My self, my bowl

A monk asked Joshu, "What is my self?"

Joshu said, "Have you eaten your rice gruel?"

The monk said, "I have."

Joshu said, "Then go and wash your bowl."

-- Sayings of Joshu

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My comment

There's an interesting etymological learning in this case. It's sparked by the term "rice gruel", a term I admit I wasn't familiar with. "Rice gruel", variously called "conjee" or "conj" or "cuj", is a food consumed across almost all of South and Eastern Asia.

One thing we should note is that rice gruel is often served to people who are sick, or even dying. Essentially a cheap, soft-on-the-stomach rice recipe, often prepared with seasoning and sometimes with other ingredients, such as vegetables - or chicken or fish if you're very lucky.

Anyway, the interesting part of all this is as follows. I'm sure you're aware of the word "gruelling", which is usually a modifier on a boring, exhausting or punishing experience. But the term derives from the Victorian expression "to get one's gruel". Which meant, literally, to receive and eat your dirty, tasteless, oatmeal gruel - an experience that was so common, that it entered the realm of metaphor.

This is exactly why you shouldn't wash your bowl.

Submitted June 12, 2022 at 05:39AM by Jamalwherewithall https://ift.tt/r018UlI