Hachiman asks to hear the dharma – Koan 2
When Daikaku was living at Kenchoji temple, the old pines by the lake — which is in the form of a heart — began to bend of themselves. The monks wondered, and asked the teacher about it. The teacher said:
‘The god Hachiman comes; he treads on the pines as he comes to ask me about the dharma. And so the pines are bowed.’
(Imai’s note: This has to be understood in a Zen sense.)
TESTS
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What did Daikaku really mean by saying that the god trod on the pines and so they became bowed?
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Right now the god Hachiman is treading on this old back as he comes to ask about the dharma, and so my back is bowed. O monks of the congregation, do you know how to hear the dharma in your spiritual experience?
This incident became a koan in Kamakura Zen from the time of the interviews of Nanzan, the 20th teacher at Kenchoji.