[Listen to audio]
[Listen to audio]
Master Hongyi was an artist whose Buddhist practice permeated his art. One day, Xia Mianzun, a famous teacher, came to dine. Hongyi just nibbled from a plate of pickled vegetables.
“But isn’t it too salty?” Mr. Xia asked.
“Salty is a flavor.” Hongyi replied.
Later, Hongyi served only water instead of tea.
Mr. Xia asked, “Why no tea leaves? How can you drink plain water?”
Hongyi grinned and replied, “Plain is a flavor.”
Both “salty is a flavor” and “plain is a flavor” contain the rich taste of Chan and the Dharma. Because Master Hongyi lived the Dharma, nothing in his life lacked flavor a tattered old towel – it was still useful. A mattress crawling with bedbugs – there weren’t that many. This master fully enjoyed the life of “feeling at ease under all conditions.”