One day seeing his students quarrelling about the ownership of a cat, Namjun, holding the cat in one hand and a sword in the other, said, “If you can say, I’ll leave this cat alive, but I’ll cut it if you can’t say.” No one said, and he cut the cat into two. When he told the story to Joshu later, Joshu took off one of his shoes, put it on his head and went out of the room. Seeing it, Namjun said, “If you had been then, the cat could have been saved.”
Student: “Why was Namjun so cruel as to cut a living cat when he ought to have had compassion as a Buddhist?”
Master: “Because you mistake medicine for poison.”
Commentary:
Those who are punished for the sin they didn’t commit are sentient beings.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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