The “Child” Cannot Be Found

找不着「孩子」

The bench where we sit to meditate in the Chan Hall is called the zhidan. We should prop our shoes up here. If we do not, the proctor may kick or step on the shoes when he moves back and forth in the Chan Hall. Then we may not find the “child” anymore. The Cantonese pronunciation for “shoes” sounds like that of “child” [in Mandarin]. The Japanese pronunciation sounds like the Mandarin word for “trousers.” Regardless of how we refer to them, in the Chan Hall you should prop your shoes up in front of the zhidan. There is no officer on duty during our Chan session. The officer on duty is someone who prepares the daily tea for everyone. Since we do not have that many participants, we have been quite casual, and furthermore, the place for drinking tea is not far from here. During our tea breaks we can all take a stroll to stretch ourselves and to relax a bit. I understand the situation fully.

禅堂里打坐的位子叫止单，鞋要立在这个地方，如果不这样立起来，监香从前面走过就会踩踏到，或被踢的找不着「孩子」了。广东话叫鞋子是「孩子」，很好笑的是日本人叫它「裤子」。不管它是「孩子」、是「裤子」、是「鞋子」，你到禅堂里都要把它立起来，立到止单的前面。我们打七没有当值的，当值的就是给大家预备这一天所喝的茶。因为我们人不太多，所以很马虎的，并且喝茶的地方又离这儿不远，趁着喝茶的时间散一散步，松弛一下、解放一下，这种情形我是都知道的。