Reality and the Buddha’s Mind

There was once a Chan master, Bai Yun, who learned diligently from the celebrated master Yang Chi but who, unfortunately, lacked a sense of humor. One day, when Yang Chi asked him who his first teacher was, he replied, "A master by the name of Cha Lin Yu."

"I have heard it said that once, crossing a bridge, Cha Lin Yu slipped accidentally and fell down. As a result of the fall, he attained realization and composed a verse. Say, do you still remember that verse?"

Poor Bai Yun had memorized the verse so well that he could reel it off. So, he took this to heart and recited:

"I had kept a bright pearl,

Which was covered with dust for a long time.

This morning the dust was shaken off,

And the naked light flooded all around."

After hearing the verse, Yang Chi laughed and went out. All night long Bai Yun turned the master's laugh over in his mind. When, in the morning, he ran to ask the master the reason for his laughing, the master said, "Didn't you see a clown yesterday who was juggling a jewel?"

"Yes, I did."

"Don't you realize the fact that you weren't even like a clown?"

"What do you mean by that?" puzzled Bai Yun.

"I mean to say that a clown is always glad to be the laughing-stock of people, while you are still afraid to make others laugh," scoffed the master. In no time Bai Yun became enlightened.

Moral to the Parable:

Master Yang Chi laughed at Bai Yun's conviction that the nature of the self was given by heaven. When he saw Bai Yun's futile carrying of the experience of others' realization in his own mind for many years, he merely laughed and went away, making Bai Yun become dubious. He started from doubt, investigating the situation and himself within it through all his spiritual forces. For although he thought hard all night long, his "gong-fu" (cultivated internal strength) was not enough to realize the truth of the master's meaning. That's why Yang Chi used his trick with the image of the clown. In fact, to realize the master's point was not such a complicated thing. He simply wanted Bai Yun to realize that, first and foremost, he should become self-contained, regardless of circumstances. This means that it's not one's mind that changes according to circumstances, but circumstances that are controlled by one's mind. Those who realize this principle in practice can remain indifferent to swears or taunts of others.