...a deathly serenade...

meal, I thought, but replied: Yes, I have. as I had
eaten before I arrived to meet him, for him to
then have said: Then go wash your bowl". What
bowl? Just as confused as Yashu at that point; I
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AA
didn’t understand and thought: What does this
all mean? I then said this before Yashu went on:
Apparently this was to be all my teachings and
that the money I gave to the monastery was a
kind donation, but Zhaozhou had many places to
be, said his assistant to me, adding that he had
prior engagements in Beijing and maybe even
New York. Looking at the angry frown lines on
Yashu’s forehead I said: They basically ripped
you off? Yashu relaxed the lines in his forehead
and sighed. For me I just realised that it’s all just
a farce, all religion, and I think that is my
enlightenment, but what it leaves me with, I don’t
know? said Yashu. I still really didn’t understand
the whole story, especially the bowl and the upset
with Zhaozhou. Why was this Zhaozhou the straw
that broke the camel’s back? I said and Yashu
paused before orchestrating an answer: Well! I
knew of this very wise—tell, word for word, it is
part of the 48 Koans in the Gateless Gate, said
Yashu. And by then he had totally lost me;
Gateless Gate, koans, donations, I was so
confused…But I soon realised that Zhaozhou had
simply repeated what could have been read or
easily found without traveling to the outer
regions of Hunan, China: For me I just realised
that it’s all just a farce, repeated Yashu a few
times before I left him that day. What other
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