Chapter 64 would rather be a fool

Once upon a time there was a Zen master called "Master Wuxiang".When Master Wuxiang gave instructions to his disciples, he often said to them: "Practice is to be willing to be a fool. Only with the spirit of a fool can enlightenment be possible. Only then can enlightenment be possible." Because it is often said that all disciples have already remembered Stopped: "Master often said that I would rather be a fool." One day, it rained suddenly, and the temple was leaking so much that it was leaking. The master shouted loudly to his disciples to come and catch the rain, but many disciples were not there, and there were only two left. Hearing the master's call, he hurriedly took a bucket to catch the rain.

A disciple rushed out with a very small bucket.Master Wuxiang looked at it and said, "It's raining so hard, it's leaking in several places, and I only took such a small bucket, what a fool." The disciple was very unhappy, thinking: "Run in a hurry! I went out to catch the rain, but Master called me a fool." Because the second apprentice was too nervous, he rushed out with a bamboo basket and was stunned when he was about to catch the rain.Master Wuxiang thought to himself: "How can you be so stupid? How can you have such a stupid apprentice?" He was very unhappy and scolded him: "You are really a big fool!" The disciple was very happy when he heard this, and thought: "Master He has always encouraged us to be fools, but now he says that I am a big fool, which must be admiring my greatness." In this way, he became happy, relieved, and enlightened.What exactly did this disciple realize?

It can be viewed from two angles: First, break the mind of discrimination.When we hear others criticize our language, we can be angry and unhappy, or we can not be angry, we would rather be a fool and be very happy, just like when we see a bowl, we can think: "This bowl is very beautiful, it's a pity There is a hole in it." But you can also think in reverse: "Although this bowl has a hole in it, it is still very beautiful!" Second, from the perspective of the state of enlightenment, it may be easier for a fool to obtain enlightenment. A fool is not really stupid, but has no scheming in life and maintains a pure state.

We don't care so much about life, because this calculation and distinction are exactly what hinder us from enlightenment or knowing the true value of life. If we can learn from naivety and would rather be a fool, then we will have a pure heart. Just like when we practice, we spend time every day thinking about it, what are we doing?What are you doing sitting there all day long?Others seem to be worthless. If you meditate for an hour and give you 100 yuan, you will feel very valuable, but you can’t use this to measure it, because many things in this world are priceless! We see those mentally handicapped or less intelligent people on the street, they are very simple and pure.We are usually not so pure, because we are smart people, and smart people are people who are more obsessed with "being". To do one thing, there must be results. If there is no effect in three days, change to another thing.Usually they are more practical, more realistic, more calculating, more able to plan, such people are called "smart people".Therefore, the life of a smart person is full. He has no space for his mind. He calculates every day, how much money he can make by doing this, and how much money he will make tomorrow when he adds up. He will never do business that loses money.

But practice should go the other way, and practice should maintain inner space. In an era when the world is confused, it is good for us to be clear in our hearts, and we would rather be fools on the outside.