Sansheng’s Golden Fish
Sansheng asked Xuefeng, “What does a golden-scaled fish that goes through the net eat?” Xuefeng said, “I will tell you after you come out of the net.” Sansheng said, “The teacher of fifteen thousand monastics—and you can’t say a turning word.” Xuefeng said, “This old man is busy with abbot’s matters.”
Student: “Why did Xuefeng say, ‘I will tell you after you come out of the net’ when he was asked by Sansheng?”
Master: “Because he wanted to get Sansheng out of the net.”
Student: “What did Xuefeng mean by saying, ‘This old man is busy with abbot’s matters’?”
Master: “He meant that he, as an abbot, was busy teaching Sansheng.”
Commentary:
A blind man doesn’t see the net before his eyes while talking about it.
A deaf man doesn’t hear himself called names while he is abused.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway http://ow.ly/i/AZXmv
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