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The Unit of Motion and Motionlessness

AT A young age, Ch'an master Yin Feng was well-versed in a great deal of Buddhist teachings, his teacher being the famous master Ma Tsu.

One day, while pushing a cart, Yin Feng was forced to a halt by his master, who was sitting on the road stretching a leg across it. The carter asked him to draw his leg back, to let the cart pass. Instead, Ma Tsu drew his body out across the road, saying, "I can only stretch out, never draw back."

Yin Feng was not going to back up either, so he said, "As for me, I can only advance, but never retreat." So saying, he pushed his cart through Ma Tsu's barrier and wounded his foot quite seriously.

As soon as the wounded master reached the monastery, he took down an ax and shouted, "Who was this idiot who wounded me on the road?! Come out!"

Yin Feng appeared before the master, putting his neck under the ax. As a result, Ma Tsu laid his ax down.

Commentary: In everyday life, when people say that a certain object is in motion and another one is motionless, it is due to the action of their own minds. Actually, all phenomena are created by our minds, but phenomena themselves do not make the distinction of being in motion or being motionless. Ch'an teaches people to clear from their minds any opposing concepts in order to attain perfect harmony and Enlightenment. The saying, "I can only stretch out, never draw back" meant "I am motionless and never in motion."

To counterbalance this, Yin Feng expressed his opposite conception, "I am in motion and never motionless." At first glance things are like this. But in reality, the master, at the cost of his own foot, tested his disciple on whether he was able to overstep the motion-motionlessness doctrine, acting spontaneously on his own, or not. In fact, Yin Feng's mind was already clear of any distinctions. He needed to pass through and he did it without respect for the celebrated master. No models or idols are needed by those who search for the Truth through their minds.