Investigating the Huatou: How Did the Pig Actually Die?

Since everything the six consciousnesses cognize consists of illusory inner object-aspects, when someone slaughters a pig, does he also never actually come into contact with the external pig? Then how did the pig die? This is a secret—indeed a great secret—and one must investigate it out for oneself; once it is investigated out, one's wisdom becomes extraordinary. The six consciousnesses come into contact with the inner object-aspect of the pig, yet the external pig died—how did it die? If you investigate this out, you attain enlightenment; without meditative concentration (samādhi), investigation is impossible. Without genuine enlightenment, this question cannot be answered either. For judging true enlightenment from false enlightenment, there are many kōan huatou that can be used to interrogate; if you cannot answer, you must weigh for yourself just how you were "enlightened" and what exactly you were enlightened to.

When the eyes see one's own hand, there is no contact with the real hand. When one touches one's own head with the hand, there is no contact with one's real head; when one hears oneself speak, there is no contact with one's real voice; when one smells one's own body odor, there is no contact with one's real body odor—let alone contact with those of other sentient beings, let alone contact with other forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches; none of these can be truly contacted. When eating an apple, what one eats is originally one's own inner object-aspect, yet the external apple is gone; if others did not get to eat it, they will be displeased.

The subjectively imagined realm conjured up in the mind is entirely the inner object-aspect manifested by one's own tathāgatagarbha, having nothing to do with others. For example, if one mentally wishes someone good health, and as a result the external person's body really does become healthy—what is going on here? If one mentally wills the slaughter of a pig, and one with good meditative concentration can actually kill the pig—what is going on here?

Some say that a single kick is enough to bring enlightenment on the spot. But in that one kick, at least four consciousnesses operate in conjunction—how would you distinguish the respective functions and roles of the four consciousnesses? To become "enlightened" this way is no different from a parrot mimicking speech—enlightened to the mind consciousness. There have been such kōans too; what is so remarkable about that?

Back then, Chan Master Xuefeng visited many enlightened good teachers and studied under Chan Master Deshan for decades before finally attaining enlightenment. Chan Master Xiangyan served under his master for eighteen years without attaining enlightenment; in the end he lived in seclusion practicing Chan alone in a dilapidated temple, and only when a pebble he tossed struck a bamboo stalk did he finally awaken. The monk Heze Shenhui, throughout his entire life, attained only intellectual understanding. People of ancient times had deep roots of goodness and strong meditative skill, yet investigating Chan was still such arduous work—their belts loosened as they grew haggard, and they wore out dozens of meditation cushions. People today have roots of goodness far inferior to the ancients, their meditative concentration is even weaker, to say nothing of their character—so why do they hope to attain enlightenment with ease? If enlightenment is so easy, what could possibly be realized from it? If one speculates about the Buddhadharma—speculation being permitted—then yes, one can arrive at it by guessing, but it is after all called speculation, not realization through awakening.