Gudu was at one time the emperor's mentor. Despite this, he used to travel alone, like a simple wandering monk. One day, heading to Edo, the cultural and political center of the shogunate, he came to a small village called Takenaka. It was evening, it was raining heavily, and Gudu was thoroughly wet. His straw sandals fell apart. In the window of a house located at the edge of the village, he noticed four or five pairs of sandals hanging and decided to buy himself some dry ones.
The sandals were sold to him by a woman who, seeing how wet he was, invited him to spend the night. Gudu gratefully agreed. Upon entering, he read the sutra in front of the home altar. He was introduced to the owner's mother and children. Noticing that the whole family was upset about something, Gudu asked what happened.
“My husband is a gambler and a drunkard,” said the woman. “When he wins, he gets drunk and becomes unbearable.” When he loses, he borrows money everywhere. And when sometimes he gets completely drunk, he doesn’t come home at all. What should I do?
“I’ll help him,” said Gudu. - Here's the money. Buy me a gallon of good wine and some tasty food. And you can go to bed. I will meditate in front of the altar.
At midnight the owner returned home, very drunk, he shouted:
- Hey, wife! I've already come home. Will you give me something to eat?
“Take it from me,” said Gudu. “I was caught in the rain, and your wife generously invited me to stay the night.” For this I bought wine and fish, so take it.
He was delighted. He immediately drank all the wine and lay down on the floor to sleep. Gudu sat down next to him to meditate.
Waking up in the morning, the head of the family did not remember anything.
- Who are you? Where? - he asked Gudu, who was still sitting in meditation.
“I am Gudu from Kyoto and am heading to Edo,” answered the Zen master.
Deeply ashamed, the owner began to fussily ask for forgiveness from the emperor's teacher. Gudu smiled:
“Everything is impermanent in this life,” he said. - Life is very short. If you continue to drink and gamble, you will not have time to do anything else, and you will bring new suffering to your family.
He suddenly had an awakening of understanding; it was as if he had gotten rid of the obsession.
“You’re right,” he exclaimed. - How can I thank you for this wonderful teaching? Let me walk you a little and bring you your things.
“Okay, if you want,” Gudu answered after a moment, and they set off.
After three miles, Gudu told him to go home.
- Five more miles? - the companion asked Gudu.
They moved on.
“Now you can go back,” Gudu suggested.
“We’ll go another ten miles,” he answered.
“Now go back,” said Gudu, when another ten miles had been covered.
“I’m going to follow you for the rest of my life,” said his companion.
Modern Zen teachers in Japan trace their lineage back to the famous master, Gudu's successor. His name was Mu-Nan - He Who Never Returns.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru