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Luopu paid a formal visit to Jiashan. He didn’t bow but stood right in front of him.
Jiashan said, “A chicken roosting in a phoenix nest—it’s not the same species. Go away.”
Luopu said, “I have come from far away because of your reputation. Please welcome me this once.”
Jiashan said, “There is no you in front of me, and there is no me here.”
Luopu then roared.
Jiashan said, “Stop, stop! Now don’t be so careless. Clouds and the moon are the same. Valleys and mountains are different. You can cut out the tongues of everyone on earth, but how can you teach a tongueless person to speak?”
Luopu was speechless.
Then Jiashan hit him, and Luopu bowed deeply.

—Luopu’s Bow, Book of Serenity Case 35

As with Sansheng’s golden scales, a couple of koans back, in this koan we have another dharma heir of Linji traveling around deepening their practice after receiving transmission. It also reminds me of Magu presenting himself to two teachers after his awakening experience, and the way Magu ignored standard protocol and just stood in front of the teachers.

But there is a prequel to this koan about Luopu and Jiashan. After receiving transmission from Linji, we are told:

“Luopu traveled for a year, and then came to Mt. Jia, where he built a hut and stayed. He remained there for a year without visiting Jiashan’s monastery on the same mountain. Jiashan wrote a letter and instructed a monk to take it to Luopu. Luopu received the letter, then went back and sat down without reading it. He then extended his hand to the monk as if to say, “Do you have something else?” When the monk didn’t answer, Luopu hit him and said, “Go back and tell your teacher about this.” The monk reported to Jiashan about what had happened. Jiashan said, “If he opens the letter, then he’ll come here within three days. If he doesn’t open it, then no one can save him.”         

So this koan makes even less sense considering Jiashan had invited Luopu to come in the first place. Is that any way to treat a guest that you have invited, accusing them of being a chicken imitating a phoenix? Is that any way for a guest to treat their host, not bowing as would be proper and polite? Maybe Luopu did not open the letter and came anyway. Would he have saved himself that way?

I find this koan and Sansheng’s golden fish and even Magu circling the teacher three times, to be reminders that there is always more. There is no end, no goal, no final resting place; there is just the ongoing inquiry into “What is this?”

—David Weinstein

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David Weinstein Roshi, Director of Rockridge Meditation Community