10

舉。布袋和尚。常將布袋并破蓆。於通衢往來。布袋內盛鉢盂木履魚飯菜肉瓦石土木諸般總有。或於稠人處。打開布袋內物。撒下云。看看。又一一將起問人云。者箇喚作甚麼。眾無對。

代云。醜婦顰眉。

Hoffman:

布袋 always strolled around the streets, carrying a cloth sack and a torn carpet. The cloth sack was filled with pots, bowls, wooden clogs, fish, rice, vegetables, meat, tiles, rocks, clay, wood, and all kinds of things. Sometimes, in a crowded place, he would open the sack, empty it, and say, "Have a look." Then he would pick the things up one by one and ask, "What is this called?" The crowd was dumbfounded.

MASTER Xutang: The ugly woman frowns.

Master 布袋 Budai always had a cloth bag together with a broken woven mat, arriving on the open road and returning thereby.

Inside his bag, he always had his alms bowl, wooden shoes, rice, fish, and meat for meals, and roof tiles of rock and wood for repairs.

When in a crowded place, he would reach inside, humbly casting the items before people, saying, "Examine each item one by one as they arise in your awareness."

He would then ask, "What item can you know? Many are not correct."

On others' behalf, Xutang said, "A homely woman frowns in imitation of a pouting Xishi (西施)9."

Notes:

Budai appears in very few cases. He appears in Transmission of the Lamp although it is not a Zen text. Also in his Case is someone named Bailu.

Here is a fragment from a poem attributed to him:

Ten thousand dharmas, what is special; heart, why different? Why spend labour searching for meaning in sutras? The heart is originally self-ruled, separate from knowledge Wise ones only realize there is no end to study Neither mundane nor sacred – what then?

Footnote

9) From Book of Serenity, by Wansong: "When 西施 Xishi had a pain in her chest, she held her chest and grimaced. It made her even more beautiful. Homely girls imitating her only increased their ugliness. This is a criticism of study by mouth and ear, those who do not work for ineffable enlightenment."