Once a monk asked the sixth Patriarch, “Who got the Dharma from the fifth Patriarch?” The sixth Patriarch answered, “One who knew the Buddha’s Dharma did.” The monk asked, “Did you get it?” The sixth Patriarch said, “No, I didn’t.” The monk asked again, “Why didn’t you get it?” The sixth Patriarch said, “Because I didn’t know the Buddha’s Dharma.”
Student: “Why didn’t the sixth Patriarch know the Buddha’s Dharma even though he was a master?”
Master: “Because he was a master.”
Commentary:
What can be known or given and taken is not the Buddha’s Dharma.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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