Zen Koan – Hekiganroku – No. 39 – Zen Master Ummon’s “Golden-Haired-Lion”

The Case

A monk asked zen master Ummon, "What is the pure body of the Buddha?" Ummon said, "Kayakuran" [the fence around a flower garden]. The monk said, "How about if I understand it like that?" Ummon said, "The golden-haired lion."

Engo's Introduction

When one is enlightened and enjoys perfect freedom of mind in ordinary life, one is like a tiger that commands its mountain retreat. If one is not enlightened and drifts about in the affairs of the world, one is like a monkey in a cage. If you want to know Self-Nature, you must pay attention to time and causation. If you aspire to the condition of pure gold that has been refined a hundred times over, you must be shaped in the teacher's forge. I want to ask you this: How would you identify the one who has mastered the Way of the absolute?

Verse

Don't mistake "Kayakuran. The mark is on the balance, not the tray; Saying "like that" betrays ignorance; Master hand, beware the golden-haired lion.