Tozan came to learn from Ummon, and was asked by him, "Where have you come from?" "From Sato," he replied. "Where were you during the summer?" "I was at Hoji Temple in Konan Province." "When did you leave there?" "On the twenty fifth of August." Ummon burst out, "A beating is what you want!" The next day Tozan came and knelt before Ummon, and said, "Yesterday I was (to be) beaten by you. I did and said nothing I shouldn't. What did I do wrong?" Ummon said, "You dirty big belly bag! What did you come from Kozei and Konan for?" Suddenly Tozan came to a realization.
THE COMMENTARY (by Mumon)
If Ummon at that time, by giving him the fodder of the sect, had shown him that One Way of Living Activity, it would not have become extinct.
All night Tozan wallowed in the waves of the sea of Yes and No until he could get nowhere, and, when long-awaited dawn broke, again went to Ummon, and had his eye opened by him, and was suddenly enlightened, but he was not a seasoned man yet.
Now I ask all of you: Was Tozan's being beaten right or wrong? If it was right, then everything in the universe should be beaten; if it was wrong, then Ummon was a swindler. If you understand this clearly, then you and Tozan breathe the same air.
-p.126, Mumonkan, R.H. Blyth
Discussion:
Blyth explains that Ummon's sect became extinct in that the teaching method involving beating and screaming has passed away by Mumon's time. Mumon is explaining why.
The case and the commentary are all you need though. Either you breathe the same air or you don't.
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