After Hyangum opened his temple, Weishan sent a monk to deliver a letter and a staff. Upon receiving them, Hyangum lamented crying out, “Alas, heavens! Alas, heavens!” The monk asked, “Master, why are you like this?” Hyangum replied, “It is because the weather feels like winter during my spring outing.”
Student: “What did the master mean by ‘the weather feels like winter during his spring outing’?”
Master: “One feels warm, and the other feels cold in the same place at the same time.”
Commentary:
Medicine, when wrongly used, can be poison, and poison, if well used, can be medicine.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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