Mumonkan - Hyakujo and the Fox | Koan & Mysticism

The Case

Whenever Master Hyakujo preached the law, an old man would appear and listen with the monks. If they left, he left too. However, one day he was left alone. Then the master asked him: "What kind of person are you, standing here in front of me?" The old man replied: "True, I am not human. In the distant past, I lived on this mountain as a Zen monk. Once a monk asked me: 'Does a fully enlightened person remain bound to the law of cause and effect or not?' I replied, 'He is not bound by the law.' Because of this answer, I reverted to the state of a fox for 500 lives.

Now I ask you, Master, say a word of salvation for me and release me from the body of a fox." He then asked: "Does a fully enlightened person remain bound to the law of cause and effect or not?" Immediately upon hearing these words the Old man became deeply enlightened.

Enlightenment

He bowed and said: "Now I am freed from the body of the fox and will live behind the mountain. I only ask the Master for one thing: "Perform my funeral according to the rite for a deceased monk." The master ordered the head monk to announce to the monks that after the meal there would be a funeral for a deceased monk. The monks asked in astonishment: "Aren't everyone healthy? Nobody is sick in the infirmary. What's the point of all this?" After the meal, the master led the monks behind the mountain to the foot of a rock and with his stick brought out the dead body of a fox. He then performed the cremation ceremony.

In the evening the master mounted the elevated seat in the hall and told the whole story to the monks. Obaku immediately asked: "Because of a false word of salvation, the old man received the punishment of being reborn five hundred times in a fox's body. Assuming he had never made any mistakes with his answers, what would have happened then?" The Master said, "Come closer to me and I will tell you." Obaku approached the master and punched him in the face. The master clapped his hands and said with a loud laugh: "I thought only the barbarian's beard was red, but here is another red-bearded barbarian."

Mumon's Comment

Not falling under causality: How could this make the monk a fox? Don't ignore causality: How could this emancipate the old man? If you understand this, you will realize that old Hyakujo would have enjoyed five hundred reincarnations as a fox.

Verse

Don't fall, don't ignore: two sides of a cube. Don't ignore, don't fall: a thousand errors, a million mistakes.