1. Story of  His Honorable Zen Master Jinje

 

Jinje was born in the southern part of Korea --Sandong-myŏn, Namhae-gun, Kyongsangnam-do-- and went into the mountains to become a monk in January of his 20th year.  Accompanying a relative who was frequenting a small Buddhist temple called Haekwanam four kilometers from the village, he caught a glimpse of High Monk Sŏlsŏgu; this provided him with the motivation to go into the mountains.

Zen Buddhist Sŏgu, who was admired not only by monks but also by the laity, was  the first chongchŏng (宗正), or patriarch of the Jogye Buddhist Order.  Coming upon the young man, he said to him,  "The  worldly life is O. K., but there is a better life here. How about trying it?"

"What is the better life?" the young man asked.

"There is a way in which an ordinary man can become a great Buddha." the monk answered. "My advice is to learn the way to become one."

The young man, taking a deep look at the way  monks live, and very impressed with such a pure and simple life, was determined to become one.

His apprenticeship, beginning in a small cell in Namhae, was a series of rigorous duties: taking care of the high monk, doing the work of a cook, gathering the firewood, working the land and growing the vegetables.

Some seven months passed as he performed these chores.  When the annual summer retreat was over, four or five monks gathered around Sŏgu, who said, "Let me ask a question of you, and I want your answer. During the Han era of ancient China, there was a time when Chinese scholars were able to pass the test to choose high government officials with the proper insertion of a character somewhere in this line: Ilch'ul tongbang taeso (日出東方大笑), meaning 'The sun rises in the east guffawing'. I want you now to insert a Chinese character into this line." He added, "At that time, a certain Chinese put 'a' (我), meaning 'I,' after tongbang (東方), thus comprising Ilch'ul tongbang a taeso(日出東方我大笑), meaning that the sun rises in the east and I have a hearty laugh. He  became prime minister because of his wisdom. How will you respond?"

Finding no one to answer him, he told the young apprentice, Jinje, to answer the question. Jinje responded casually, "I'll put 'mu' (無), thus comprising Ilch'ul tongbang taeso mu (日出東方大笑無)." This meant that the sun rises in the east and lights up the world without being proud.  

Sŏgu said with satisfaction, "This apprentice will become a great container." meaning that the young apprentice would become a great Zen Buddhist monk (K: sŭnim).

Jinje spent some ten months in the cell, and when Zen master Sŏgu moved to Haein Monastery as the supervisor of the Zen Center (K: Sŏnbang) there, Jinje went with him. Sŏgu gave samigye (沙彌戒), or sanamanee-pravrajva (novice precepts), to Jinje in the winter of that year. Jinje studied the Buddhist Scriptures at the temple, and Sŏgu moved again to Tonghwasa Temple in Taegu, to become the patriarch of the Jogye Buddhist order, he went with him.

Now an ordained monk, Jinje, waited on the patriarch and studied the Scriptures.  On one occasion he climbed Mount P'algongsan with his fellow monks. Finding a deserted cave, he and a few monks entered it and practiced intense meditation for a full week. Sŏgu the patriarch reprimanded him severely saying,  "Why are you running amuck, not doing what you are told?" However, secretly thinking highly of his studious attitude, he gave him the hwadu (話頭) of Pumo misangjŏn pollae myŏnmok (父母未生前本來面目), referring to the original state of a person before he was born by his parents.

A hwadu is a phrase requiring sincere pursuit.  From that time, Jinje concentrated his mind and became entirely absorbed in pursuit of the hwadu.

In 1957, he went on an unsu hanggak (運水行脚), meaning travel without destination. He was 24 years old at the time.  He established a base in Tongam, in a small mountain cell on Mount Taebek.  He was determined to rough it, eating only raw potatoes and immersing himself in pursuit of the hwadu  through deep meditation.  Two months had passed when Monk Toban, who administered Kakhwasa Temple situated below the mountain cell, came him and pleaded with him to come down and end his hard life there.

