When Bankei spent his weeks in meditation, students gathered from different parts of Japan to study with him. During one of these meetings, a student thief was caught. Bankei was informed about this and asked to drive away the criminal.
Bankei did not pay attention to this incident. Later, this student was again caught doing the same thing, and again Bankei did not look into the case. This angered the rest of the students, and they wrote a petition in which they asked to remove the thief, otherwise they would leave him in full force.
When Bankei read the petition, he gathered everyone and said:
-You are wise brothers. You know what is good and what is bad. You can go wherever you want and study there. But this lost brother cannot distinguish between good and bad. Who will teach him if not me? He will remain here even if you all leave.
Tears streamed down the thief's face. All desire to steal was gone.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru