Silent Sitting

Text

A monk asked Jiufeng, "What is the meaning of the master's silent sitting?" Jiufeng said, "When have I ever sat silently?" The monk said, "You have been sitting here without speaking all morning." Jiufeng said, "Not speaking is not the same as silence. The whole universe is speaking right now. Can't you hear it?"

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Jiufeng Qin

Lineage: Guiyang

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 Chuandeng Lu, Jiufeng Qin chapter

  Traditional Zen Encounter Dialogues: Silent Sitting