Jinje packed his belongings and moved to Torisa Temple in Sŏnsan, Kyongsang-pukdo.  He practiced meditation there with the senior monks in accordance with the rules and spent the winter in retreat.  In an effort to achieve enlightenment, he made it a habit to wait for the other monks to go to sleep after the pangsŏn (放禪), meaning after the Zen meditation was over, and to practice meditation for one or two hours after that.

Two months of serious pursuit had passed, when he encountered a moment during the course of  meditation that made him think that he had 'kyŏnsŏng' (見性), meaning that he had discovered the nature of the human body and its agony.  It  was an illusion, however, deceived by his own misconception, he ceased his discipline and waited for his supervisor to test him and give his approval.  In the midst of  this session, he received a message that Sŏgu had entered 'nirvana', and he went to the Tonghwa Temple to attend the 'jhapeti', or cremation.

Afterward he called on the Zen monk Hyanggok who resided at Myogwanŏmsa Temple in Wŏlnae, Kyŏngnam. Hyanggok, upon meeting him, hurled a question at him, like a bolt from the blue, saying, "What will you do if you're showered with 30 hits of the stick, regardless of whether or not you give the right response?" Finding that Jinje was at a loss for an answer, Hyanggok renewed his question, saying, "What do you say about the incident in which Nan-chŏn (南泉), upon hearing the 'chan-miao fa-men (斬猫法門)' (the murder-of-the-cat comment), went out of the room wearing his footgear on his head?"  Jinje was not able to provide the right response and had his head struck with the stick. He realized then that it was necessary to depart from all established thought habits.  Thus, he changed his course, making a complete circuit of the famous Zen masters and studying with them.

The question-and-answer sessions that made up the approval process were delicate.  Some of the senior monks said 'yes', while others adopted a negative attitude toward Jinje's answers.  If all of the senior monks had endorsed his enlightenment, he would not have to eliminated the misconception that he 'had found out' and gave back to the sincere road of the learner.  As is, he wasted almost two years of his time, led astray by his own pride.

During the winter retreat at Sangwŏnsa Temple at Mount Ode, he had a chance to reflect.  He asked himself if he knew the entire contents of every aspect of the questions posed by the ancient saints or the high priests. He also asked himself if he was able to provide the correct answer at the moment the question was asked.  The answer was 'no'.  He made a serious examination of himself, and concluded that he had "mistaken the thief to be his son" and had "mistaken the stone to be gold."  He realized that these errors caused him a serious loss.  He made up his mind to abandon his misconceptions and start again from scratch.  In order not to be led into further error, he put himself under the guidance of the 'Sŏnjisik (善知識)', senior monks.

The winter retreat was hardly over when he attended a public lecture by Zen Master Hyanggok. Jinje knew that Hyanggok's only rule was to go straight to the heart of the matter, so made up his mind to make Hyanggok his mentor. Jinje offered three bows and said, "I'm here to be enlightened by you, Honorable Master."

Hyanggok said to him, "How will you solve the great road of limitless and unbound taedo (大道), (meaning great way), or bodhi (菩提), (meaning insight)?"

Jinje answered, "I'll make good with my utmost efforts." Hereupon, Hyanggok gave him another hwadu, the hwadu of hyangŏm sangsuhwa (香嚴上樹話):

  

A man was hanging from a high tree upon a precipice with only his teeth biting the branch, that is, without his hands grasping and without his feet standing on the branch.. Another man passed by and asked him why the patriarch (祖師), (or Dharma) came from the west. If he did not answer him, he would be opposing wishes of the questioner. Yet, if he did answer him, he would fall from the precipice to the ground and lose his life. What would you do in such a situation?

  

Unmindful of the time limits placed on the seasonal retreat and refraining from leaving the place, he pursued the hwadu with life-and-death determination grapplin with it for more than two years. At last, when he was 28 years old, he passed the gate of hyangŏm sangsuhwa. He was able to eliminate all illusory perceptions; as a result, he saw the gate to the world of truth  open before his eyes.

