The 31st Zen patriarch, Dai I Zenji, made his bows before Kanchi Daishi and said, « I beg the compassion of your reverence. Please teach me the Dharma way of emancipation. »
The patriarch said, « Who is binding you? »
Dai I Zenji said, « No one is binding me. »
The patriarch said, « Then why should you search for emancipation? »
Hearing this, Dai I Zenji had great realization.
Denkoroku, Case 31
(The Record of Transmitting the Light)
Nothing is binding me but the idea of emancipation, and of a me to be emancipated. Knowing this is not enough, though. Even this must fall away, I guess…
No one is binding me.
So simple. So true. So frightning.
this is the most fundamental comentaire on the Giacometti text.
– the most fundamentql commentaire on anything.