What's the highest honor a Zen Master can bestow?

Primer: https://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/a1vdma/the_interesting_way_subjective_and_objective_are/

1. What's the right way to greet the king?

2. What's the right way to treat a guest?

3. What's the right way to be a guest?

4. How do you defuse an argument?

5. What if the person you've offended has yet to be placated?

6. Can you resist the urge to feed the fire?

7. How long will it take?

8. Can you go straight?

9. What if the fire jumps onto your sleeve?

10. What happens to a dream deferred?

11. Insult and compliment? Honor your guest and save your own face?

https://terebess.hu/zen/huangboBlofeld.html

One day, five new arrivals presented themselves to our Master in a group. One of them, instead of making the customary prostration, remained standing and greeted him somewhat casually with a motion of his clasped hands.

‘And do you know how to be a good hunting-dog?' enquired our Master.

‘I must follow the antelope's scent.'

‘Suppose it leaves no scent, what will you follow then?'

‘Then I'd follow its hoof-marks.'

‘And if there were no hoof-marks, what then?'

‘I could still follow the animal's tracks.'

‘But what if there were not even tracks? How would you follow it then?'

‘In that case,' said the newcomer, ‘it would surely be a dead antelope.'

Our Master said nothing more at the time but, on the following morning after his sermon, he asked: ‘Will yesterday's antelope-hunting monk now step forward.' The monk complied and our Master enquired: ‘Yesterday, my Reverend friend, you were left without anything to say. How was that?'

Finding that the other returned no answer, he continued: ‘Ah, you may call yourself a real monk, but you are just an amateur novice.'

Submitted December 01, 2018 at 02:06PM by seigando https://ift.tt/2zxdk7G