The Teaching Is Upside Down (BCR15)
KOAN:
Then the student asked Yunmen, “But when it’s not the things I can see, and it’s not what the things are doing, what is it?”
Yunmen said, “Say it upside down.”
-Blue Cliff Record, Case 15
I vow to wake all the beings of the world,
I vow to set endless heartache to rest,
I vow to walk though every wisdom gate,
I vow to live the great Buddha Way.
—PZI Refuge Vows
KOAN:
Then the student asked Yunmen, “But when it’s not the things I can see, and it’s not what the things are doing, what is it?”
Yunmen said, “Say it upside down.”
-Blue Cliff Record, Case 15