Yakusan (Yüeh-shan, 751–834)[7.46] gave no sermons for some little time and the chief secretary came up to him asking for one. The master said, “Beat the drum then.” As soon as the congregation was ready to listen to him, he went back to his own room. The secretary followed him and said, “You gave consent to give them a sermon, and how is it that you uttered not a word?” Said the master, “The Sutras are explained by the Sutra specialists, and the Śastras by the Śastra specialists; why then do you wonder at me? [Am I not a Zen master?].” One day Goso (Fa-yen)[7.47] entered the Hall and seated himself in the chair. He looked one way over the shoulder and then the other. Finally he held out his staff high in his hand and said, “Only one foot long!” And without a further comment he descended. * * * * * The foregoing selections from Ummon and Jōshu and others will be sufficient to acquaint the reader with what kind of sermons have been carried on in the monastery for the intellectual or super-intellectual consumption of the monks. They are generally short. The masters do not waste much time in explaining Zen, not only because it is beyond the ken of human discursive understanding, but because such explanations are not productive of any practical and lasting benefits for the spiritual edification of the monks. The masters’ remarks are therefore necessarily laconic; sometimes they do not even attempt to make any wordy discussion or statement, but just raising the staff, or shaking the hossu, or uttering a cry, or reciting a verse, is all that the congregation gets from the master. Some, however, seem to have their own favourite way of demonstrating the truth of Zen; for instance, Rinzai is famous for his “Kwatsu” (_hê_ in Chinese), Tokusan for his flourishing staff, Gutei for his lifting up a finger, Hima for a bifurcate stick, Kwasan for beating a drum, and so on.[f158] It is wonderful to observe what a variety of methods have sprung up, so extraordinary, so ingenious, and so original, and all in order to make the monks realise the same truth, whose infinite aspects as manifested in the world may be comprehended by various individuals, each according to his own capacity and opportunity.