Shogen visited all the great men of the time, especially Daie. He was enlightened on hearing his master Mittan shout at a monk who was interviewing him, "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing!" the words of Nansen which come in Case XXVII.
Mumonkan
R.H. Blyth
Discussion:
What a delightful image this is, of a monk watching his teacher interact with another student. After yet another purposeless question by the monk, who will not understand any answer in any case, Mittan shouts out, "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not things!" the famous koan from Nansen.
What can be difficult to understand is that Mittan was not quoting Nansen. Such a thing does not happen in Zen, and when it does, it is most often a form of humor, either parody or slapstick. In this case, Mittan is not repeating what Nansen said, but re-experiencing it, like a man who, traveling in an accidental circle, comes upon the same branch in the road he faced the hour previous, and throwing up his hands in exasperation, takes the same was he took before. Only Mittan is not the man, and the monk is not circle.
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