SEAnews 2014-08-19 ArtNo.45286

　You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

○True worshipers
　Jesus taught a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council that one could neither see nor enter the kingdom of God unless he was born again of water and the Spirit.(John 3:3-5) Though the world was made through the Word (John 1:3), the world has neither understood it nor received the Word (John 1:10-11). Therefore, even though the one born of flesh has the Holy Spirit, which is the light, the life, grace and truth, can not see the kingdom of God unless he is born again of water and the Spirit. However it does not mean that one need to be born of water too after being reborn of the Spirit. Jesus just tried to explain attributes of God, which fundamentally can not be described in words and letters, using the words of water, spirit, light, grace, truth and so on.
　Jesus also taught a Samaritan woman drawing water, saying, "You worship without the knowledge of God, who is spirit. Yet a time is coming when you will be reborn of the Spirit and worship the Father in spirit and truth." As long as one worships in spirit and truth, the place, where he is worshipping now, is none other than Jerusalem, Mecca or the Mount Grdhrakuta (The Vulture Peak)and it is needless to rebuild Israel or Islamic countries. A time is coming when there will be no Japan, no China, no America, no Jew, no Christian, no Muslim and no Buddhist but the One World, the reign of the Holy one of God will be realized in this world. Yet the reign of the Holy one of God will be realized at once if we open our inner eyes. Jesus tells us, "Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. (Jhon 4:35-36)"

○The workings of the Iron Ox
　One day, a governor of Yinzhou District, which is located in Xinyang Prefecture of Henan Province, invited FengXue YanZhao chanshi (Zen master), who was a chief priest of FengXueShan Temple in Ruzhou District, to his district office and held a Buddhist mass during the later part of the five dynasties and ten kingdoms period (907-960) in China.
　FengXue chanshi stepped up to the rostrum and said, "The mind seal of Bodhidharma is like the workings of the huge iron ox which was made by Yu the Great, the founder of the Xia Dynasty (B.C.2070-B.C.1600) for the flood control of the Yellow River. When the seal is stamped on, the impression is made. When it is removed, the impression appears." "Now," he asked audience, "When it is neither stamped nor removed, at that very moment, is it sealed or not sealed? Tell me your answers!"
　At that point, Elder LuPi stepped forward and declared, "I have the workings of the iron ox and do not need to be transmitted the mind seal of Bodhidharma from you." Fengxue said, laughing, "I am accustomed to fishing for whales and to calming the great ocean. However, today, I may have made a frog to wriggle in the mud." Fengxue looked at LuPi being stunned and he shouted, "Show me your workings of the iron ox." Lupi seemed to be debating with himself about what to do. Fengxue beat him with his whisk and asked, "Do you get it? If so, show me the evidence." When Lupi was about to speak, Fengxue gave him another blow.
　The governor, who had been watching the exchange of Fengxue and Lupi, said, "Buddha's law and the sovereign's law have the same nature." Then, Fengxue asked, "What principle have you seen?" The Governor replied, "When you do not settle what is to be settled, instead you bring about disorder." Fengxue thereupon descended from the rostrum.

○The Patriarchal Master's Mind Seal
　It's useless if you pray in the temple of Jerusalem without knowing what God is or practice Zen meditation on the Mount Grdhrakuta (The Vulture Peak) without turning the light inwards, illuminating the Self.
　Jesus, who realized this theory through returning to the Word which had been with God in the beginning, testified to the Word and baptized men, who accepted his testimony, with the Holy Spirit. However only one, who has certified that God is truthful, can be baptized with the Holy Spirit through accepting Jesus' testimony. (John 3:33) This is something similar to the chicken or the egg causality dilemma which is commonly stated as "which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
　Elder LuPi showed his mettle as one who lives on the summit of a solitary peak and goes on scolding the Buddhas and reviling the Patriarchs through declaring, "I have the workings of the iron ox and do not need to be transmitted the mind seal of Bodhidharma." However he showed his cloven hoof, being stunned when he was asked by Fengxue chanshi, "Show me your workings of the iron ox." The patriarchal master's mind seal and the baptism of the Holy Spirit may be good-for-nothing for ones who have already enlightened or been spiritually reborn. However, we still need one who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit or transmits the mind seal of Bodhidharma, such as Jesus and Fengxue chanshi in this world.

○The superfluous
　According to "The Book of Serenity", which is respected in the Soto School of Zen Buddhism, Elder LuPi is said to have been one of the Linji School's elders. If so, the above debate between FengXue chanshi and Elder LuPi may have been prepared to lead to the governor's words, "Buddha's law and the sovereign's law have the same nature," and "When you do not settle what is to be settled, instead you bring about disorder." The Crucifixion, too, may have been separately and carefully prepared to realize following objects, such as Jesus' credo, "One who binds start in his life with its end and makes steps forward is a man who lives in heaven while staying in this world", the High Priest Caiaphas' aspiration "to call back the scattered children of God to Jerusalem, bring them together and make them one" and Paul's doctrine of "justification by one's faith."

[Reference]

○The Blue Cliff Record 38th case: The Patriarchal Master's Mind Seal
　At the government headquarters in YingZhou , FengXue entered the hall and said, "The Patriarchal Master's Mind Seal is formed like the workings of the Iron Ox: when the seal is stamped on, the impression is made; when it is removed, the impression appears. Now when it is neither stamped nor removed, at that very moment, is it sealed or not sealed?"
　At that time there was a certain Elder LuPi who came forth and said, "I have the workings of the Iron Ox: please, Teacher, do not impress the seal."
　Xue said, "I am accustomed to fishing for whales and to calming the great ocean. However, today, I may have made a frog to wriggle in the mud."
　Pi was stunned.
　Xue shouted and said, "Elder, Show me your workings of the iron ox."
　Pi hesitated;
　Xue hit him with his whisk.
　Xue said, "Do you get it? If so, show me the evidence."
　As Pi was about to open his mouth, Xue hit him again with his whisk.
　The Governor said, "The Buddhist Law and the Law of Kings are the same."
　Xue said, "What principle have you seen?"
　The Governor said, "When you do not settle what is to be settled, instead you bring about disorder."
　Xue thereupon descended from his seat.

○FengXue's genealogy

Please check the contents that have been updated in this article on"The Origin of Christianity", an e-book, which is being updated from time to time.

Free download of "The Origin of Christianity"

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