The Reading:
Hsu Yun said: “The Master who first established the Shih Tan Monastery, studied Zen under many different Masters, traveling from one place to another. He was a very industrious person, working on his Zen all the time. One night he stayed in an inn and heard a girl, who was a bean cake maker, singing the following song in an adjacent room while she was making bean cakes:
Oh, Chang is the bean cake,
And Lee is also the bean cake.
At night when you lay your head down upon your pillow,
A thousand thoughts may arise in your mind;
But when you awake in the morning,
You still continue to make the bean cakes.
The Zen Master was absorbed in meditation when the girls sang this song. Upon hearing it, he suddenly awoke to the Realization.”
Discussion:
Chang is the bean cake. Lee is also the bean cake.
Hsu Yun said: “The Master who first established the Shih Tan Monastery, studied Zen under many different Masters, traveling from one place to another. He was a very industrious person, working on his Zen all the time. One night he stayed in an inn and heard a girl, who was a bean cake maker, singing the following song in an adjacent room while she was making bean cakes:
Oh, Chang is the bean cake,
And Lee is also the bean cake.
At night when you lay your head down upon your pillow,
A thousand thoughts may arise in your mind;
But when you awake in the morning,
You still continue to make the bean cakes.
The Zen Master was absorbed in meditation when the girls sang this song. Upon hearing it, he suddenly awoke to the Realization.”
Discussion:
Chang is the bean cake. Lee is also the bean cake.