Zen short story: The cartooning student (fiction)
By emptychair
@innertalks (23743)
Australia
February 22, 2022 4:03pm CST
The old Zen master, Zaldo Reposhki, had a student, who used to like to draw cartoon caricatures of his master, and place them on walls around the monastery.
This student was not even a good cartoonist, and nor was he a good student.
He was inattentive, and his mind was always distracted, perhaps on what his next cartoon drawing of his master would look like, this time around.
His latest cartoon was a particularly poor one, and the master called the student into his rooms, to have a private word with him.
He said to his student:
"I have a new koan for you to work on."
"When is a cartoon a good cartoon, and when is a student a good student?"
The student went off, thinking to himself, that the master thought that his cartoons were not so good, so for his next cartoon, he made it even worse than his normal ones.
This student had been drawing bad cartoons on purpose, to test his master's reaction to them.
The master knew that his student was not performing up to par, both with his cartooning, and with his Zen lessons either.
He dismissed the student, and he told him that he only wants students who are earnest here, and who allow the master to test them; it is not their job to test the master, themselves.
Discipline is a big part of Zen, and to become a Zen master, we need to learn discipline, and then learn how to administer it too.
But could this old Zen master have handled this situation any better?
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article belongs to the author of this piece.
The student's last cartoon was a particularly poor one, indeed!
It got him dismissed from the Zen monastery, of this master.
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1 response
@Shiva49 (28390)
• Singapore
23 Feb 22
The student obviously did not make the cut - as a cartoonist or as a good student.
Maybe, the zen master could have guided him and given him another chance to make amends so that the student gave up doodling and immersed himself in studies only.
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@Shiva49 (28390)
• Singapore
25 Feb 22
That reminds me of what Deepak Chopra said. He is listened to well in western countries but Indians have a take there is nothing new in what he says.
Yes, master and student have to be "match made in heaven" as, otherwise, it could well turn out as a square peg in a round hole. In a way like casting pearls before swine.
Then again a physician, however good he may be, should not treat his own family.
All is well that ends well.
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@innertalks (23743)
• Australia
26 Feb 22
@Shiva49 Nicely summarised, siva.
All is well that ends well, and in an emergency, a doctor might treat his own wife, and save her life too, but generally, we are better off not working in the same work as our family too.
I learnt that with my own businesses too.
Each person in the marriage of that business wants to rule it, run it, and fashion it in their own ways.
They are prompted to creatively input themselves into it, sometimes at the expense of the other.
I wanted to run my secondhand bookshop in one way, leaving it a bit ramshackle, as these shops tend to be, as this factor is an attractant to customers, but my wife was intent on tidying it up to the nines, so what could I do, but let her do her stuff with it too, as she genuinely thought that she was helping me in my business, by doing this for me too.
@Shiva49 (28390)
• Singapore
26 Feb 22
@innertalks Thanks Steve, I heard about a story where the antiques were polished new by an over-exuberant staff!
My friend from India went to work in Manila and was impressed by how much cleaning the staff was into before and after work. Of course, that does not happen in India.
I myself had accumulated a lot of stuff in the office and at the time of renovation, I realized I could lighten my load a lot and save space thereby.
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