Zen story: When is enlightenment not enlightenment? When its delusion!
@innertalks (22693)
Australia
May 7, 2025 10:53pm CST
The Zen master was eating a meal of fish, when a student asked him, why are you not a vegetarian, a man of your stage of enlightenment?
The Zen master replied simply:
"Diet is more of the body than of the soul."
"Ensure your soul is fed the right food, and the food for your body will follow in kind."
The Zen master was seated outside at a bench, and nearby was a dead tree.
The same student asked him:
"Why do you not chop down this dead tree?"
The Zen master answered him:
"Around the dead tree, grass keeps growing."
The Zen master then added a few extra remarks.
"When in the dark, can you darken further?"
"When in the light, can you light even more?"
"Faith cannot be present without doubt being there too."
"Enlightenment cannot be present without delusion."
"When love knocks on the door of your heart, let her in."
"Don't waste time getting ready, be ready now."
The student then said:
"You fill my head with such fodder, that I feel overfed with your dung."
The Zen master replied.
"Learn to hear with your eyes, and see with your ears, and stop emptying your feelings through your mouth, onto others."
"Only the enlightened recognise enlightenment, even as a dung beetle, recognises another dung beetle."
The student had heard enough, and he walked away to think further over some of these things.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
A dead tree does not kill the grass around it too.
1 person likes this
1 response
@Shiva49 (27171)
• Singapore
8 May
To tune in to the right wavelength is not easy for most especially of those who have heightened awareness.
The code words that are esoteric makes sense only to those who have specialized knowledge or interest.
Your post seems to be one of those that falls into this category!
Trees are sentinels that are more useful than what we credit them for.
Our overall contribution is more led by greed and selfishness and nature has to double down to withstand our relentless onslaught.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22693)
• Australia
8 May
The student certainly had a long way to go to make sense of his master's words, but he needed to learn to sit with the master's words, in his heart, not to spew them out of his mind, as derogatory comments, as nothing is learned when the mind blankets over truth with its own thoughts.
When we are led by greed, and exploit the world, and nature, nature usually in the end, will usually act up against us, rather than keep supporting us. It is far better to work with nature, than to work against it.
@Shiva49 (27171)
• Singapore
18h
@innertalks How others react to our conversations is beyond our control.
We can only control what we say to get to even ground.
I had gone to a mobile service provider a while ago. I put forth my request and their response was not initially helpful. With patience I prevailed upon them to consider my case sympathetically as what they said was not logical.
Soon another man walked in and I cannot say he way a gentleman. The counter staff asked for clarification from her colleague but that person said aloud he needed privacy.
That brought about different reactions from the staff. My approach was logical but I made my point clear politely but the other was rude to an extent it brought about a pall of gloom in the atmosphere.
The student should realize he will be a misfit even if he happens to succeed the Zen master.
It can end up a shouting match with his students and setting the organization into a quick decline.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (22693)
• Australia
10h
@Shiva49 Yes, especially in customer service, we need to turn that frown, upside down, stay calm, and carry on, and remember that the vibe we live from will attract similar vibes to us, so we will then live in that bad vibe tribe, to use a few well-run cliche lines here.
If the student can get past his own self-arrogance, and move to humility of heart, he might make a good Zen master, as all Zen masters need humility, and not just arrogant bluff, plus they need to live the truth, not just spurt it forth, and hit people in the face with it, forcibly from their mind, rather than gently from their heart.
