Haikujo, a Chinese Zen master, used to work with his students even at the age of 80: trimming bushes in the garden, clearing paths and pruning trees.
The students felt guilty seeing the old teacher work so hard, but they knew that he would not listen to their advice not to work. So they decided to hide his tools.
The teacher did not eat that day. The next day he didn't eat either, and the next day too.
“He’s probably angry that we hid his instrument,” the students thought. “We’d better get them back.”
When they did this, the teacher worked all day and ate the same as before. In the evening he told them:
- He who doesn’t work doesn’t eat.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru