Forms of Silence

A Chinese Zen master once gave this problem to his disciples: "A monk is hanging by his teeth from a branch high up in a tree. His hands can't reach a branch above him nor his feet touch a branch underneath. On the ground below someone seriously asks, 'What is the highest truth of Buddhism?' If he opens his mouth to speak he will fall down and possibly be killed. Yet if he doesn't respond he evades his duty. What should he do?"

This is not a teaser designed to titillate the intellect--far from it. Among other things, it points up a fundamental problem in human relations: when to speak and when to remain silent. For to spin fine words and empty phrases, to embroider theories and explanations of one kind or another can be harmful, even fatal, to one's personality. But to be silent and not speak when by so doing we can help a suffering fellow being is craven. Also, there are many forms of silence. There is the silence where one doesn't know what to say, the silence which is the better part of valor, and the silence which speaks louder than words. Which of these forms of silence was the monk's, and furthermore, was he answering the question put to him or not?

---Philip Kapleau---