80. Your Idea Of Yourself Is Not You: Part 1

Dok Sahn once called on Zen Master Yong Dam and stayed until late evening. Dok Sahn at the
time was considered to be the foremost scholar and authority on the Diamond Sutra. He was
also preceptor to the nobility and would spend hours lecturing on his vast scriptural knowledge.
Yong Dam finally interrupted himself saying “It is getting late, you’ve had a long journey, you
should get some rest.”

Yong Dam had prepared a small retreat hut for Dok Sahn down the path, but Dok Sahn having
never been there before was unfamiliar with the temple grounds.

Nevertheless, Dok Sahn said good night, lifted the door curtain and proceeded outside. Noticing
that it was pitch dark, he turned back and said, “There is not even moonlight, it is completely
dark, I will not be able to find my way.” Yong Dam said “No problem” and immediately lit a rice
paper candle and handed it to Dok Sahn. Once again he took an initial step outside. At that
precise moment Yong Dam leaned over his shoulder and blew out the candle. Dok Sahn had an
opening. He immediately bowed to his host.

Because it was dark outside, there were no points of reference, nothing for Dok Sahn to hang
on to. Metaphorically speaking, education, ethnic background, and life experience inevitably
establishes constructs, a conglomeration of ideas about ourselves that reinforce a separate “I.”
That is why Dok Sahn bowed. Let’s illustrate this further.

We talk sometimes about the kong an “Dropping Ashes On The Buddha.” Someone enters the
dharma hall smoking a cigarette and dropping the ashes on the altar Buddha. You are there, but
you know nothing about this man, maybe he has had some insight into impermanence.
“Everything is equal, why make a Buddha statue somehow special,” or maybe he is just
arrogant. So, what do you do?

There is a similar story of an old Zen Master in China. A long time ago during a very cold, windy
and rainy winter night, the monks discovered that the covering used to keep the firewood dry
had blown off. All the wood was completely soaked, leaving the monks with no fuel to keep the
fire going. The old Zen Master was simply a visiting guest. He sized up the problem, and
proceeded to take the wooden Buddha from the altar and throw it on the embers where it
burned quite nicely warming the whole room. The head monk came into the room, saw what
had happened and began yelling at the old monk. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? That
Buddha was hundreds of years old, it was considered a relic and you’ve just destroyed it!” The
old monk just smiled and calmly said, “Please come and warm yourself by the fire and invite the
other monks to join us.” The old Zen Master was teaching that everything is just passing
phenomena, impermanent, and ephemeral.
Zen Master Seung Sahn often taught us, “Don’t make special.”

PART TWO NEXT WEEK