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I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma Gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa
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The emperor heard about a monk who attained enlightenment and asked him to preach for his edification and that of his subjects. The monk stood before the emperor in silence. He then produced a flute from the folds of his robe, and blew one short note. Bowing politely, he disappeared.
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"Our master used to take a nap every afternoon," related a disciple of the emerald sage. "We monks asked him why he did it and he told us: 'I go to dreamland to meet the old sages just as the ancestors did.' When the ancestors slept, he would dream of ancient sages and later tell their communities about them. "It was extremely hot one day so some of us took a nap. Our master scolded us. 'We went to dreamland to meet the ancient sages the same as the ancestors did,' we explained. 'What was the message from those sages?' our master demanded. One of us replied: 'We went to dreamland and met the sages and asked them if our schoolmaster came there every afternoon, but they said they had never seen any such fellow.'"
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A rich man asked a monk to write something for the continued prosperity of his family so that it might be treasured from generation to generation. The monk obtained a large sheet of paper and wrote:"Father dies, son dies, grandson dies." The rich man became angry. "I asked you to write something for the happiness of my family! Why do you make such a joke as this?" "No joke is intended," explained the monk. "If before you yourself die you son should die, this would grieve you greatly. If your grandson should pass away before your son, both of you would be broken-hearted. If your family, generation after generation, passes away in the order I have named, it will be the natural course of life. I call this real prosperity."
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Once a young student visited one master after another. He called upon the old man of the mountain. Desiring to show his attainment, he said: "The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no relaization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received." The old man, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked the young one with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry. "If nothing exists," inquired the ancient one, "where did this anger come from?"
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A tea-master wished to hang a flower basket on a column. He asked a carpenter to help him, directing the man to place it a little higher or lower, to the right or to the left, until he had found exactly the right spot. "That's the place," said the master finally. The carpenter, to test the master, marked the spot and then pretended he had forgotten. "Was this the place, perhaps?" the carpenter kept asking, pointing to various places on the column. But so accurate was the tea-master's sense that it was not until the carpenter reached the identical spot again that its location was approved.
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The
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Lazy
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Dog
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