Guishan Lingyou
Japanese pronunciation: Isan Reiyu
Mt. Guishan Spirit Protect
| born: 771 died: 853 82 years place: China |
| stories: Osho Isan: No Footprints in the Blue Sky (entire book uses stories of Guishan). This, This, A Thousand Times This: The Very Essence of Zen, ch. 8, ch. 10 Zen: The Diamond Thunderbolt, ch. 2 Hyakujo: The Everest of Zen, ch. 5, ch. 9 Rinzai: Master of the Irrational, ch. 7 Kyozan: A True Man of Zen, ch. 1 No Mind: The Flowers of Eternity, ch. 4, ch. 5 Christianity the Deadliest Poison, and Zen the Antidote to all Poisons, ch. 8 The Zen Manifesto: Freedom from Oneself, ch. 11 The Great Zen Master Ta Hui, ch. 2, ch. 34 |
Mt. Guishan is in modern Hunan Province, China.
It is sometimes romanized as "Weishan", for some
unknown reason.
posthumous name: Dayuan Dashi (Great
Perfection Master)
aka: Kuei Shan Ling Yu (old W.G.)
It is sometimes romanized as "Weishan", for some
unknown reason.
posthumous name: Dayuan Dashi (Great
Perfection Master)
aka: Kuei Shan Ling Yu (old W.G.)
| oshobob The Living Workshop |
| Zen Masters |
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| One night Guishan was in attendance on Baizhang, sitting till late in the quietness of the mountain temple. "Who are you?" Baizhang asked. "Lingyou," replied Guishan. "Rake in the fireplace," instructed Baizhang. Guishan did as he was told and said, "I find no embers left." Baizhang took up the tongs and, raking deep down, brought up a tiny burning ember, which he showed to Guishan, and said, "Just this, you see!" Guishan was suddenly enlightened. He bowed deeply and related his point of realization to Baizhang, who said, "You have reached a crossroads on the buddha nature; you should observe time and causation. When the time comes, you will realize it, just like remembering something you have forgotten. It is not obtained from others. Therefore, when you are enlightened, your original nature manifests itself. Now you have attained it – carefully cultivate it." This is a very significant statement of Baizhang. You cannot cultivate enlightenment, that will be phony. You can walk like a buddha, you can manage to sit in the lotus posture – it may take a little time for you, the bones... and particularly people coming from the West will find it more difficult. Colder countries devise chairs; hotter countries have no problem in sitting on the floor. But in colder countries, to sit on the floor is difficult. So if Buddha is sitting in the lotus posture, that does not mean that you have to sit in the lotus posture, only then you will become a buddha. You can practice it – there are many idiots who are doing that, unnecessarily torturing themselves. Buddhahood is your nature, so you cannot cultivate it. But what Baizhang means is totally different. He is saying, “Now that you have attained it – carefully cultivate it.” This attainment is so new, it is possible to fall back into darkness. It is possible to start thinking again that it may have been an imagination. All kinds of possibilities are there... --Osho Isan: No Footprints in the Blue Sky, ch. 1 |
Chinese simplified: 沩山灵佑
| Note: In his original English talks, Osho used the Japanese pronunciations of the Chinese names used in these stories, to a large extent. In his books the names were romanized using Japanese romaji. In the instances where Osho used the original Chinese names, they were romanized in the books using the old Wade-Giles system, now seen very infrequently in world wide usage. The stories shown on this website will attempt to revert to the more accurate original Chinese identification, using modern Chinese pinyin romanization, if the people and places are Chinese. If they are Japanese, then Japanese romaji will be retained. |