What are "turning phrases" anyway? What are they turning? Is r/zen turning? INTO A CULT???!!
I found four records on zenmarrow that refer to "turning words" or "turning phrases".
[**The Zen Teachings of Lin-Chi (Linji) #24: 24**](https://zenmarrow.com/Single?id=24&index=lin)
>As soon as the Master had gone to Huang-po's quarters and was standing in attendance by him, Huang-po mentioned his earlier conversation with the monk in charge of cooking rice. > >The Master said, "The monk didn't understand. I hope, Reverend, you'll be good enough to take his place and give us a turning word." Then the Master said, "Isn't that too much rice?" > >Huang-po said, "Why not say, 'Tomorrow you'll have a taste of it!'?"
Which one of "Isn't", "that", "too", "much", and "rice" is the turning word? Or is it all of them together, or none of them, or something else? I suspect it may be all of them but I'd rather re-evaluate than defend that suspicion.
[**The Record of Tung-shan (Dongshan) #90: 90**](https://zenmarrow.com/Single?id=90&index=dong)
>The Master also said, "Even to say `From the very beginning not a single thing exists' is similarly not a case of being worthy of obtaining the robe and bowl. Now speak! Who is worthy of obtaining the robe and bowl? > >You should present a turning phrase right here. What turning phrase will you present?" > >At that time there was a monk who presented ninety-six turning phrases, but none was suitable. Finally he presented a phrase that satisfied the Master.
So few are suitable, so many are unsuitable, what does this mean? What rubric is a Zen master using? How does one learn to use this rubric to evaluate phrases to see if they are suitable or not?
[**The Record of Tung-shan (Dongshan) #22: 22**](https://zenmarrow.com/Single?id=22&index=dong)
>The Master turned, swinging his sleeves, and went out. The next morning Pai-yen entered the hall, and, summoning the two shang-tsos, said to them, "Yesterday this old monk was unable to reply to you with an apt turning phrase. The whole night I could not rest easily, so today please provide me with a turning phrase. If it accords with this old monk's mind, then I will make provisions for congee, and we can pass the summer together."
That's a sweet deal, summer-long congee party for just one turning phrase!
SnarkNotes:
I feel like there may be other texts that may use synonyms and analogues of these terms. "Turning" seems to be a *really* common idiom and I'm barely a fraction of the way through reading the translations we have. Please feel more than welcome to bring those up!
So what *exactly* do y'all think a turning phrase *is*? What's your working definition?
Have you ever heard a turning phrase yourself? What was it? How do you know?
Have you ever given a turning phrase yourself? What was it? How do you know?
Is r/zen a cult with only one allowed definition of what a "turning phrase" is??? D: I don't *think so*, but cults can be very sneaky!