Riding an A**

Master Ximu went up in the hall; a layman raised his hand and said, “You’re an ass.”

Ximu said, “I’m ridden by you.”

The layman was speechless.

Three days later he came back and said, “Three days ago I ran into a bandit.”

Ximu took up his staff and drove him out.

DevinD420's two cents: Ximu was an unexcelled master. When this layman came into the hall, he knew exactly how to deal with him. The staff is for driving out those who violate the method of the teaching, who soil the clean Dharma.

Let's discuss. What is the clean Dharma? The clean Dharma is hand in hand with all of the Ancients. A popular saying of the ancients is, "Pursuing things is inferior, detachment from things is superior." But taking ahold of teachings like this is called keeping dead words. It is not the true Dharma. The Zen Dharma is living and active, attending to cause and effect immediately, functioning according to the situation. When questioned, if you blink an eye and miss the point, don't pretend that a clear eyed fellow won't come along and spot you out.

Now, what about this layman? Why did he barge in full-speed riding an ass? Clearly, he was a chatterbox. The beating was surely well-deserved.

But tell me quickly, where did the layman take this beating?

Submitted February 06, 2019 at 12:58PM by DevinD420 http://bit.ly/2DcvMU1