SEAnews 2018-03-07 ArtNo.46219

　Paul the Apostle not only made three major mission trips in his lifetime, but also frequently sent letters to the Gentile Jewish community around the Roman Empire and tried to disseminate his 'Faith in Christ not according to the flesh (2 Co 5:16)' in an organized manner. He seems to have maintained such organized missionary work even in Rome where he was sent as the unconvicted prisoner. As the result, the most documents of the New Testament, that were completed one after another after the Jewish war, seem to more or less reflect Pauline Theology. However, "Clementine literature" implies that serious controversy was developed inside the Roman church over whether to respect "teaching of living Christ" taught by his personal disciples such as Peter or to respect "teaching of Christ seen in Paul's vision" and the dispute continued even for more than 100 years after the death of the two apostles.

○Similarity between Paul and Simon Maggs

　Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792–1860), founder of the Tübingen School, drew attention to the anti-Pauline characteristic in the Pseudo-Clementines, and pointed out that in the disputations between Simon and Peter, some of the claims Simon is represented as making (e.g. that of having seen the Lord, though not in his lifetime, yet subsequently in vision) were really the claims of Paul; and urged that Peter's refutation of Simon was in some places intended as a polemic against Paul.
　Recently, Berlin pastor Hermann Detering (1995) has made the case that the veiled anti-Pauline stance of the Pseudo-Clementines has historical roots, that the Acts 8 encounter between Simon the magician and Peter is itself based on the conflict between Peter and Paul. Detering's belief has not found general support among scholars, but Robert McNair Price argues much the same case in The Amazing Colossal Apostle: The Search for the Historical Paul (2012).
　In the 17th Homily of the Pseudo-Clementines, the identification of Paul with Simon Magus is effected. Simon is there made to maintain that he has a better knowledge of the mind of Jesus than the disciples, who had seen and conversed with Jesus in person. His reason for this strange assertion is that visions are superior to waking reality, as divine is superior to human. Peter has much to say in reply to this, but the passage which mainly concerns us is as follows:

○Peter's criticism against Pauline Theology

　But can any one be educated for teaching by vision? And if you shall say, "It is possible," why did the Teacher remain and converse with waking men for a whole year? And how can we believe you even as to the fact that he appeared to you? And how can he have appeared to you seeing that your sentiments are opposed to his teaching? But if you were seen and taught by him for a single hour, and so became an apostle, then preach his words, expound his meaning, love his apostles, fight not with me who had converse with him. For it is against a solid rock, the foundation-stone of the Church, that you have opposed yourself in opposing me. If you were not an adversary, you would not be slandering me and reviling the preaching that is given through me, in order that, as I heard myself in person from the Lord, when I speak I may not be believed, as though forsooth it were I who was condemned and I who was reprobate. Or, if you call me condemned, you are accusing God who revealed the Christ to me, and are inveighing against Him who called me blessed on the ground of the revelation. But if indeed you truly wish to work along with the truth, learn first from us what we learnt from Him, and when you have become a disciple of truth, become our fellow-workman. (Extract from English Wiki)

○Integration of flesh and spirit

　But 'The Second Epistle of Peter,' one of the New Testament, quotes several Paul's letters and says, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 Peter3:15-16) Although this letter seems to have been written by another person after Peter's death, it can be seen the efforts of reconciliation between sects of Peter and Paul in church.

○I won't say alive, and I won't say dead

　On one day during the Tang Dynasty of China (618-907), Zen-master DaoWu YuanZhi (道吾円智:769-835) went to one of his temple-followers' house to express condolences together with one of his disciples called JianYuan ZhongXing (漸源仲興) who was in charge of Dianzuo(典座), one of the six administrators of a Zen temple in charge of food and other matters. Like Dianzuo that JianYuan was, he apparently couldn't be dealt with easily.
　Sure enough, when they arrived at the house, JianYuan tapped on the coffin and asked DaoWu, "Alive or dead?"
　DaoWu said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead."
　"Why won't you?" JianYuan demanded.
　DaoWu said, "I won't say, I won't say."
　Even as many people were weeping and mourning for the dead, DaoWu and JianYuan neglected the funeral and were bandying words in front of the coffin. Such behavior seems to be quite strange even though they were Zen monks. However, a funeral is an event of a milestone in one's life which everyone must definitely pass through. Thus the master and the disciple might have collaborated and played a typical Zen Buddhist style gospel skit in that occasion.
　However, on the way back JianYuan asked DaoWu again, "Master, please say it to me right away. If you don't, I shall hit you."
　DaoWu said, "If you want to hit me, you can hit me. But I will never say."
　Thereupon JianYuan actually hit him.

○This is just where I should apply effort

　Later DaoWu passed away. JianYuan went to ShiShuang QingZhu (石霜慶諸:807-888), who had been a senior disciple of DaoWu, and told him what had happened.
　ShiShuang said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead."
　JianYuan said, "Why won't you?"
　ShiShuang said, "I won't say, I won't say."
　With these words, JianYuan came suddenly to an insight.
　One day, JianYuan took a hoe and walked in the Dharma-hall from east to west and west to east.
　ShiShuang said, "What are you doing?"
　JianYuan said, "I am seeking the sacred bones of the late master."
　ShiShuang said, "Giant billows far and wide; whitecaps swelling up to heaven. How can you find sacred bones of your late master?"
　JianYuan replied, "This is just where I should apply effort."

