禅Vô Ngôn Thông

proverb

When the Emperor Asked

Early Thiền

Traditionally attributed

Text

The emperor asked: what is the great meaning? I bowed and said nothing. He pressed me three times; three times I bowed and said nothing. On the fourth, he bowed too. That was the answer.

tr. Zen Lineage editorial

license: cc_by

Attribution

Lineage: Thiền

By Vô Ngôn Thông

Sources

  • contentCuong Tu Nguyen — medieval Vietnamese Buddhism scholarship

    Cuong Tu Nguyen

    pp. 26–42

No per-field confidence has been recorded for this teaching yet. Treat individual claims with the caution appropriate to the source list below.

Attribution status: traditional — see editorial policy for what this means.

1 supporting citation on record (see Sources above).

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