As far as some koans go, we could just as well ignore the question, for example, "What is the living meaning of Zen" (from Cleary's book, Unlocking the Zen Koan, 167). Joshu's (Zhaoshou) answer is sufficient. "The cypress tree in the yard." In its own unique way it points to the mystery that Zen is trying to unlock, namely, our true nature or the same, the Mind-ground. Joshu's response is intended to cut off our use of "dead words" or literary analysis. The intellect is salivating, naturally, to crack the mystery of Joshu's answer by providing the adequate interpretation. But Joshu's cypress tree has cut off this avenue, pushing us in the direction of the living word which alone is capable of taking us to our true nature.
We just can't sit down before an open book at read koans on a rainy afternoon hoping to grasp the mystery of Zen via dead words. It is a fruitless endeavor. Yet, almost all Zennists do it. Koans have a certain charm about them. Yet, they can be like drinking salt water. Our thirst is never satisfied. When Joshu said, "cypress tree in the yard" this phrase came from the transcendent, that is, from the Mind-ground with which he was intimate. We can look up this phrase as a dependent origination that, in itself, is empty and illusory. This phrase lacks any authentic nature. If we elect to wrestle with the meaning of the cypress tree by way of literary analysis we will never escape samsara. One line in Wumen's verse says, "Those who take up words perish" which is to also say, don't take up dead words.
Now imagine that we are facing a skilled teacher who knows intimately the Mind-ground. He asks you to recite Joshu's answer. Then he asks you the following: "Where did the cypress tree arise from? Quick! Answer! Stop hesitating!" Needless to say you are almost fit to be tied. You can't answer. You're stuck. This has been a very tense moment for you. But what has really happened? The teacher cut off your habit of using dead words, for one thing. Then he forced you to look at Joshu's heart: the source of this phrase, which is also your own heart or essence. Presently, you are tied to this cypress tree and the concept or concepts it evokes. You have no idea where the mental or vocal sound, "cypress tree" came from. In that place, you are asleep. But you have to wake up.
In traditional Buddhism, the unconditioned is where this cypress tree has its roots (no pun intended). To hear the sound or to visualize the cypress tree is, naturally, the conditioned. Our old friend samsara! We cannot get to nirvana by taking the road of samsara or conditionality. Our thoughts of the absolute can never be the absolute. It is only when, for an instant, we drop the conditioned, that we instantly converge with the unconditioned, i.e., nirvana.
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