|
Zen Stories
Masterpeice
A master calligrapher was writing some characters onto a
piece of paper. One of his especially perceptive students was
watching him. When the calligrapher was finished, he asked for the
student's opinion - who immediately told him that it wasn't any
good. The master tried again, but the student criticized the work
again. Over and over, the calligrapher carefully redrew the same
characters, and each time the student rejected it. Finally, when the
student had turned his attention away to something else and wasn't
watching, the master seized the opportunity to quickly dash off the
characters. "There! How's that?," he asked the student.
The student turned to look. "THAT.... is a masterpiece!"
he exclaimed.
(Legend states this is the story behind master Kosen's
creation of an ink template that was used to create the wood
carving "The First Principle" that appears over the gate
of Obaku Temple in Kyoto)
Previous Story Next Story
|
