Shigong Huizang
aka: Shih Kung (old W.G.)
Stone Strong Wisdom Storage
| born: c. 740 died: c. 810 place: China |
| Chan master: Mazu (J. Baso) Chan disciples: none recorded |
| stories: Osho Zen: The Special Transmission, ch. 5 Ma Tzu: The Empty Mirror, ch. 6 |
| oshobob The Living Workshop |
| Zen Masters |
 |
 |
 |
| Ma Tzu was noted for his resourcefulness in finding expedient means of working with his disciples. This is illustrated by his conversion of Shih kung, who was originally a hunter, loathing the very sight of Buddhist monks. One day, as he was chasing after a deer, he passed by Ma Tzu's monastery. Ma Tzu came forward to meet him. Shih kung asked him whether he had seen any deer pass by. Ma Tzu asked, "Who are you?" "A hunter," he replied. "Do you know how to shoot?" queried Ma Tzu. "Of course I do," replied the hunter. "How many can you hit with one arrow?" asked Ma Tzu. "One arrow can only shoot down one deer," said Shih kung. "In that case, you really don't know how to shoot," Ma Tzu commented. The hunter then asked Ma Tzu, "Does your reverence know how to shoot?" Ma Tzu replied, "Of course I do." "How many can you kill with one arrow?" the hunter asked. "I can kill a whole flock with a single arrow," answered the master. At this, Shih kung said, "The beasts have life as you do: why should you shoot down a whole flock?" Ma Tzu said, "Since you know this so well, why don't you shoot yourself?" Shih kung answered, "Even if I wanted to shoot myself, I would not know how to manage it." At this point, Ma Tzu remarked, "This fellow has accumulated klesa from ignorance for numberless aeons. Today the whole process has come to a sudden stop." Tossing his arrows and bows to the ground, Shih kung became a monk and a disciple of Ma Tzu. Some time later, when Shih kung was working in the kitchen, Ma Tzu asked him what he was doing. "I am tending an ox," the disciple answered. "How do you tend it?" asked Ma Tzu. Shih kung replied, "As soon as it returns to the grass, I ruthlessly pull it back by its nostrils." This won great approval from the master, who remarked, "You certainly know the true way of tending an ox!" There are two kinds of masters, not in any way different in their experiences, but different in conveying their experience to others. One is simply using old methods, well tried, which have given sure results. The other is a creative person, who does not follow any traditional method or device to transform a person, but responds to each person according to his need. Ma Tzu belongs to the second category, of very creative and inventive masters. He never repeats himself. In every situation he will bring a new device; he will function just as a mirror. And whatever comes spontaneously out of his empty heart, he will use it as a vehicle of dhamma. This type of master is very rare, because you don't know whether a method is going to succeed; you don't know what will be the outcome. You are simply trusting in your own heart, that your heart cannot let you down. This is an immense trust in one's own enlightenment and awakening – that whatever comes out of your illumination is going to succeed, there is no question about it. Hence a man like Ma Tzu has a tremendous freedom... --Osho Ma Tzu: The Empty Mirror, ch. 6 |