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When Han Yu infuriated Tang Dynasty Emperor Xianzong with his “Admonition Against Venerating the Buddha’s Bone Relics,” he was demoted and sent to Chaozhou, where Chan Master Dadian was esteemed for his extraordinary cultivation. One day, Han Yu went to ask the master a difficult question. But he was meditating, and had just entered samadhi. An attendant, seeing Han Yu’s impatience, struck the hand bell three times next to the master’s ear and whispered, “First use samadhi to move, later use wisdom to eradicate.” Han Yu bowed hastily and withdrew, feeling fortunate to receive this message. Later Han Yu returned to Dadian and said, “May I inquire how many springs and autumns the master has seen?” The master picked up his prayer beads and said, “Understand?” “No,” said Han Yu. “Day and night, one hundred and eight,” he said. But Han Yu still did not understand. When Han Yu returned the next day, he put the same question to a novice monk. The monk clicked his teeth three times and said nothing. Lost in a fog, Han Yu repeated the question to Dadian. But he just clicked his teeth three times. Suddenly, Han Yu was awakened.
“Then the Dharma does not have two kinds,” he realized. “It is all the same.”