But it is not a bad thing to go to hell, if it does some good to somebody. So, let us go on our way and I, for my part, quote the following from The Transmission of the Lamp 傳燈錄 (fasc. 14) under Yakusan Igen 藥山惟儼 (Yaoshan Wei-yen, 751-834), and hope to help readers understand what I mean by the experience of suchness, or the chih che shih frame of mind:

　　 One day Yakusan was found quietly sitting in meditation. Sekito 石頭希遷 (Shih-t'ou, 669-790), seeing this, asked, "What are you doing here?"
　　 Yakusan answered, "I am not doing anything at all."
　　 Sekito said, "In that case you are just sitting idly."
　　 Yakusan: "If I am sitting idly, I am then doing something."
　　 Sekito: "You say you are not doing anything. What is this 'anything' you are not doing?"
　　 Yakusan: "You may get a thousand wise men together and even they cannot tell."
　　 Sekito: then composed a stanza:

　　 Since of old we have been living together without knowing the name;
　　 Hand in hand, as the wheel turns, we thus go. [6]
　　 Since ancient times even wise men of the highest grade failed to know what it is:
　　 How then can ordinary people expect to have a clear understanding of it in a casual way?

　　 Sometime later, Sekito remarked, "Words and actions are of no avail."
　　 To this Yakusan said, "Even when there are no words, no actions, they are of no avail."
　　 Sekito said, "Here is no room even for a pinhead."
　　 Yakusan then said, "Here it is like planting a flower on the rock."
　　 And Sekito expressed his full approval.

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6. "Thus" in the original Chinese is chih mo (shimo in Japanese). This term coupled with jen-yun is the essence of this gaathaa, "Jen-yun" 任運, here translated "as the wheel turns" or "as the wind blows," has nothing to do with fatalism. "Jen-yun" frequently goes with "t'eng-t'eng" 騰騰 (sometimes teng-teng). This combination, "jen-yun t'eng-t'eng", is full of significance, but it is very difficult to give the idea in a few English words. In short, it is "Let thy will be done" without the accompaniment of "My God, my God, why haste thou forsaken me?" "T'eng-t'eng" is going around almost jubilantly, at least in a fully relaxed state of mind, with no fear, no anxiety, no anguish. It indicates the state of mind Confucius had when he, with his disciples, visited the spa near River I.
 

p. 31

　　 When Beirei Osho (Mi-ling 米嶺, the teacher) [7] was about to pass away, he left this in part for his disciples: "O my pupils, carefully think of the matter. Ultimately, it is 'just this and nothing more,' chih che shih!"

　　 A monk asked Risan Osho [8] (Li-shan, the teacher), "What is the idea or Daruma 達摩 (tamo) coming from the West?"
　　 Risan answered, "I do not see any 'What'?"
　　 The monk: "Why so?"
　　 Risan said, "Just so and nothing more" (只惟如此 chih wei ju tz'u).

　　 Chih ju tz'u, shih mo, and chih che shih -- all these are the Zen masters' attempts to express what goes beyond words or what cannot be mediated by ideas. When they wish to be more expressive, they say, "It is like planting a flower on the rock," or "A silly old man is filling the well with snow," or "It is like piling vegetables into a bottomless basket." The more they try to express themselves, the more enigmatic they become. They are not doing this with any special pedagogic purpose. They are just trying to give expression to what they have in mind. They are far from being exponents of agnosticism, too. They are just plain Zen masters who have something to say to the rest of their fellow beings.

　　 Whatever historical setting Zen may fit in and in whatever way the historian may deal with it as revolutionary or iconoclastic or anti-traditional, we must remember that this kind of treatment of Zen never does clarify the self-nature (svabhaava or svalak.sa.na) of Zen. The historical handling of Zen cannot go any further than the objective relationships with other so-called historical factors. When this is done, however skillfully and ingeniously, the historian cannot expect to have done with Zen in every possible way. The fact is that Zen is to be grasped from within, if one is really to understand what Zen is in itself. Unfortunately, Hu shih seems to neglect this side of the study of Zen.

III
　　 This neglect on the part of Hu Shih is shown in his dealing with Tsung-mi's characterization of Shen-hui. Tsung-mi 宗密 (Shuu-mitsu) sums up Shen-hui's teaching as being centered in one Chinese character "chih," which is regarded as "the gateway to all mysteries (or secrets)." Hu Shih translates