[Listen to audio]
A student monk going to see Chan Master Fuchuan came upon an old man who sold salt. “Can you tell me the way to Fuchuan?” the monk asked. Hearing no answer, he asked again. After a long silence, the old man finally said, “I’ve already told you. Are you deal?” “Told me what?” “The way to Fuchuan.”
“Can it be that you also study Chan?” the monk challenged. “Not only that,” retorted the old man, “I know the whole Dharma.” “Then tell me the way to Fuchuan,” said the monk. But the old man just shouldered his baskets of salt and prepared to leave.
“Difficult!” exclaimed the baffled monk. “Why do you say that?” asked the old man. “Old salt man!” said the monk. “Any problems?” the salt man asked. “What are you called?” said the monk. “I can’t tell you this is salt,” the salt man answered.What way should we take to Chan Master Fuchuan? “Since it may be a capsized boat, how can we take passage?” There is a difficult path and an easy path, the path of Mahayana and the path of Hinayana. The ordinary student must sick to the path to get anywhere, but a Chan student is like “the great being who intends to take heaven by storm and not walk the path of Tathagata.” He will always find a path, even if it is a capsized boat.