February 1964
Originally offered: February 1st, 1964 | Modified October 27th, 2009 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi
MODEL SUBJECT NO. 46

FROM BLUE CLIFF RECORDS

Commentary by Reverend Shunryū Suzuki

Master, Zen Center

February 1964

Attention!  Kyo-sei asked a monk, “What is the sound outside the door?”  The monk said, “It is the sound of raindrops.”  Kyo-sei said, “All sentient beings are deluded by the idea of self and by the idea of the world as subjective or objective (as permanent).

Commentary:

Kyo-sei has seen through the monk, who thinks he is not caught by the “objective” sound of the raindrops, but he who actually is caught by the sound of raindrops in his subjective world.

The monk said, “How about yourself?”  (In other words, “I have the raindrops in my clear mind.  How about you?”)  Kyo-sei said, “People may say I am not deluded by myself or by the raindrops.”  (Original text says:  “I am almost not deluded myself.”)

Commentary:

Kyo-sei is just listening to the sound of raindrops.  There is nothing but raindrops.

The monk said, “What do you mean by: you are regarded not to be deluded yourself?”  The monk cannot understand why Kyo-sei doesn’t say definitely that he is not deluded by himself and that he hears the raindrops clearly in his mind.

Kyo-sei said, “Even though it is not difficult to be free from the objective world (and to make a clear statement) it is difficult to express reality fully on each occasion.

GIVE THE MONK 30 BLOWS!

IT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS REALITY FULLY ON EACH OCCASION!!!!!!!

Commentary:

When my master and I were walking in the rain, he would say, “Do not walk so fast, the rain is everywhere.”

Appreciatory Word:

When the voice of the raindrops covers the whole world, even an expert cannot give any answer (because he himself is also the raindrops).

Even though you say the voice of raindrops is nothing but your mind, that is not a perfect answer (of full understanding). Southern and Northern mountains, all over the world, are covered by the heavy rain.