Lin-chi said:
When I was young, I liked to sail on a boat. I had a small boat: alone I would go sailing on the lake and could stay there for hours.
One day I was sitting with my eyes closed and meditating. It was a wonderful night. Some empty boat was floating with the current and hit mine. Anger rose within me! I opened my eyes and was about to curse the person who had disturbed me, but I saw that the boat was empty. My anger had nowhere to go. Who was I supposed to take it out on? I had no choice but to close my eyes again and begin to take a closer look at my anger. The moment I saw him, I took the first step on my Path.
On this quiet night I came to the center within myself. The empty boat became my teacher. From then on, if someone tried to offend me and anger rose in me, I laughed and said:
- This boat is also empty.
I closed my eyes and went inside myself.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru