Kihō no Monogatari

A pilgrim asks Master Chian, “If all things are one, how is change universal?”

Chian tells a disciple, “Take that board and hammer a nail in it.” He tells a second disciple, “Remove the nail from that board.” Then he turns to the pilgrim. “Is the board the same?”

“Of course not.”

Showing no reaction, Chian tells the first disciple, “Take a second board and do not hammer a nail into it.” He tells the second disciple, “Do not remove a nail from the board.” Then he looks back at the pilgrim. “And this one?”

Originally published at Echoes from Dreamspace. You can comment here or there.