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61.Nothing Exists
Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He
called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.
Desiring to show his attainment, he said: "The mind, Buddha, and sentient
beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness.
There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving
and nothing to be received."
Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with
his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.
"If nothing exists," inquired Dokuon, "where did this anger come from?"
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62.No Work, No Food
Hyakujo, the Chinese Zen master, used to labor with his pupils even at the age
of eighty, trimming the gardens, cleaning the grounds, and pruning the trees.
The pupils felt sorry to see the old teacher working so hard, but they knew he
would not listen to their advice to stop, so they hid away his tools.
That day the master did not eat. The next day he did not eat, nor the next. "He
may be angry because we have hidden his tools," the pupils surmised. "We had
better put them back."
The day they did, the teacher worked and ate the same as before. In the evening
he instructed them: "No work, no food."
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63.True Friends
A long time ago in China there were two friends, one who played the harp
skilfully and one who listen skillfully.
When the one played or sang about a mountain, the other would say: "I can see
the mountain before us."
When the one played about water, the listener would exclaim: "Here is the
running stream!"
But the listener fell sick and died. The first friend cut the strings of his
harp and never played again. Since that time the cutting of harp strings has
always been a sign of intimate friendship
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64.The Living Buddha and the Tubmaker
Zen masters give personal guidance in a secluded room. No one enters while
teacher and pupil are together.
Mokurai, the Zen master of Kennin temple in Kyoto, used to enjoy talking with
merchants and newspapermen as well as with his pupils. A certain tubmaker was
almost illiterate. He would ask foolish questions of Mokurai, have tea, and then
go away.
One day while the tubmaker was there Mokurai wished to give personal guidance to
a disciple, so he asked the tubmaker to wait in another room.
"I understand you are a living Buddha," the man protested. "Even the stone
Buddhas in the temple never refuse the numerous persons who come together before
them. Why then should I be excluded?"
Mokurai had to go outside to see his disciple
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65.Time to Die
Ikkyu, the Zen master, was very clever even as a boy. His teacher had a precious
teacup, a rare antique. Ikkyu happened to break this cup and was greatly
perplexed. Hearing the footsteps of his teacher, he held the pieces of the cup
behind him. When the master appeared, Ikkyu asked: "Why do people have to die?"
"This is natural," explained the older man. "Everything has to die and has just
so long to live."
Ikkyu, producing the shattered cup, added: "It was time for your cup to die."
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66.Zen Dialogue
Zen teachers train their young pupils to express themselves. Two Zen temples
each had a child prot�g�. One child, going to obtain vegetables each morning,
would meet the other on the way.
"Where are you going?" asked the one.
"I am going wherever my feet go," the other responded.
This reply puzzled the first child who went to his teacher for help. "Tomorrow
morning," the teacher told him, "when you meet that little fellow, ask him the
same question. He will give you the same answer, and then you ask him: 'Suppose
you have no feet, then where are you going?' That will fix him."
The children met again the following morning.
"Where are you going?" asked the first child.
"I am going wherever the wind blows," answered the other.
This again nonplussed the youngster, who took his defeat to his teacher.
"Ask him where he is going if there is no wind," suggested the teacher.
The next day the children met a third time.
"Where are you going?" asked the first child.
"I am going to the market to buy vegetables," the other replied.
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67.Storyteller's Zen
Encho was a famous storyteller. His tales of love stirred the hearts of his
listeners. When he narrated a story of war, it was as if the listeners
themselves were in the field of battle.
One day Encho met Yamaoka Tesshu, a layman who had almost embraced masterhood of
Zen. "I understand," said Yamaoka, "you ar the best storyteller in out land and
that you make people cry or laugh at will. Tell me my favorite story of the
Peach Boy. When I was a little tot I used to sleep beside my mother, and she
often related this legend. In the middle of the story I would fall asleep. Tell
it to me just as my mother did."
Encho dared not attempt this. He requested time to study. Several months later
he went to Yamaoka and said: "Please give me the opportunity to tell you the
story."
"Some other day," answered Yamaoka.
Encho was keenly disappointed. He studied further and tried again. Yamaoka
rejected him many times. When Encho would start to talk Yamaoka would stop him,
saying: "You are not yet like my mother."
It took Encho five years to be able to tell Yamaoka the legend as his mother had
told it to him.
In this way, Yamaoka imparted Zen to Encho.
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68.Midnight Excursion
Many pupils were studying meditation under the Zen master Sengai. One of them
used to arise at night, climb over the temple wall, and go to town on a pleasure
jaunt.
Sengai, inspecting the dormitory quarters, found this pupil missing one night
and also discovered the high stool he had used to scale the wall. Sengai removed
the stool and stood there in its place.
When the wanderer returned, not knowing that Sengai was the stool, he put his
feet on the master's head and jumped down into the grounds. Discovering what he
had done, he was aghast.
Sengai said: "It is very chilly in the early morning. Do be careful not to catch
cold yourself."
The pupil never went out at night again.
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69.A Letter to a Dying Man
Bassui wrote the following letter to one of his disciples who was about to die:
"The essence of your mind is not born, so it will never die. It is not an
existance, which is perishable. It is not an emptiness, which is a mere void. It
has neither color nor form. It enjoys no pleasures and suffers no pains.
"I know you are very ill. Like a good Zen student, you are facing that sickness
squarely. You may not know exactly who is suffering, but question yourself: What
is the essence of this mind? Think only of this. You will need no more. Covet
nothing. Your end which is endless is as a snowflake dissolving in the pure
air."
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70.A Drop of Water
A Zen master named Gisan asked a young student to bring him a pail of water to
cool his bath.
The student brought the water and, after cooling the bath, threw on to the
ground the little that was left over.
"You dunce!" the master scolded him. "Why didn't you give the rest of the water
to the plants? What right have you to waste even one drop of water in this
temple?"
The young student attained Zen in that instant. He changed his name to Tekisui,
which means a drop of water.
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