On the way in which again to his temple, Joshu occurred to satisfy an aged woman, who requested him, “The place do you reside?” Joshu stated, “Within the east of this village.” Joshu, speaking to his college students about what had occurred on his method again, stated to them, “How are you going to write the ‘east’ that I instructed the previous woman?” A monk wrote ‘east’, and one other monk wrote ‘East’. Joshu stated, “How silly you might be! You’re no higher than a nine-year-old boy.” One monk stated, “Why do you say so?” Joshu stated, “As a result of each of solely letters.”
Scholar: “What was unsuitable with the 2 monks who wrote ‘east’ and ‘East’?”
Grasp: “Joshu’s place is free from instructions.”
Scholar: “Why?”
Grasp: “As a result of it’s too large to be placed on a map.”
Commentary:
Don’t be so silly as to ask a passer-by the place the universe is.
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All photographs ©Simon Hathaway
