Honoring an Old Dotard & A Certain Monk
The Master went to Chingchao to pay respects to the monk Hsing-p'ing. Hsing-p'ing said, "You shouldn't honor an old dotard."
The Master said, "I honor one who is not an old dotard."
Hsing-p'ing said, "Those who are not old dotards don't accept honoring."
The Master said, "Neither do they obstruct it."
During an evening assembly Guishan did not have the lanterns lit. He said, "I have something to say to you, but until the bull gives birth to a calf, I will not do so."
A certain monk said, "The bull has already given birth to a calf. It's only that you haven't told us what you have in mind."
Guishan said, "Attendant! Bring a lantern."
By the time the lantern arrived the monk had withdrawn and was lost among the assembly of monks.
Yunyan recounted this incident to the Master and asked, "What do you think about that?"
"Although the monk understood, he was simply not willing to pay homage," replied the Master.
All this talk about honoring and not honoring dotards. Questions! Questions! So many questions...
Who is the dotard? What Dongshan honoring?
How about the "certain monk"? It was established by the facts that he wasn't willing to pay homage, but did he, nevertheless, honor the dotard?
What about you?
Submitted January 29, 2020 at 06:50AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/2uBUXPj
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