_The Master asked a monk: "Sometimes a shout is like the jeweled sword of a spirit King [i.e., extremely hard and durable]; sometimes a shout is like the golden-haired lion crouching on the ground [i.e., strong, taut, and powerful]; sometimes a shout is like a weed-tipped fishing pole [i.e., probing and attracting the unwary]; and sometimes a shout doesn't function as a shout. How do you understand this?" As the monk fumbled for an answer, Lin-chi gave a shout.15 _ His philosophy of the shout as a device for cutting off sequential reasoning was thus demonstrated by example. But the question those who relate this story never resolve is: Which of the four shouts was the shout he used on the student? [John Wu in _The Golden Age of Zen _speculates that this shout was of the first category, since it was meant to "cut off" the monk's sequential thought, but that seems a rather simplistic mixing of the metaphorical with the concrete.16) Lin-chi also was not averse to the use of the stick in the pursuit of reality, as the following example illustrates. The story also shows that the use of the stick was meaningful only if it was unexpected. _Once the Master addressed the assembly. "Listen, all of you! He who wants to learn Dharma must never worry about the loss of his own life. When I was with Master Huang-po I asked three times for the real meaning of Buddhism, and three times I was struck as if tall reeds whipped me in the wind. I want those blows again, but who can give them to me now?" A monk came forth from the crowd, answering: "I can give them to you!" Master Lin-chi picked up a stick and handed it to him. When the monk tried to grab it, the Master struck him instead.17 _ There also is a story indicating that Lin-chi believed that when the shout failed to work, the stick might be required. _The Master took the high seat in the Hall. A monk asked, "What about the cardinal principle of the Buddha-dharma?" The Master raised his whisk. The monk shouted. The Master struck him. Another monk asked: "What about the cardinal principle of the Buddha- dharma?" Again the Master raised his whisk. The monk shouted. The Master also shouted. The monk faltered; the Master struck him.18 _ Yet another series of exchanges sounds a similar theme. _The Master asked a monk, "Where do you come from?" The monk shouted. The master saluted him and motioned him to sit down. The monk hestitated. The Master hit him. Seeing another monk coming, the Master raised his whisk. The monk bowed low. The Master hit him. Seeing still another monk coming, the Master again raised his whisk. The monk paid no attention. The Master hit him too.19 _He was also challenged by a nun, one of the few recorded instances of a master actually matching wits with a woman who had taken Ch'an orders. _The Master asked a nun: "Well-come or ill-come?" The nun shouted. "Go on, go on, speak!" cried the Master, taking up his stick.