Preceding Teachers

Kaku asked his Master, Tokusan, one day, "Old Masters and sages, I supposed, have gone somewhere. Will you tell me what became of them?" "I do not know where they are," came the reply. Kaku was disappointed. "I was expecting an answer like a running horse, but I got one like a crawling turtle." Tokusan remained silent, as if defeated in argument.

The next day, after his bath, Tokusan came into the sitting room where Kaku served him tea. Tokusan patted his attendant on the back and asked, "How is the koan you spoke of yesterday?" "Your Zen is better today," answered the monk. But Tokusan remained silent, as if defeated in argument.

Tokusan's attitude is as natural as a loosely hung curtain swaying in the wind. Kaku is an intelligent disciple - but his challenge is met with no resistance: "I do not know where they are." Kaku is disgusted and delivers an insult to his teacher. But Tokusan makes no effort to defend himself. The next day Tokusan's attitude is new and fresh; however, Kaku still has the same thing on his mind. So Tokusan asks him kindly, "How is the koan you spoke of yesterday?" This time the disciple is full of praise for his Master's Zen - but Tokusan remains as silent to praise as he had been to criticism. A hanging curtain blows forward and backward in the wind. Naturalness is the way of the wise.