dialogue
The Sound of One Hand
Anecdotes of Ikkyu
Text
A monk asked Ikkyu: "Master, what is the sound of one hand clapping?" Ikkyu slapped him across the face. The monk stood stunned, his cheek burning. Ikkyu said: "Now you have heard it. Why do you stand there like a dead man? The sound of one hand is not a riddle to solve with your thinking mind. It is the thing itself, striking you awake. Did you need two hands for that?"
Attribution
By Ikkyu Sojun
Sources
Anecdotes of Ikkyu: The Sound of One Hand