A true man of the way
In the koan pick up the Wumenguan/Mumonkan that is quite popular in the West, among most engaging cases is series thirty-six that is about meeting the single who has achieved note or the Way. The box goes as follows:
Goso said: "When we encounter the male of the Way on the road, we cannot face him with words or silence. So discuss it me, how do we encounter him?"
First let me say that this box becomes the gorilla pitchball trap if the single is so genuine as to hold that this box refers to the human being like the Zen master or some Theravada Bhante. The male of the Way unequivocally means idealisation being that is buried deep within us of that we know just nothing. Let me also add, that all koans have been usually endangered with opening us up to locate the glimpse of idealisation being that comes in most different names such as pristine Mind or pristine will, atman, Dharmakaya, emptiness, or Buddha-nature. The list goes on. But names have been not as critical as directly meeting this male of the Way, face to face.
If we get propitious as well as essentially encounter this male of the Way we wont have any problems with him or the rest of the koan. Preparing tea or coffee, slicing firewood, carrying water from the spring (as I used to do years ago), such actions come directly from him.
The male of the Way in this particular box reminds us of Rinzais unconditioned True Man.
Over the mass of reddish strength there sits the True Man who has no title. He is all the time entrance in as well as out of your own sense-organs. If we have not testified to the fact, look! Look!" (Shibayama, A Flower Does Not Talk, p. 55).
Such the male of the Way or the True Man have been personifications of comprehensive Mind, that has never been detached from us. Still, we have been blind as to this mans actual locale because he is so pristine as well as devoid of marks. We would be so propitious to encounter such the fellow! But we have been heaped up with as well most defi! lementst he universe is as well much with us.
