“Buddhas Dumbest Student”

 “Buddhas Dumbest Student”

This student would come to every lecture, but in personal interview he would show no progress. The Buddha would never lose patience because as a teacher it was his duty to utilize any and all methods to reach a student.  

However, this student proved to be quite a challenge. 

 Most teachers would have become frustrated and would have given up on this “stupid” student. What is the point on spending so much time “dumbing down” lessons for someone who obviously lacks the intelligence to understand? Like everything else in Buddhism – the surface observation is usually not the right one! 

After many attempts, Shakyamuni eventually tells the “dumbest” student to stop coming to lectures and to simply sweep out the temple.  

At this, the monk states, “I can do that!” So every day the “slowest” monk dutifully and carefully sweeps out the temple while all the “smart” monks are in listening to the master.

At this point, we should start thinking that there is a message here about masters and students!! 

First, this “stupid” monk never gave up and became disgusted. That is something!  

Second, he had absolute faith in the master. The master said sweep and he swept. Would we have such faith in our teachers today? 

Would we have become insulted if the master said that we should not come to the seminar – and even worse, we should be some servile janitor and clean out the temple? Lastly, think about teachers today – would they “think outside the box” and try unconventional ideas to help a “different” type of student.  This is why Tesshin’s job of being a Zen teacher is so difficult. How do you teach what cannot be taught or even put into words?

So what happened? One day our “slow” student suddenly realized that there was no more dust left in the temple to sweep! 

BANG! Instant enlightenment – with a broom no less! Why? What happened? This is Zen 

– that very moment is everything! Dusting when there is no dust. 

– Cleaning bowls which are already clean 

– Your face before you were born!  

The dumbest person in the room realized it while all the “geniuses” in the lecture hall continued to read books and hear lectures, but never got anywhere! 

The story continues that the master understood that Hui Neng was the most accomplished, but was afraid to announce it to all the rest of the monks as there would have been an uproar (a bit of classism from our zen monks – if you ask me!) As such, the master called Hui Neng at night and secretly transmitted to him and then sent him away to teach elsewhere.

Finally, there is a famous saying in Zen that if you meet the Buddha on the road – you should kill him. 

Here Tesshin was reminding us with the parable of the “slow” monk that realization cannot be intellectually understood or learned 

– it must be “rediscovered” and experienced personally.  Even a teacher like Shakyamuni can only point at “it” 

–  he cannot teach it. This is why Zen emphasizes time on the cushion and living moment to moment. Yes! It is possible to gain enlightenment by everyday activities. 

Shakyamuni understood this and it is why he lovingly told the monk to sweep 

– he understood that the books and lectures were a distraction. Tesshin wanted us to hear that message today and remind us that enlightenment is not a function of intellect 

–  it is a function of realization. We all have this ability to realize as we are all human and sentient. All that is needed is focus, hard work and faith.