Hekiganroku - Seppo' s "A Grain of Rice"

The Case

Zen master Seppo addressed the assembly and said, "All the great world, if I pick it up with my fingertips, is found to be like a grain of rice. I throw it in front of your face, but you do not see it. Beat the drum, telling the monks to come out to work, and search for it."

Engo's Introduction

To guard and maintain the essential teachings, it must be the vocation of the noble soul. He does not blink when killing a man, and then the man may be instantly enlightened. Hence he observes and acts simultaneously, and holds fast and lets go without restraint. He sees that essence and phenomenon are not two, that experience and reality run parallel. He often rejects the first principle and adopts the second.

This is because to cut through the complications too abruptly causes the beginner to lose his footing. A day like yesterday- that could not be avoided. Again, a day like today-his transgressions fill the heavens. If you are clear-sighted, however, you cannot blame him. If otherwise, you put yourself in the tiger's mouth. You will lose your life instantly.

Verse

The ox-head disappearing, the horse-head appears; No dust on the mirror of the Patriarch Sokei. You beat the drum and search for it in vain. For whom do the spring flowers bloom?