Once Master Joshu said to his students, “During one of my expeditions, when I visited a shrine, the head monk of it lifted his fist before my face, and I said, ‘The water here is too shallow for a ship to dock’. When I went to another shrine, the head monk of it also lifted his fist before my face, and I said, ‘The water here is deep enough for a big ship to dock’”.
Student: “Why did Master Joshu distinguish the two head monks from each other by saying the former was inferior to the latter even though both performed the same action?”
Master: “Because Joshu was so exhausted from his long journey that he spoke deliriously.”
Commentary:
Make the smallest distinction and you will be as far apart from the truth as heaven is from earth.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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