Pai Chu-yi (772-846) was one of China's greatest poets and a devout student of Buddhism.
On one occasion the poet visited a mountain monastery in order to question the wise abbot.
He asked the abbot what was the most essential teaching of Buddhism.
The wise monk answered with a verse from the Dhammapada, "To shun all evil. To do the good. To purify the mind. This is the teaching of the Buddhas."
These words did not impress Pai Chu-yi. "Every child of three summers knows these lines," the poet said. "What I want to know is the most profound and most fundamental teaching of the Buddha."
"Every child of three summers knows these lines," the abbot monk said. "But, white-haired men of eighty still fail to put them into practice."
The poet smiled, bowed low, and returned home pondering the words of the wise abbot.
No comments:
Post a Comment