When Master Ma was asked about his health, he slayed the great dragon when he said "Sun Face Buddha, Moon Face Buddha". The phrase itself is quite beautiful and stands alone, but the underlying meanings are like a mountain crag with no foothold. His response has no logical connection to a question about his well being that day, which like most koans is a clue that prajna is at play, something pointing us beyond thinking, understanding, and rationalization.
The notion of a sun face and moon face Buddha can suggest two sides of our nature, the male-female principles, the dark-light,day-night,known-unknown, outer-inner, ordinary-sacred, and of course the relative and absolute worlds of Reality. As your Zen practice unfolds these worlds unveil themselves. As you study your own character, habits, and posture you begin to learn about many different aspects of yourself. You also learn that rejecting any of your parts results in a death of the whole. Wholeness depends upon honoring all of your parts.
The cliff that Master Ma constructs is the cliff of duality and attachment, of samsaric life through our clinging to separateness, permanence, and difficulty. How do we go beyond, and then beyond beyond, how to we climb the cliff of Reality and then live as if it was never there? Gate Gate Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhisvaha! May you realize Sun Face Buddha Moon Face Buddha, the yin-yang dynamic workings of the universe. Going to the other shore means going beyond the other shore, it means to keep on flowing with the changes of life without attachment while recognizing things just the way they are. When are you a sun face Buddha? When are you a moon face Buddha?
Last night it rained,
This morning a clear sky.
How the Great Dragon plays!
Case 3: Sun Face Moon Face
