ZEN (CH'AN) STORY - LIKE A PILE OF BULLSH**
By Ven Master Hsing Yun, from Merit Times.
By Ven Master Hsing Yun, from Merit Times.
"Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty went to meditate with Ch'an Master Foyin at Golden Mountain Temple. After Su Dongpo had experienced a total relaxation of body and mind, he asked Ch'an Master Foyin, "Master, what do you think of my sitting posture?"
"Very magnificent. Like a Buddha!"
Su Dongpo was very delighted to hear that. Master Foyin then asked him, "Scholar, what do you think of my sitting posture then?"
Su Dongpo, never giving up any chance to tease and jeer at Master Foyin, immediately replied, "Like a pile of bullsh**." Master Foyin was very delighted to hear the answer and did not utter another word.
Su Dongpo thought he had beaten Master Foyin because the Master was wordless while being compared to a pile of bullsh**. He was so proud of himself that he told everyone he met, "Today I won."
This news soon reached Su's sister Su Xiaomei. She asked him, "Brother, how was it that you beat Master today?" Su repeated the whole story vividly to his sister. Su Xiaomei, talented and smart as she was, told Su Dongpo straight to his face, "Brother, you actually lost. It is because Master's mind is actually that of a Buddha that he could see you as a Buddha. As your mind is like a pile of bullsh**, you, of course, saw him as a pile of bullsh**." Su Dongpo, realizing his Chan practice was far inferior to Master Foyin's, was speechless.
Moral: Ch'an does not depend on knowledge but upon the capacity to awake. Ch'an is not about eloquent debate but intuitive wisdom. Don't think all Ch'an masters handle encounters with sharp words. Sometimes, when they are silent and don't communicate via words and language, they can still utter the same deafening Dharma sounds."
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