If Nothing Exists
Yashita, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Edinus
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 relaization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received.”
Edinus, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yashita with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.
“If nothing exists,” inquired Edinus, “where did this anger come from?”
March 8th, 2009 at 4:37 am
I like this one because it is a great reminder that saying and believing are very far apart sometimes.If Yashita was truly not here then the Master’s strike would have hit nothing yet after all his talk of attainment he still has a bruise.
Better that he should have sat farther away before bragging about not being here.