Short story: A Zen story about a master being served his tea

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The old master was outside, sitting at a table, writing his poetry: Senryu: About the state of no-mind Clouds were drifting by. His mind saw something in them, not within his mind. He had just finished writing this poem, when it was now time for morning tea. A new monk to the Zen monastery brought the morning teacups into the monastery’s main garden to serve him, the monastery's head master, Rinzgri Dolshan. As the monk approached the stone table, Rinzgri suddenly looked at his student, and said, "Drop it!" The monk, not sure of what the cantankerous old master really wanted, then placed one of his teacups down, right next to where his master was sitting. Suddenly, the old man said to his student, once more, "Drop it!" The student, feeling just a little perplexed at this, placed another cup of tea down onto the table next to the first one. "Maybe the old guy was extra thirsty today, this morning. After all, he has been sitting out here in the hot sun for the last hour, or two," he thought then to himself. For a third time now, this great old master again said once again the very same words to his student, "Drop it!" The student thought now that he had gotten the message at last. He placed the whole tray of cups onto the table. The master must have wanted him and the other students to share the drinks with him at his table this morning, rather than his drinking alone, as he usually did. Imagine this student's surprise now then, when the old Zen master, looking him directly in the eye, now said more firmly, and in a different tone than before, "Drop it. Drop it all, my son." "But, I am holding onto nothing more now in my hands, now" he murmured, back at the master. "Drop that, too!!" the master barked back loudly. The young monk was perplexed, but only for a moment, before something else did drop. It dropped inside of him. He had dropped his mind into the heart of oneness. "Good, good," the old master murmured, back, even as he beamed his grandest of smiles at his youngest recruit. "You really had nothing else now to drop, but that, did you." "We have now taken you away from your mind." "Your mind was ready to be plucked, and then it dropped into the basket of your heart." "You will live from your heart first from now on in your life, and not from your mind first." Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com The old Zen master brought the student into his heart, with the command to drop it, (his mind).