Why did the Patriarch come from the West?

Layman Pang was a celebrated Ch’an (Zen) Buddhist who is well-known for his wisdom. Once, he visited Master Mazu and asked him this question: “What is the meaning of the patriarch (Bodhidharma) coming from the East?” Mazu answered, “I will tell you once you have swallowed the water of the West River in one gulp.” This is a famous Zen koan.

What does this mean? The answer is actually very simple. Just as it is impossible to swallow the water of the West River in one gulp, it is also impossible to answer Layman Pang’s question about the meaning of the patriarch. It is not because Mazu was clueless. Mazu understood very well that such a question cannot be answered. It is a kind of trick question in Zen. There are many such trick questions. This is one.

Layman Pang was asking about the Ultimate Truth. In Buddhist understanding, there are two types of truths — conventional truth and Ultimate Truth. Conventional truths can be spoken. They are all based on relative concepts. They are also conditional truths. All the truths we can grasp with our human intellect are relative and conditional truths. For one thing, they are based on human understanding and the human condition. Would what is true for a human also be true to cat, a butterfly or an earthworm? If not, then it is not an absolute truth. It is just a relative truth, relative to the human situation…