Nomon Tim offers a reflection on Case 42, The Silent Woman, from The Gateless Gate koan collection.

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I'm enjoying telling stories lately. Here's another one story that's been on my mind lately. This is a koan story from the Gateless Gate Koan Collection - Mumonkan in Japanese.

Long ago, Manjusri went to a gathering of all of the Buddhas. When he arrived, all the Buddhas had returned to their original dwelling place. Only a young woman remained, seated near Shakyamuni, deep in Samadhi.

Manjusri asked the Buddha, “Why may this woman sit so near to you and I cannot.”

Buddha told him, “Wake her up from samadhi and ask her yourself.”

Manjushri walked around the woman three times and snapped his fingers. Then he put her in the palm of his hand, transported her to heaven and used transcendent energy in an attempt to awaken her. But he could not awaken her.

The Buddha then said, “Even if a hundred Manjusri appeared, they also would not be able to awaken her. Far down below is the Bodhisattva of Delusive Wisdom. He will be able to wake her from Samadhi.”

Immediately the Bodhisattva emerged from the earth and bowed to Buddha, who gave him the command to awaken the woman. He walked in front of the woman and snapped his fingers only once. At this, the woman woke from Samadhi and stood up from her seat and bowed.

Manjusri is the bodhisattva of wisdom, a powerful figure. In the Mahayana Sutra's he usually has the last word unless the Buddha himself does. With a few powerful exceptions. Here is presented in a less flattering light.

The koan literature is such a treasure. A weird treasure in many ways - wonderfully so. The creators of these stories were serious about our awakened nature and the ways stories could point to it. And at the same time they were irreverent and loved to turn traditional things upside down. Serious jokes in some ways. Or joking and completely serious.

So Manjusri went to a great gathering of Buddhas in the heavens somewhere. And right away we know something's up here in terms of our usual sense of how things go because he gets there late and misses the meeting.

When he arrived, all the Buddhas had returned to their original dwelling place.

But then looking about the Dharma Hall he saw there was someone still here:

Only a young woman remained, seated near Shakyamuni, deep in Samadhi.

Sometimes people do go into deep meditation states. It can be a good thing or not so good. We had an early member who later we realized had a powerful mental illness. At. her first sesshin at Samish one time the bell rang to end the last period of the day, she didn't move from zazen, we sangha the refuges, she still didn't move. It was like she was totally unaware of her surroundings. Very still and settled. Kind of wonderful, kind of creepy. Eventually everyone exited the zendo except for Norman and a few of the senior students. Norman gently touched her shoulder and spoke with her quietly - I never asked him what he said - and she opened her eyes, smiled, got up and went to bed.

In this case it seems like Manjusri feels a little threatened by her:

Manjusri asked the Buddha, “Why may this woman sit so near to you and I cannot.”

Buddha told him, “Wake her up from samadhi and ask her yourself.”

So Manjusri dug into his deep bag of tricks as the Great Bodhisattva of Wisdom and tries to bring her out of it, he was not as successful as Norman was back then.

Manjushri walked around the woman three times and snapped his fingers. Then he put her in the palm of his hand, transported her to heaven and used transcendent energy in an attempt to awaken her. But he could not awaken her.

All kinds of excitement. The Buddha then makes a comment. Kind of peanut gallery style:

The Buddha then said, “Even if a hundred Manjusri appeared, they also would not be able to awaken her. ”

I'm not sure he passed the bar of only speaking if it improves on the silence. We can see that, Buddha. But then he offers another way forward.

"Far down below is the Bodhisattva of Delusive Wisdom. He will be able to wake her from Samadhi."

And this is the forth character in our little drama: the wonderfully named Bodhisattva of Delusive Wisdom! Sometimes as Bodhisattva Ensnared Light which is pretty great too. So we have the usually wise and very shiny and impressive Manjusri, we have this unnamed young woman in a deep meditation state, the Buddha as the master of ceremonies, and now another bodhisattva who doesn't sound like they're going to be so slick.

The story continues:

Immediately the Bodhisattva emerged from the earth and bowed to Buddha, who gave him the command to awaken the woman. He walked in front of the woman and snapped his fingers only once. At this, the woman woke from Samadhi and stood up from her seat and bowed.

The commentaries point out that this Bodhisattva Delusive Wisdom is a low level bodhisattva not an impressive great bodhisattva like Manjusri. But he was the one who could do the job. Manjursi with his super powers was ineffective.

And the ordinary guy who is wise but owns his delusions is literally a down to earth person.

And it's the down to earth ordinary person who can connect with the woman who's deeply in the practice.

This story invites us to bring our full messy selves to the table. Welcoming all of you. Encouraging us not to idolize slick, shiny perfection but to trust our innate wisdom even while we're also confused and uncertain. It's a call to show up. That's how I see the interplay between Manjusri and Bodhisattva Delusive Wisdom.

It also shows a fragility to Manjusri's elegant wisdom. He seems to feel threatened or jealous of the woman. And, we assume, frustrated when his super powers don't work. Not even close either. “Even if a hundred Manjusri appeared, they also would not be able to awaken her. ”

But what of the woman in the center of this drama?

She doesn't have any lines or a name. If you were her what would you say to Manjusri who seemed to be so bothered by your steady practice?

One of the traditional "checking questions" to this case is interesting: "After the woman came out of Samadhi, what became clear?"

Bring to mind a time you were threatened by someone impressive.

Or a time you were trying to be impressive yourself. Maybe you didn't realize that's what you were doing.

There's an invitation here to just be yourself. To just show up.

And even ordinary people - the woman in this story - can do impressive things but we can appreciate her ordinary quiet unpretentious way. She just sits down, settles in deeply, and when the ordinary down to earth bodhisattva invites her to get up, he gets up and bows.

We could read her silence as being silenced by the patriarchy that gives all the lines to the men. And I don't think that's wrong sadly.

But we can also hear her silence as wise restraint. Deep groundedness. She has no need to say anything, what needs to be said?

As I mentioned the Buddha himself is a bit of a motor mouth in this one. Master Mumon who collected this story and comments on each one wrote: Old Shakaymuni put on a disorderly comedy this time, no better than a child.

So many themes in this story: jealousy, being impressive, not needing to be impressive. Trying to change things to your own liking - what's she doing so close to the Buddha? Get her up! Feeling intimidated or not. Maybe sangha life is a good starting point: do you ever feel like you aren't so impressive maybe someone else is but you aren't?

Let's spend a little time in small groups exploring what comes up for you.