Excerpt from Garden Chrysanthemums and First Mountain Snow

 

Questions and Answers with Zen Master Taewŏn

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What is the original purpose of Buddhist dharma?

 

As the sun and moon explode, the sea brightens.

 

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What is the distance between father and son?

 

It is the distance between the sea and its salty taste.

 

 

 

 

What is a practitioner supposed to do?

 

Whatever you do, never leave the royal throne.

 

 

 

 

Before the mind moves, where is the dharma?

 

It's like wind in the sky before it blows.

 

 

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Who is the one that knows neither good nor evil?

 

One who does not ask that kind of question.

 

 

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Can this person know there is no such thing as transcendence?

 

(The master shows the answer with silence.)

 

 

Are you showing the answer to me now?

 

Have some tea.

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