Zen masters teach their students to express their feelings directly.
One boy lived not far from the monastery. He often met Keitya, his peer from the monastery, who went to the market every day to buy vegetables. And one day he asked:
- Keityu, where are you going? - Wherever your feet take you! - came the answer instantly.
The boy was puzzled, and in the evening he came to his father for advice.
- Ask him the same question tomorrow. He will answer the same, and then you ask: “And if you didn’t have legs, where would you go?” This will take him by surprise!
In the morning the children met again.
-Where are you going? “Where the wind blows,” came the answer.
This again confused the child, and he told his father about the failure.
- And next time you ask him where he would go if there was no wind.
In the morning the boy was already waiting for Keitya with a question:
-Where are you going? “To the market, to buy vegetables,” Keityu answered immediately.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru