Hello and welcome.
My name is Silas Day and I'm excited to continue my wisdom series with you.
Today we will be looking at the Chan and Xin master,
Zhou Shu.
Master Zhou Shu is a fun,
Strange,
And intriguing character who is known very much so for his paradoxical statements in teaching and his odd deeds,
Which I think makes him a perfect candidate to be a mystical teacher.
He became a monk at the age of 18 and studied under the same teacher until the age of 40,
Where he received full awakening.
He then wandered China until he was 80 years old before settling down and teaching for the next 20 years at a ruined and then rebuilt temple.
Zhou Shu is sometimes touted as the greatest Chan master of the Tang dynasty,
China,
During a time when its hegemony was kind of disintegrating as more and more regional military governors begin to assert their power over China.
Zhou Shu's lineage died out quickly though due to many frequent wars and purges of Buddhism in China at the time,
And his lineage can't really be documented beyond the year 1000,
Though his influence extends even to this day.
He is known as a holy fool,
A trickster found throughout human cultures,
And it is debated how much he was inspired by Taoist sages,
Because Zhou Shu,
Along with several other teachers of his time,
Were obviously taught Taoism.
I mean,
He quotes more than once a famous Taoist phrase,
For example,
In one instance he tells the student,
Ships cannot sail where water is too shallow,
Implying that a shallow mind doesn't have space for grander understandings,
Which is a very obvious Taoist idea.
So with all of that in mind about Master Zhou Shu,
Let's take some time to look at the sayings,
Teachings,
And wisdom of this strange wandering master,
Meditating on them and letting them sink in so that they can help us in the best way possible for us personally.
The more you know,
The less you understand.
No matter where you go,
There you are.
Zhou Shu said,
If you are asked,
What does Zhou Shu teach,
Just say,
When cold,
Cold,
When hot,
Hot.
There's no way to happiness.
Happiness is the way.
There's no way to peace.
Peace is the way.
There is no way to awakening.
Awakening is the way.
A student once asked Zhou Shu,
If I haven't anything in my mind,
What shall I do?
Zhou Shu replied,
Throw it out.
But if I haven't anything,
How can I throw it out?
Well,
Zhou Shu said,
Then carry it out.
A monk asked,
What is myself?
Zhou Shu said,
Well,
The oak tree in the front garden.
Zhou Shu asked his teacher,
What is the path?
His teacher said,
Everything and everyday life is the path.
Zhou Shu asked,
Can it be studied?
Teacher said,
If you try to study,
You will be far away from it.
If I do not study,
How can I know it is the path?
His teacher replied,
The path does not belong to the perception world,
Neither does it belong to the non-perception world.
Cognition is a delusion and non-cognition is senseless.
If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt,
Place yourself in the same freedom as the sky.
You name it neither good nor not good.
Before I had studied Xin for 30 years,
I saw mountains as mountains and waters as waters.
When I arrived at a more intimate knowledge,
I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not mountains and waters are not waters.
But now that I have got it,
For its very substance,
I am at rest.
For it's just that I see mountains once again as mountains and waters once again as waters.
A monk asked,
Does a dog have buddha nature or not?
Zhou Shu said,
The door of every house leads to the capital.
A monk asked,
What is the practice of a Sangha member?
Zhou Shu said,
Leaving practice behind.
A monk said,
It is not clear to me,
Do you practice or not?
Zhou Shu said,
I wear clothes and eat food,
Don't I?
Someone asked,
The one sentence,
What is it?
Zhou Shu said,
If you adhere to the one sentence,
You will fall into senility.
If you stick to the absolute truth,
You will not be able to move your limbs.
So what is my essence?
Zhou Shu said,
The tree sways,
The bird flies,
The fish leaps,
The water is muddy.
This is some of the wisdom and sayings of Master Zhou Shu.
He is an interesting and eccentric character trying to get right to the point through going around logic and wisdom.
If you are interested in him and his style of teaching,
Which can seem very paradoxical and nonsensical at times,
I highly recommend you looking into his teachings,
His phrases,
And his life as he helped establish a certain side of the Xin and Chan traditions.
His writings are incredibly deep once you're able to dissect them,
I think.
Regardless,
If you enjoyed this content,
Please let me know,
And I will happily make more,
As it is an area of great interest to me.
I'm Silas Day,
And have a wonderful day.
