Xuansha one day sent a monastic to deliver a letter to Xuefeng. Xuefeng received the monastic while he was teaching, opened the letter, and found a blank piece of paper. He showed it to the assembly and said, “Do you understand this?”
After a while he said, “Can’t you see what he says? Virtuous persons have the same understanding, even though they are one thousand miles apart.”
The monastic went back and reported this to Xuansha.
Xuansha said, “The old man on the mountain passed by me without knowing it.”
Student: “What did Xuefeng see when he found a blank piece of paper from Xuansha?”
Master: “He saw The Three Vehicles and the Twelve Divisions of the Sutras.”
Commentary:
A single blank piece of paper is more than enough to express all Buddha’s teaching.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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