Loving Openly
Su Dongpo visited Jinshan Temple to sit in meditation and practice Chan with Chan Master Foyin. Feeling clear and open in body and mind, he asked the master, "Master! What do you think of my sitting posture?"
Su Dongpo visited Jinshan Temple to sit in meditation and practice Chan with Chan Master Foyin. Feeling clear and open in body and mind, he asked the master, "Master! What do you think of my sitting posture?"
Chan Master Foyin replied, "Your sitting posture is most dignified—you are the very image of a Buddha!"
Su Dongpo was overjoyed to hear this.
Chan Master Foyin then turned to Su Dongpo and asked, "Scholar! What do you think of my sitting posture?"
Su Dongpo never let a chance to tease the master go to waste, so he replied at once, "Like a heap of cow dung!"
To Su Dongpo’s surprise, Chan Master Foyin was just as delighted to hear this. Even after being compared to cow dung, he had nothing to say. Convinced he had finally gotten the better of the master, Su Dongpo was secretly thrilled. He bragged to everyone he met, "I won today!"
Soon the news reached Su Dongpo’s younger sister, Su Xiaomei. She asked him, "Brother! How exactly did you beat the master?" Su Dongpo, bubbling with excitement, recounted the entire episode in vivid detail.
To his surprise, after he finished, Su Xiaomei said seriously, "Brother, you lost. The master’s mind is like the Buddha’s, so he sees you as a Buddha. But your mind is like cow dung, so that is why you see the master as cow dung."