September 1963
Sunday, September 1st, 1963MODEL SUBJECT NO. 30
JOSHU’S LARGE RADISHES
Commentary by Reverend Shunryū Suzuki-rōshi
Zen Center
September 1963
There is no Introductory Word to Model Subject No. 30 from the Blue Cliff Records, but I will apply the following statement from a Buddhist Guide for the Layman by Sita Paulickpulla Renfrew [publisher: Cambridge Buddhist Association, Cambridge, Mass.] as an introduction.
According to Buddhist ethics, no person or authority can ever impose upon another any code of conduct lower in morality or humanity than the individual himself wishes. Neither can anyone make another act on a higher plane than the individual himself desires. Each individual can act only according to the level of his state of evolution, and he has to live by the consequences thereof.
Main Subject from the Blue Cliff Records:
Attention! A monk asked Joshu, “I hear by rumor that you were at one time closely associated with Nansen. Is that so, or not?” Joshu replied, “Chin-shu produces very large radishes.”