Zuigan called out to himself every day: ‘Master.’
Then he answered himself: ‘Yes, sir.’
And after that he added: ‘Become sober.’
Again he answered: ‘Yes, sir.’
‘And after that,’ he continued, ‘do not be deceived by others.’
‘Yes, sir; yes, sir,’ he answered.
Mumon’s Comment: Old Zuigan sells out and buys himself. He is opening a puppet show. He uses one mask to call ‘Master’ and another that answers the master. Another mask says ‘Sober up’ and another, ‘Don’t be cheated by others.’
If anyone clings to any of his masks, he is mistaken, yet if he imitates Zuigan, he will make himself fox-like*.
Some Zen students do not realize the true man in a mask
Because they recognize ego-soul.
Ego-soul is the seed of birth and death,
And foolish people call it the true man.
My notes on this story:
This is from a book of Zen stories + koans called “The Gateless Gate”. They are written in a way that can sometimes be hard to understand because they are all aimed at helping to cut through the obstructions in your mind. They must be read and interpreted in a different way than if you are just reading in your typical way to accumulate knowledge.
The lesson in this one is that most people define themselves and act based upon the identity their ego has shaped and defined for themselves. Most people also are fooled into thinking that that is their true nature or who they actually are, when in fact it can just be seen as a buildup of concepts that obstructs their true nature.
Most people in life that you encounter have this buildup to differing degrees. Almost everyone I meet including myself has multiple struggles and challenges with their own ego and identity. Those who have sought out what is behind that and attempted to clear away this “buildup” are exceptionally (yet also relatively) self-aware.
*Foxes are mentioned often in Zen stories as it is a big part of Japanese culture. The way you can interpret its relevance to this story is that foxes often employ the ability to trick others; therefore if you imitate others you are merely just being deceptive.
Who here is not wearing a mask? hehehe
It is not something I have verified through direct experience. I have only intellectually acknowledged it. :/
You are funny – well you seem fairly interested in these kinds of things and at least can understand them. It’s somewhat rare to find people interested in it. I’ve always had blogs about these topics (some of which are not up anymore) but usually they were blogs just for myself. I like that you come around and comment.
What are you looking for in terms of your life and yourself?
I have seen some of your blogs. As you said, it is rare to find others with these interests. So, I have been following you and a few others.
What I have wanted in life and for myself has sort of evolved and formed layers. Ultimately though, I wish to fully realize the true nature of the mind and then the true nature of the self. This was inspired by the author of the book I recommended. I only read it like a year ago so it is a recent development. Before this, I had more esoteric or even occult-ish interests. I met the author on an astral projection group on facebook. I plan on doing what the author did, but I have to exhaust some of my stronger attachments. Some things you just can’t quit cold turkey without suffering from it first. Hehehe. For now, I meditate when I can and keep one eye inward. 😉
I figured you had seen some of them, since you managed to find this one. 😉 I know I already have a lot of sites out there, but I have at other points had even more of them, too. Lol. Years ago.
I have had a couple other people actually find me and follow me before due to my blogs (though this was a long time ago) which I found interesting, because I believe in their case they found me just from browsing the net and reading the content.
What has gotten you interested in these “spiritual” subjects in the first place? Do you feel you have fairly good intuition and are pretty self-aware?
There were three people in my life that influenced my interest in “spiritual.” My late mentor inspired me to practice astral projection, my hypnotherapist really jump started my self awareness and a woman I was with believed she was very spiritual.
My intuition is good enough to make my skin crawl. However, I have come to know that my ego gets in the way of this so it is not something I can invoke for the wrong reason. I am more self aware than most people I know — which is kind of frustrating — but I try to see the me that is also in them.
I see. I like the comment “a woman I was with believed she was very spiritual” – was she actually? There are a lot of people who think they are but are very lost. I don’t fault them for it or anything, it’s just how it is.
It’s been a long time since I’ve explored meditation and other states actively. Actually doing those things became an anxiety trigger for me for the longest time. I just now managed to get off prozac and am mentally balanced again, so am just letting things run their course.
would people guess that you are interested in these things based on just getting to know you or based on your personality? there are few people who would be able to detect that i know about these things based on the surface. On the surface I probably just look introverted and weird.
She is like you described. She was interested in spirituality and believed that she knew a lot about it. She also liked to frequently remind me that she got me into it. Spirituality, like religion, is often turned into nothing more than a tool to create a circle of control.
I don’t blame her though. I suspect that her block from progressing was due to her motherly instinct. I see that a lot.
Introverted and weird. That is how most people would describe me as well. Even people who are very close to me see me in this way. The number of people who I have met that would see through this I could count using the fingers from only one hand. Hehehe
Ah, so she just wanted to have babies? Lol kidding, there are many obstacles that get in the way of progression depending on the person… it’s difficult…good intuition really is the key because then you can sense things and see through things eventually.
What are some of your interests aside from “spiritual” things – Do you find it difficult to relate to others? Or are you pretty good at relating to people through your other interests?
Programming and one other major interest I have that I won’t mention. With programming, I am mostly a self taught hacker and I don’t get along well with others with the same interest. I spent ten years being a personal programmer for my mentor, and now I work for a very small company because I don’t do well at big corporations. So, you could say I don’t relate easily with others even among those with similar interests. I suspect it is one of the last frontiers for me… ego insecurity.
Gotcha. I don’t do well at large corporations either. Hacking was always a fun idea to me but never spent the time to learn anything about it. As you could probably see my interests span across the board and I have trouble focusing on just one or two things. 😡 It’s a good and bad thing.
Back in the days when I was really focused on meditation I was also very self-focused which made the divide between myself and others very large. This made it exceedingly difficult to be around people regularly.
Now, there’s virtually no division between myself and others. The only thing that has changed are that the walls that my ego builds have been weakened drastically. Though that doesn’t mean I can necessarily relate to them directly but mainly that I don’t perceive myself as fundamentally different. This makes it easier for me to be around people and interact with them, though doing so for long periods of time still drains me. Always an introvert at heart, probably why I’ve been stuck to the computer since age 6.
I can relate to that. hehehe