Tozan came to teacher Ummon. Ummon asked him where he came from.
“From the village,” Tozan answered.
— Which monastery were you in in the summer? - asked Ummon.
“At Hoji Monastery, on the southern shore of the lake,” Tozan answered.
- When did you leave him? - Ummon asked, wondering to himself how much longer Tozan could answer questions like that.
“The twenty-fifth of August,” answered Tozan.
“I should give you three blows with a stick for such answers, but I forgive you,” said Ummon.
The next day Tozan bowed to Ummon and asked:
“Yesterday you forgave me for three blows with a stick, but I don’t understand why?”
Reproaching Tozan for his callous answers, Ummon said:
- You're good for nothing. You're just wandering from one monastery to another!
Ummon had not yet finished speaking when Tozan began to see clearly.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru