom for a snake not to be able to gallop. Failure to gallop is an elegant performance for a snake. Take the example of a jet plane about to take off. A hundred thousand Manjusris might not be able to get it started, but a jet pilot could do so very easily.
Sometimes we are millionaires, sometimes paupers. Still, our essential nature does not change at all. We are always in the center of perfect freedom.