Two interesting stories about Dongpo Su and zen master Fo Yin

Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Buddha Statues, The Palace Museum Branch, Chiayi, Taiwan

Author: Tao Qing Hsu

Dongpo Su was literati of the Song Dynasty in China (A.D. 960-1270). He was a talented and brilliant man in Chinese poetry, and also had an official position in that time. However, he always had frustrating and troubling things in heart when he was an official person. That is why he went into the path of Buddha to ask for the liberation from the suffering, and had made a good friend with zen master Fo Yin.

Fo Yin was a professional-Buddhist monk in Zen. Dongpo Su and Fo Yin knew each other very well, and frequently learned from each other by exchanging views in literature and Buddhism. However, Fo Yin usually won each time, which let Dongpo Su feel unbalanced in heart. Therefore, Dongpo Su was often intent to embarrass Fo Yin.  

  

One day, these two men sat face to face and made a meditation for a period of time.

At this time, zen master Fo Yin asked Dongpo Su:

“What do you think about my posture?”

Dongpo Su answered him without any consideration:

“You are looked like a pile of shit. ”

Zen master Fo Yin smiled, closed his two palms together, and said to him:

“A Mi Tuo Fo”  (“A Mi Tuo Fo” is transliterated from Chinese. It means Buddha Amitabha, and also means happiness and perfection in life. In China and Taiwan, Buddhists say “A Mi Tuo Fo” to each other as greeting words so as to bless each other. It is a traditional custom in the field of Buddhism from ancient China. )

Dongpo Su asked zen master Fo Yin a question on a whim: “What do you think what I am looked like, when I sit in meditation now?”

Zen master Fo Yin said:

“You are looked like a Buddha.” 

Dongpo Su was full of pride after hearing that.

After Dongpo Su returned home, he proudly showed off to his younger sister and said:

“I finally win this time. Zen master Fo Yin lose. ”

His younger sister was an intelligent girl, who did not agree to Dongpo Su after listening to him about the whole story, and said to him: ”brother, you’ve lost the worst of your life today! Because it is full of Buddha in the heart of zen master Fo Yin, any sentient being is regarded as Buddha in his heart. That is why he regards you as Buddha. However, your heart and mind is completely filthy and unclean. That is why you regard six-roots-purifying zen master Fo Yin as a shit. Aren't you losing this time badly?" (The six roots means eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and heart or mind. )

Dongpo Su felt ashamed to twist his beard with his finger, and agreed with his younger sister’s views.

After a period of time, Dongpo Su had the progress in sitting-meditation day by day.

There was one time, after Dongpo Su had done the sitting-meditation, he happily wrote a poem:

“My head touches the land

so as to respect the heaven in heaven.

My inner-little light

Shines the large world.

The eight-winds blowing  

Can not move me.

Correctly and peacefully sitting 

on the purple-golden lotus 

is me. ”

Then, he asked a child to cross the river in order to send this poem to zen master Fo Yin, and let him judge how is his progress in sitting-meditation.

Zen master Fo Yin smiled after reading the poem. He handily took a red Chinese-writing brush and wrote two large-Chinese characters on the said poem:

“Fang Pi” (It also means “ That is bullshit!” “Fang Pi” is transliterated from Chinese characters.It means fart, that is, an escape of gas from bowels.)

Then, he gave it back to the child to send it back to Dongpo Su.

Dongpo Su originally expected that Fo Yin would give him a lot of praise. However, when he saw the two red-big Characters “Fang Pi” in the letter, he couldn’t help but be very angry, and broke out into curses:

“Fo Yin really goes to far in insulting me. He does not praise me. I let it go. Why does he curse me? I have to cross the river immediately and to argue with him. ”

During this time, zen master Fo Yin had already closed the big door and had a trip outside. Only a couplet was posted on the door, which said:

“The eight-winds could not move you.

A fart hits you to cross the river. ”

Dongpo Su deep felt ashamed and had sighed that he was not as good as Fo Yin in practicing the sitting-meditation. 

(P.S. Eight winds mean praise, ridicule, slander, fame, advantage, decline, suffering, and enjoyment. That means, eight conditions from outside, which are like wind, would affect our heart, mind, will and action, when we are practicing in sitting-meditation and learning Buddha. )

The related article that you might be interested:

1. Let heart in peace, no fear and affliction any more
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