Editing Openai/6913bc28-779c-8001-ac46-e9542d91fa75 (section)

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Literal sense:

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Context / meaning:
* “正主” means the “true host” — often a Chan metaphor for the true self or original mind that presides over phenomena.
* The monk might be asking, “Who or what is the true principle behind this temple / teaching?”
* Zhaozhou answers simply by giving his own name (Congshen 從諗), i.e. “I, this old monk, am he,” refusing to objectify the “true host” into an abstract idea. → In Chan idiom, this is both literal and pointing: the awakened mind of the person right before you is the “true host.”

In sequence, the three sayings together form a characteristic Zhaozhou rhythm:
# A moral or doctrinal question → answered with realism (“the betrayer himself”).
# A compassionate or material question → answered with sufficiency (“not lacking”).
# A metaphysical question → answered with immediacy (“this very monk”).

They show how Zhaozhou handles ethics, compassion, and identity — all with plain, direct speech that dismantles conceptual extremes.