I normally write about Old Master Xu Yun on the numerous website I contribute to – dedicated to the preservation of Chinese Ch’an Buddhism – as guided by the Chinese Buddhist Association. For what it is worth, I was recently presented with the “Master’s Stick” (Mattock or Fly-Whist) known as the “拂尘” (Fu Chen) in China. This just means I have physically gotten older and now possess a certain inner consistency of spirit. An empty interior devoid of unnecessary disturbance:
1) “拂” (fu2) = brush-away, dust-off, lightly-swish, flick-off, and sweep, etc
2) “尘” (chen2) = dust, dirt, pollution (as in “mundane world” of delusion), ashes, and stain, etc
The fly-whisk has three functions:
a) A Daoist or Buddhist Master (the only item he or she might temporarily possess).
b) A device to gently remove and relocate troublesome insects from around the head and mouth area. Insects must NEVER be hurt under any circumstances.
c) The appearance of the fly-whisk must immediately “remove” any surface and deep doubt from the student’s mind and body. The Master must move with an awe-inspiring deportment – and when the fly-whisk appears – the mind of the students must be immediately “stilled” so that the empty mind ground is directly perceived and expands to become all-embracing!
I once saw a Westerner (a German) living in China. He could read, write and talk the Chinese language – and had been accepted as a Disciple by a Daoist Master (this is not easy to do – even if you happen to be ethnically “Chinese”). He was able to perform a secret Daoist gongfu Form -where he used the fly-whisk as a self-defence implement. There was no violence – just lots of spiralling movement. All I can do with my fly-whisk is lift it up and down occasionally. I suppose it all comes down to timing.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 