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Inspired by a thread in my previous post: This is a general retelling of a Zen Buddhist story from ancient China. (I think it might even predate Zen, but the flavor is very Zen anyway.) I'm going to mess up a few of the details, because I don't have the text close at hand, but the exact names of the mountain and the two monks are really not the point anyway. The basic idea still comes through.
Once, on a holy mountain in the wilderness, there lived Monk A, who was so holy that the birds would bring him gifts of flowers every day. Monk B came to visit him, and they spent some time walking among the forested mountain pathways, talking of Weighty and Holy Matters. During one of these walks, a bear roared in the forest nearby, and Monk B jumped, startled. "I see it is still with you," said Monk A, referring to the instinctual fear of death.
Later, when they returned to Monk A's camp site, Monk B took a moment to surreptitiously write the Holy Name of Buddha on a stool where Monk A was accustomed to sit. When Monk A returned, he was about to sit down... when he saw what was written on the place where he was about to plant his bottom, and stopped, startled. "I see it is still with you, too," observed Monk B.
At that moment, Monk A was fully enlightened. And the birds never brought him any more flowers.
Later, when they returned to Monk A's camp site, Monk B took a moment to surreptitiously write the Holy Name of Buddha on a stool where Monk A was accustomed to sit. When Monk A returned, he was about to sit down... when he saw what was written on the place where he was about to plant his bottom, and stopped, startled. "I see it is still with you, too," observed Monk B.
At that moment, Monk A was fully enlightened. And the birds never brought him any more flowers.
I got this one from Alan Watts' The Way of Zen, but I suspect its real source is much older. (Duh.)
Heh. It's interesting to look through my tags list and see which ones apply in odd ways. Okay, I think this is now tagged appropriately.
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