Zen story: The Zen master who bowed to his student, acknowledging his poignant words

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A student went into the Zen master's room one day, to hand him a letter from another Zen master, who had passed by, but had not wanted to come in. The student, never being in his master's room before, was surprised that there was nothing at all in the master's room, not even a bed. The student asked the master, "What gives here? Why do you live so spartanly in this room, like this?" The master smiled at his student, and pointed at his heart, as he replied. "I have all that I need to live my life in here, why burden my body with other worries, and concerns?" The student grimaced, a bit, but still he replied like this: "Every body needs the comfort of sleep, as your body is not yours to abuse, but just lent to you for this journey. You might not be concerned, but your body is, when it isn't treated with love, but treated as if it is merely a useless vehicle for yourself." The Zen master was taken aback by the directness of his student's reply. He bowed deeply, as he left the room, and said. "You should be the Zen master here. I am leaving." "Do what you will with the room. But do remember that you are not the room either. You are the light in the room, as much as the light that that window lets through too. Do not place your furniture in front of your windows." Story takeaway: We should not live in a spartanistic way, but treat ourselves with as much respect as we give to the teachings, for the teachings are us, include us, and are not mutually exclusive to us, either, and yet they should not replace us either. We should never cut off our own light to spite the way our feet might be taking us. Our feet, must be connected to our hearts, not to our minds, for us to walk through life truly, guided rightly by the light, in our hearts, not dimmed by what our minds might want to believe on their own. Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com