Master Mokuray lived in the Kanin temple. He was known as Silent Thunder. Lightening is always accompanied by thunder. So, the oxymoron ‘silent thunder’ appears to be contradictory because thunder means presence of sound, whereas if one is silent, can there be any sound?
A young boy, Toyo, would come to the temple every day. While working there, he would observe people entering the master’s room. They would sit there for some time and then emerge from the room. This happened daily. Curious, Toyo wanted to know what happened inside the master’s room.
The Zen Routine
Once salutation to the master (vajrasana) was over, the disciple entered the master’s room and asked for a koan, a kind of a puzzle that cannot be solved by rational thinking, but only by instinctive knowing. Then the disciple meditated upon that koan the entire day. The next day, he would go to see the master and tell him whatever answer he would find or understand. Now, the answer would be right only when the disciple was supremely awakened. Before that one could never get the right answer. So the disciple went to the master, answered the koan and if the answer was wrong, the master would say so.
One day, when master Mokuray came out, Toyo ran to him and said, “Master, I too want to become a Zen disciple, a student.” Mokuray said, “My dear, you are still very young.”
One Fine Day
Finally, one day, the master relented and said, “Okay, today you too may come in.” Toyo was elated. He went home, had a bath, wore clean, fresh clothes and returned to the temple. Then he followed all the steps that he had learnt by observing all the disciples. With eyes lowered to the ground, he walked slowly, sounded the gong and after performing the salutation three times, he entered the master’s room. Mokuray was sitting on the chair. Toyo sat down in vajrasana and with folded hands requested Mokuray, “O Master, please tell me what you tell the others.” The master replied, “Well then, go and listen to the sound of one hand clapping.”
Toyo offered his obeisance and came out of the master’s room. He went to his own room and sat down trying to listen to the sound of one hand clapping. It so happened, that a geisha lived close by. On hearing her song, Toyo thought, “The sound coming from her throat does not involve clapping of two hands.” He eagerly ran to his master and said, “Master, I have found the answer in just one day.”
Mokuray said, “So, what is the answer?” Toyo instantly replied, “It is the sound of the geisha’s singing”. Mokuray said, “This answer is not correct. Go and meditate again.”
Toyo returned to his room and started to contemplate on the sound of one hand clapping. And after much thinking, his mind started to calm down when he heard the dripping sound of water coming from a tap. “Aha,” he thought, “this sound doesn’t involve the clapping of two hands, so this must be the right answer.”
Sound Of One Hand Clapping
Again he ran to his master and enthusiastically said, “I have got the answer — it is the sound of water dripping.” But the master said, “Wrong! When the water drops, it drops, it hits the stone below. This means the drop is one hand and the stone below is the other hand, hence this cannot be the sound of one hand clapping.”
Toyo returned home disappointed. Soon he started to contemplate again. Weeks passed by.... If you were to try to understand the meaning of such a complex, enigmatic question, what will you do?
You are simply sitting and initially you will be aware of your body. Slowly you will start becoming aware of your breath — without even realising, you will have started to meditate. And the same happened with Toyo. In such a subtle way, he started to enter the state of meditativeness.
One night, he heard the sound made by an owl. In the morning, he ran to his master and said, “The sound made by the owl is the answer.” Mokuray said, “Wrong.” Neither was the answer the rustling of the wind.
Toyo began to spend more time in meditation, and one fine day his subconscious mind became completely quiet, stilled. Complete thoughtlessness happened to him. And that day he finally got the answer.
The sound of one hand clapping — he finally knew it, he understood it. But this time he did not run to his master. The day he realised the truth, there was no need left for him to run to the master, no need left at all.
