Shime

One day, Buddha Shākyamuni was visited by a non-Buddhist who asked him: "I do not ask you about the existence of speech, I do not ask you about its absence." The Buddha then sat silently for a long time. The non-Buddhist prostrated, praised him, and said: "Excellent, O Blessed One! Through your great compassion, you have dispelled the clouds of my delusion and allowed me to penetrate." Then he bowed and departed.

After he left, Ānanda approached the Buddha and asked: "By virtue of what understanding was this non-Buddhist able to say that he had penetrated, and did he leave praising you?" The Buddha replied: "Like a good horse in the world, which moves forward as soon as it sees the shadow of the whip."

Since the Patriarch [Bodhidharma] came from the West until today, many good friends in the dharma have cited this episode to teach it to their fellow students. Some, after years or months, thus manage to become enlightened and enter the faith of the Buddhist dharma. This is called "the story of the non-Buddhist questioning the Buddha." Know that the Buddha possesses two kinds of salvific expedients: sacred silence and sacred speech. Those who penetrate through them are all "like a good horse in the world that moves at the sight of the shadow of the whip." Those who penetrate through an expedient that is neither sacred silence nor sacred speech are also like this.

Patriarch Nāgārjuna said: "When one expounds a phrase for others, it is like a swift horse seeing the shadow of the whip and immediately entering the right path." All occasions, whether one hears the teaching on the phenomenon of production and non-production, or the teachings of the three vehicles or the single vehicle, even if one is often on the verge of embarking on a wrong path, if one frequently sees the shadow of the whip, one then enters the right path. If one follows a master and meets someone, there is no place that is not an expounded phrase, no moment when one does not see the shadow of the whip. Some see the shadow of the whip immediately, others see it after three asaṃkhyeya, others still after countless kalpa, and thus obtain entry onto the right path.

The Saṃyuktāgama says: "The Buddha said to the bhikṣu: There are four kinds of horses. The first, as soon as it sees the shadow of the whip, is seized with fright and follows the will of the driver. The second, as soon as the whip touches its hair, is seized with fright and follows the will of the driver. The third, when the whip touches its flesh, only then is seized with fright. The fourth, when the whip penetrates to the bone, only then becomes aware. The first horse is like one who, hearing about the impermanence of another village, can immediately generate disgust. The second horse is like one who, hearing about the impermanence of his own village, can immediately generate disgust. The third horse is like one who, hearing about the impermanence of his own relatives, can immediately generate disgust. The fourth horse is like one who, only when he himself is affected by illness and suffering, can generate disgust."

These are the four horses of the Āgama. When one studies the Buddhist dharma, this is what one must necessarily study. The true good friend in the dharma who appears among humans and gods, the Patriarch who is the envoy of the Buddha, has necessarily studied and practiced it to transmit it to students. One who does not know it is not a good friend among humans and gods. The student who is a being with deeply rooted good roots, close to the Buddha's path, will necessarily obtain to hear it. One who is far from the Buddha's path does not hear it, does not know it.

Therefore, the master must hasten to want to teach it, and the disciple

One must ardently wish to hear it. "Generating disgust" here means:

"The Buddha, with a single voice, expounds the dharma, Beings, according to their category, each attain understanding. Some experience fear, others joy, Some generate disgust and renunciation, others cut off their doubts."

The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: "The Buddha said: Furthermore, O good sons, just as a horse trainer generally has four methods: touching the hair, touching the skin, touching the flesh, touching the bone. According to the place touched, [the horse] responds to the trainer's wish. The Tathāgata is the same: by four methods, he disciplines beings. First, when he teaches them birth, they receive the Buddha's word. As if touching their hair, they follow the trainer's will. Second, when he teaches them birth and old age, they receive the Buddha's word. As if touching their hair and skin, they follow the trainer's will.

Third, when he teaches them birth as well as old age and sickness, they receive the Buddha's word. As if touching their hair, skin, and flesh, they follow the trainer's will. Fourth, when he teaches them birth as well as old age, sickness, and death, they receive the Buddha's word. As if touching their hair, skin, flesh, and bones, they follow the trainer's will. O good sons, the trainer who breaks a horse has no assured method. The Tathāgata, the Honored One of the world, who disciplines beings, is absolutely infallible. Therefore, the Buddha is called 'Great Trainer.'"

This is called the four horses of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. No student can dispense with it, no buddha fails to know it. When one follows the Buddha and listens to him, when one sees the Buddha and pays homage to him, one must necessarily hear it; when one transmits the Buddhist dharma, one explains it for beings without ever relaxing, even for innumerable kalpa. Finally, when one attains the fruit of buddhahood, one explains it for the assembly of bodhisattva, śrāvaka, men, and gods, as at the very first moment of the aspiration for enlightenment. Therefore, the jewel of the Buddha, the dharma, and the saṅgha never ceases to perpetuate itself.

Therefore, the teachings of the buddhas and the teachings of the bodhisattva are very different. Know that the method of the horse trainer generally comprises four kinds: touching the hair, touching the skin, touching the flesh, touching the bone. Although one does not see clearly with what one touches the hair, the great beings who transmit the dharma understand that it is probably the whip. However, in the method of training, there is indeed the use of the whip, but also its absence. Training is not necessarily limited to the whip alone. A horse eight feet tall is called a "dragon horse." The training of such a horse is rare among men.

There is also a horse called the "thousand-li horse," which travels a thousand li in one day. During the first five hundred li, it sweats blood, but after exceeding five hundred li, it becomes fresh and swift; few people ride such a horse. Those who know the method for training it are rare. This horse does not exist in the country of Shintan [China], it exists in foreign countries. It is not seen that the whip is frequently applied to such a horse.

However, an ancient virtuous one said: "To train a horse, one must necessarily apply the whip. Without the whip, one cannot train the horse. Such is the method of training." Here exist the four methods of touching the hair, skin, flesh, and bone. One cannot touch the skin omitting the hair. One cannot touch the flesh and bones omitting the hair and skin. Therefore, one...

that the whip must be applied. The fact that it is not explained here is due to the insufficiency of the text.

The sūtras contain many passages of this kind, and the Tathāgata, the World-Honored One, the Great Conductor, is also like this. Through the four methods, he disciplines all beings, in an absolutely infallible manner. That is to say, some receive the Buddha's word when he teaches them birth, others when he teaches them birth and old age, others when he teaches them birth, old age, and sickness, others when he teaches them birth, old age, sickness, and death. Those who hear the last three teachings are not separated from the first. Just as, in the world, the horse trainer does not touch the skin, flesh, or bones while omitting the hair.

Teaching birth, old age, sickness, and death means that the Tathāgata, the World-Honored One, teaches birth, old age, sickness, and death. It is not to make beings separate from birth, old age, sickness, and death. It is not to make them understand that birth, old age, sickness, and death are not the way, or that they are the way. It is through this teaching on birth, old age, sickness, and death that he enables all beings to attain the dharma of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. This is what is meant by "The Tathāgata, the World-Honored One, who disciplines beings, is absolutely infallible. That is why the Buddha is called 'Great Conductor.'"

Shōbōgenzō "The Four Horses," ninth fascicle.

Written based on the master's fog, on a day of the summer retreat in the kinoto-u year of the Kenchō era [1255].