He composed a song of prajna, or enlightenment, and offered it to Zen Master Hyanggok, saying:

 

這箇柱杖畿人會

三世諸佛總不識

一條杖化金龍

應化無邊任自在

 

So few people will know of this staff (K: jujangja)

Buddhas of the past, present and future

Will not know every bit of it;

This staff will ultimately turn

Into a dragon of gold;

And perform myriads of transformations.

 

Zen Master Hynaggok then posed the following question, "Supposing that you are a dragon who comes across a garuda (a legendary bird which eats dragons), or a gargantuan bird; what will you do then?"

"Kulchŏl tanghyung t'oesin sambo (屈節當胸退身三步)," answered Jinje, meaning in effect that he would bow and make a three-step retreat. To this answer, Hyanggok delightedly exclaimed "You're right."

However, Jinje was stuck over the hwadu of Ilmyŏn pul wŏlmyŏn pul (日面佛月面佛), meaning that the face of the sun is Buddha, the face of the moon is Buddha. Even Zen Master Hsueh-tou (雪竇) of  Sung China, famous for his one-hundred recited precepts, found himself at a loss as to how to respond to  this hwadu after 20 years of effort.

But Jinje finally solved this question after five years of laborious search. He then ended up passing all the gates which the ancient masters had erected on the way to enlightenment. He gave a rendition of his enlightenment in the following poem:

 

一桻打倒毘盧頂

一喝抹却千萬則

二間茅庵伸脚臥

海上淸風萬古新  

 

The head of Virocana breaks into pieces

With the crack of a stick;

Millions of inner conflicts vanish

With a thundering shout;

A man lies flat with legs stretched out

In a small cave;

The crisp wind on the sea is fresh

For ever and ever and ever.

 

A year passed and Jinje had turned 33 when a pŏpkŏryang (法擧揚), meaning a brainstorming exchange, occurred between Hyanggok and Jinje over the matter of enlightenment. It was held at the main hall of Myogwanumsa Monastery in 1967, in commemoration of the termination of the summer retreat. Patriarch Hyanggok mounted the platform and took a seat while Jinje stepped forward and said,  "I'm not going to ask about the place Buddha and the patriarchs know; just tell me the place they do not know."

His Highness Hyanggok answered, "Nine squared equals 81."

Jinje asked again, "That is the place Buddha and the patriarchs have already known."

"Six squared equals 36."  Hyanggok answered.  At this, Jinje offered three bows and returned to his place. Hyanggok went silently to the meditation hall.

The next day, Jinje asked Hyanggok once again, "I'm not going to ask you, Honorable master, about the Eyes of the Buddha and the Eyes of Wisdom. What are the eyes of the samigha, the monk?"

"The duty of the biksuni (nun) is wholly up to the ladies."

Then Jinje said, "I have just caught a personal glimpse of Your Highness, the Great Master!"

"Where and when did you see me?"

"Kwan!"(關) yelled Jinje, meaning 'barred'.

Hearing this answer, Master Hyanggok exclaimed delightedly, "Very good. Very, very good."  Jinje was thereby ordained as poptŏng (法燈), 'the lantern of dharma', a title inherited from the time of Lin-chi (臨濟) of T'ang China, and also had a Chŏnpŏpke (傳法偈), or poem of dharma transmission, given to him.

 

付眞際法遠丈室

 

佛祖大活句  

無傳亦無受

今付活句時

收放任自在

 

On behalf of Jinje Pŏbwŏn

 

They can neither be transmitted,

  Nor  inherited,

The live precepts of Dharma;

I entrust you with them,

Whether you accept or forsake

Them is up to you.

 

In 1971, Honorable Great Zen Master Jinje founded the Haeunjeongsa (海雲精舍), a Buddhist monastery, at the foot of Jangsu Hill, which commanded a fine view of the sea off Haeun Beach, Pusan, south Korea. The Haeun Monastery is comprised of Upper and Lower Meditation Halls. Jinje he established the monastery near a residential area because he wanted the Great Way of dharma to be disseminated to the near corners of this world. However, the more important reason for his holding public sessions was that he wanted to meet Chiŏmja (知音者), or the enlightened Buddhists.

 

>>> Return Home