May 9^th, 2025

The Circumstance is the Teaching

People sometimes ask me, "Did you have to pass examinations and study a lot to become a priest?" Lived experience is what we need to be priests and teachers. To study the sutras and to know the history of our tradition is fine, but it is only our own lived experience that we can use and give away to someone else.

There was once a monk named Isan who studied all the Theravada and Mahayana texts, but this didn't seem to make him feel more at ease; in fact, he felt dis-eases. His mind was wobbly. So he went to Master Hyakugo's place, and sat down on a cushion, and sat, and sat, and sat, and after some time he became Hyakujo's attendant monk. One evening, while he was sitting, Hyakujo suddenly said, "Who are you?" The monk, surprised, told him his name. "Go and alook in the fire," Hyakujo said. "See if any burning embers remain." So he went over to the fire and dug around, dug around and couldn't find anything. There were just ashes. It was just as his sitting had been - cold ashes. The teacher came over, and dug around with the tongs. Deep in the ashes, he found one tiny ember. He held it out. And Isan was enlightened. He suddenly realized that deep down inside himself was this living fire.

Maurine Stuart Roshi, Subtle Sound, pp. 48-49