  Obaku lived at the beginning of the ninth century, and was thus a contemporary of the poet Po ChÜ-i. He enjoyed the patronage of a distinguished statesman the Chancellor Hai Kyu, of whom the Emperor said, “This is indeed a true Confucian.” It is to the Chancellor that we owe the record of Obaku’s conversations, which he wrote down day by day. I will make a few extracts from this diary: Hai Kyu.—Eno could not read or write. How came it that he succeeded to the Patriarchate of Konin? The warden Shinshu was in control of 500 monks, gave lectures, and could discourse upon thirty-two different Sutras and Shastras. It was certainly very strange that he was not made Patriarch. Obaku (replying).—Shinshu’s conception of Thought was too material. His proofs and practices were too positive. “The master told me that when he was studying with Enkwan, the Emperor Tai Chung came dressed as a monk. “Obaku answered him: ‘I seek nothing of Buddha, the Church, or of Man. I am in the habit of praying.’ The Emperor said: ‘What do you do it for?’ Obaku lost patience and struck him with his fist. ‘You rude fellow,’ cried the Emperor. ‘Since nothing exists, what difference does it make to you whether I am rude or polite?’ and Obaku struck him again. The Emperor retreated hastily.” In his old age Obaku visited his native village and stayed a year in his mother’s house, without revealing his identity. After he had set out again for his monastery, his mother suddenly realised that he was her son and went in pursuit of him. She reached the shore of a certain river, only to see him disembarking on the other side. Thereupon she lost her reason and flung herself into the water. Obaku threw a lighted torch after her and recited the following verses: May the wide river dry at its source, to its very bed If here the crime of matricide has been done; When one son becomes a priest, the whole family is born again in Heaven; If that is a lie, all that Buddha promised is a lie. Henceforward the throwing of a lighted torch into the bier became part of the Zen funeral ceremony; it was accompanied by the reciting of the above verses. Probably formula, ritual, and story alike belong to a period much more ancient than Buddhism. In the seventeenth century a Chinese priest named Ingen |
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