Zhenzhou Puhua
Jap. Jinshu Fuke
| born: c. 770 died: c. 840 place: China |
| Chan master: Panshan (J., Banzan) Chan disciples: none recorded as masters. |
| stories: Osho Zen: The Solitary Bird, Cuckoo of the Forest, ch. 12 Rinzai: Master of the Irrational , ch. 4 (possibly this "Pu Hua") |
| oshobob The Living Workshop |
| Zen Masters |
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| Fuke was the chief disciple of Banzan, and was the most eccentric of all the Zen monks. When Banzan was about to die, he asked his monks to bring him his portrait, but he was not satisfied with any of them. At that time, Fuke had one of them, and Banzan said, "Why don't you show me it then?" Fuke turned a somersault and went out. Banzan said, "This lunatic will pervert the true way from now on." You should not think that Banzan is condemning Fuke. These words are very loving, and Banzan in fact is saying that what other learned, so-called scholarly people have not been able to do, the man who was thought to be eccentric has managed. He simply turned a somersault and went out. He is saying something through his gesture – "At this moment of death, why are you worried about your portrait? What will you do with it? Just take a somersault and go out!" Zen has never taken death seriously. Nobody can take death seriously who knows. It is a fiction.. --Osho Zen: The Solitary Bird, Cuckoo of the Forest, ch. 12 |