One day one of Joshu’s students bade farewell to Joshu. Joshu said to him, “Where are you going?” The student answered, “I am going to search for the Buddha.” Joshu said, “Don’t stay where the Buddha is, and go quickly through the place where the Buddha is not. If you happen to meet a person one thousand miles away, don’t respond to him wrongly.”
Hearing this, the student said, “I will not leave then.” Joshu said, “Pick willow flowers. Pick willow flowers.”
Student: “Then, where should we go if we shouldn’t stay where the Buddha is, and should go quickly through the place where the Buddha is not?”
Master: “Joshu showed it to you.”
Commentary:
How impolite and foolish it is of you to shake off the Buddha’s hug and to go to seek him!
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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