'Zen Master Hui Ming' is a pseudonym of my Taiwanese teacher,
successor of Ven Shen Kai
http://www.jenchen.org/en/joyofzen.shtml
By Ven. Jueh Ming
On many an evening after supper, Zen Master Hui-Ming and his lay
disciple Jen-Ping took a stroll in the woods. The master would
often utilize these outings to enlighten his disciple.
One day after walking some distance, as darkness fell, Jen-Ping
suddenly cried out, "Master! Look. The fireflies. Lots of them,
twinkling like falling stars."
He was so excited that he could not contain himself.
The master queried sternly, "Jen-Ping! Where are you?"
"Master, I'm right here next to you," Jen-Ping answered.
"Are you sure?" The master asked
The fact is that Jen-Ping's mind was occupied by what he saw. He
was distracted by the fireflies and lost in the illusion.
Three years past since Jen-Ping studied under Zen Master Hui-Ming's
guidance. Jen-Ping knew that he had to look inward to develop
self-controlled judgment. He learned to harness awareness and keep
it illuminated day in and day out.
Jen-Ping worked hard to discipline himself to cultivate every day
in order to make cultivation a habit. Occasionally he was plagued
with ignorance and anxiety.
When master tested him unexpectedly, he would become sidetracked
and lose his awareness. Sometimes awareness was within him, but
sometimes not .
One day as usual Jen-Ping accompanied master out for a walk after
supper. It was gradually getting darker. Master pointed to the
fireflies appearing in the woods and said to Jen-Ping: "Your mind
is like a firefly. Its light darts and flickers in the
darkness."
One day the Master and his disciples strolled along the lake. Calm
emerald water, stately immobile century old pines, and iridescent
playful water fowl created a serene Zen-like picture of
nature.
"Look what's in front of us!" exclaimed the Master.
"There are pretty ducks chasing each other." answered the
disciples.
"Well, why didn't you notice the motionless pine trees?" rebutted
the Master.
The moral of the story is the minds of sentient beings tends to
notice and cling to what stirres and changes around them. The
emerging thoughts derived from the attachments will dull their
awareness. A life attuned to sensual stimulation prevents a person
from experiencing the stationary tranquil Truth around us.
One day the Master was invited to give a Dharma talk in the city.
Jen-Ping went along to attend and assist the Master. During the
talk, Jen-Ping carelessly made a minor mistake on the board when he
wrote down the gist of the lecture.
Abruptly the Master interrupted the lecture and harshly scolded him
before the entire audience, "how can you do something like that. It
shows your lack of attention. Your mistake reflects insufficient
effort in your cultivating to attain and strengthen your
awareness."
Suddenly a deadly silence befell the lecture hall. The attendees
were so astonished by Master's reaction wondering why the Master
had belittled Jen-Ping so scornful.
After the talk one brave follower brought the incident to Master's
attention.
"The purpose for the disciple to study under any teacher is not so
much to learn Dharma as it is to learn how to cultivate one's way
to liberation from the entrapments of mind and the gate of
birth-death.
If the disciple can not accept his teacher's reproach it will not
be easy for her/him to tackle birth-death in accordance with the
Way and become liberated from them. If she/he can not accommodate
his teacher's groundless criticism, how can she/he handle sentient
beings later on ?" replied the Master calmly.