Tuesday 17 July 2007

A Little Nonsense Now and Zen


Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon the 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 realisation, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be recieved.'


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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