Five character couplet* > Korean Zen

The body of the shortcut

Resources Korean Zen
Korean Zen

Seon Gallery | Five character couplet*

Page information

Author ADMIN On14-12-14 22:34 Views3,796 Comments0

Body

a5b2ebfc9b81a7bb83a1a65db72a9adf_1418564057_8586.jpg
 
Gyeongheo Seong-u (1849~1912), “O-eon daeryeon” [Five character couplet], 98 x 19.5 cm (2 panels), Tongdosa Museum collection (donation of Venerable Seokjeong).
 
This is a rendition done by Gyeongheo of a gāthā written by Master Dixin Dushun. It means, “If you look for a doctor on this earth, cauterize the upper left shoulder of a pig.” 
 
This is the last line of a gāthā written by Master Dixin Dushun, the first patriarch of the Huayan school of Buddhism in China. It is said that he wrote thisgāthā in response to his disciples who were flummoxed by the extremely voluminous Huayan sutra and were asking how they could possibly better understand it. The meaning is that even though “Huaizhou and Yizhou might be separated by some thousands of li, when seen through the world of Huayan, the world of enlightenment and the mundane world share one appearance.”
 
The previous line of the gāthā states, “Because a cow in Huaizhou eats fodder, the stomach of a horse in Yizhou bursts open.”   
 

 


(03144) 55, Ujeongguk-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of KoreaTEL : +82-2-2011-1830FAX: +82-2-735-0614E-MAIL: jokb@buddhism.or.kr
COPYRIGHT ⒞ 2023 JOGYE ORDER OF KOREAN BUDDHISM. ALL RIGHT RESERVED