The Real Eye

Muyoku asked Rinzai, "Avalokitesvara has one thousand hands, and each hand has an eye. Which is the real eye?" Rinzai answered, "Avalokitesvara has one thousand hands, and each hand has an eye. Which is the real eye? Now tell me, quick!" Muyoku pulled Rinzai from his seat, then sat in his place. Rinzai stood up and asked, "Why?" Then he shouted, "Khats!" and pulled Muyoku from his seat in turn. Muyoku left the room quietly.

Avalokitesvara, a Bodhisattva symbolic of compassion, has one thousand hands and one thousand eyes - a thousand eyes to see many people who need help and a thousand hands to help those people. Some Avalokitesvaras have eleven faces so that all directions can be seen simultaneously. Rinzai took Muyoku's question, word for word, then he added, "Now tell me, quick!" Rinzai took Muyoku's question, so Muyoku took Rinzai's seat. Rinzai stood up and asked, "Why?" This "why" is the koan. It is not only Rinzai's "why," it is also Muyoku's. It is the absolute Why. The thousand eyes of Avalokitesvara are all real eyes. We have two eyes; both are real. No one asks which eye is real. Such a question is nonsense.