Living in the mundane world, we often find our minds burdened by trivial matters. Once, a devotee came to visit Zen Master Zhaozhou. Noticing that other visitors brought various gifts, the devotee felt apologetic for arriving empty-handed and said, "I have come empty-handed." Zen Master Zhaozhou looked at him and smiled, saying, "Since you came empty-handed, then let it go!" Confused, the devotee asked, "Master, I brought nothing; what is there for me to let go of?" The Master calmly replied, "Let go of that very thing—the 'nothingness' you brought." Perhaps the Master intended for him to let go of the anxiety of his arrival—to simply be at peace with the present. Though no gifts were brought, the sincerity of his heart was enough to please the Master. However, the devotee remained bewildered: "How can one let go of something that isn't there?" Zen Master Zhaozhou then enlightened him: "You have no Buddha-nature? Of course, it is not that you lack Buddha-nature. But if you are neither willing to 'pick up' nor willing to 'let go,' is it that you have no Buddha-nature, or that you are lacking it?" Indeed, in the complexities of life, we often struggle with minor concerns. What the Master asked the devotee to let go of was the attachment to the idea of being "empty-handed." Excessive attachment is the very root of suffering and affliction. Only by clearing away these afflictions can one's true Buddha-nature be revealed.
This koan has been passed down by many Zen masters. Zen Master Xingkong once asked a young monk, "If someone were to fall into a thousand-foot-deep well, could you rescue them without using anything at all?" The monk sighed and replied, "Recently, Master Chang of Hunan passed away; did he also speak in such illogical ways during his life?" The monk was promptly dismissed by the Master. Later, Yangshan, puzzled by the exchange, asked Zen Master Danyuan, "In your view, how can one rescue the person in the deep well?" Danyuan retorted, "You fool, who is in the well?" Still unsure, Yangshan approached Zen Master Weishan, asking, "Master! How can we rescue the person in the well?" Unexpectedly, Weishan shouted Yangshan's name: "Huiji!" Instinctively, Yangshan replied, "I am here." Weishan then said, "Then the person has emerged from the well!" It turns out that Master Xingkong used the "person in the well" to teach the monk not to become trapped by the question itself. The monk, failing to grasp the underlying meaning and dismissing it as "illogical," failed to both "pick up" the essence and "let go" of the literalism, thus being dismissed. Yangshan, on the other hand, understood the words but remained caught in the concept; he "picked up" the question but did not know how to "let go," ultimately falling into the "well" of his own mind. It wasn't that someone was actually in a well, but that Yangshan had fallen into a mental well—though fortunately, his master called him out. How can one rescue someone without using anything? The answer is "not thinking." To "not think" is to "not see"—to no longer perceive a person falling into a well. With a mind free of attachment, there is nothing to be concerned about. Where is the well? Where is the person? In truth, there is neither well nor person. Any attempt to solve a problem through methods is often futile, for every method relies on something. It is better to "not think," for in that state, all illusions vanish.
