including the Buddha-eye

KASSAN AND JOZAN WERE GOING ALONG, TALKING TOGETHER, WHEN JOZAN SAID, "IF, WITHIN LIFE-AND-DEATH, THERE WERE NO BUDDHA, THERE WOULD BE NO LIFE-AND-DEATH." KASSAN SAID, "IF THE BUDDHA WERE WITHIN LIFE-AND-DEATH, THERE WOULD BE NO DELUSION WITH REGARD TO LIFE-AND-DEATH."
THEY ARGUED BACK AND FORTH, AND THERE WAS NO END TO IT. FINALLY, THEY DECIDED TO ASK DAIBAI. KASSAN SAID TO HIM, "OF THESE TWO OPINIONS, WHICH IS THE MORE FAMILIAR?" DAIBAI SAID, "ONE IS FAMILIAR, ONE IS DISTANT." "WHICH IS THE FAMILIAR ONE?" SAID KASSAN. "GO AWAY AND ASK ME AGAIN TOMORROW," RESPONDED DAIBAI. THE NEXT DAY KASSAN CAME AGAIN AND ASKED. DAIBAI SAID, "A FAMILIAR ONE DOES NOT ASK. ONE WHO ASKS IS NOT FAMILIAR."
KASSAN AFTERWARDS SAID, "AT THAT TIME, WHEN I WAS WITH DAIBAI, I LOST MY BUDDHA-EYE."
What he means by this is that being with Daibai, the master, he lost all his knowledge, all his intelligence, all his mind -- he lost everything, including the Buddha-eye. He used to think that he knew. He used to think that he had got the Buddha-eye. The Buddha-eye means the same as the expression `the third eye'; it is just a symbol of looking inwards. Your two eyes open outwards; just between them there is a point where you look inwards. That point is symbolically called `the third eye'. Remember, it is only a metaphor.