Zen Master Xianya went out to spread Buddha Dharma. On his way, he met a couple quarreling.
The wife yelled: “What kind of husband you are! How by any stretch of the imagination you can call yourself a man!”
The husband responded: “Say it again! Say one more word, I will hit you!”
The wife yelled again: “I am not afraid! You are anything but a man.”
Just then, Zen Master Xianya shouted loudly at passers-by: “Come over and have a look! You have to buy tickets to watch a bull-fight as well as a cricket-fight and a cock-fight. Now there is a human-fight for free, just come on!”
The couple did not stop quarreling.
The husband shouted to the wife: “Shut up! Dare you say one more word, I will kill you.”
The wife wasn’t afraid at all: “Come on. Do it! You don’t act like a man at all. Kill me now!”
Zen Master Xianya shouted again: “Fantastic! Now he is going to kill her. Come and have a look!”
A passer-by said: “Hey, Monk! What are you shouting for? It is none of your business.”
Zen Master Xianya answered: “Of course it is of my business. Didn’t you hear that he is going to kill her? If someone gets killed, monks will be invited to preach. Then I can get red packets for preaching.”
The passer-by got angry: “You are away too far. How can you wish that happen just for money!”
Zen Master Xianya responded: “Fine, then I will reason the matter out instead of wishing that happen.”
At that moment, even the couple stopped quarreling and gathered around to listen to what Zen Master Xianya and the passer-by quarreled about.
Master Xianya said to the couple: “Even the thickest ice will melt away when the sun comes out. Even the coldest meal will be heated when the firewood is lighted. It is fate that a couple can be together. Be the sun, to warm others; be the firewood, to benefit others. I hope that you two can respect and love each other!”
Zen Master Xing’en once remarked that Zen is not only about sitting in meditation, but also about such daily trifles as traveling, living, sitting, sleeping, carrying water and cutting firewood. This is Zen. If Zen means nothing to do with our life, it cannot be called Zen. This story reminds us of the indifference shown by the passers-by when the little girl Yueyue in Guangdong Privince was run over again and again by cars. If Zen Master Xianya acts in the same way, it is hard to imagine the consequence of the couple’s quarrel.
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