Daily Zen Quote - September 12, 2013

One day Rinzai stood up before the assembled monks and said: "I spent twenty years with my master, Obaku. Three times I ask him about the meaning of Buddhism, and three times he gave me a blow with his stick. It was like being patted by a bunch of mugwort. I'd love another taste of that stick now. Who can give it to me?"
A monk stepped forward: "I can!"
Rinzai held out the stick. The monk tried taking it. Rinzai struck him.

~Zen Mondo