"There is a story about Su Tung-po, which parallels Tokusan. Su Tung-po was one of the greatest poets in the Sung dynasty. He was famous not only as a poet, but as an essayist, a painter, and a calligrapher as well. From an early age, he studied the Confucian and Buddhist classics. It is said he knew the entire Buddhist canon of 84,000 volumes by heart. His hobby seems to have been examining the Zen masters and monks of his era.
"One day, Su Tung-po was told that in a nearby monastery there lived a very learned Zen master, who would certainly be able to answer any question he could ask. So he mounted his horse and rode off to see for himself. Traditionally, a visitor waits at the monastery door to be escorted inside. But Su Tung-po opened the door himself, rode in, went directly to the main lecture hall, and sat down with his back to the Buddha.
"When the Master entered, he bowed respectfully to Su Tung-po and said, 'We are honored by your presence, sir. Welcome. What, may I ask, is your name?'
" 'My name is Ch'eng.' [Ch'eng means 'scales']
" 'Mr. Scales? What a curious name!'
" 'I am called that because I can weigh all the eminent teachers in the land.'
At once, the Master let out an ear-splitting yell. Then with a faint smile, he said, 'How much does that weigh?' The answer to this was in none of the sutras and our Su Tung-po was speechless. His arrogance crumbled — he bowed to the Master, and began to devote himself to Zen.
"Sometime later, he determined to visit another master he had heard about and asked, 'Please teach me the Buddha dharma and open up my ignorant eyes.'
"The master, whom he had expected to be the very soul of compassion, began to shout at him, 'How dare you come here seeking the dead words of men! Why don't you open your ears to the living words of nature! I can't talk to someone who knows so much about Zen. Go away!'
"What was the teaching that nature could give and words could not? Totally absorbed in this question, Su Tung-po mounted his horse and rode off. He lost all sense of direction, so he let his horse find the way. It led him on a mountain path. Suddenly he came to a waterfall. The sound struck his ears and they were opened. He came to enlightenment. He was one with the whole universe. He got off his horse and bowed to the ground in the direction of the monastery.
"That evening he wrote the following poem:
The roaring waterfall
is the Buddha's golden mouth.
The mountains in the distance
are his pure luminous body.
How many thousands of poems
have flowed through me tonight!
And tomorrow I won't be able
to repeat even one word."
