The Story of Su Dongpo

[Hanzze]

Here on board I came in touch with the name of this man and found this great story. Thanks! *smile* Thought to share it.

Su Dongpo Story


Su Dongpo was an avid student of Buddhist teachings. He was quick-witted and humorous; as a Zen Buddhism follower he was very serious and self-disciplined. He often discussed buddhism with his good friend, Zen Master Foyin. The two lived across the river from one another.

Following is an interesting and famous story about him and Zen Master Foyin.

One day, Su Dongpo felt inspired and wrote the following poem:

稽首天中天，
毫光照大千；
八风吹不动，
端坐紫金莲。

I bow my head to the heaven within heaven,
Hairline rays illuminating the universe,
The eight winds cannot move me,
Sitting still upon the purple golden lotus.


The “eight winds (八风)” in the poem referred to praise (称), ridicule (讥), honor (誉), disgrace (毁), gain (得), loss (失), pleasure (乐) and misery (苦) – interpersonal forces of the material world that drive and influence the hearts of men. Su Dongpo was saying that he has attained a higher level of spirituality, where these forces no longer affect him.

Impressed by himself, Su Dongpo sent a servant to hand-carry this poem to Fo Yin. He was sure that his friend would be equally impressed. When Fo Yin read the poem, he immediately saw that it was both a tribute to the Buddha and a declaration of spiritual refinement. Smiling, the Zen Master wrote “fart” on the manuscript and had it returned to Su Dongpo.

Su Dongpo was expecting compliments and a seal of approval. When he saw “fart” written on the manuscript, he was shocked . He burst into anger: “How dare he insult me like this? Why that lousy old monk! He’s got a lot of explaining to do!”

Full of indignation, he rushed out of his house and ordered a boat to ferry him to the other shore as quickly as possible. He wanted to find Fo Yin and demand an apology. However, Fo Yin’s door closed. On the door was a piece of paper, for Su Dongpo. The paper had following two lines:

八风吹不动，
一屁弹过江。
The eight winds cannot move me,
One fart blows me across the river.

This stopped Su Dongpo cold. Fo Yin had anticipated this hot-headed visit. Su Dongpo’s anger suddenly drained away as he understood his friend’s meaning. If he really was a man of spiritual refinement,
completely unaffected by the eight winds, then how could he be so easily provoked?

With a few strokes of the pen and minimal effort, Fo Yin showed that Su Dongpo was in fact not as spiritually advanced as he claimed to be. Ashamed but wiser, Su Dongpo departed quietly.

This event proved to be a turning point in Su Dongpo’s spiritual development. From that point on, he became a man of humility, and not merely someone who boasted of possessing the virtue.

from another forum

[Lobster]

 

Marvelous story.
We quite often insist that profanity has no practice virtue
and virtue is the only method of progress.

Some insist that the enlightened never fart
others that the ordinary is the means to something deeper.

Part of the reason it is suggested we are slow to judge
is precisely because we may the butt of our own joke . . .

. . . which reminds me of the time I was woken up during a
group meditation by someone farting and was just about to laugh
when I realized I had woken myself up . . . 

[Hanzze]

So you think that there is a way beside virtue? Than Su Dongpo finally made a mistake... *smile* For sure there are many ways to come to the eightfold path (or let me say the needed amount of right view), but once joined virtue is the require (even it would come naturally) to gain process.

[Lobster]

So you think that there is a way beside virtue?

I think 'the way' continues long after thinking, labeling and 'virtue' is gone.
Perhaps you have come across examples? 

[Hanzze]

I guess I had come across some examples where thinking and labeling had been avoided long before an idea of what virtue might be. *smile* But the story of Su Dongpo shows us that this examples also might come across shocking reflections which would kick them out of their movie and return to the simple, honest and secure ways.

[Lobster]

fart

[Hanzze]

Hippo fart annoys dog

*smile*