禅Yuanwu Keqin

proverb

Incense Stick on the Iron Anvil

Song

Traditionally attributed

Text

An incense stick struck against an iron anvil sends up no smoke worth speaking of. Yet a single sneeze in the meditation hall is talked about for years. Why? Because the sneeze was honest.

tr. Zen Lineage editorial

license: cc_by

Attribution

Lineage: Linji

By Yuanwu Keqin

Sources

  • contentThe Blue Cliff Record — R.D.M. Shaw translation, 1961

    R.D.M. Shaw (trans.)

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).

Spot something wrong? Report an issue — please include a source so we can verify the correction.