Hogen, a Chinese Zen master, lived alone in a small temple in a village. One day, four wandering monks asked him to allow them to light a fire and warm themselves.
As they started the fire, Hogen heard them arguing about objectivity and subjectivity. He joined them and said:
- Here's a big stone. Do you think it is inside or outside our consciousness?
One of the monks replied:
— From a Buddhist point of view, every thing is the embodiment of consciousness, so, in my opinion, the stone is inside consciousness.
“Your head must be very heavy,” said Hogen, “if you carry such stones in your mind.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru