Danxia Burns the Wooden Buddha

Text

During a cold spell, Danxia took a wooden Buddha statue and burned it to make a fire. The temple keeper was horrified: "How dare you burn the Buddha statue!" Danxia poked in the ashes with a stick and said, "I am looking for the sacred relics." The temple keeper said, "How can you find relics in a wooden statue?" Danxia said, "If there are no relics, may I have the other two statues as well?"

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Danxia Tianran

Lineage: Qingyuan line

From Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues

• My Mind Is Not at Peace
• Thinking of Not-Thinking
• Not Knowing Is Most Intimate
• The Boat Monk's Transmission
• The Sound of Bamboo
• Vast Emptiness, Nothing Holy
• Ordinary Mind Is the Way
• Nanquan Kills the Cat
• Wash Your Bowl
• The Oak Tree in the Garden

Sources

• contentWikisource — English-language free library

  Jingde Chuandenglu, Danxia chapter

  Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues: Danxia Burns the Wooden Buddha