Shifting Shape, Shaping Text: Philosophy and Folklore in the Fox Koan

6. Unconcluding Methodological Reflections

6 • Unconcluding Methodological Reflections Text-Shaping Unconcluding Methodological Reflections —Master: Soup first, or noodles first? —First, observe the whole bowl. —Yes, sir. —Appreciate its gestalt, savor the aromas. Jewels of fat glittering on the surface. Shinachiku roots shining. Seaweed slowly sinking. Spring onions floating. Concentrate on the three pork slices. . . . They play the key role, but stay modestly hidden. First caress the surface . . . with the chopstick tips. —What for? —To express affection. —I see. —Then poke the pork. —Eat the pork first? —No, just touch it. Caress it with the chopstick tips, gently pick it up, and dip it into the soup on the right of the bowl. What’s important here . . . is to apologize to the pork by saying, “See you soon.” (pause) Finally start eating, the noodles first. Oh, at this time . . . while slurping the noodles, look at the pork. —Yes. —Eye it affectionately. —From Itami Jûzò’s 1987 film, Tampopo This chapter reconsiders the methodological implications of interpreting the relation between the paradigms of philoso177 phy/demythology and folklore/mythology in attempting to overcome the hierarchical, two-tiered model of great and little traditions. Our main goal here is not to dispense altogether with the notion of distinct structures as a view that has somehow been superimposed on the kòan tradition by extraneous forces such as modern Western ideologies. Such a move would likely end in distorting rather than appropriating the development of the tradition. Like Buddhism in general, this tradition has consistently demonstrated a discrimination of correct or authentic versus incorrect or inauthentic beliefs in notions—such as the distinction between conditioned and unconditioned reality, the theory of Two Truths, and the assimilative doctrine of honji-suijaku. Our aim, rather, is to recognize the influence of the mythological perspective and to evaluate the connection between structures in terms of a nonjudgmental and nonhierarchical (or horizontal rather than vertical) framework. This approach avoids privileging the mainstream line of interpretation based on paradox by highlighting the elements of bivalence that, as part of the force field of the kòan narrative, drive the paradoxical viewpoint. The bivalent elements are further reflected in the am-bivalent attitude of philosophical commentators toward the issue of supernaturalism. But we must be careful not simply to reverse priorities by accentuating the muted structure as being somehow primary since that would perpetuate an imbalanced, one-sided standpoint. The goal is to preserve and yet bracket the perspective of tiers from a standpoint that embraces polarized discursive structures: to identify how the two paradigms complement and enhance while remaining distant and critical of one another in stemming from a force field that uses the fox as a symbol of moral crisis. The convergence between paradigms is based on a call for overcoming illusion that must occur within the bounds of the causal process, which is constantly tested and redefined in light of an encounter with some aspect of noncausality. A demythological approach regards the fox not as a being that literally possesses people but as a transpersonal icon: an open-ended, polysemous sign that allows for the complex crossing over and mediation between otherwise severed or facilely identified conceptual realms, including conditioned and unconditioned reality. But this representation of the fox turns out to be quite similar to the mythological perspective since, for example , the narrator of Jen-shih chuan has scolded Jen’s lover, Cheng, for failing to take his tragic affair with the vixen Miss Jen as an opportunity to investigate the boundary—the discrepancies as well as similarities—be178 • Text-Shaping tween spirits and humans. The narrator refers to a boundary—in this instance , the boundary separating the noble actions of the fei-jen from her petty, narrow-minded human companions—that must be questioned in order to clarify the shape of the discursive arenas that exist on either side of the flexible, ever shifting borderline encompassed by the force field. In the case of the fox kòan, the boundary between the ancient nonhuman master and the current human master of Mount Pai-chang must be acknowledged and clarified before it can be erased. Methodological Overtones and Undertones Coming to terms with the relation between paradigms—and different manifestations of Pai-chang—depends on forming a methodology for examining the dynamic movement between realms separated by the Jen-shih-like boundary. The movement operates on three interlocking levels in which the influence of bivalence is apparent...