Today was the full-day, main event of the weekend sesshin. Eight a.m. until 9 p.m. (Actually, it started at six a.m., followed by breakfast at seven, but I find that missing the first period and breakfasting at home gives me an extra two hour's sleep - a good return on the investment of one missed hour of zazen.)

Legs and lower back are sore, but the mind is very calm and focused.

While dusting during samu (work) period, I came across a book of Layman Pang's sayings, and found this one on his encounter with Zen Master Daibai:

Dialogue With Ta-Mei (Daibai)

The Layman visited ch'an master Ta-Mei. Hardly had they met when he said, "I've long wanted to meet you, Ta-Mei. I wonder whether the plum is ripe or not."

"Ripe!" exclaimed Ta-Mei. "What part do you want to bite?"

"Dried-fruit confection," returned the Layman.

"Then give me back the pits," said Ta-Mei, stretching out his hand.

The Layman went off."

- The Recorded Saying of Layman P'ang, pg 65, translated from the Chinese by Ruth Fuller Sasaki et. al. (1971)

Like Daibai, the Layman was also a student of Baso's, and after his enlightenment under Baso he traveled around China, often accompanied by his daughter, testing the understanding of various Zen Masters of the time, including other students of Baso's, such as his dharma brother Daibai. Their encounter occurred after the monk had returned from telling Daibai "No mind, no buddha," and word had spread that Baso approved, saying "The Plum is ripe."

The problem is that the term "dried fruit confection" (po-tsa-sui) literally translated is a "hundred million pieces." The authors of the book state they do not know what kind of food this was in those days. It might, they supposed, have been a confection of dried fruits with the pits and skins intact. "A Chinese friend says that today the term means a thick soup of mutton and various vegetables that is favored by the common people," in other words, goulash.

However, I think the translators missed the mark here. The myriad dharmas are often referred to as the "ten thousand things," and the "hundred million pieces" might have been Layman Pang's direct pointing at the ultimate nature of reality. Or it might have been a play on words, implying both the myriad dharmas and a delicious snack at the same time. Two meanings. Sort of like asking at the cafeteria of a mental hospital if they serve mixed nuts.

Upon first meeting Baso, Layman Pang had asked, "Who is the one who is not a companion to the ten thousand dharmas?" When Mazu said, "When you swallow all of the water in the West River in one gulp, then I'll tell you," Pang realized his enlightenment, so this expression, "ten thousand things," must have had great importance to the Layman. It would only be natural that when meeting another student of Baso's, he puts essentially the same question to him, although this time with a pun based on the monk's dharma name.

In any event, Daibai's "then give me back the pits" was saying, playfully, "take that which you can digest, and don't worry about what you don't understand." This is consistent with his responses to both of the monks who had previously encountered him, "just follow the river" (go the way that comes naturally) and "never mind about 'neither the mind nor Buddha'." In all three cases, Daibai sticks with his practice, and encourages others to follow whatever practice works for them.

Or maybe I'm just loopy from too many hours of sitting.