Obaku’s Partakers of Brewer’s Grain
Obaku addressed the assembly and said, “You are all partakers of brewer’s grain. If you go on studying Zen like that, you will never finish it. Do you know that in all the land of T’ang there is no Zen teacher?”
Then a monk came forward and said, “But surely there are those who teach disciples and preside over the assemblies. What about that?”
Obaku said, “I do not say that there is no Zen, but that there is no Zen teacher.”

Setcho says:

Commanding his way of teaching;
But he made it no point of merit.
Seated majestically over the whole land,
He distinguished the dragon from the snake.
Emperor Taichu once encountered him
And thrice fell into his clutches.

Osho,
Obaku says there is no Zen teacher. It seems to me therefore that there can be no disciples. So who are you and who are we?

And the second question:

Obaku seems to be saying that one cannot know Zen by experiencing one particle of brewer’s grain. But I have heard you say, “Taste one drop of the ocean, and you know the whole ocean.”
Can you please comment?

Maneesha, Zen is the very principle of existence. Whether there is anyone who teaches it or not, whether there is anyone who learns it or not, it is there. Zen is the very heartbeat of existence. It is not dependent on any teaching, not dependent on any masters, not dependent on disciples. Masters come and go, disciples come and disappear; Zen remains. Just as it is. It is always just as it is.

I have made my comment.

Now I will take the anecdote:

Obaku addressed the assembly and said, “You are all partakers of brewer’s grain. If you go on studying Zen like that, you will never finish it. Do you know that in all the land of T’ang there is no Zen teacher?”
Then a monk came forward and said, “But surely there are those who teach disciples and preside over the assemblies. What about that?”
Obaku said, “I do not say that there is no Zen, but that there is no Zen teacher.”

I hope things are very simple.

If there is no Catholic church, no pope, there will be no Christianity, because Christianity has nothing to do with existence’s essence. If there is no shankaracharya and no Hindu monks, existence will just remain the same as it is. Their being or not being does not affect existence. Certainly their doctrines will disappear, their congregations will not be held anymore. Their teachers and their masters and their disciples will not be there. And if these people think Hinduism is dependent on these scriptures, shankaracharyas, then certainly there will be no Hinduism either.