Mumonkan

CASE 25. KYOZAN'S SERMON FROM THE THIRD SEAT In a dream Kyozan went to Maitreya's Pure Land and sat in the third seat. A monk there beat the gavel and said, "Today the one in the third seat will give a sermon." Kyozan arose, hit the gavel and said,"The truth of Mahayana is beyond any verbal expression! Listen, listen!" Mumon's Comments: You tell me, did Kyozan preach, or did he not? If he opens his mouth, he is lost. If he seals his mouth, he is lost, too. Whether he opens or seals his mouth, Kyozan is 108 thousand miles away from truth. In the bright daylight, And yet in a dream he talks a dream. Indeed a possessed word, a possessed word, He is deceiving the entire crowd.