The Clam Monk

From Dahui Shobogenzo case 470

The Clam Monk lived in no fixed place. After he was acknowledged by Dongshan, he blended in with the populace along the Min River. He used to follow the river bank gathering clams to eat. At night he would sleep in the paper money offerings at White Horse Shrine. The local residents called him the Clam Monk. Master Huayan Jing heard of him and wanted to determine if he was real or fake; he buried himself in the paper money ahead of time, and when the Clam Monk came back to settle late that night he grabbed him and asked, “What is the meaning of the founding teacher’s coming from the West?” The Clam Monk immediately replied, “The bowl on the wine stand in front of the spirit.”

Ewk has made the point that its not like Zen masters never broke the precepts. And in a more recent comment he said that if you're begging for food in a non-vegetarian community you either eat the meat or starve, and that starving would also break the no murder precept.

The Clam Monk is a great example of this. Seems like he was living a homeless existence mixed in with the general populace. It was either eat the clam or probably die from being malnourished. So eat the clams and break the precept or starve on purpose and break the precept. A unique situation.

The precepts are guidelines that allow study of Zen. When you can follow them, follow them.

Of course I can't see where "wanting my beer on the weekend" becomes a life or death situation so some precepts are a bit more iron clad than others.

Submitted February 24, 2023 at 12:00AM by koancomentator https://ift.tt/bN9fHyP