Zen Koan – Hekiganroku – No. 97 – The Diamond Sutra’s “The Transgression Is Wiped Out”

The Case

The Diamond Sutra says, "If anyone is despised by others, even if he has committed some serious transgression in a former life and been doomed to fall into the evil world, the transgression in the former life is wholly wiped out by virtue of the fact that he is despised in this life."

Engo's Introduction

Even if now you hold fast and now you let go, you are not yet an expert. To infer three things from one example is not enough. Even if you can move heaven and earth, dumbfound the four quarters, crash like thunder, flash like lightning, upset the ocean, overturn mountains, and pour down like torrents of rain, you still fall far short of it. Is there anyone among you who can control the center of the heavens and the axis of the earth?

Verse

When one holds the jewel, merit is rewarded. Without merit, the jewel no longer reflects anything. Truly without reason, heaven seeks in vain. Gautama, Gautama, do you know the secret? "Everything is open," says Setcho again.