○Life and death are one

　Then, in the days of the late Tokugawa shogunate regime and beginning of the era of Meiji in Japan, Yamaoka Tesshu (山岡鉄舟1836-1888), who is noted to have played an important role in the bloodless surrender of Edo Castle together with Katsu Kaishu (勝海舟1823-1899) and Saigo Takamori (西郷隆盛1827-1877) and to have served as the chamberlain of Emperor Meiji, practiced swordsmanship and Zen since childhood and finally attained to the mind state of 'Kenzen ichimi(剣禅一味:The Sword and Zen are One)' and 'Shoji ichinyo (生死一如: Life and death are one)' and founded the Itto Shoden Muto-ryu school of swordsmanship (一刀正伝無刀流).
　One day, Tesshu played a match with Asari Yoshiaki (浅利義昭1822-1894) who served as the swordsmanship chief instructor for Obama-han's (小浜藩) Edo-yashiki (a daimyo's mansion in the city of Edo). They played for over three hours, but neither of them could win. Finally while warding off and pushing back each other's sword with one's own sword guard in a duel, Tesshu hooked his leg pushed Yoshiaki down. However, Yoshiaki struck Tesshu's breastplate on the verge of collapse and Tesshuu lost the match. Next day, Tesshu asked Yoshiaki to let him become latter's disciple and continued practices of swordsmanship and Zen to win Yoshiaki. It was in the year of 1888 when Tesshu came suddenly to an insight. He asked Yoshiaki to play a match with him once again. However, Yoshiaki said to him no need to play a match but gave Tesshu the certificate of full proficiency in Itto-ryu school of swordsmanship (一刀流) of Nakanishi-Branch-family-sect (中西派別家). After that, Tesshu himself founded the Itto Shoden Muto-ryu school of swordsmanship.

　In 1883 Tesshu built a temple called Zenshoan (全生庵) to repose the souls of patriots who had died or been martyred during the Meiji Restoration irrespective of whether the royalists or the shogunate supporters. Mr. Hirai, the abbot of Zenshoan said, "Tesshu, who attained to the mind state of 'Kenzen ichimi (剣禅一味: The Sword and Zen are One),' is also known as a samurai who did not kill even one person in the turbulent era of the Meiji Restoration. Perhaps, it is the highest mind state of swordsmanship to end the fight without pulling out the sword."
　Tesshu died of gastric cancer at the age of 52 on July 19, 1888. During his final living moments before death, he still wrote poems, such as "Though Doctor said, 'stomach cancer,' 'stomach cancer,' there is also good in the thing of bad," "Let's turn suffering to joy, entrusting life and death to Heaven and just lying on the bed." So, he seems to have enjoyed coexistence with cancer. At that very day、Katsu Kaishu came to see him and said, "How is it, Mr.? Are you going to die, aren't you?" Tesshu smiled and replied, "Well well, Happy to see you. Now, I am going to the boundary of Nirvana." Kaishu says in his reminiscence that he left Tesshu's house, saying, "Please attain buddhahood peacefully." While Kaishu was still on his way, he received the news that Tesshu had died.《Source: Politics and economics e-mail magazine(政経電論)/Magome literature marathon(馬込文学マラソン)/Cry of a wild man(野人の叫び)》＜To be continued＞

[Reference]

○Yamaoka Tesshu's handwriting

○《The Blue Cliff Record》Case 55: DaoWu's Condolence Call
[CASE]
　DaoWu and JianYuan went to a house to make a condolence call.
　JianYuan hit the coffin and said, "Alive or dead?"
　DaoWu said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead."
　JianYuan said, "Why won't you say?"
　DaoWu said, "I won't say."
　Halfway back, as they were returning, JianYuan said, "Tell me right away, Teacher; if you don't tell me, I'll hit you."
　DaoWu said, "You may hit me, but I won't say,"
　JianYuan then hit him.
　Later DaoWu passed on. JianYuan went to ShiShuang and brought up the foregoing story.
　ShiShuang said, "I won't say alive, and I won't say dead."
　JianYuan said, "Why won't you say?"
　ShiShuang said, "I won't say, I won't say."
　At these words JianYuan had an insight."
　One day JianYuan took a hoe into the teaching hall and crossed back and forth, from east to west and west to east.
　ShiShuang said, "What are you doing? "
　JianYuan said, "I'm looking for relics of our late master."
　ShiShuang said, "Vast waves spread far and wide, foaming billows flood the skies-what relics of our late master are you looking for?" (XueDou added a comment saying, "Heavens! Heavens!")
　JianYuan said, "This is just where I should apply eff ort." (Fu of Taiyuan said, "The late master's relics are still present.") (Translated by Thomas Cleary and J. C. Cleary. Edited by A. Murakami)

○What is "Baptism with The Holy Spirit"?
According to the dialectic of the Gospel of John,
【Thesis】"A man can possess eternal life through accepting testimony of the Son of man and being baptized by him." (John 5:24)
【Anti-thesis】But "The one who comes from the earth cannot accept the testimony by one from heaven."(John 3:32)
How then can a man possess eternal life?
【Synthesis】"If you want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, you can just go back to the word which was with God in the beginning (John 1:1) and certify that God is truthful. (John 3:33)"
When he said, "You are Huichao," Zen Master Fayan thrusted vivid Self in Huichao in front of his eyes.
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