Volume 1, Track 1
Here are a few of my favorite spiritual stories of the East, many of them from my own experience. Now, quite a few so-called spiritual stories of the [East] have a humorous side. This is particularly so with Zen and Sufi stories. If, after enjoying them, one looks a little more closely, it will be seen that there is a deeper meaning hidden behind the laughter, a spiritual message of some importance. A good example of this has to do with the Chinese Zen master Zhaozhou, known as Joshu in Japan.
A monk once asked him this question: “If a man comes here carrying nothing, what should I tell him?” “Tell him to throw it out,” was the prompt response. Mystified the monk asked, “If he’s not carrying anything, how can he throw it out?” “In that case, let him carry it out,” was the Master’s sharp reply.
This story has a much deeper meaning than it is at first apparent. The monk is really asking what he can say to one who has completely emptied himself and experienced enlightenment.
Zhaozhou says, “This is not good enough for me” and unexpectedly says to “throw out all that garbage.” It is not enough to be enlightened, he says. One must not become attached to the void, the state of emptiness, but must come back into the marketplace as an ordinary man in order to help others on their spiritual journey.
This is quite different, of course, from the Indian teaching, which aims at individual liberation, known as moksha, and from the aims of Hinayana Buddhism, the so-called primitive Buddhism, which also teaches only individual salvation.
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Zen is part of Mahayana Buddhism, a later development in which the Bodhisattva ideal of saving all sentient beings, every blade of grass, is emphasized. When the monk chants
SHU JO MU HEN SEI GAN DO
BON NO MU JIN SEI GAN DAN
HO MON MU RYO SEI GAN GAKU
BUTSU DO MU JO SEI GAN JO
he is promising to forego his own salvation, his own realization in Nirvana, in order to act as a raft to ferry others across the sea of suffering. Not for him the delights of heaven. He has dedicated his merits to all beings.
And this is an important point to many on the spiritual path because very often they will reach a state of oneness and then rest in that state of bliss, feeling that that’s all there is. Whereas Zhaozhou is saying they must go on from there, make the full circle and come back into the marketplace to use their enlightenment for the benefit of all of you.
To listen to Justin reading Spiritual Stories of the East, click here.