Finding a Diamond on a Muddy Road
GuDo was the emperor's teacher of his time.
Nevertheless, he used to travel alone as a wandering mendicant. Once when he
was on his was to Edo, the cultural and political center of the Shogunate, he
approached a little village named TakeNaka. It was evening and a heavy rain was
falling. GuDo was thoroughly wet. His straw sandals were in pieces. At a
farmhouse near the village, he noticed four or five pairs of sandals in the
window and decided to
buy some dry ones.
The woman who offered him the sandals, seeing how
wet he was, invited him in to remain for the night at her home. GuDo accepted,
thanking her. He entered and recited a sutra before the family shrine. He then
was introduced to the woman's mother, and to her children. Observing that the
entire family was depressed, GuDo asked what was wrong.
"My husband is a gambler and a
drunkard," the housewife told him. "When he happens to win he drinks
and becomes abusive. When he loses he borrows money from others. Sometimes when
he becomes thoroughly drunk he does not come home at all. What can I do?"
I will help him," said GuDo. "Here is
some money. Get me a gallon of fine wine and something good to eat. Then you
may retire.
I will meditate before the shrine."
When the man of the house returned about
midnight, quite drunk, he bellowed: "Hey, wife, I am home. Have you
something for me to eat?"
"I have something for you," said GuDo.
"I happened to get caught in the rain and your wife kindly asked me to
remain here for the night. In return I have bought some wine and fish, so you
might as well have them."
The man was delighted. He drank the wine at once
and laid himself down on the floor. GuDo sat in meditation beside him.
In the morning when the husband awoke he had
forgotten about the previous night. "Who are you? Where do you come
from?" he asked GuDo,
who was still meditating.
"I am GuDo of Kyoto and I am going on to
Edo," replied the Zen master.
The man was utterly ashamed. He apologized
profusely to
the teacher of his emperor.
GuDo smiled. "Everything in this life is
impermanent," he explained. "Life is very brief. If you keep on
gambling and drinking, you will have no time left to accomplish anything else,
and you will cause your family to suffer too."
The perception of the husband awoke as if from a
dream. "You are right," he declared. "How can I ever repay you
for this wonderful teaching! Let me see you off and carry your things a little
way."
"If you wish," assented GuDo.
The two started out. After they had gone three
miles GuDo told him to return. "Just another five miles," he begged GuDo.
They continued on.
"You may return now," suggested GuDo.
"After another ten miles," the man
replied.
"Return now," said GuDo, when the ten
miles had been passed.
"I am going to follow you for the rest of my
life," declared the man.
Modern Zen teachers in Japan
spring from the lineage of a famous master who was the successor of GuDo. His
name was Mu-Nan,
the man who never turned back.
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