Zen Koan & Mysticism – Mumonkan – Case No. 16 – When the Bell sounds

The Case

Zen master Unmon said, "The world is vast and wide; Why do you put on your seven-piece robe at sound of the bell?"

Mumon's Comment

In studying Zen, you should not be swayed by sounds and forms. Even though you attain insight when hearing a voice or seeing a form, this is simply the ordinary way of things. Don't you know that the real Zen student commands sounds, controls forms, is clear-sighted at every event and free on every occasion?

Granted you are free, just tell me: Does the sound come to the ear or does the ear go to the sound? If both sound and silence die away, at such a juncture how could you talk of Zen? While listening with your ear, you cannot tell. When hearing with your eye, you are truly intimate.

Verse

With realization, things make one family; Without realization, things are separated in a thousand ways. Without realization, things make one family; With realization, things are separated in a thousand ways.