Getting Older,none, the Wiser..

A young novice, the future emperor Tai Chung, asked the old master Huang Po:

"If we need to seek nothing, not even Buddha, Dharma and Sangha , why do you still prostrate yourself in front of the altar?"

"Though I don't seek the Buddha, Dharma or Sangha, it is my custom." answered the old master.

The future emperor insisted: "What purpose does it serve?"

The old master answered by a slap in the face of the young novice, who exclaimed: "How uncouth you are!"

And the old master answered: "Where do you find any distinction between uncouth and refined?"

http://zatma.org/Dharma/zbohy/Literature/essays/yxs/06122013.html