Late Night Linji

One day Constant Attendant Wang called on the Master and together they went to look at the monks' hall.

Constant Attendant Wang said, "this hallful of monks -- do they read sutras perhaps?"

The Master said, "No they don't read sutras."

"Do they perhaps learn how to meditate?" asked the Constant Attendant.

"No, they don't learn how to meditate," said the Master.

The Constant Attendant said, "If they don't read sutras and they don't learn how to meditate, what in fact do they do?"

The Master said, "We're training all of them to become buddhas and patriarchs."

The Constant Attendant said, "Gold dust may be precious, but if it gets in the eye it can blind. What about it?"

The Master said, "And I always thought you were just an ordinary fellow!"

---

No sutra reading or meditating in these parts. Now tell me then, what does this "training" involve?

Submitted November 02, 2019 at 08:16AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/2Wx8W2Q