- Tortoise
- Perhaps Zen is instructive because it is humorous. I would guess that if you took all such stories entirely seriously, you would miss the point as often as you would get it.
- Achilles
- Maybe there's something in your Tortoise-Zen.
- Tortoise
- Can you answer just one question for me? I would like to know this: Why did Bodhidharma come from India into China?
- Achilles
- Oho! Shall I tell you what Jōshū said when he was asked that very question?
- Tortoise
- Please do.
- Achilles
- He replied, “That oak tree in the garden.”
- Tortoise
- Of course; that's just what I would have said. Except that I would have said it in answer to a different question—namely, “Where can I find some shade from the midday sun?”
- Achilles
- Without knowing it, you have inadvertently hit upon one of the basic questions of Zen. That question, innocent as it sounds, actually means, “What is the basic principle of Zen?”
- Tortoise
- How extraordinary. I hadn't the slightest idea that the central aim of Zen was to find some shade.
- Achilles
- Oh, no—you've misunderstood me entirely. I wasn't referring to that question. I meant your question about why Bodhidharma came from India into China.
http://www.madore.org/~david/zen/#prel.hackerszen.geb
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